The last of the Mohicans : a narrative of 1757

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THE
LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

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THE LAST OF THE
MOHICANS ^

A NARRATIVE OF 1757

BY

J. FENIMORE COOPER

LONDON

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS Limited

NEW YORK : £. P. DUTTON & CO

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INTRODUCTION.

It 18 believed that the scene of this tale, and most of the
mformation necessary to understand its allusions, are ren-
dered sufficiently obvious to the reader m the text itself, or
in the accompanying notes. Still there is so much obscu-
rity in the Indian traditions, and so much confusion in the
Indian names, as to render some ex;^lanation useful.

Few men exhibit greater diversity, or, if we may so
express it, greater antithesis of character, than the native
warrior of North America. In war, he is daring, boastful,
cunning, ruthless, self-denying, and self-devoted ; in peace,
just, generous, hospitable, revengeful, superstitious, modest,
and commonly chaste. These are qualities, it is true, which
do not distinguish all alike ; but they are so far the predom-
inating traits of these remarkable people, as to be character-
istic.

It is generally believed the Aborigines of the American
continent have an Asiatic origin. There are many physical
as well as moral facts which corroborate this opinion, and
some few would seem to weigh against it.

The color of the Indian, the writA* believes, is pecul-
iar to himself; and while his cheek-bones have a very
striking indication of a Tartar origin, his eyes have not.
Climate may have had great influence on the former, but it
is difficult to see how it can have produced the substantial
difference which exists in the latter. The imagery of the
Indian, both in his poetry and his oratory, is Oriental, —
chastened, and perhaps improved, by the limited range of
his practical knowledge. He draws his metaphors from the
•louds, the <>ea8ons. the birds, the beasts, said the vet^taU*

fl INTRODUCTION.

world. In this, perhaps, he does no more than any other
energetic and imaginative race would do, being compelled
to set bounds to fancy by experience ; but the North Ameri.
can Indian clothes his ideas in dress which is different from
that of the African, and is Oriental in itself. His language
has the richness and sententious fullness of the Chinese.
He will express a phrase in a word, and he will qualify the
meaning of an entire sentence by a syllable ; he will even
convey diCerent significations by the simplest inflections of
the voice.

Philologists have said that there are but two or three
languages, properly speaking, among all the numerou:
tribes which formerly occupied the country that now com-
poses the United States. They ascribe the known difficulty
one people have in understanding another to corruptions
and dialects. The writer remembers to have been present
at an interview between two chiefs of the great prairie8
west of the Mississippi, and when an interpreter was in at-
tendance who spoke both their languages. The warriors
appeared to be on the most friendly terms, and seemingly
conversed much together ; yet, according to the account of
the interpreter, each was absolutely ignorant of what the
other said. They were of hostile tribes, brought together
by the influence of the American government ; and it is
worthy of remark, that a common policy led them both to
adopt the same subject. They mutually exhorted each other
to be of use in the event of the chances of war throwing
either of the parties into the hands of his enemies. What-
ever may be the truth, as respects the root and the genius
of the Indian tongues, it is quite certain they are now so
distinct in their words as to possess most of the disadvan-
tages of strange languages ; hence much of the embarrass-
ment that has arisen in learning their histories, and most of
the uncertainty which exists in their traditions.

Like nations of higher pretensions, the American Indian
gives a very different account of his own tribe or race from
&at which is given by other people. He is much addicted
to ovore^'matinff bie own pBrfectioni. mnd te nurlervalnin?

INTRODUCTION. tA

those of his rival or his enemy ; a trait which may possibly
be thought corroborative of the Mosaic account of the cre-
ation.

The Whites have assisted greatly in rendering the tra-
ditions of the Aborigines more obscure by their own man-
ner of corrupting names. Thus, the term used in the title
of this book has undergone the changes of Mahicanni,
Mohicans, and Mohegans ; the latter being the word com-
monly used by the Whites. When it is remembered thar
the Dutch (who first settled New York), the English, and
the French, all gave appellations to the tribes that dwelt
within the country which is the scene of this story, and that
the Indians not only gave ditferent names to their enemies,
but frequently to themselves, the cause of the confusion will
be understood.

In these pages, Lenni-Lenape, Leuope, Delawares, Wa-
panachki, and Mohicans, all mean the same people, or tribes
of the same stock. The Mengwe, the Maquas, the Mingoes,
and the Iroquois, though not all strictly the same, are iden-
tified frequently by the speakers, being politically confeder-
ated and opposed to those just named. Mingo was a term
of peculiar reproach, as were Mengwe and Maqua in a less
degree.

The Mohicans were the possessors of the country first
occupied by the Europeans in this portion of the continent
They were, consequently, the first dispossessed ; and the
seemingly inevitable fate of all these people, who disappear
before the advances, or it might be termed the inroads of
civilization, as the verdure of their native forests falls before
the nipping frost, is represented as having already befallen
them. There is sufiicient historical truth in the picture to
justify the use that has been made of it.

In point of fact, the country which is the scene of the
following tale has undergone as little change, since the his-
torical events alluded to had place, as almost any other dis-
trict of equal extent within the whole limits of the United
States. There are fashionable and well-attended watering-
olaccs at and near th<^ ^orii^cr v^here Hawkcye liiilted ta

▼ni INTRODUCTION.

drink, and roads traverse the forests where he and his iriendi
were compelled to journey without even a path. Glenn's
has a large village ; and while William Henry, and even a
fortress of later date, are only to be traced as ruins, there
is another village on the shores of the Horican. But, be-
yond this, the enterprise and energy of a people who have
done so much in other places have done little here. The
whole of that wilderness, in which the latter incidents of
the legend occurred, is nearly a wilderness still, though the
red-man has entirely deserted this part of the State. Of all
the tribes named in these pages, there exist only a few half-
civilized beings of the Oneidas, on the reservations of their
people in New York. The rest have disappeared, either
from the regions in which their fathers dwelt, or altogether
from the earth.

There is one point on which we would wish to say a word
before closing this preface. Hawkeye calls the Lac du
Saint Sacrement, the " Horican." As we believe this to
be an appropriation of the name that has its origin with
ourselves, the time has arrived, perhaps, when the fact
should be frankly admitted. While writing this book, fully
a quarter of a century since, it occurred to us that the
French name of this lake was too complicated, the American
too commonplace, and the Indian too unpronounceable, for
either to be used familiarly in a work of fiction. Looking
over an ancient map, it was ascertained that a tribe of In-
dians, called " Les Horicans " by the French, existed in the
neighborhood of this beautiful sheet of water. As every
word uttered by Natty Bumppo was not to be received as
rigid truth, we took the liberty of putting the " Horican **
into his mouth, as the substitute for " Lake George." The
name has appeared to find favor, and all things considered,
it may possibly be quite as well to let it stand, instead of
going back to the house of Hanover for the appellation of
our finest sheet of water. We relieve our conscience by
the confession, at all events, leaving it to exercise its author-
\ty a« it may see fit.

mTEODUCTIOW.

