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Oak Openings by James Fenimore Cooper
page 35 of 582 (06%)
who, like himself, were pushing their humble fortunes along the
shores of those inland seas, which, as yet, were rarely indeed
whitened by a sail. In this respect, Boden and Waring were the very
antipodes of each other; Gershom being an inveterate gossip, in
despite of his attachment to a vagrant and border life.

The duties of hospitality are rarely forgotten among border men. The
inhabitant of a town may lose his natural disposition to receive all
who offer at his board, under the pressure of society; but it is
only in most extraordinary exceptions that the frontier man is ever
known to be inhospitable. He has little to offer, but that little is
seldom withheld, either through prudence or niggardliness. Under
this feeling--we might call it habit also--le Bourdon now set
himself at work to place on the table such food as he had at command
and ready cooked. The meal which he soon pressed his guests to share
with him was composed of a good piece of cold boiled pork, which Ben
had luckily cooked the day previously, some bear's meat roasted, a
fragment of venison steak, both lean and cold, and the remains of a
duck that had been shot the day before, in the Kalamazoo, with
bread, salt, and, what was somewhat unusual in the wilderness, two
or three onions, raw. The last dish was highly relished by Gershom,
and was slightly honored by Ben; but the Indians passed it over with
cold indifference. The dessert consisted of bread and honey, which
were liberally partaken of by all at table.

Little was said by either host or guests, until the supper was
finished, when the whole party left the chiente, to enjoy their
pipes in the cool evening air, beneath the oaks of the grove in
which the dwelling stood. Their conversation began to let the
parties know something of each other's movements and characters.
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