The strength of Edith
had been severely tried, and her head now rested upon the bosom of her
father, whose arms were required for her support, in a state of
feebleness and exhaustion, leaving it doubtful, at moments, whether the
vital principle had not itself utterly departed.
At this period the door opened, and a stranger stood abruptly before
them. His manner was sufficiently imposing, though his dress was that of
the wandering countryman, savoring of the jockey, and not much unlike
that frequently worn by such wayfarers as the stagedriver and carrier of
the mails. He had on an overcoat made of buckskin, an article of the
Indian habit; a deep fringe of the same material hung suspended from two
heavy capes that depended from the shoulder. His pantaloons were made of
buckskin also; a foxskin cap rested slightly upon his head, rather more
upon one side than the other; while a whip of huge dimensions occupied
one of his hands. Whiskers, of a bushy form and most luxuriant growth,
half-obscured his cheek, and the mustaches were sufficiently small to
lead to the inference that the wearer had only recently decided to
suffer the region to grow wild.
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