ith the sea, they tell me, Judith,"
returned the young man, who could not forbear throwing a glance of
inquiry at the girl; for in common with all who knew Hutter, he had some
curiosity on the subject of his early history. "Hurry Harry tells me he
was once a sailor."

Judith first looked perplexed; then, influenced by feelings that were
novel to her, in more ways than one, she became suddenly communicative,
and seemingly much interested in the discourse.

"If Hurry knows anything of father's history, I would he had told it to
me!" she cried. "Sometimes I think, too, he was once a sailor, and then
again I think he was not. If that chest were open, or if it could speak,
it might let us into his whole history. But its fastenings are too
strong to be broken like pack thread."

Deerslayer turned to the chest in question, and for the first time
examined it closely. Although discolored, and bearing proofs of having
received much ill-treatment, he saw that it was of materials and
workmanship altogether superior to anything of the same sort he had
ever before beheld. The wood was dark, rich, and had once been highly
polished, though the treatment it had received left little gloss on
its surface, and various scratches and indentations proved the rough
collisions that it had encountered with substances still harder than
itself. The corners were firmly bound with steel, elaborately and richly
wrought, while the locks, of which it had no less than three, and the
hinges, were of a fashion and workmanship that would have attracted
attention even in a warehouse of curious furniture. This chest was quite
large; and when Deerslayer arose, and endeavored to raise an end by its
massive handle, he found that the weight fully corresponded with the
external appearance.

"Did you never see that chest opened, Judith?" the young man demanded
with frontier freedom, for delicacy on such subjects was little felt
among the people on the verge of civilization, in that age, even if it
be today.

"Never. Father has never opened it in my presence, if he ever opens it
at all. No one here has ever seen its lid raised, unless it be father;
nor do I even know that he has ever seen it."

"Now you're wrong, Judith," Hetty quietly answered. "Father has raised
the lid, and I've seen him do it."

A feeling of manliness kept the mouth of Deerslayer shut; for, while he
would not have hesitated about going far beyond what would be thought
the bounds of pro