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Файл:The Chainbearer; or, The Littlepage Manuscripts
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
above them, and, with them, to quarrel is to caluminate. Leaguing with the disaffected, of whom there always must be some,
especially when men are compelled to pay their debts, one of
their fi rst acts is to assail the title of the landlord, when there
happens to be one in their neighborhood, by lying and slandering. There seems to be no exception to the rule, the practice
being resorted to against the oldest as well as against the most
recently granted estates among us. The lie only varies in particulars; it is equally used against the titles of the old families of Van Rensselaer, Livingston, Beekman, Van Cortlandt,
De Lancey, Schuyler, and others, as against the hundred new
names that have sprung up in what is called the western
counties, since the revolution. It is the lie of the Father of Lies,
who varies it to suit circumstances and believers. «A desp’rate
rogue», all agree in calling the man who owns land that they
desire to possess themselves, without being put to the unpleasant trouble of purchasing and paying for it.
I so far commanded myself, however, as to make no retort
for the injustice done my upright, beloved, and noble-minded
father, but left his defence to the friendly feelings and sterling
honesty of Surefl int.
«Not so», answered the Indian sternly. «Big lie – forked
tongue tell dat – know gen’ral – sarve wid him – know him.
Good warrior – honest man – dat lie. Tell him so to face».
«Waal – wa-a-l – I don’t know», drawled out Mr. Thousandacres: how those rascals will «wa-a-l», and «I don’t know»,
when they are cornered in one of their traducing tales, and are
met face to face, as the Indian now met the squatter! «Wa-a-l,
wa-a-l, I don’t know, and only repeat what I have heern say.
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
But here we be at the cabin, Trackless; and I see by the smoke
that old Prudence and her gals has been actyve this morning,
and we shall get suthin’ comfortable for the stomach».
Hereupon, Mr. Thousandacres stopped at a convenient
place by the side of the stream, and commenced washing his
face and hands; an operation that was now performed for
the fi rst time that day.
CHAPTER XVII
«He stepped before the monarch’s chair,
And stood with rustic plainness there,
And little reverence made;
Nor head, nor body, bowed nor bent,
B ut on the desk his arm he leant,
And words like these he said».
– Marmion.
While the squatter was thus occupied in arranging his
toilet, previously to taking his morning meal, I had a moment of leisure to look about in. We had ascended to the level of the mill, where was an open, half-cleared space, of some
sixty acres in extent, that was under a rude cultivation. Stubs
and stumps abounded, and the fences were of logs, showing
that the occupancy was still of recent date. In fact, as I afterward ascertained, Thousandacres, with his family of hopeful
sons and daughters, numbering in all more than twenty souls,
had squatted at that spot just four years before. The mill-seat
was admirable, nature having done for it nearly all that was
required, though the mill itself was as unartifi cial and makeshift as such a construction very well could be. Agriculture
313
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
evidently occupied very little of the time of the family, which
tilled just enough land «to make a live on’t», while everything in the shape of lumber was «improved» to the utmost.
A vast number of noble pines had been felled, and boards and
shingles were to be seen in profusion on every side. A few of
the fi rst were being sent to market, in order to meet the demands of the moment, in the way of groceries; but the intention was to wait for the rise of the little stream, after the fall
rains, in order to send the bulk of the property into the common artery of the Hudson, and to reap the great reward of
the toil of the summer and spring.
I saw, also, that there must be additions to this family, in
the way of marriage, as they occupied no less than fi ve cabins, all of which were of logs, freshly erected, and had an air of
comfort and stability about them, that one would not have expected to meet where the title was so fl imsy. All this, as I fancied, indicated a design not to remove very soon. It was probable that some of the oldest of the sons and daughters were
married, and that the patriarch was already beholding a new
generation of squatters springing up about him. A few of
the young men were visible, lounging about the different
cabins, and the mill was sending forth that peculiar, cutting,
grating sound, that had so distinctly attracted the attention of
Susquesus, even in the depth of the forest.
«Walk in, Trackless», cried Thousandacres, in a hearty, free
manner, which proved that what came easily went as freely;
«walk in, fri’nd; I don’t know your name, but that’s no great
matter, where there’s enough for all, and a wilcome in the bar-
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
gain. Here’s the old woman, ready and willing to sarve you,
and looking as smiling as a gal of fi fteen».
