And now, friend
trapper, as a duty I owe to human nature, I will conclude by demanding
if all hope has deserted me, or if any means still exist by which so
much valuable information may be rescued from the grasp of ignorance,
and preserved to the pages of natural history."
The old man lent an attentive ear to this melancholy appeal, and
apparently he reflected on every side of the important question,
before he would presume to answer.
"I take it, friend physicianer," he at length gravely replied, "that
the chances of life and death, in your particular case, depend
altogether on the will of Providence, as it may be pleased to manifest
it, through the accursed windings of Indian cunning. For my own part,
I see no great difference in the main end to be gained, inasmuch as it
can matter no one greatly, yourself excepted, whether you live or
die."
"Would you account the fall of a corner-stone, from the foundations of
the edifice of learning, a matter of indifference to contemporaries or
to posterity?" interrupted Obed.
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