The dialogue, now diverted to other topics, was not much longer
protracted. The hour grew late, and the shutting up of the house, and
the retiring of the family below, warned Forrester of the propriety of
making his own retreat to the little cabin in which he lodged. He shook
Ralph's hand warmly, and, promising to see him at an early hour of the
morning, took his departure. A degree of intimacy, rather inconsistent
with our youth's wonted haughtiness of habit, had sprung up between
himself and the woodman--the result, doubtless, on the part of the
former, of the loneliness and to him novel character of his situation.
He was cheerless and melancholy, and the association of a warm,
well-meaning spirit had something consolatory in it. He thought too, and
correctly, that, in the mind and character of Forrester, he discovered a
large degree of sturdy, manly simplicity, and a genuine honesty--colored
deeply with prejudices and without much polish, it is true, but highly
susceptible of improvement, and by no means stubborn or unreasonable in
their retention. He could not but esteem the possessor of such
characteristics, particularly when shown in such broad contrast with
those of his associates; and, without any other assurance of their
possession by Forrester than the sympathies already referred to, he was
not unwilling to recognise their existence in his person. That he came
from the same part of the world with himself may also have had its
effect--the more particularly, indeed, as the pride of birthplace was
evidently a consideration with the woodman, and the praises of Carolina
were rung, along with his own, in every variety of change through almost
all his speeches.

The youth sat musing for some time after the departure of Forrester. He
was evidently employed in chewing the cud of sweet and bitter thought,
and referring to memories deeply imbued with the closely-associated