“Well, I suppose if all the world says and does differently, I must be wrong, for I am unacquainted with everything but my own feelings; and my mother taught me this, and bade me never to trust a white man. I am glad I was wrong, for if I feel I am right, I am sure I shall be happy.”
“Well,” sais I, “I am sure you will be so, and this is just the place, above all others in the world, that will suit you, and make you so. Now,” sais I, “Jessie, I will tell you a story;” and I told her the whole tale of Pocahontas; how she saved Captain Smith’s life in the early settlement of Virginia, and afterwards married Mr Rolfe, and visited the court of England, where all the nobles sought her society. And then I gave her all the particulars of her life, illness, and death, and informed her that her son, who stood in the same relationship to the whites as she did, became a wealthy planter in Virginia, and that one of his descendants, lately deceased, was one of the most eloquent as well as one of the most distinguished men in the United States. It interested her uncommonly, and I have no doubt greatly contributed to confirm her in the decision she had come to. I will not trouble you, Squire, with the story, for it is so romantic, I believe everybody has heard of it. I promised to give her a book containing all the details.
The bugle now sounded our recall, and in a few minutes we were seated on the grass, and enjoying our meal with an appetite that exercise, excitement, and forest air never fail to give. Songs, trout-fishing, and stories agreeably occupied the afternoon; and when the sun began to cast long shadows from the mountain, we reëmbarked with our traps, and landed at the cove near the clump of trees where we started in the morning. While preparations were making for tea in the house, I lit my cigar to take a stroll with Cutler, and talk over our arrangements for an early start in the morrow, and proceeding immediately to sea. In the mean time, I briefly stated to the doctor that he would now find no further obstacle to his wishes, and counselled him to lose no time, while the impression was favourable, to bring his long-pending negotiation to a conclusion.
“Slick,” said he, laughing, “your government ought to have prevailed upon you to remain in the diplomatic service. You are such a capital negotiator.”
“Well,” said I, “I believe I would have succeeded in that line; but do you know how?”
“By a plentiful use of soft sawder,” said he.
“No, Doctor, I knew you would say that; and it ain’t to be despised neither, I can tell you. No, it’s because you go coolly to work, for you are negotiatin’ for another. If you don’t succeed, it’s the fault of the mission, of course, and defeat won’t break your heart; if you do carry your point, why, in the natur of things, it is all your own skill. I have done famously for you; but I made a bungling piece of business for myself, I assure you. What my brother, the lawyer, used to say is very true: ‘A man who pleads his own cause has a fool for his client.’ You can’t praise yourself unless it’s a bit of brag, and that I can do as well as any one, I do suppose; but you can’t lay the whitewash on handily no more than you can brush the back of your own coat when it is on. Cutler and I will take a stroll, and do you invite Jessie out, to see the moon on the lake.”
In about an hour, Peter, who had found his pipes to his infinite delight, intimated supper was ready; and the dispersed groups returned, and sat down to a meal which, in addition to the tea and coffee and its usual accompaniments at country-houses, had some substantial viands for those, like myself, who had done more talking than eating at dinner. In a short time, the girls retired for the night, and we arranged for a peep of day return.
“Mr Slick,” said the doctor, “I have ordered the boy to take the moose down to the village as my share of the sea-stores. Will you give me leave to go a part of the cruise with you?”
“With great pleasure,” said I; “it’s just what I was going to ask the favour of you to do. It’s the very identical thing.”