"
"I know not," returned the youth, who reflected more on the sufferings
of the fragile being he supported, than on the experience of his
companion; "I know not; we have ridden leagues, and I can see no
extraordinary signs of danger:--if you fear for yourself, my good
friend, believe me you are wrong, for--"
"Your grand'ther, were he living and here," interrupted the old man,
stretching forth a hand, and laying a finger impressively on the arm
of Middleton, "would have spared those words. He had some reason to
think that, in the prime of my days, when my eye was quicker than the
hawk's, and my limbs were as active as the legs of the fallow-deer, I
never clung too eagerly and fondly to life: then why should I now feel
such a childish affection for a thing that I know to be vain, and the
companion of pain and sorrow. Let the Tetons do their worst; they will
not find a miserable and worn out trapper the loudest in his
complaints, or his prayers."
"Pardon me, my worthy, my inestimable friend," exclaimed the repentant
young man, warmly grasping the hand, which the other was in the act of
withdrawing; "I knew not what I said--or rather I thought only of
those whose tenderness we are most bound to consider.
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