ThenNo。3jumpedfortheboat，andfellagoodwayasternofit。ThenNo，4。jumpedfortheboat，andfellinthewaterawayastern。ThenevenNo。5madeajumpfortheboat——forhewasaCooperIndian。Inthematterofintellect，thedifferencebetweenaCooperIndianandtheIndianthatstandsinfrontofthecigarshopisnotspacious。Thescowepisodeisreallyasublimeburstofinvention;butitdoesnotthrill，becausetheinaccuracyofthedetailsthrowsasortofairoffictitiousnessandgeneralimprobabilityoverit。ThiscomesofCooper’sinadequacyasanobserver。
ThereaderwillfindsomeexamplesofCooper’shightalentforinaccurateobservationintheaccountoftheshooting—matchinThePathfinder。
\"Acommonwroughtnailwasdrivenlightlyintothetarget，itsheadhavingbeenfirsttouchedwithpaint。\"
Thecolorofthepaintisnotstated——animportantomission，butCooperdealsfreelyinimportantomissions。No，afterall，itwasnotanimportantomission;forthisnail—headisahundredyardsfromthemarksmen，andcouldnotbeseenbythematthatdistance，nomatterwhatitscolormightbe。
Howfarcanthebesteyesseeacommonhouse—fly？Ahundredyards？Itisquiteimpossible。Verywell;eyesthatcannotseeahouse—flythatisahundredyardsawaycannotseeanordinarynailheadatthatdistance，forthesizeofthetwoobjectsisthesame。Ittakesakeeneyetoseeaflyoranailheadatfiftyyards——onehundredandfiftyfeet。Canthereaderdoit？
Thenailwaslightlydriven，itsheadpainted，andgamecalled。ThentheCoopermiraclesbegan。Thebulletofthefirstmarksmanchippedanedgeoffthenail—head;thenextman’sbulletdrovethenailalittlewayintothetarget——andremovedallthepaint。Haven’tthemiraclesgonefarenoughnow？NottosuitCooper;forthepurposeofthiswholeschemeistoshowoffhisprodigy，DeerslayerHawkeye——Long—Rifle—Leather—Stocking—
Pathfinder—Bumppobeforetheladies。
\"’Beallreadytoclenchit，boysI’criedoutPathfinder，steppingintohisfriend’strackstheinstanttheywerevacant。
’Nevermindanewnail;Icanseethat，thoughthepaintisgone，andwhatIcanseeIcanhitatahundredyards，thoughitwereonlyamosquito’seye。Bereadytoclench！’
\"Theriflecracked，thebulletspeditsway，andtheheadofthenailwasburiedinthewood，coveredbythepieceofflattenedlead。\"
There，yousee，isamanwhocouldhuntflieswitharifle，andcommandaducalsalaryinaWildWestshowto—dayifwehadhimbackwithus。
Therecordedfeatiscertainlysurprisingjustasitstands;butitisnotsurprisingenoughforCooper。Cooperaddsatouch。HehasmadePathfinderdothismiraclewithanotherman’srifle;andnotonlythat，butPathfinderdidnothaveeventheadvantageofloadingithimself。Hehadeverythingagainsthim，andyethemadethatimpossibleshot;andnotonlymadeit，butdiditwithabsoluteconfidence，saying，\"Bereadytoclench。\"Nowapersonlikethatwouldhaveundertakenthatsamefeatwithabrickbat，andwithCoopertohelphewouldhaveachievedit，too。
Pathfindershowedoffhandsomelythatdaybeforetheladies。HisveryfirstfeatwasathingwhichnoWildWestshowcantouch。Hewasstandingwiththegroupofmarksmen，observing——ahundredyardsfromthetarget，mind;onejasperraisedhisrifleanddrovethecentreofthebull’s—eye。ThentheQuartermasterfired。Thetargetexhibitednoresultthistime。Therewasalaugh。\"It’sadeadmiss，\"saidMajorLundie。Pathfinderwaitedanimpressivemomentortwo;thensaid，inthatcalm，indifferent，know—it—allwayofhis，\"No，Major，hehascoveredjasper’sbullet，aswillbeseenifanyonewilltakethetroubletoexaminethetarget。\"
Wasn’titremarkable！Howcouldheseethatlittlepelletflythroughtheairandenterthatdistantbullet—hole？Yetthatiswhathedid;fornothingisimpossibletoaCooperperson。Didanyofthosepeoplehaveanydeep—seateddoubtsaboutthisthing？No;forthatwouldimplysanity，andthesewereallCooperpeople。
\"TherespectforPathfinder’sskillandforhis’quicknessandaccuracyofsight’\"（theitalics[’’]aremine）\"wassoprofoundandgeneral，thattheinstanthemadethisdeclarationthespectatorsbegantodistrusttheirownopinions，andadozenrushedtothetargetinordertoascertainthefact。