BT SUSAN FENIMORE COOPEB.

IN the summer of 1825, a travelling party of some half
uozen gentlemen left New York with the intention of mak-
ing an excursion to Saratoga and Lake George. Of this
party the author of the " Spy " was one. Several young
Englishmen of note were among his companions, all of
whom, at a later day, became prominent in public life, im-
portant members of the British Government. Among
them was Mr. Stanley, better known forty years later as
Lord Derby, Prime Minister of England, and the transla-
tor of Homer. The excursion proved a very pleasant one.
Parts of the ground were new to the author, whose eye for
natural beauty was sensitive as that of a poet, while at the
same time in everything practical, in all true progress, his
interest was quite as thorough and comprehensive as that of
the most plodding utilitarian. The conversation of a party
of highly educated young men, with European views of
things, naturally gave much additional interest to the jour-
ney. Mr. Cooper was struck with a remark on the size of
the forest trees of America, those on the Atlantic coast at
least, being smaller than was anticipated, scarcely equal in
"ize, it was asserted, to those of the older parks, and church-
yards, and village greens of England. One is scarcely
pre[>ared, indeed, for this result of civilization. We should
\mturally have supposed that the pride of the forests would
reveal itself in grander forms in the wilderness — that the
fostt^'-inir cave of uuiu couI;l c!o little for the wo.ods. Such

31 INTRODUCTION.

was then the usual American idea of this subject ; but we are
beginning, it is hoped, to learn another lesson ; to discover
that the forests and groves are one of the higher forms of
husbandry — that to foster the woods, and protect every
tree of peculiar grandeur and beauty, is the act of a manly-
civilization. As yet, m America we have done little indeed
io improve, but much to waste, x mar, this great gift of
Providence.

A conversation occurring at the time, in connection with
a very different subject, may be alluded to ; it relates to s
point connected with that smgular fragment of feudal ages
the framework of English society — to a point of lega!
precedence in rank among the English peers — as to which
of the House of Peers could claim to be premier Baron of
England. Mr. Wortley, at a later day Lord Wharncliffe,
asserted that it was the Duke of Norfolk as Baron Fitzalan.
Mr. Cooper, who had been recently amusing himself with
reading English Biography and Heraldry, declared that
Lord de Ros was the oldest Baron of England. A wager
was made on the subject, which was won by Mr. Cooper,
his English friend givmg him a seal with a baron's coronet
and the Scotch motto, " He that will to Cupar, maun to
Cupar."

The party moved slowly up the Hudson, halting in the
Highlands, at West Point. Thence to Catskill, which the
author of the " Pioneers '* had already seen with delight, as
Natty could testify. Farther up the river, the poor de-
luded Shakers were visited, and beheld with compassion in
their beautiful valley, and neat village at Lebanon. Good
dinners were eaten at hospitable tables in Albany. The
Cohoes, formerly a very favorite spot with the author, one
with which he had been familiar from boyhood, was visited,
and still admired, in spite of the busy mills already at that
day springing up on the banks. In 1825 the falls were
much more striking than they are to-day. Another English
acquaintance, visiting them with Mr. Cooper a year or two
earlier^ struck with amazement at the beauty of the caa*

liiTKODUOTION. XI

cade, exclaimed : " If you had told me this was Niagara, I
should have believed you ! "

The gentlemen mingled awhile with the gay throng at
Saratoga and Ballston. Thence they passed to Lake George,
There the ground was quite new to the American as well aa
to the English members of the party. With this lake, stiU
80 freshly wild, the author was greatly charmed. After lin-
gering awhile on its banks with great delight, visiting also
Ticonderoga and Lake Charaplain, the party retraced their
steps, pausing for half a day at Glenn's Falls. The hand
of man had already been busy here, turning the power of
the stream to account for industrial purposes, but there was
far more of natural beauty surrounding the spot than can
be found there to-day, and the singular character of the
dark and silent caverns in the heart of the troubled stream,
was then very mipressive. The travellers were struck with
those stern, sombre rocks, and the flood falling in fantastic
wreaths of white foam about them. While in the caverns,
one of the gentlemen of the party observed to Mr. Cooper
that here was the very scene for a romance. Some pleas-
antry passed between them on the subject, and the writer
promised his companion that a book should actually be
written, in which these caves should have a place ; the idea
of a romance essentially Indian in character, then first sug-
gesting itself to his mind. The gentleman to whom the
promise was given, was Mr. Stanley, recently decez^ped as
the Earl of Derby. Before leaving the fells, the gi nund
was examined closely, with a view to accurate description
at a later hour. The existing natural features of the spot
were combined in imagination with those which had been
partially defaced by man ; the ancient forests were restored,
the first rude and unfinished steps of early civilization dis-
appeared, and the waters fell once more, as they had fallen
for thousands of forgotten years, in full natural torrents,
unchecked by any barrier raised by human hands.

The book was immediately commenced. It was very rap-
f*dl7 written, and some threo or- four months from the time

Xll INTRODUCTION.

its first pages were composed, the last chapter was finished
Planned beneath the summer leaves, those leaves had
scarcely fallen when the story was told, and Natty and
Chingachgook were left in the wilderness, beside the rude
grave of Uncas. It was with some hesitation that the
writer attempted, what has always been considered as a
dangerous experiment — the introduction for a second time
of a prominent and successful character, already familiar to
the reader in an earlier book. It was very seldom, how-
ever, that he now consulted with any friend but one, re-
garding the work in hand ; the affectionate counsellor at
his side, well aware that the consciousness of power might,
in itself, render practicable a task in which so much interest
was shown, advised his carrying out the plan. The step
was taken. Natty and Chingachgook were once more
brought before the reader, but at a period supposed to be
earlier in their own career than the date of the " Pioneers,"
and beneath the shadow of the unbroken forest.

Mr. Cooper was then passing the summer with his family
In a little cottage belonging to his friend. Colonel Gibbs, of
Sunswick, immediately on the Long Island shore of the
Sound, opposite Blackwell's Island — not far from Hallett's
Cove. The flourishing village of Astoria now occupies the
same ground. In the summer of 1825 this was a perfect-
ly quiet, rural region, nothmg but open farms for miles
wound, with the exception of the little hamlet at Hallett's
Cove, and the flourishing village of Flushing, at a distance
of three miles. Here the family attended church. The
»ttage stood on the brow of a wooded bank, perhaps thirty
feet above the river. To live within sight and sound of the
water, was always a delight to the author of the " Pilot,"
and many were the hours he passed sitting on the narrow
belt of grass before the cottage door, watching the varied
fleet of sloop, schooner, brig, ship, and steamer, parsing to
and fro. The perils of Hell Gate lay just above, adding to
the interest with which the movements of the different craft
¥cre watched. He often amused himself, in the summer

INIRODUCTION. XlO

evenings, with giving his children a lesson in the lore of •
sailor, teaching them the names of the different craft, as
they passed to and fro with the tide, according to their
forms and rigging ; mainsail, jib, and skysail, were namea
with which the little ones soon becixme familiar, and before
the summer was over, they could even talk learnedly about
periaguas and chebacco boats. Within a short distance to
the southward, affording a pleasant drive, was a fine bay
with a beautiful, shelving beach, where he frequently drovt
his family to bathe — quiet and safe, and rich in beautiful
shells, this bay was bounded on the eastward by a high
point, covered with a breezy grove ; here the views were
charming, and the solitude perfect. The same spot is now
crowded with busy life, the well-known college of Dr.
Muhlenberg having been built on the point.

