saw, in his sullen mien and cold
eye, rather a determination to adhere to his resolutions, which usually
were as obstinately enforced as they were harshly conceived, than any
evidences of wavering or doubt. Even Esther was sensibly affected by
the important matters that pressed so heavily on the interests of her
family. While she neglected none of those domestic offices, which would
probably have proceeded under any conceivable circumstances, just as
the world turns round with earthquakes rending its crust and volcanoes
consuming its vitals, yet her voice was pitched to a lower and more
foreboding key than common, and the still frequent chidings of her
children were tempered by something like the milder dignity of parental
authority.

Abiram, as usual, seemed the one most given to solicitude and doubt.
There were certain misgivings, in the frequent glances that he turned
on the unyielding countenance of Ishmael, which might have betrayed how
little of their former confidence and good understanding existed between
them. His looks appeared to be vacillating between hope and fear. At
times, his countenance lighted with the gleamings of a sordid joy, as
he bent his look on the tent which contained his recovered prisoner,
and then, again, the impression seemed unaccountably chased away by the
shadows of intense apprehension. When under the influence of the
latter feeling, his eye never failed to seek the visage of his dull and
impenetrable kinsman. But there he rather found reason for alarm than
grounds of encouragement, for the whole character of the squatter's
countenance expressed the fearful truth, that he had redeemed his dull
faculties from the influence of the kidnapper, and that his thoughts
were now brooding only on the achievement of his own stubborn
intentions.

It was in this state of things that the sons of Ishmael, in obedience
to an order from their father, conducted the several subjects of his
contemplated decisions, from their places of confinement into the open
air. No one was exempted from this arrangement. Middleton and Inez, Paul
and Ellen, Obed and the trapper, were all brought forth and placed in
situations that were deemed suitable to receive the sentence of their
arbitrary judge. The younger children gathered around the spot, in
momentary but engrossing curiosity, and even Esther quitted her culinary
labours, and drew nigh to listen.

Hard-Heart alone, of all his band, was present to witness the n