But he who would have his life tormented by me,
hath a solemn duty to do, ere I listen to his wishes."
"I have been in the lower towns and studied their manner of life, and I
have been upon the scouts of the colony, to keep the Indians in their
wigwams," returned her suitor, endeavoring to recount the feats of
manliness that might reasonably be expected of one inclined to venture on
so hazardous an experiment as matrimony. "The bargain with the young
Captain for the hill-lot, and for a village homestead, is drawing near a
close: and as the neighbors will not be backward at the stone-bee, or the
raising, I see nothing to--"
"Thou deceivest thyself, observant Dudley," interrupted the girl, "if thou
believest eye of thine can see that which is to be sought, ere one and the
same fortune shall be the property of thee and me. Hast noted, Eben, the
manner in which the cheek of the Madam hath paled, and how her eye is
getting sunken, since the time when the fur trader tarried with us, the
week of the storm?"
"I cannot say that there is much change in the wearing of the Madam,
within the bearing of my memory," answered Dudley, who was never
remarkable for minute observations of this nature, however keen he might
prove in subjects more intimately connected with his daily pursuits.
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