Not content with driving on the banks, and watching the
sails from the shores, the author launched a pleasure boat of
his own. It was a little sloop of some twenty tons, to
which he gave the name of Van Tromp. A small wharf be-
longing to the farm lay within a stone's throw from the cot-
tage, and here the Van Tromp found a convenient port
when not on duty. She was afloat daily, however. Scorn-
ing the steamboat, which stopped regularly at Hallett's Cove,
the author went to town almost every afternoon, or when-
ever the tide served, in his little yacht the Van Tromp^ often
both captain and crew himself. Very frequently some
friend would return to spend a day with Bim. Little pleas*
ure trips through the Sound were also frequent, and enjoyed
with great zest. He delighted in being afloat.

Meanwhile he was writing the " Mohicans." Although
this book was very rapidly written, yet during its progress
— soon after commencing it indeed — the writer was
«eized with a serious illness. Naturally of a very sound
tod vigorous constitution, he had scarcely known until
lately, what a day's physical ailing was. But a year or two
earlier, while returning from a visit to the family of Gov-
ernor Jay, a-t Bedford, the carriage he was driving broke

XIV INTRODUCTION.

down at one of the villages on the Sound, and, always glad
of an excuse for being afloat, he took passage for New York
with his party, in a sloop. The wind began to fail ; he was
anxious to reach home, and, in order to make the utmost of
the tide, he took the helm, steering the little craft himself
through Hell Gate. The day was extremely sultry, and ex-
posure to the intense heat brought on a sudden and severe
attack of fever, which in its first stages partook of the char-
acter of a stroke of the sun. And now, in the autumn of
1825, exposure again brought on the same disease. During
the height of the attack, his mind was filled with images
connected with the book recently begun. One afternoon,
suddenly rousing himself, he called for pen and paper ; but
too ill to use them himself, he requested Mrs. Cooper, watch-
ing anxiously at his side, to write from his dictation. Most
reluctantly, and in fear of delirium, she complied with the
request, and solely with a view of relieving his mind from
temporary excitement. A page of notes was rapidly dic-
tated and written out ; to his alarmed nurse they appeared
the wild, incoherent fancies of fever, with which the names
of Natty, Chingachgook, and Cora, already familiar to her,
were blended. But in truth there was no delirium ; a clear
and vivid picture of the struggle between Magua and
Chingachgook filled his mind at the moment, and only a
few days later the chapter — the twelfth of the book —
was actually written from that rude sketch. And this
proved to be one of the very few instances in which prelim-
inary notes, relating to a work in hand, were thrown on
paper. At the same period, while still confined to his bed,
he was visited by his old college tutor and friend, Professor
Silliman, who left the house with very serious fears as to
the result of the attack. By the mercy of Providence,
Iiowever, he soon recovered from all immediate danger;
though for several years he suffered from the consequeiicea
of the disease, by a form of nervous dyspepsia previoualy
unknown to him.

When Mr. Cooper determined to write an Indian romance^

INTRODUCTION. Tf

and to bring Natty again before the reader, it became a nat«
ural coiisequeuce that he should choose the Mohican Chin-
gachgook, the comrade of Natty, as a principal character.
Very little was accurately known at that day — nearly half
a century since — with regard to the Indians and their tribal
distinctions. Vague notions prevailed in connection with
Buch subjects, even among educated people. Ethnology
was a science still in its infancy in America. The country
was in its early youth. There were too many practical
questions of engrossing interest, of vital importance, pressing
constantly on the iiUontion of the people, for Americans to
look backward at what may be called the dark ages of their
history. During the colonial period, the Indians filled a
very prominent position in the foreground, whether aa
friends or foes ; they were feared by the entire white popu-
lation ; they were courted apd flattered by governors, and
generals, and legislative assemblies — aye even the Crowns
of England and France condescended to bow before them
with a sort of mock homage. High prices were paid for
their services — and for their scalps. During a century and
a half they always held a bold position, either as the bul-
wark, or the scourge of the different colonies. After the
Revolution, the change was signal. They immediately
dropped into the background. They were forgotten. The
majority of the people scarcely remembered their existence.
Even the best educated men of the generation, born imme-
diately after the Revolution, knew very little about them.
Vague notions prevailed regarding even such tribes as the
Five Nations, and the Lenni Lennae. It was only hero
and there that some student, like Mr. Gallatin, or Mr.
Duponceau, looked more closely into their languages and
traditions. Very little was written about them. Still less
was printed and read, on subjects connected with them.
Such was the general state of things when the author of the
" Pilot " determined to write a romance essentially Indian
in character and incidents. The volumes of Golden, Heck-
Welder Penn, and Smith, lay within ;each. Ho had also

XVI raiRODUCTION.

been very much interested in the narratives of Long, Lewis
and Clarke, and Mackenzie. Occasional personal inter-
course with parties of the tribes still roving in diminished
numbers over the western part of the State of New York,
had giv3ii the reality of life to his views of the race. Small
bands of the Oneidas and other clans of the Iroquois, still
visited the shores of Lake Otsego, in his early youth, to
fish, to sell the small wares made by the women, or even
occasionally to hunt the last deer lingering in those forests.
Mohicans and Delawares came to the village from time to
time, frequently lingering for months in the adjoining
woods. Certain individuals of these different clans were
regular in their visits, and their faces familiar to his boy-
hood. At a later day, when serving as a midshipman on
Lake Ontario, he met the red men in large numbers, and in
a more wild condition. He appears to have always beheld
these rude people with a peculiar interest, partially of curi-
osity, and also of compassion. The writer of these notes
remembers more than one old volume relating to the red
man, lying on his table for months, duriug her nursery
years — volumes which greatly excited her own childish
curiosity, and in which she was occasionally allowed to spell
out a page or two. During those same years, — now looking
BO dim and far away, — she also remembers the lively interest
with which her father would relate to the gentlemen visit-
ing at his house, little incidents come to his own personal
knowledge, in connection with the red men. There was
always so much spirit and animation in his countenance and
manner, such an appropriate and- graceful gesture, and such
an easy flow of language when conversing on a subject in
which he was interested, that he never failed to command
the attention of his listeners. Even the little ones about
him were probably far more interested in his anecdotes than
he was himself aware of. And it was in this tone of in-
terest, that at that period of his life he generally spoke ol
the red man.

