The Prairie (Fiscle Part 3) Of 2 by J Fenimore Cooper (phonics reading books TXT) 📕

And Which Teaches,  That An 'Eye Must Be Returned For An Eye,' And A

'Tooth For A Tooth.' I Am No Troubler Of Countyhouses,  And Least Of

All Do I Like Living On A Plantation That The Sheriff Has Surveyed;

Yet There Is A Reason In Such A Law,  That Makes It A Safe Rule To

Journey By,  And Therefore It Ar' A Solemn Fact That This Day Shall I

Abide By It,  And Give Unto All And Each That Which Is His Due And No

More."

When Ishmael Had Delivered His Mind Thus Far,  He Paused And Looked

About Him,  As If He Would Trace The Effects In The Countenances Of His

Hearers. When His Eye Met That Of Middleton,  He Was Answered By The

Latter--

"If The Evil-Doer Is To Be Punished,  And He That Has Offended None To

He Left To Go At Large,  You Must Change Situations With Me,  And Become

A Prisoner Instead Of A Judge."

"You Mean To Say That I Have Done You Wrong,  In Taking The Lady From

Her Father's House,  And Leading Her So Far Against Her Will Into These

Wild Districts," Returned The Unmoved Squatter,  Who Manifested As

Little Resentment As He Betrayed Compunction At The Charge. "I Shall

Not Put The Lie On The Back Of An Evil Deed,  And Deny Your Words.

Since Things Have Come To This Pass Between Us,  I Have Found Time To

Think The Matter Over At My Leisure,  And Though None Of Your Swift

Thinkers,  Who Can See,  Or Who Pretend To See,  Into The Nature Of All

Things,  By A Turn Of The Eye,  Yet Am I A Man Open To Reason,  And Give

Me My Time,  One Who Is Not Given To Deny The Truth. Therefore Have I

Mainly Concluded,  That It Was A Mistake To Take A Child From Its

Parent,  And The Lady Shall Be Returned Whence She Has Been Brought,  As

Tenderly And As Safely As Man Can Do It."

"Ay,  Ay," Added Esther,  "The Man Is Right. Poverty And Labour Bore

Hard Upon Him,  Especially As County Officers Were Getting Troublesome,

And In A Weak Moment He Did The Wicked Act; But He Has Listened To My

Words,  And His Mind Has Got Round Again Into Its Honest Corner. An

Awful And A Dangerous Thing It Is To Be Bringing The Daughters Of

Other People Into A Peaceable And Well-Governed Family!"

"And Who Will Thank You For The Same,  After What Has Been Already

Done?" Muttered Abiram,  With A Grin Of Disappointed Cupidity,  In Which

Malignity And Terror Were Disgustingly United; "When The Devil Has

Once Made Out His Account,  You May Look For Your Receipt In Full Only

At His Hands."

"Peace!" Said Ishmael,  Stretching His Heavy Hand Towards His Kinsman,

In A Manner That Instantly Silenced The Speaker. "Your Voice Is Like A

Raven's In My Ears. If You Had Never Spoken,  I Should Have Been Spared

This Shame."

"Since Then You Are Beginning To Lose Sight Of Your Errors,  And To See

The Truth," Said Middleton,  "Do Not Things By Halves,  But,  By The

Generosity Of Your Conduct,  Purchase Friends Who May Be Of Use In

Warding Off Any Future Danger From The Law--"

"Young Man," Interrupted The Squatter,  With A Dark Frown,  "You,  Too,

Have Said Enough. If Fear Of The Law Had Come Over Me,  You Would Not

Be Here To Witness The Manner In Which Ishmael Bush Deals Out

Justice."

"Smother Not Your Good Intentions; And Remember,  If You Contemplate

Violence To Any Among Us,  That The Arm Of That Law You Affect To

Despise,  Reaches Far,  And That Though Its Movements Are Sometimes

Slow,  They Are Not The Less Certain!"

"Yes,  There Is Too Much Truth In His Words,  Squatter," Said The

Trapper,  Whose Attentive Ears Rarely Suffered A Syllable To Be Utterly

Unheeded In His Presence. "A Busy And A Troublesome Arm It Often

Proves To Be Here,  In This Land Of America; Where,  As They Say,  Man Is

Left Greatly To The Following Of His Own Wishes,  Compared To Other

Countries; And Happier,  Ay,  And More Manly And More Honest,  Too,  Is He

For The Privilege! Why Do You Know,  My Men,  That There Are Regions

Where The Law Is So Busy As To Say,  In This Fashion Shall You Live,  In

That Fashion Shall You Die,  And In Such Another Fashion Shall You Take

Leave Of The World,  To Be Sent Before The Judgment-Seat Of The Lord! A

Wicked And A Troublesome Meddling Is That,  With The Business Of One

Who Has Not Made His Creatures To Be Herded,  Like Oxen,  And Driven

From Field To Field,  As Their Stupid And Selfish Keepers May Judge Of

Their Need And Wants. A Miserable Land Must That Be,  Where They Fetter

The Mind As Well As The Body,  And Where The Creatures Of God,  Being

Born Children,  Are Kept So By The Wicked Inventions Of Men Who Would

Take Upon Themselves The Office Of The Great Governor Of All!"

During The Delivery Of This Pertinent Opinion,  Ishmael Was Content To

Be Silent,  Though The Look,  With Which He Regarded The Speaker,

Manifested Any Other Feeling Than That Of Amity. When The Old Man Was

Done,  He Turned To Middleton,  And Continued The Subject Which The

Other Had Interrupted.

