"
"It is customary to be provided with such a document," returned the
Doctor, gravely; "and, on all suitable occasions to produce it, in
order that congenial and friendly minds may, at once, reject unworthy
suspicions, and stepping over, what may be called the elements of
discourse, come at once to those points which are desiderata to both."
"It is a strange request!" the youth muttered, turning his frowning
eye from one to the other, as if examining the characters of his
companions, with a view to weigh their physical powers. Then, putting
his hand into his bosom, he drew forth a small box, and extending it
with an air of dignity towards the Doctor, he continued--"You will
find by this, sir, that I have some right to travel in a country which
is now the property of the American States."
"What have we here!" exclaimed the naturalist, opening the folds of a
large parchment. "Why, this is the sign-manual of the philosopher,
Jefferson! The seal of state! Countersigned by the minister of war!
Why this is a commission creating Duncan Uncas Middleton a captain of
artillery!"
"Of whom? of whom?" repeated the trapper, who had sat regarding the
stranger, during the whole discourse, with eyes that seemed greedily
to devour each lineament.
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