“By St. Nicholas! Corny, I never thought of that! But, you have been college-taught; and a thousand things are picked up at colleges, that one never dreams of at an academy. I see reason, every day, to lament my idleness when a boy; and fortunate shall I be, if I do not lament it all my life.”
Poor Guert! He was always so humble, when the subject of education arose, however accidentally or unintentionally on my part, that it was never commented on, that it did not give me pain, exciting a wish to avoid it. As the time for the halt was now up, it was easy to terminate the present discussion, by declaring as much, and proceeding on our way.
We had a hard afternoon's walk of it, though neither of the five manifested the least disposition to give in. As for Susquesus, to me, he never seemed to know either fatigue or hunger. He was doubtless acquainted with both; but his habits of self-command were so severe, as to enable him completely to conceal his sufferings in this, as well as in most other respects.
The sun was near setting when we entered within the limits of the Mooseridge estate. We ascertained this fact by passing the line-trees, some of which had figures cut into their barks, to denote the numbers of the great subdivisions of the property. Guert pointed out these marks; being far more accustomed to the woods than either Dirck or myself. Aided by such guides, we had no difficulty in making a sufficiently straight course to the hut.
Susquesus thought a little caution necessary, as we drew near to the end of our journey. Causing us to remain behind, he advanced in front, himself, to reconnoitre. A signal, however, soon took us to the place where he stood, when we discovered the hut just as we had left it, but no one near it. This might be the result of mere accident, the surveying party frequently 'camping out,' in preference to making a long march after a fatiguing day's work; and Pete would be very likely to prefer going to join these men, to remaining alone in the hut. We advanced to the building, therefore, with confidence. On reaching it, we found the place empty, as had been anticipated, though with every sign about it of its tenants having left it but a short time previously; that morning, at the furthest.
Jaap set about preparing a supper out of the regular supplies of the party; all of which were found in their places, and in abundance. On inquiry of the fellow, I ascertained it was his opinion Mr. Traverse had gone off that very day, most probably to some distant portion of the Patent, taking Pete with him, as everything was covered up and put away with that sort of care that denotes an absence of some little time. The Indian heard the negro's remark, to this effect, and, tossing his head significantly, he said—
“No need guess—-go see—light enough—plenty time. Injin soon tell.”
He quitted the hut, on the spot, and immediately set about this self-assigned duty.