The last part of the statement, however, was not precisely
accurate. «Miss Thousandacres», as the squatter sometimes
magnifi cently called his consort, or the dam of his young
brood, was far from receiving us with either smiles or welcomes. A sharp-featured, keen, gray-eyed, old woman, her
thoughts were chiefl y bent on the cares of her brood; and
her charities extended little beyond them. She had been
the mother of fourteen children herself, twelve of which survived. All had been born amid the diffi culties, privations and
solitudes of stolen abodes in the wilderness. That woman had
endured enough to break down the constitutions and to destroy the tempers of half a dozen of the ordinary beings of her
sex; yet she survived, the same enduring, hard-working, selfdenying, suffering creature she had been from the day of her
bloom and beauty. These two last words might be supposed to
be used in mockery, could one have seen old Prudence, sallow, attenuated, with sunken cheeks, hollow, lack-lustre eyes,
and broken-mouthed, as I now saw her; but there were the remains of great beauty, notwithstanding, about the woman; and
I afterward learned that she had once been among the fairest of the fair, in her native mountains. In all the intercourse
I subsequently had with her family, the manner of this woman
was anxious, distrustful, watchful, and bore a strong resemblance to that of the dam that is overseeing the welfare of her
cubs. As to her welcome at the board, it was neither hearty nor
otherwise; it being so much a matter of course for the Ameri-
315
JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
can to share his meal with the stranger, that little is said or
thought of the boon.
Notwithstanding the size of the family of Thousandacres,
the cabin in which he dwelt was not crowded. The younger
children of the settlement, ranging between the ages of four
and twelve, appeared to be distributed among all the habitations indifferently, putting into the dishes wherever there was
an opening, much as pigs thrust themselves in at any opening at a trough. The business of eating commenced simultaneously throughout the whole settlement, Prudence having
blown a blast upon a conch-shell, as the signal. I was too hungry to lose any time in discourse, and set to, with the most
hearty good-will, upon the coarse fare, the moment there was
an opportunity. My example was imitated by all around our
own particular board, it being the refi ned and intellectual
only, who habitually converse at their meals. The animal had
too great a preponderance among the squatters, to leave them
an exception to the rule.
At length, the common hunger was appeased, and I could
see that those who sat around began to examine me with a little
more curiosity than they had previously manifested. There was
nothing in the fashion of my attire to excite suspicion, perhaps,
though I did feel some little concern on account of its quality.
In that day, the social classes were broadly distinguished by
dress, no man even affecting to assume the wardrobe of a gentleman, without having certain pretensions to the character.
In the woods, however, it was the custom to throw aside everything like fi nery, and I wore the hunting-shirt already mentioned, as my outer garment. The articles most likely to betray
316
THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
my station in life were beneath this fortunate covering, and
might escape observation. Then our party was small, consisting,
besides the parents and the two guests, of only one young man,
and one young woman, of about the ages of two-and-twenty
and sixteen, whom the mother addressed as Zephaniah and
Lowiny, the latter being one of the very common American corruptions of some fi ne name taken from a book – Lavinia, quite
14
likely.
These two young persons deported themselves with
great modesty at the table, old Thousandacres and his wife,
spite of their lawless lives, having maintained a good deal of
the ancient Puritan discipline among their descendants, in
relation to things of this nature. Indeed, I was struck with
the singular contrast between the habitual attention that was
paid by all in the settlement to certain appearances of the sort,
and that certainty which every one must have possessed that
they were living daily in the commission of offences opposed
not only to the laws of the land, but to the common, inherent
14
The commoner dialect of New England is as distinct from
the language of the rest of the republic, cases of New England descent
excepted, as those of many of the English counties are from that of
London. One of the peculiarities of the former, is to pronounce the fi nal of a word like y; calling America, Ameriky; Utica, Utiky; Ithaca,
Ithaky. Thus, Lavinia would be very apt to be pronounced Lavinny,
Lavyny, or Lowiny. As there is a marked ambition for fi ne names,
the eff ect of these corruptions on a practised ear is somewhat ludicrous. The rest of the nation is quite free from the peculiarity. Foreigners often mistake New Englandisms for Americanisms; the energy,
importance, and prominency of the people of the former portion of
the country, giving them an infl uence that is disproportioned to their
numbers.
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
convictions of right. In this particular, they exhibited what is
often found in life, the remains of ancient habits and principles, existing in the shape of habits, long after the substance
that had produced them had disappeared.
