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back to her. Sich is woman, Bourdon; and God forgive me, if I have
ever forgotten their natur', when I was bound to remember it. But we
all have our weak moments, at times, and I trust mine will not be
accounted ag'in' me more than them of other men."
"This is a beautiful sight, Gershom, and it almost makes me your
friend! The man for whom a woman can feel so much concern--that a
woman--nay, women; for you tell me your sister is one of the family-
-but the man whom DECENT women can follow to a place like this, must
have some good p'ints about him. That woman is a-weepin'; and it
must be for joy at your return."
"'Twould be jist like Dolly to do so--she's done it before, and
would be likely to do so ag'in," answered Gershom, nearly choked by
the effort he made to speak without betraying his own emotion. "Put
the canoe into the p'int, and let me land there. I must go up and
say a kind word to poor Dolly; while you can paddle on, and let
Blossom know I'm near at hand."
The bee-hunter complied in silence, casting curious glances upward
at the woman while doing so, in order to ascertain what sort of a
female Whiskey Centre could possibly have for a wife. To his
surprise, Dorothy Waring was not only decently, but she was neatly
clad, appearing as if she had studiously attended to her personal
appearance, in the hope of welcoming her wayward and unfortunate
husband back to his forest home. This much le Bourdon saw by a hasty
glance as his companion landed, for a feeling of delicacy prevented
him from taking a longer look at the woman. As Gershom ascended the
bank to meet his wife, le Bourdon paddled on, and landed just below
the grove in which was the chiente. It might have been his long
exclusion from all of the other sex, and most especially from that
portion of it which retains its better looks, but the being which
now met the bee-hunter appeared to him to belong to another world,
rather than to that in which he habitually dwelt. As this was
Margery Waring, who was almost uniformly called Blossom by her
acquaintances, and who is destined to act an important part in this
legend of the "openings," it may be well to give a brief description
of her age, attire, and personal appearance, at the moment when she
was first seen by le Bourdon.
In complexion, color of the hair, and outline of face, Margery
Waring bore a strong family resemblance to her brother. In spite of
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
exposure, and the reflection of the sun's rays from the water of the
lake, however, HER skin was of a clear, transparent white, such as
one might look for in a drawing-room, but hardly expect to find in a
wilderness; while the tint of her lips, cheeks, and, in a diminished
degree, of her chin and ears, were such as one who wielded a pencil
might long endeavor to catch without succeeding. Her features had
the chiselled outline which was so remarkable in her brother; while
in HER countenance, in addition to the softened expression of her
sex and years, there was nothing to denote any physical or moral
infirmity, to form a drawback to its witchery and regularity. Her
eyes were blue, and her hair as near golden as human tresses well
could be. Exercise, a life of change, and of dwelling much in the
open air, had given to this unusually charming girl not only health,
but its appearance. Still, she was in no respect coarse, or had
anything in the least about her that indicated her being accustomed
to toil, with some slight exception in her hands, perhaps, which
were those of a girl who did not spare herself, when there was an
opportunity to be of use. In this particular, the vagrant life of
her brother had possibly been of some advantage to her, as it had
prevented her being much employed in the ordinary toil of her
condition in life. Still, Margery Waring had that happy admixture of
delicacy and physical energy, which is, perhaps, oftener to be met
in the American girl of her class, than in the girl of almost any
other nation; and far oftener than in the young American of her sex,
who is placed above the necessity of labor.
As a stranger approached her, the countenance of this fair creature
expressed both surprise and satisfaction; surprise that any one
should have been met by Gershom, in such a wilderness, and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]