It was quite natural for a New Yorker to choose a Mohi>

INTRODUCTION. XVM

can for his Indian hero. When Hudson discovered the
river now bearing his name, the Mohicans were among the
first tribes he met. They are said to have held possession of
both banks of that noble stream, at different points, as far
noith as the mouth of the Mohawk. Their greatest force
lay on its eastern shore. So numerous indeed were the
Mohicans on the banks of the great stream, in that century,
that the river tribes generally received from the Dutch and
English the name of Mohicander, or Mohikauneuw. These
Mohicans of tha Hudson, the Mohicander or river tribes,
the Mohc jans of New England, as well as the Pequcts and
Narragansetts, were all kindred clans with similar dialects,
and all belonged to the Algonquin race. They were a nu-
merous and important people, though broken up into many
clans, more or less widely separated. In 1684 the French
numbered their warriors at twelve hundred, as allies or
tributaries of the Iroquois to whom they gave the respect-
ful title of " Uncles, " while these looked upon their Algon-
quin tributaries as " Nephews," a generation below them, in
wisdom and influence.

Already, as early as 1617, the Moliicans were in a meas-
ure subordinate to the Iroquois, or Five Nations. At that
date a solemn treaty is said to have been made at Tawassen-
tha, " the place of the many dead," now Norman's Kill, near
Albany, between the Hollanders and the Five Nations, and
several tributary tribes, in partial subjection to the last.
These tributaries were treated as " women," non-combatants,
no longer warriors. The wampum belt of alliance was up-
held on one side by the Iroquois, on the other by the Hol-
landers, while the inferior tribes were placed between the
principal negotiating parties, and received the belt on their
shoulders. The Mohicans were one of these inferior tribes,
80 says tradition, supported by old historical authorities of
the whites. Only a few years later, in 1628, the Mohicans
living near Fort Orange rose against the Mohawks ; they
were defeated and driven to the eastward, where they built
themselvo^ a village on the banks of the Connecticut Here,

mu INTRODUCTION.

with the rest of their tribe, they were in time attacked by
the Pequots. Long and bitter was the strife ; but the
English Colonists took sides with the Mohicans and theil
chief, Uncas. and as is well known the Pequots were cruelljf
exterminated by the New Englanders. Then some ten
years later, followed the bitter war between Uncas with his
Mohicans, and the Narragansetts. The chief force of the
Mohican race was at this period in New England, although
kindred clans bearing the same name were still to be found
on the banks of the Hudson, and at a later day still farther
west. These Mohicans were during two centuries the
friends and allies of the New England colonies ; and yet
nothing in fiction could be imagined more truly melancholy
than the actual recorded history of these Connecticut Mohi-
cans in their struggles against the fire-arms, the cunning,
the grasping cupidity, the cruelty, and the poison fire-water
of their white neighbors, crushing out their very life and
spirit. One Uncas after another succeeded to the title and
empty dignity of Sachem, or Sagamore — a title becoming
more of a mockery with every year.

The burial place of the family of Uncas still exists not
far from Norwich in Connecticut. The tomb of the Great
Uncas is marked by a granite monument erected by the
whites. The epitaph, written by some English admirer
and poet, is certainly peculiar : —

" UNCAs,.

** For Beauty, witt, for sterling Sense
For temper mild, for Eliquence
ForCouradg Bold, For things Wauregeon
He was the Glory of Mohedgon
Whose Death has Caused great lamentation
Both in ye English & ye Indian Nation."

Another stone bears the following inscription, to a yonng
man, i* contemporary of the Uncas of fiction : —

"Here lies Sam Uncas the second and beloved Son of his father Joan
Uncas, who was the grand-son of Uncas, Grand sachem of Mohegan. Thfl
darling of his mether being daughter of said Uncas Grand tochein. Hf
lUed July dlst 1741 in the 28th of his age."

INTRODUCTION. X«

It was about the same period, or rather earlier, in 1743,
that a young Mohegan, for so was the name spelled in Con-
necticut, appeared one winter's day at the door of the Rev.
Eleazar Wheelock, a prominent Congregational minister at
Lebanon, coming on an unusual errand, lie had been £
pagan, born at Mohegan, and was now about tweuty. Dur-
ing the previous year he had become a Christian, and now
came a suppliant for religious training, hoping in time tc
become a preacher to his own people. His name was
Occum. His request was granted, and at the end of four
years he had made very good progress, not only in English,
but also in Greek and Latin, and was learning Hebrew
when his health failed, and his sight became affected. Dur-
ing ten or eleven years he wandered about, preaching to the
red people, supporting himself by fishing, hunting, making
wooden spoons, pails, etc., etc. His home was in a wigwam
made of mats. A number of Indians were converted by his
preaching at this time. His studies were kept up with
much perseverance under the difficulty of weakened eye-
sight. In August, 1759, he was regularly ordained by a
Presbytery on Long Island. The example of Occum led to
the opening of an Indian school by Mr. WheeJock. He
began with two Delaware boys in 1754. Ten years later he
had twenty students, among them an Uncas. The majority
of the pupils were Dela wares. But there were Mohawks
also, including the celebrated Brant, sent there by Sir Wil-
liam Johnson. The war with France stilf raging, prevented
this school from receiving the support it deserved. In 1766
a fresh movement was made in its behalf. Occum was sent
to England, with a Presbyterian clergyman for his compan-
ion, and for the express purpose of obtaining funds for the
"Moor Charity School," as the foundation was then called.
The Rev. Samson Occum, the Mohegan preacher, was at
that time forty -four years old ; he was thoroughly Indian in
appearance, easy and unassuming m his manners. His
Bermons are said to have been forcible and solemn, and
when delivered in his native langujige they were much more

XX INTRODUCTIOIT.

eloquent, and delivered with more grace of manner an^
gesture, than when he spoke English. He preached with
great applause to crowded congregations in England. In
less than eighteen months he is said to have preached be-
tween three and four hundred sermons in English. In so-
ciety he was received with great attention. King George
III., assuredly a good Christian prince, whatever may have
been his political errors, gave the school £200. Lord Dart-
mouth, a very devout man, befriended Cecum greatly. Seven
thousand pounds were raised in England, and two or three
thousand in Scotland. The plan for the school was enlarged ;
It was removed to New Hampshire and became Dartmouth
College, where there have been many American students,
but only two or three Indians, it is said. Occum, the Mohe-
gan preacher, removed eventually to the Oneida country in
New York, with a mixed band of his own and other tribes,
to whom he gave the name of Brothertons. After a check-
ered career, he died, the minister of these Brothertons, in
1792. He is said to have occasionally fallen into intemper-
ance, and this impaired his influence and wounded his own
conscience, but to have always rallied after these falls, in
sincere penitence, and tc? have died a humble, believing
Christian.

The celebrated Hendrick, although a Mohawk sachem,
was, according to the rules of descent prevailing among the
Indians, actually a Mohican. Descent is always counted
through the mother among the red men ; and it was hum a
Mohawk mother that Hendrick inherited his position amoL /
the Five Nations. His father was a Mohican, and Hen.
drick himself declared that he was born, and lived in his
early childhood, among the Mohicans.

