I.

"An oaken, broken, elbow-chair;
A caudle-cup without an ear;
A battered, shattered ash bedstead;
A box of deal without a lid;
A pair of tongs, but out of joint;
A back-sword poker, without point;
A dish which might good meat afford once;
An Ovid, and an old
Concordance."

Thomas Sheridan, "A True and Faithful Inventory of the Goods
belonging to Dr. Swift," ll.i-6, 13-14.

No sooner did Deerslayer raise the pistols, than he turned to the
Delaware and held them up for his admiration.

"Child gun," said the Serpent, smiling, while he handled one of the
instruments as if it had been a toy.

"Not it, Sarpent; not it--'twas made for a man and would satisfy a
giant, if rightly used. But stop; white men are remarkable for their
carelessness in putting away fire arms, in chists and corners. Let me
look if care has been given to these."

As Deerslayer spoke, he took the weapon from the hand of his friend and
opened the pan. The last was filled with priming, caked like a bit of
cinder, by time, moisture and compression. An application of the ramrod
showed that both the pistols were charged, although Judith could testify
that they had probably lain for years in the chest. It is not easy to
portray the surprise of the Indian at this discovery, for he was in the
practice of renewing his priming daily, and of looking to the contents
of his piece at other short intervals.

"This is white neglect," said Deerslayer, shaking his head, "and scarce
a season goes by that some one in the settlements doesn't suffer from
it. It's extr'ornary too, Judith--yes, it's downright extr'ornary that
the owner shall fire his piece at a deer, or some other game, or perhaps
at an inimy, and twice out of three times he'll miss; but let him catch
an accident with one of these forgotten charges, and he makes it sartain
death to a child, or a brother, or a fri'nd! Well, we shall do a good
turn to the owner if we fire these pistols for him, and as they're
novelties to you and me, Sarpent, we'll try our hands at a mark. Freshen
that priming, and I'll do the same with this, and then we'll see who is
the best man with a pistol; as for the rifle, that's long been settled
atween us."

Deerslayer laughed heartily at his own conceit, and, in a minute or two,
they were both standing on the platform, selecting some object in the
Ark for their target. Judith was led by curiosity to their side.

"Stand back,