"
"And a bloody piece of work you made of it, man," cried the squatter,
pointing tauntily to the soiled garments of his kinsman, and then
directing the attention of the spectators to his own, by the way of a
triumphant contrast. "Here have I cut the throats of two lively does,
and a scampering fawn, without spot or stain; while you, blundering
dog as you ar', have made as much work for Eester and her girls, as
though butchering was your regular calling. Come, boys; it is enough.
I am too old not to know the signs of the frontiers; no Indian has
been here since the last fall of water. Follow me; and I will make a
turn that shall give us at least the beef of a fallow cow for our
trouble."
"Follow me!" echoed Esther, stepping undauntedly forward. "I am leader
to-day, and I will be followed. Who so proper, let me know, as a
mother, to head a search for her own lost child?"
Ishmael regarded his intractable mate with a smile of indulgent pity.
Observing that she had already struck out a path for herself,
different both from that of Abiram and the one he had seen fit to
choose, and being unwilling to draw the cord of authority too tight,
just at that moment, he submitted to her will.
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