"
"You may well call it prowling," returned the naturalist, nestling
still closer to her side, and dropping his voice to such low and
undignified tones of confidence, as conveyed a meaning still more
pointed than he had intended. "I have never before experienced such a
trial of the nervous system; there was a moment, I acknowledge, when
the fortiter in re faltered before so terrible an enemy; but the love
of natural science bore me up, and brought me off in triumph!"
"You speak a language so different from that we use in Tennessee,"
said Ellen, struggling to conceal her laughter, "that I hardly know
whether I understand your meaning. If I am right, you wish to say you
were chicken-hearted."
"An absurd simile drawn from an ignorance of the formation of the
biped. The heart of a chicken has a just proportion to its other
organs, and the domestic fowl is, in a state of nature, a gallant
bird. Ellen," he added, with a countenance so solemn as to produce an
impression on the attentive girl, "I was pursued, hunted, and in a
danger that I scorn to dwell on--what's that?"
Ellen started; for the earnestness and simple sincerity of her
companion's manner had produced a certain degree of credulity, even on
her buoyant mind.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159