There，sureenough，itwasfoundthattheQuartermaster’sbullethadgonethroughtheholemadebyJasper’s，andthat，too，soaccuratelyastorequireaminuteexaminationtobecertainofthecircumstance，which，however，wassoonclearlyestablishedbydiscoveringonebulletovertheotherinthestumpagainstwhichthetargetwasplaced。\"
Theymadea\"minute\"examination;butnevermind，howcouldtheyknowthatthereweretwobulletsinthatholewithoutdiggingthelatestoneout？forneitherprobenoreyesightcouldprovethepresenceofanymorethanonebullet。Didtheydig？No;asweshallsee。ItisthePathfinder’sturnnow;hestepsoutbeforetheladies，takesaim，andfires。
But，alas！hereisadisappointment;anincredible，anunimaginabledisappointment—forthetarget’saspectisunchanged;thereisnothingtherebutthatsameoldbullet—hole！
\"’Ifonedaredtohintatsuchathing，’criedMajorDuncan，’I
shouldsaythatthePathfinderhasalsomissedthetarget！’\"
Asnobodyhadmissedityet，the\"also\"wasnotnecessary;butnevermindaboutthat，forthePathfinderisgoingtospeak。
\"’No，no，Major，’saidhe，confidently，’thatwouldbeariskydeclaration。Ididn’tloadthepiece，andcan’tsaywhatwasinit;butifitwaslead，youwillfindthebulletdrivingdownthoseoftheQuartermasterandJasper，elseisnotmynamePathfinder。’
\"Ashoutfromthetargetannouncedthetruthofthisassertion。\"
Isthemiraclesufficientasitstands？NotforCooper。ThePathfinderspeaksagain，ashe\"nowslowlyadvancestowardsthestageoccupiedbythefemales\":
\"’That’snotall，boys，that’snotall;ifyoufindthetargettouchedatall，I’llowntoamiss。TheQuartermastercutthewood，butyou’llfindnowoodcutbythatlastmessenger。\"
Themiracleisatlastcomplete。Heknew——doubtlesssaw——atthedistanceofahundredyards——thathisbullethadpassedintotheholewithoutfrayingtheedges。Therewerenowthreebulletsinthatonehole——threebulletsembeddedprocessionallyinthebodyofthestumpbackofthetarget。Everybodyknewthis——somehoworother——andyetnobodyhadduganyofthemouttomakesure。Cooperisnotacloseobserver，butheisinteresting。Heiscertainlyalwaysthat，nomatterwhathappens。Andheismoreinterestingwhenheisnotnoticingwhatheisaboutthanwhenheis。Thisisaconsiderablemerit。
TheconversationsintheCooperbookshaveacurioussoundinourmodernears。Tobelievethatsuchtalkreallyevercameoutofpeople’smouthswouldbetobelievethattherewasatimewhentimewasofnovaluetoapersonwhothoughthehadsomethingtosay;whenitwasthecustomtospreadatwo—minuteremarkouttoten;whenaman’smouthwasarolling—
mill，andbusieditselfalldaylonginturningfour—footpigsofthoughtintothirty—footbarsofconversationalrailroadironbyattenuation;
whensubjectswereseldomfaithfullystuckto，butthetalkwanderedallaroundandarrivednowhere;whenconversationsconsistedmainlyofirrelevancies，withhereandtherearelevancy，arelevancywithanembarrassedlook，asnotbeingabletoexplainhowitgotthere。
Cooperwascertainlynotamasterintheconstructionofdialogue。
Inaccurateobservationdefeatedhimhereasitdefeatedhiminsomanyotherenterprisesofhis。HeevenfailedtonoticethatthemanwhotalkscorruptEnglishsixdaysintheweekmustandwilltalkitontheseventh，andcan’thelphimself。IntheDeerslayerstoryheletsDeerslayertalktheshowiestkindofbook—talksometimes，andatothertimesthebasestofbasedialects。Forinstance，whensomeoneaskshimifhehasasweetheart，andifso，wheresheabides，thisishismajesticanswer:
\"’She’sintheforest—hangingfromtheboughsofthetrees，inasoftrain——inthedewontheopengrass——thecloudsthatfloataboutintheblueheavens——thebirdsthatsinginthewoods——thesweetspringswhereIslakemythirst——andinalltheothergloriousgiftsthatcomefromGod’sProvidence！’\"
Andheprecededthat，alittlebefore，withthis:
\"’Itconsarnsmeasallthingsthattouchesafri’ndconsarnsafri’nd。’\"
Andthisisanotherofhisremarks:
\"’IfIwasInjinborn，now，Imighttellofthis，orcarryinthescalpandboastoftheexpl’iteaforethewholetribe;orifmyinimyhadonlybeenabear’\"——andsoon。
