Near sunset of Christmas Eve, 1793, Judge Marmaduke Temple and his daughter, Elizabeth, are approaching Templeton, a village of Central New York, in a sleigh driven by Agamemnon, a Negro slave. Elizabeth is returning home after four years spent in the city completing her education. When a deer, pursued by hounds, crosses their path, Judge Temple fires at it with his shotgun, but the animal continues to flee until two rifle shots bring it to earth. Natty Bumppo, an aged woodsman, and a youthful companion emerge from the place where they had been hiding to ambush the deer. Hoping to lay claim to at least part of the carcass, the judge insists that at least one of his five buckshot must have struck the deer. Natty's young friend proves the Judge in error by pointing out four bullet holes in the tree behind which he had been hiding and a fifth bullet hole in his own arm. The ownership of the deer is all but forgotten as the Judge and Elizabeth, shocked at the mishap, persuade the reluctant youth, who goes by the name of Oliver Edwards, to return with them to Templeton for treatment of his wound.