Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 2).djvu/182

 that paradise is ordained for happiness; and that men will be indulged in it according to their dispositions and gifts. I therefore judge that a red skin is not far from the truth, when he believes he is to find them glorious hunting grounds, of which his traditions tell; nor, for that matter, do I think it would be any disparagement to a man without a cross, to pass his time—"

"You hear it again!" interrupted Duncan.

"Ay, ay; when food is scarce, and when food is plenty, a wolf grows bold," said the unmoved scout. "There would be picking, too, among the skins of the devils, if there was light and time for the sport! But concerning the life that is to come, Major. I have heard preachers say, in the settlements, that heaven was a place of rest. Now men's minds differ as to their ideas of enjoyment. For myself, and I say it with reverence to the ordering of Providence, it would be no great indulgence to be kept shut up in those mansions of which they preach, having a natural longing for motion and the chase."