The author of the Indian romances can scarcely be ac-
cused of exaggeration with regard to the mental and moral
qualities of his heroes, Chingachgook and Uncas, when we
Lemember that such men as Occum and Hendrick came oi
the same tribe, and lived at the same period. Whatever
higher or more delicate coloring he may have thrown intc

INTRODUCTION. Xt!

jis ideal pictures, must naturally be attributed to the fact
that it was a poetical romance which he wished to offer his
readers, and not a series of mere dry ethnological skeletons.

And when he gave to this narrative the title of the *' Last
of the Mohicans," the same poetical latitude must be allowed
to the words. He knew perfectly well that the entire tribe
was not extinct. Wandering Mohicans had often crossed
his own path in his boyhood. But it was strictly true that
towai'ds the close of the last century the higlier type of war-
rior and sachem had died out among the Mohicans. When
Hendrick, or Soi-enga-rah-ta, fell at the battle of Lake
George in 1755, the last warrior of general renown, who came
of a Mohican parentage, passed away. No Mohican warrior
of note has appeared since that day. It is true that when
Hendrick died, his son, striking his own breast with energy
exclaimed, " My father is not dead, his soul lives here ! *
But the subsequent career of that young brave was not re-
markable.

At the period of the " Old French War," different tribe*
had become very much mixed. Small bands of the Dela-
wares and Mohicans were frequently found together in close
alliance, especially on the eastern borders of New York.
They called each other " cousin," a degree of relationship
considered as closely fraternal by the red men. These facts
led to the impression that they were but different clans of
the same tribe. So ger«-ral was this opinion, that several of
the writers of the last century confi^'^^ed it by their printed
assertion. It was declared thai, Ilk. "Jie league of the Six
Nations, so the Delawares, the Mohicans, and the Munseei.
were but one confederacy. But this was not strictly true
The Iroquois tribes were united by much closer bonds that
their neighbors and tributaries of the Algonquin race.
Theirs was a regularly constituted frame-work of govern-
ment, with certain laws unwritten but generally acknowl-
edged, and closely connected with it was an intricate network
of usage founded on the ties of blood, penetrating into everr
lod^e, and inclos'ng within its folds the most remote wa?

rxil INTRODUCTION.

derer of their race. No other confederacy in ^Ibrtherii
America had anything approaching to the same strength.
In spirit it was like our own government, a close union and
not a mere alliance. The Lenni Lennape and the Mohi-
cans were often allies, were often much mixed up together,
they spoke kindred dialects, and both belonged to ths Al-
gonquir family. But they were nevertheless distinct tribes,
often acting with entire independence of each other. On
this point Mr. Cooper has no doubt followed too closely the
impression prevailing in the beginning of this century. He
was probably misled by some one of the writers who as-
serted that these tribes formed but one integral people.

The siege of Fort William Henry is the central point
about which revolve all the incidents of the " Last of the
Mohicans." And yet it was not the intention of the author
to write a historical romance. He purposely avoided tak-
ing that course, as he wished to throw the chief interest of
the narrative over the forest scenes, and some few individuals
among the pale-faces and the red men. The gallant defense
of the fort by Colonel Monro, is well known to be strictly
historical. He was left at this frontier outpost of the
Colony, to receive alone the full brunt of the invading
army, and bravely did he meet the shock. His resolute
gallantry deserves the greater credit from being in strong
contrast with the conduct of other English commanders in
America at that particular period. The defeat of General
Braddock was a fact so utterly unforeseen, so entirely in
comprehensible to the military mind of England, that for
some years it appears to have had a paralyzing effect on
their general officers. Lord Loudon, General Ab*5rcrombie,
and General Webb, were thrown into a state of salutary
caution wherever combined forces of French and Indians
were opposed to them. The American officers were not so
much disturbed by the recollection of the defeat at Fort
Duquesne ; they knew better how to account for it ; they
understood Indian warfare thoroughly from actual experi-
ence, and from the traditions of several generations. Suck

INTBODIJCTION. XXIU

Baen as Colonel Washington and his American comrades were
fts ready to meet their allied foes in 1757 as they had been
two years earlier. But General Webb, commanding in the
Colony of New Y ork at that moment, appears to have had
his military powers completely paralyzed by the approach of
this combined invasion of the French and the Canadian
Indians. He lay entrenched on the Hudson within twelve
miles of Fort William Henry with a force of four thousand
men under his command, and an additional force of militia
within call. But he left Colonel Monro to his fate, uoder
the excuse of requiring large reenforcements before attempt-
ing a movement.

Colonel Monro's garrison, in the fort, consisted of lesa
than five hundred men, while seventeen hundred more oc-
cupied an intrenched camp on an adjoining eminence. The
invading force under M. de Montcalm amounted in reality
to 8,021 men; it was believed however, to be much larger.
On the morning of the 2d of August, the English m the
fort, with faces turned anxiously to the northward, suddenly
beheld a fleet of Indian canoes dash into sight, from behind
the cover of a point, until they formed a chain completely
across the lake. Fearful yells filled the morning air. In
the course of a few hours M. de Montcalm landed about a
mile and a half above the fort. The passes leading to the
Hudson were seized. A large encampment of the French
and Indians lay to the northward, while the main body took
a position on the wooded shore immediately to the west
of the fort. The siege lasted a week. It was not until the
9th of August, after the bursting of half his guns, and when
his ammunition was all but exliausted, that Colonel Monro
hung out a flag of truce. Passages from the narrative oi
an eye-witness of the siege, and of the massacre which fol-
lowed, may have interest for the reader. They are drawn
from a letter of Father Fvoubaud, one of the French mis-
sionaries to the Indians, who accompanied the expedition of
M. de Montcalm. We follow the translation of Bishop
Kip. Wherever the name of Fort Lydiua occurs in thes^

C

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

passages, the reader must refer it to Fort Edward. And in
the same way by " Fort George," must be understood Fort
William Henry.

" The bay in which we were moored resounded on all
sides with the noise of war. Everything there was in
motion and action. Our artillery, which consisted of thirty-
two pieces of cannon and five mortars, placed on platforms
which were secured to boats fastened together, led the way.
In passing the point of land which had concealed us from
the view of the enemy, they took care to salute the fort by
a general discharge. This at the time was nothing but
mere ceremony, but it announced more serious matters.
The rest of the little fleet followed slowly. Already a body
of the Indians had formed their camp in the rear of Fort
George on the road to Fort Lydius, to cut oif the commu-
nication between the two English forts. The corps of the
Chevalier de Leri occupied the defiles of the mountains.
Our landing was made without opposition, a good half league
below the fort. The enemy seemed not to have in the least
expected a siege. The environs of their forts were occupied
by a multitude of tents still standing at the time of our
arrival, and we saw there a quantity of barracks which
were well adapted to aid the besiegers. It became neces-
sary for them to take down the tents, to burn the barracks.
These movements they carried on under constant discharges
trom the Indians, whose fire would have been much more
fatal, had not another object drawn off their attention.
Horses and herds of cattle which the besieged had not
had time to place under cover, were wandering about on
the low grounds surrounding the fort. For a time the
?hase of these animals furnished the Indians with occupation.
A hundred and fifty of the cattle killed, or taken, and fifty
horses, were the first fruits of this petty warfare.

