But what is done, is done, and cannot be mended, by words. Come
out of your ambush, boys; here is no one but the old man: he has eaten
of my bread, and should be our friend; though there is such good
reason to suspect him of harbouring with our enemies."
The trapper made no reply to the harsh suspicion which the other did
not scruple to utter without the smallest delicacy, notwithstanding
the explanations and denials to which he had just listened. The
summons of the unnurtured squatter brought an immediate accession to
their party. Four or five of his sons made their appearance from
beneath as many covers, where they had been posted under the
impression that the figures they had seen, on the swell of the
prairie, were a part of the Sioux band. As each man approached, and
dropped his rifle into the hollow of his arm, he cast an indolent but
enquiring glance at the stranger, though neither of them expressed the
least curiosity to know whence he had come or why he was there. This
forbearance, however, proceeded only in part, from the sluggishness of
their common temper; for long and frequent experience in scenes of a
similar character, had taught them the virtue of discretion.
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