open, and the
bright sunshine and green trees for his guides, he had suffered himself
to lose his way--an incident excessively ludicrous in the contemplation
of one, who, in his own words, could take the tree with the 'possum, the
scent with the hound, the swamp with the deer, and be in at the death
with all of them--for whom the woods had no labyrinth and the night no
mystery. He laughed heartily at the simplicity of the youth, and entered
into many details, not so tedious as long, of the various hairbreadth
escapes, narrow chances, and curious enterprises of his own initiation
into the secrets of wood-craft, and to the trials and perils of which,
in his own probation, his experience had necessarily subjected him. At
length he concluded his narrative by seizing upon one portion of Ralph's
language with an adroitness and ingenuity that might have done credit to
an older diplomatist; and went on to invite the latter to quarter upon
himself for a few weeks at least.

"And now Master Colleton, as you are rambling, as you say, indifferent
quite as to what quarter you turn the head of your creature--suppose now
you take up lodgings with me. I have, besides this room, which I only
keep for my use of a Saturday and Sunday when I come to the village--a
snug place a few miles off, and there's room enough, and provisions
enough, if you'll only stop a while and take what's going. Plenty of hog
and hominy at all times, and we don't want for other and better things,
if we please. Come, stay with me for a month, or more, if you choose,
and when you think to go, I can put you on your road at an hour's
warning. In the meantime, I can show you all that's to be seen. I can
show you where the gold grows, and may be had for the gathering. We've
snug quarters for the woods, plenty of venison; and, as you must be a
good shot coming from Carolina, you may bring down at day-dawn of a
morning a sluggish wild turkey, so fat that he will split open the
moment he strikes the ground. Don't fight shy, now, 'squire, and we'll
have sport just so long as you choose to stay with us."

The free and hearty manner of the woodman, who, as he concluded his
invitation, grasped the hand of the youth warmly in his own, spoke quite
as earnestly as his language; and Ralph, in part, fell readily into a
proposal which promised something in the way of diversion. He gave
Forrester to understand that he would probably divide his time for a few
days between the taver