" The fort was a square, flanked by four bastions ; the
curtains wertj strengthened with stakes ; the trenches were
•unk to the depth of from eighteen to twenty feet; the
9carp and counterscarp were shelving and covered with

INTRODtJCTION. XX^

ihifting sand ; the walls were built of large pine trees which
had been felled and sustained by stakes extremely mas«.
sive ; and from whence extended a platform of earth from
fifteen to eighteen feet wide, which they had taken care to
cover entirely with gravel. From four to five hundred
men defended it by the aid of nineteen cannon, of which
two were thirty-six pounders, the rest of less calibre, and
also four or five mortars. The place was not protected by
any other exterior work, except a fortified intrenchment
surrounded by palisades, strengthened by heaps of stones.
The garrison within consisted of seventeen hundred men
and continually recruited that of the fort.

" Such was the fort. Our force of six thousand French
and seventeen hundred Indians was by no means equal to
investing it entirely, owing to the great extent of ground
to be covered. The enemy had always the benefit of a
back-door to slip into tlie wood ; but the Indians were
there before them. The regular troops from France to
whom properly belonged the labors of the siege, occupied
the border of the wood, westward, adjoining the ground
where the trenches were to be opened. The ctimp of re-
serve followed, with sufficient forces to protect the working
parties.

" These arrangements being made M. de Montcalm caused
propositions to be made to the enemy. But a haughty
answer was returned followed by the roa^ of a general dis-
charge of the enemy's artillery The first time our

battery played, such were the cries of joy from the Indians
that all the mountains resounded with the echoes. The
Becond battery was establii>hed two days afterwards. This
was a new fete which the Indians celebrated in a warlike
manner. They were always about our artillery-men, whose
dexterity they greatly admired. But their admiration was
not idle, they were willing to do anything to make them-
selves useful, and determined even to become gunners.
One of them distinguished himself particularly. After
havuig himself pointod the cannon, he hit the ^fry anj^lo

XXVI INTRODUCTION.

of the fort which had bee^i assigned to him. Their chief
cause of astonishment was the covered ways, which, like
subterranean roads, are so useful a protection to the as-
sailants They examined with the most eager curiosity
this work of the French grenadiers, and some began to
exercise their own hands in the practice — they were seen
with pickaxes marking out a trench towards that part of
the embankment which they were expected to attack. They
pushed the works so far forward, that they were soon within
gunshot.

" Meanwhile our scouts encountered in the woods three
couriers sent from Fort Edward ; they killed the first, cap-
tured the second, and the third saved himself by flight. On
the body of the dead man, in his vest, they found a letter so
well concealed in a hollow musket-ball, that it had escaped
the researches of all but one soldier, who happened to be
familiar with these tricks of war. This letter was from the
commander of Fort Edward to Colonel Monro. It con-
tained the deposition of a Canadian deserter who declared
our army to amount to eleven thousand men with two
thousand Indians, and a formidable artillery. General
"Webb informed his colleague that the interests of the King
his master did not permit him him to weaken his own post,
and that he must therefore capitulate upon terms as favor-
able as possible. M. de Montcalm did not think he couid
make a better use of this letter than to forward it to its h"''
dress, by the same courier who had fallen alive into v ^
hands. We received in return from Colonel Monro hii^
thanks, with an expression of the modest hope that the
same acts of civility might for a long time take place be-
tween them. This was on the 7th. Our batteries opened
again at nine o'clock, continuing to fire every two minutes
to the great delight of the Indians, who uttered shouts of joy
on seeing the shot and shells fall into the fort.

^ At length on the Vigil of St. Lawrence, August 9, th*;
seventh day of the siege, the trench having been pushed ai
for as the gardens of the fort, we prepared to establish ouf

I

INTRODUCTION. XXVU

foarth and last battery. It was intended to make a general
assault in three or four days. But at 7 A. M. the enemy
hung out a flag of truce, and demanded capitulation."

The articles of capitulation were signed in the trenche(
and the French took possession of the fort at noon. The
English retired to the intrenched camp. The articles of
capitulation were as follows : The garrison were to mardi
out with the honors of war, with one cannon only, and with
only the personal effects of the officers and soldiers. All
the stores and ammunition to be surrendered. The garrison
not to serve for eighteen mouths against France or her allies.
All the French prisoners taken by the English since the
beginning of the war to be exchanged for an equal number
of English. The sick and wounded to be cared for by M.
de Montcalm. Rations tr 'le issued for two days only.
M. de Montcalm would have preferred making the garrison
prisoners of war. But Canada was at that very moment
in a state of famine. At Quebec each person was reduced to
four ounces of bread a day. The soldiers received a pound
and a half, with a little salt meat. The French found at
William Henry provisions sufficient to supply an array of six
thousand men for six weeks — an immense relief to them.
We continue our extracts from the narrative of Father
Roubaud, who was an eye witness of the events which fol-
lowed the surrender.

" The Marquis de Montcalm, before he would listen to
any terms, assembled all the Indian ^iefs, and com-
municated to them the terms of capitulation. All these
articles were received with acclamation and the treaty was
signed by the commanding officers. The French Army,
in battle array, advanced to take '>ossession of the fort in
the name of His Most Christian Majesty, while the English
troops drawn up in beautiful order marched out to go and
shut themselves up till the next day in their intrench-
ments. Their march was not marked by any contraven-
tion of the laws of nations."

M. de Montcalm had given posidye orders that all the

Xxviii INTRODUCTION.

wine, brandy, and other intoxicating liquors in the fort should
be spilt before the troops marched out — a step to which
the English consented. Some of the Indians, however,
penetrated into the intrenched camp, where the English
were now collected, preparing for their march, and made
themselves very troublesome. M. de Moncalm hastened to
the camp ; " prayers, threats, entreaties, consultations with the
chiefs, interposition of the officers and interpreters — he
made use of every means to restrain them. About nine
o'clock he appeared to have accomplished that object." Col-
onel Monro had wished to march that evening, but the French
officers hearmg that a party of the Indians were lying in
ambush on the road to Fort Edward, advised the English
to wait until morning. Meanwhile some persons in the camp,
to satisfy the Indians, granted their request for ardent
spirits — the brandy at this camp not havmg been ap-
parently destroyed, as it was at the fort. M. de Montcalm
had carried on the whole campaign, without giving a drop
of either wine or brandy to the Indians, which was con-
sidered unprecedented. But he had great influence over
them, and had been very kind to their sick and wounded.
Those Indians who received the ardent spirits on that ill
fated night of the 9th of August, immediately began to
dance their war dances, singing and whooping in frenzied
excitement. The Abenakis from the Eastward were espec-
ially infuriated, recalling what they considered the cruelty
and perfidy of the English in Acadie. They laid great
stress on these past events, and thirsted for retaliation. An
Indian never forgets an injury. It had been agreed that the
English should march at break of day with an escort of
four hundred French troops, with all the officers and in-
terpreters attached to the Indian forces, and two chiefs of
each tribe. But the English began to hasten their prepara-
tions before the escort arrived. The Abenakis ran to insull
them. Scarcely had they uttered their whoop than the
English fell into confusion, throwing down arms, baggage,
ftnd flying helter skelter. The great number of womec

INTRODUCTION XXlX

m the garrison added greatly to the confusion. The In-
dians emboldened by the panic they had produced began
to plunder. We return to the narrative of Father Ron-
baud.