"As To Ourselves,  Young Captain,  There Has Been Wrong On Both Sides.

If I Have Borne Hard Upon Your Feelings,  In Taking Away Your Wife With

An Honest Intention Of Giving Her Back To You,  When The Plans Of That

Devil Incarnate Were Answered,  So Have You Broken Into My Encampment,

Aiding And Abetting,  As They Have Called Many An Honester Bargain,  In

Destroying My Property."

"But What I Did Was To Liberate--"

"The Matter Is Settled Between Us," Interrupted Ishmael,  With The Air

Of One Who,  Having Made Up His Own Opinion On The Merits Of The

Question,  Cared Very Little For Those Of Other People; "You And Your

Wife Are Free To Go And Come,  When And How You Please. Abner,  Set The

Captain At Liberty; And Now,  If You Will Tarry Until I Am Ready To

Draw Nigher To The Settlements,  You Shall Both Have The Benefit Of

Carriage; If Not,  Never Say That You Did Not Get A Friendly Offer."

"Now,  May The Strong Oppress Me,  And My Sins Be Visited Harshly On My

Own Head,  If I Forget Your Honesty,  However Slow It Has Been In

Showing Itself," Cried Middleton,  Hastening To The Side Of The Weeping

Inez,  The Instant He Was Released; "And,  Friend,  I Pledge You The

Honour Of A Soldier,  That Your Own Part Of This Transaction Shall Be

Forgotten,  Whatever I May Deem Fit To Have Done,  When I Reach A Place

Where The Arm Of Government Can Make Itself Felt."

The Dull Smile,  With Which The Squatter Answered To This Assurance,

Proved How Little He Valued The Pledge That The Youth,  In The First

Revulsion Of His Feelings,  Was So Free To Make.

"Neither Fear Nor Favour,  But What I Call Justice,  Has Brought Me To

This Judgment," He Said,  "Do You That Which May Seem Right In Your

Eyes,  And Believe That The World Is Wide Enough To Hold Us Both,

Without Our Crossing Each Other's Path Again! If You Ar' Content,

Well; If You Ar' Not Content,  Seek To Ease Your Feelings In Your Own

Fashion. I Shall Not Ask To Be Let Up,  When You Once Put Me Fairly

Down. And Now,  Doctor,  Have I Come To Your Leaf In My Accounts. It Is

Time To Foot Up The Small Reckoning,  That Has Been Running On,  For

Some Time,  Atwixt Us. With You,  I Entered Into Open And Manly Faith;

In What Manner Have You Kept It?"

The Singular Felicity,  With Which Ishmael Had Contrived To Shift The

Responsibility Of All That Had Passed,  From His Own Shoulders To Those

Of His Prisoners,  Backed As It Was By Circumstances That Hardly

Admitted Of A Very Philosophical Examination Of Any Mooted Point In

Ethics,  Was Sufficiently Embarrassing To The Several Individuals,  Who

Were So Unexpectedly Required To Answer For A Conduct Which,  In Their

Simplicity,  They Had Deemed So Meritorious. The Life Of Obed Had Been

So Purely Theoretic,  That His Amazement Was Not The Least Embarrassing

At A State Of Things Which Might Not Have Proved So Very Remarkable

Had He Been A Little More Practised In The Ways Of The World. The

Worthy Naturalist Was Not The First By Many,  Who Found Himself,  At The

Precise Moment When He Was Expecting Praise,  Suddenly Arraigned,  To

Answer For The Very Conduct On Which He Rested All His Claims To

Commendation. Though Not A Little Scandalised,  At The Unexpected Turn

Of The Transaction,  He Was Fain To Make The Best Of Circumstances,  And

To Bring Forth Such Matter In Justification,  As First Presented Itself

To His Disordered Faculties.

"That There Did Exist A Certain Compactum,  Or Agreement,  Between Obed

Batt,  M.D.,  And Ishmael Bush,  Viator,  Or Erratic Husbandman," He Said,

Endeavouring To Avoid All Offence In The Use Of Terms,  "I Am Not

Disposed To Deny. I Will Admit That It Was Therein Conditioned,  Or

Stipulated,  That A Certain Journey Should Be Performed Conjointly,  Or

In Company,  Until So Many Days Had Been Numbered. But As The Said Time

Has Fully Expired,  I Presume It Fair To Infer That The Bargain May Now

Be Said To Be Obsolete."

"Ishmael!" Interrupted The Impatient Esther,  "Make No Words With A Man

Who Can Break Your Bones As Easily As Set Them,  And Let The Poisoning

Devil Go! He's A Cheat,  From Box To Phial. Give Him Half The Prairie,

And Take The Other Half Yourself. He An Acclimator! I Will Engage To

Get The Brats Acclimated To A Fever-And-Ague Bottom In A Week,  And Not

A Word Shall Be Uttered Harder To Pronounce Than The Bark Of A Cherry-

Tree,  With Perhaps A Drop Or Two Of Western Comfort. One Thing Ar' A

Fact,  Ishmael; I Like No Fellow-Travellers Who Can Give A Heavy Feel

To An Honest Woman's Tongue,  I--And That Without Caring Whether Her

Household Is In Order,  Or Out Of Order."

The Air Of Settled Gloom,  Which Had Taken Possession Of The Squatter's

Countenance,  Lighted For An Instant With A Look Of Dull Drollery,  As