WecannotimaginesuchathingasaveteranScotchCommander—in—Chiefcomportinghimselfinthefieldlikeawindymelodramaticactor，butCoopercould。OnoneoccasionAliceandCorawerebeingchasedbytheFrenchthroughafogintheneighborhoodoftheirfather’sfort:
\"’Pointdequartierauxcoquins！’criedaneagerpursuer，whoseemedtodirecttheoperationsoftheenemy。
\"’Standfirmandbeready，mygallantGoths！’suddenlyexclaimedavoiceabovethem;waittoseetheenemy;firelow，andsweeptheglacis。’
\"’Father？father！’exclaimedapiercingcryfromoutthemist;
itisI！Alice！thyownElsie！spare，O！saveyourdaughters！’
\"’Hold！’shoutedtheformerspeaker，intheawfultonesofparentalagony，thesoundreachingeventothewoods，androllingbackinsolemnecho。\"Tisshe！Godhasrestoredmemychildren！Throwopenthesally—port;tothefield，Goths，tothefield！pullnotatrigger，lestyekillmylambs！DriveoffthesedogsofFrancewithyoursteel！’\"
Cooper’sword—sensewassingularlydull。Whenapersonhasapoorearformusichewillflatandsharprightalongwithoutknowingit。Hekeepsnearthetune，butitisnotthetune。Whenapersonhasapoorearforwords，theresultisaliteraryflattingandsharping;youperceivewhatheisintendingtosay，butyoualsoperceivethathedoesn’tsayit。ThisisCooper。Hewasnotaword—musician。Hisearwassatisfiedwiththeapproximateword。Iwillfurnishsomecircumstantialevidenceinsupportofthischarge。MyinstancesaregatheredfromhalfadozenpagesofthetalecalledDeerslayer。Heuses\"verbal，\"for\"oral\";\"precision，\"for\"facility\";\"phenomena，\"for\"marvels\";\"necessary，\"for\"predetermined\";\"unsophisticated，\"for\"primitive\";\"preparation，\"for\"expectancy\";\"rebuked，\"for\"subdued\";
\"dependenton，\"for\"resultingfrom\";\"fact，\"for\"condition\";\"fact，\"
for\"conjecture\";\"precaution，\"for\"caution\";\"explain，\"for\"determine\";\"mortified，\"for\"disappointed\";\"meretricious，\"for\"factitious\";\"materially，\"for\"considerably\";\"decreasing，\"for\"deepening\";\"increasing，\"for\"disappearing\";\"embedded，\"for\"enclosed\";\"treacherous;\"for\"hostile\";\"stood，\"for\"stooped\";
\"softened，\"for\"replaced\";\"rejoined，\"for\"remarked\";\"situation，\"for\"condition\";\"different，\"for\"differing\";\"insensible，\"for\"unsentient\";\"brevity，\"for\"celerity\";\"distrusted，\"for\"suspicious\";
\"mentalimbecility，\"for\"imbecility\";\"eyes，\"for\"sight\";
\"counteracting，\"for\"opposing\";\"funeralobsequies，\"for\"obsequies。\"
TherehavebeendaringpeopleintheworldwhoclaimedthatCoopercouldwriteEnglish，buttheyarealldeadnow——alldeadbutLounsbury。
Idon’trememberthatLounsburymakestheclaiminsomanywords，stillhemakesit，forhesaysthatDeerslayerisa\"pureworkofart。\"
Pure，inthatconnection，meansfaultless——faultlessinalldetailsandlanguageisadetail。IfMr。LounsburyhadonlycomparedCooper’sEnglishwiththeEnglishwhichhewriteshimself——butitisplainthathedidn’t;andsoitislikelythatheimaginesuntilthisdaythatCooper’sisascleanandcompactashisown。NowIfeelsure，deepdowninmyheart，thatCooperwroteaboutthepoorestEnglishthatexistsinourlanguage，andthattheEnglishofDeerslayeristheveryworstthatevenCoopereverwrote。
Imaybemistaken，butitdoesseemtomethatDeerslayerisnotaworkofartinanysense;itdoesseemtomethatitisdestituteofeverydetailthatgoestothemakingofaworkofart;intruth，itseemstomethatDeerslayerisjustsimplyaliterarydeliriumtremens。
Aworkofart？Ithasnoinvention;ithasnoorder，system，sequence，orresult;ithasnolifelikeness，nothrill，nostir，noseemingofreality;itscharactersareconfusedlydrawn，andbytheiractsandwordstheyprovethattheyarenotthesortofpeopletheauthorclaimsthattheyare;itshumorispathetic;itspathosisfunny;itsconversationsare——oh！indescribable;itslove—scenesodious;itsEnglishacrimeagainstthelanguage。
Countingtheseout，whatisleftisArt。Ithinkwemustalladmitthat。