The Deerslayer

Chapter 27

If it was a point of honor with the Indian warrior to redeem his

word, when pledged to return and meet his death at a given hour,

so was it a point of characteristic pride to show no womanish

impatience, but to reappear as nearly as possible at the appointed

moment. It was well not to exceed the grace accorded by the

generosity of the enemy, but it was better to meet it to a minute.

Something of this dramatic effect mingles with most of the graver

usages of the American aborigines, and no doubt, like the prevalence

of a similar feeling among people more sophisticated and refined,

may be referred to a principle of nature. We all love the wonderful,

and when it comes attended by chivalrous self-devotion and a rigid

regard to honor, it presents itself to our admiration in a shape