«Have you asked these folks about Chainbearer?» said
Prudence abruptly, as soon as the knives and forks were laid
down, and while we still continued in our seats at the table.
«I feel a consarn of mind, about that man, that I never feel
about any other».
«Near fear Chainbearer, woman», answered the husband.
«He’s got his summer’s work afore him, without coming near
us. By the last accounts, this young Littlepage, that the old
rogue of a father has sent into the country, has got him out in
his own settlement; where he’ll be apt to keep him, I calcerlate,
till cold weather sets in. Let me once get off all the lumber
we’ve cut, and sell it, and I kear very little about Chainbearer,
or his master».
«This is bold talk, Aaron; but jist remember how often
we’ve squatted, and how often we’ve been driven to move.
I s’pose I’m talking afore fri’nds, in sayin’ what I do».
«No fear of any here, wife. Trackless is an old acquaintance,
and has as little relish for law-titles, as any on us; and his fri’nd
is ourfri’nd». I confess, that I felt a little uncomfortable, at
this remark; but the squatter going on with his conversation,
there was no opportunity for saying anything, had I been so
disposed. «As for moving», continued the husband, «I never
mov’d, but twice, without getting pay for my betterments. Now
I call that a good business, for a man who has squatted no less
than seventeen times. If the worst comes to the worst, we’re
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THE CHAINBEARER; OR, THE LITTLEPAGE MANUSCRIPTS
young enough to make an eighteenth pitch. So that I save
the lumber, I keer but little for your Littlepages or Greatpages;
the mill is no great matter, without the gear; and that has travelled all the way from Varmount, as it is, and is used to moving.
It can go farther».
«Yes, but the lumber, Aaron! The water’s low now, and you
can never get it to market, until the rivers rise, which mayn’t
be these three months. Think how many days’ labor that lumber has cost you, and all on us, and what a sight of it there
would be to lose!»
«Yes, but we wunt lose it, woman», answered Thousandacres, compressing his lips, and clenching his hands, in
a way to show how intensely he felt on the subject of property
himself, however dishonestly acquired. «My sweat and labor
be in them boards; and it’s as good as sap, anyday. What a man
sweats for, he has a right to».
This was somewhat loose morality, it is true, since a man
might sweat in bearing away his neighbor’s goods; but a portion of the human race is a good deal disposed to feel and reason on principles but little more sound than this of old Thousandacres.
«Wa-a-ll», answered the woman, «I’m sure I don’t want to
see you and the b’ys lose the fruits of your labors; not I. You’ve
honestly toiled and wrought at ‘em logs, in a way I never seed
human beings outdo; and ‘twould be hard», looking particularly at me, «now that they’ve cut the trees, hauled ‘em to mill,
and sawed the boards, to see another man step in and claim all
the property. That could never be right, but is ag’in all justice,
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
whether Varmount or York. I s’pose there’s no great harm in
jist askin’ what your name may be, young man?»
«None in the world», I answered, with a self-command that
I could see delighted the Onondago. «My name is Mordaunt».
«Mordaunt!» repeated the woman, quickly. «Don’t we
know suthin’ of that name? – Is that a fri’ndly name, to us
Varmounters? – How is it, Aaron? you ought to know».
«No, I hadn’t ought to, for I never heerd tell of any
sich name afore. So long as ‘tisn’t Littlepage, I kear nothin’
about it».
I felt relieved at this reply, for I will own, that the idea of
falling into the power of these lawless men was far from pleasant to me. From Thousandacres, down to the lad of seventeen,
they all stood six feet in their stockings; and a stouter, more
broad-shouldered, sinewy race, was not often seen. The idea of
resisting them by force, was out of the question. I was entirely
without arms; though the Indian was better provided; but no
less than four rifl es were laid on brackets in this one cabin;
and I made no doubt that every male of the family had his own
particular weapon. The rifl e was the fi rst necessary of men of
this stamp, being as serviceable in procuring food as in protecting them from their enemies.
It was at this moment that Prudence drew a long sigh, and
rose from table in order to renew her domestic labors. Lowiny followed her motions in submissive silence, and we men
sauntered to the door of the cabin, where I could get a new
view of the nature of those «betterments» that Thousandacres so highly prized, and of the extent of the depredations
that had been committed on Colonel Follock and my father.
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