thout the taint of
envy, and as angels may be thought to delight in a superior excellence;
adding, that these endowments should prove more than equivalent for any
little imperfections in her education.

After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the maiden
herself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and love. They exhorted
her to be of cheerful mind, and to fear nothing for future welfare. A
hunter would be her companion, who knew how to provide for her smallest
wants; and a warrior was at her side who was able to protect her against
every danger. They promised that her path should be pleasant, and her
burden light. They cautioned her against unavailing regrets for the
friends of her youth, and the scenes where her fathers had dwelt;
assuring her that the "blessed hunting-grounds of the Lenape" contained
vales as pleasant, streams as pure, and flowers as sweet, as the "heaven
of the pale-faces." They advised her to be attentive to the wants of her
companion, and never to forget the distinction which the Manitou had so
wisely established between them. Then, in a wild burst of their chant,
they sang with united voices the temper of the Mohican's mind. They
pronounced him noble, manly and generous; all that became a warrior, and
all that a maid might love. Clothing their ideas in the most remote and
subtle images, they betrayed, that, in the short period of their
intercourse, they had discovered, with the intuitive perception of their
sex, the truant disposition of his inclinations. The Delaware girls had
found no favor in his eyes! He was of a race that had once been lords on
the shores of the salt lake, and his wishes had led him back to a people
who dwelt about the graves of his fathers. Why should not such a
predilection be encouraged! That she was of a blood purer and richer
than the rest of her nation, any eye might have seen; that she was equal
to the dangers and daring of a life in the woods, her conduct had
proved; and now, they added, the "wise one of the earth" had
transplanted her to a place where she would find congenial spirits, and
might be forever happy.

Then, with another transition in voice and subject, allusions were made
to the virgin who wept in the adjacent lodge. They compared her to
flakes of snow; as pure, as white, as brilliant, and as liable to melt
in the fierce heats of summer, or congeal in the frosts of winter. They
doubted not that she was lovely in the eyes of the young c