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.
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