rdles
my blood, when I find human mortals so bound up in darkness and consait,
as to fashion the 'arth, or wood, or bones, things made by their own
hands, into motionless, senseless effigies, and then fall down afore
them, and worship 'em as a Deity!"

"After all, Deerslayer, these pieces of ivory may not be idols, at all.
I remember, now, to have seen one of the officers at the garrison with
a set of fox and geese made in some such a design as these, and here is
something hard, wrapped in cloth, that may belong to your idols."

Deerslayer took the bundle the girl gave him, and unrolling it, he found
the board within. Like the pieces it was large, rich, and inlaid with
ebony and ivory. Putting the whole in conjunction the hunter, though
not without many misgivings, slowly came over to Judith's opinion, and
finally admitted that the fancied idols must be merely the curiously
carved men of some unknown game. Judith had the tact to use her victory
with great moderation, nor did she once, even in the most indirect
manner, allude to the ludicrous mistake of her companion.

This discovery of the uses of the extraordinary-looking little images
settled the affair of the proposed ransom. It was agreed generally, and
all understood the weaknesses and tastes of Indians, that nothing could
be more likely to tempt the cupidity of the Iroquois than the elephants,
in particular. Luckily the whole of the castles were among the pieces,
and these four tower-bearing animals it was finally determined should be
the ransom offered. The remainder of the men, and, indeed, all the rest
of the articles in the chest, were to be kept out of view, and to be
resorted to only as a last appeal. As soon as these preliminaries were
settled, everything but those intended for the bribe was carefully
replaced in the chest, all the covers were 'tucked in' as they had
been found, and it was quite possible, could Hutter have been put in
possession of the castle again, that he might have passed the remainder
of his days in it without even suspecting the invasion that had been
made on the privacy of the chest. The rent pistol would have been the
most likely to reveal the secret, but this was placed by the side of its
fellow, and all were pressed down as before, some half a dozen packages
in the bottom of the chest not having been opened at all. When this was
done the lid was lowered, the padlocks replaced, and the key turned. The
latter was then replaced in t