" A corps of French troops, consisting of four hundred
men, appointed to protect the retreat, arrived and arranged
themselves in haste. The English began to file out. Woe
to those who closed the march, or to the stragglers separated
from the main body ! They were as good as dead, and their
lifeless bodies soon strewed the ground about the intrench-
ments. This butchery, at first the work of some few
savages, became the signal which transformed them into so
many ferocious beasts. They discharged right and left heavy
blows with their hatchets on those within their reach. The
massacre was not however of long duration^ nor was it by
any means as considerable as so much fury would have
seemed to give reason to fear It did not exceed forty o'
fifty men. With fearful cries the Indians now busied them
selves in making prisoners.

" I arrived while these things were going on, and I do
not think it possible for any one to remain insensible in
Buch sad circumstances. The son snatched from a father's
arras, the daughter torn from the bosom of her mother,
the husband separated from his wife, the officers stripped to
to the shirts, a crowd of wretched beings running about at
random, some towards the woods, other to the tents of the
French, these towards the fort, others 'towards any spot
which seemed to promise safety — such were the pitiable
objects which presented themselves to my eyes. The French
were not indolent spectators, or insensible to this catas-
trophe. The Chevalier de Leri ran in all directions where
the tumult seemed most violent. A thousand times he faced
death. The French and Canadian oflScers followed his ex-
ample. But the great body of our troops was by their
distance pi evented from rendering him any assistance. And
of what avail were four hundred men against fifteen
kundred miuriated Siivages, who could scarcely distinguish

X.XX INTRODUCTION. ^

US from the enemy ? One of our sergeants who op-^osed
their violence was struck down by a blow from a spear.
One of our French officers, as the reward of the same
zeal, received a severe wound which brought him to the
verge of the grave. M. de Montcalm, on account of the
distance of his tent, did not learn until a late hour what
was going on ; at the first news he hastened to the spot.
He multiplied himself; he seemed endowed with ubiquity ;
he was everywhere ; prayers, menaces, promises were used ;
he tried everything, and at last resorted to force. The
tumult was nevertheless constantly on the increase, when
some one cried out to the English, who formed a consider-
able body, to increase their speed. The Indians, in a
measure satisfied with their prizes, began to retire, and the
few who remained were easily dispersed. Three or four
hundred English arrived at Fort Edward. Many others
were scattered in the woods. Many found safety in the
tents of the French, or in the fort.

" I went to the fort after the disorders were in some de-
gree over. A crowd of weeping females came to surround
me. They threw themselves at my knees, they kissed the
hem of my robe, uttering lamentable cries which pierced my
heart. They asked for their sons, their daughters, their
husbands. Could I restore these to them? A French
officer informed me that a Huron had in his possession an
infant of six months, whose death was certain if I did not
hasten to its rescue. I ran in haste to the cabin of the
savage, in whose arms I saw the innocent victim ; the child
was tenderly kissing the hands of his enemy, and playing
with some strings of wampum which he wore. The Huron
guessed my object at once: *Hold,* said he to me very
civilly, * do you see this child ? I have not by any means
stolen it. I found it left behind in haste. You want it,
but you shall not have it.' I urged the uselessness of this
prisoner, its certain death for the want of nourishment.
He produced some fat with which he meant to feed it;
adding that in case of its death, he should find some corner

INTRODUCTION. XXXl

in which to bury it, and that then I could give it my bless
ing. I offered him a large sum in silver if he would suiv
render his little captive, but he persisted in his refusal. He
finally consented to give it up for another English captive.
I thought the sentence of death was pronounced when I
saw the Huron holding a consultation with his companions.
But the result was that the child should be given to me in
exchange for the scalp of an enemy. This proposition did
not at all embarrass me : * It shall be forthcoming shortly/
I said, rising, ' if you are a man of honor.'

" I hastened to the camp of my Abenakis, and asked the
first one I met if he wished to do me a favor ; would he
give me a scalp ? He untied his pouch, and gave me my
choice. Provided with this barbarous trophy, I carried it
off in triumph, followed by a crowd of Canadians and
French, curious to know the end of the adventure. Joy
seemed to furnish me with wing-s, and in a moment I had
rejoined my Huron. * See,' said I, ' see your payment ! '
* You are right,' he replied ; * it is indeed an English scalp,
for it is red.' This is in truth the color that ordmarily dis-
tinguishes the English colonists in these countries. * Well !
there is the child, carry it away, it belongs to you.' I did
not give him time to retract, but immediately took the un-
fortunate little being in my hands. As it was almost naked,
I wrapped it in my robe, but it was not accustomed to be
carried by hands as little used to this business as mine, and
the poor infant uttered cries which taught me my own awk-
wardness as well as its sufferings. I consoled myself, how-
ever, with the hope of presently calming it, by placing it in
more tender hands.

" I arrived at the fort, and at the sound of its feeble cries,
all the women ran towards me. Each one flattered herself
with the hope of recovering the object of her maternal ten-
derness. They eagerly examined it, but neither the eyes
OOF the heart of any one recognized it as her child. They
therefore retired again to one side to give anew free course
to their lamentations and complaints. I found myself

XXXll mTRODUCTION.

placed in no little embarrassment by tLis retreat. Being
four or five leagues distant from every French habitation,
how could I procure nourishment for an infant of so tender
an age ? I was absorbed in these reflections, when I saw
an English officer pass who happened to be well acquainted
with the French language. I addressed him, therefore, in a
firm tone. ' Sir, I have just ransomed this young infant
from slavery, but it will not escape death, unless you direct
some one of these women to take the place of its mother,
and nurse it until I shall be able to provide for it other-
wise.' The French officers who were present, supported
my request. With that he spoke to the English women.
One of them offered to render it this service, if I would be
willing to answer for her life and that of her husband, to
charge myself with their support, and to see that they were
conveyed to Boston from Montreal. I immediately ac-
cepted the proposition, and requested M. de Bourg la
Marque to detach three grenadiers to escort my English to
the Canadian camp, where I flattered myself I should find
means to fulfill my new engagements. This worthy officer
responded with kindness to my request.

