slew him, even admitting that the colony took the matter in hand
and made a stir about it?"

"If that man should be Judith Hutter's husband, after what has
passed, I might tell enough, at least, to put the colony on the
trail."

"You!--half-grown, venison-hunting bantling! You dare to think of
informing against Hurry Harry in so much as a matter touching
a mink or a woodchuck!"

"I would dare to speak truth, Hurry, consarning you or any man that
ever lived."

March looked at his companion, for a moment, in silent amazement;
then seizing him by the throat with both hands, he shook his comparatively
slight frame with a violence that menaced the dislocation of some
of the bones. Nor was this done jocularly, for anger flashed
from the giant's eyes, and there were certain signs that seemed to
threaten much more earnestness than the occasion would appear to
call for. Whatever might be the real intention of March, and it is
probable there was none settled in his mind, it is certain that he
was unusually aroused; and most men who found themselves throttled
by one of a mould so gigantic, in such a mood, and in a solitude
so deep and helpless, would have felt intimidated, and tempted
to yield even the right. Not so, however, with Deerslayer. His
countenance remained unmoved; his hand did not shake, and his answer
was given in a voice that did not resort to the artifice of louder
tones, even by way of proving its owner's resolution.