" I was about quitting the fort, when the father of the in-
fant was found, wounded by the bursting of a shell, and ut-
terly unable to help himself. He could not, therefore, but
acquiesce with pleasure in the arrangements I had made for
the security of his child, and I departed, accompanied by
my English, under the safeguard of three grenadiers. After
a march of two hours, fatiguing though happy, we arrived
at the Canadian quarters. I cannot undertake to portray
to you faithfully, the new occurrence which here crowned
my enterprises, foi it is one of those events which a person
flatters himself in vain with the hope of presenting true to
nature. We had scarcely reached the entrance to the camp,
when a shrill and animated cry suddenly struck my ears.
Was it a cry of grief .'^ Was it a cry of joy ? It was all
this, and much more, for it was that of the mother, who,
from a distance, had recognized her child, so keen are the

INTRODUCTION. XXXIU

eyes of maternal love. She ran with a precipitation which
showed that this was indeed her child. She snatched it
from the arms of the Englishwoman, with an eagerness
which seemed as if she feared that some one might a second
time deprive her of it. It is easy to imagine to what trans-
ports of joy she abandoned herself, particularly when she
was assured of the life and freedom of her husband, to
whom she thought she had bid a final adieu. Nothing was
wanting to complete their happiness but their reunion, and
this I thought should be the perfection of my work.

" I directed my steps back to the fort. My strength was
scarcely sufficient to carry me thither, for it was more than
an hour after noon, and I had as yet taken no nourishment
I was near falling through faintness, when I reached the
fort, but the politeness and charity of some French officers
relieved me. I went in search of the Englishman in ques-
tion, but my inquiries were without effijct for some hours.
The pain of his wounds had obliged him to withdraw to the
most solitary place in the fort, and there at last I found
him. I had made arrangements to have him carried away,
when his wife and child made their appearance. Orders
had been given to collect all the English who were dis-
persed in the different quarters, to the number of nearly five
hundred, and to conduct them to the fort, that we might
provide more surely for their support until it should be pos-
sible to send them to Albany, as was happily done some
days after. The demonstrations of joy were renewed at
their meeting, with much more earnestness than before. I
should not here pass over in silence, the reward of her
charity which the other Englishwoman received, who had
been obliged to act as mother to the infant in the absence of
the true mother. Providence, through the intervention of
Mr. Piequet, brought about the recovery of her own child,
which had been unjustly taken from her."

The precise number killed by the Indians in this savage
tumult, will probably never be accurately known. The
French would verv naturally diminish their reports of the

XXXI V INTRODUCTION.

number of victims as far as practicable. The English woujd
of course exaggerate in their statements. Father Roubaud
declares that forty or fifty were killed. The French officers
generally refrained from naming any particular number,
which looks badly. Though M. de Vaudreuil, in one of his
reports " of this little incident," to the government at Ver-
jailles, boldly asserts that only six or seven English soldiers
were killed. On the other hand, the English, especially at
first, when so much was written on the subject, appear to
have considered all who did not reach Fort Edward within
a day or two, as murdered men. But the Indians carried
two hundred prisoners to Canada, where they were ran-
somed by the French, and after a time sent home to the
Colonies. The writer of these lines has seen, quite re-
cently, what purports to be an historical account of this
painful event, in which the number of victims is stated to
have been five hundred. Probably Father Roubaud's state-
ment of forty or fifty was not far from the truth.

The great error of M. de Montcalm evidently consisted
in not taking precautionary measures on a more important
scale. He was aware of the danger ; but supposed that he
had averted it by his exertions on the previous evening,
when the savages had been partially pacified by them. But,
as he himself observes, " two thousand Indians, of thirty-
three different nations," were not easy to control. His clear
perception of that truth should have led him to remain near
at hand, during the march of the English from the camp,
and to cover that march with a much larger force than the
four hundred men detailed for the purpose.

The whole army of the French on this expedition num-
bered 8,021 men, of whom 5,500 were effective. The In-
dians are reported at 1,806 warriors, of thirty-three different
tribes, a portion of them from the upper lakes. The French
lost only thirteen killed and forty wounded.

The entire English force is stated to have numbered
2,372, of whom there were killed during the siege, forty-
one, and wounded seventy-ono.

INTRODUCTION. rxxy

At the end of a week after the capitu.ation, Fort Wil-
liam Henry had been entirely destroyed, and the whole
army, French and Indians, had left the lake, and were mov-
ing northward, by Lake Champlain, to Canada. Happily
for the colony of New York, scarcity of provisions pre-
vented M. de Montcalm from attacking Fort Edward, and
aiming a blow at Albany.

No little attention has been attracted to tlie name of Ho-
rican, given in the " Last of the Mohicans," to Lake George.
This beautiful sheet of water has borne different names in
the last three centuries. When Champlain first invaded the
Iroquois Territory, at the head of a band of Ilurons, in
1609, he discovered the noble lake which now bearfl his
name, and after defeating a party of Mohawks, he seems
to have visited the falls of Ticonderoga, falls to which
the French afterwards gave the name of Carillon, or the
Chiming Waters, from the musical, ringing sound of the
cascade. Long and fiercely was the same ground contested
in later years, between the Crowns of France and England.
There is every reason to suppose Champlain was thus the
first European to hear from his Huron allies, or from his
Iroquois prisoners, the name given by the Mohawks to the
smaller, but more beautiful lake beyond the portage at Ti-
conderoga.

The Iroquois, with a fitness and accuracy of observation
so often showH in Indian names, called the^ larger sheet of
water the Lake- Gate-of-the-country, or, in their own speech,
Caniadeguarante. To the smaller lake beyond, they gave
i:he name of Andiatarocte, or Her e-the- Lake- Valley-closes^ a
name descriptive and correct. Thus it continued to be
named by the Mohawks so long as they inhabited the ad-
joining country.

In the year 1646, that saintly man. Father Jogues, proba-
bly the first Christian to preach the Gospel in the Iroquois
country, returning from Quebec in the double character ot
envoy from the Canadian government, and missionary to the
Mohawks, passed through Lake Champlain, and reaching

XXXVl INTRODUCTION.

the shores of the beautiful sheet of water, called by thi
tribe to whom he was sent, Andiatarocte, he gave it 4,
French name, le lac du St. Sacrement. The day on which
he reached its shores was the 9th of August, the eve of 9
great festival of the Church of Rome, connected with her
doctrine of transubstantiation. Corpus Christi, the Fete Dieu
of the French, or the festival of the St. Sacrement, as it
was also called. For this reason the good Father gave
to those limpid waters the name of the Lake of the SL
Sacrement. It is an error to suppose that the Sacrament of
Baptism was alluded to. It was to the Festival of Corpus
Christi, that this religious name was solely due. The
lake continued to bear this name in all French records, and
in most of those in the English language also, for more
than a century. It is indeed quite remarkable, that neither
the Dutch nor the English of early colonial times, should
have given a name of their own to a lake holding so promi-
nent a position at that day in their political and military
system. They probably thought little of its natural beau-
ties, but its importance, ^s connected with the Lake- Gate-of-
the-country, was very thoroughly understood, both at Mon-
treal and at Manhattan.

More than a century after Father Jogues had passed
among its beautiful islands, in his bark canoe, an English
army lay encamped on the southern shore of the Lake of
the St. Sacrement. It was a force under the flag of Eng-
land at least, but composed, in fact, entirely of colonial
militia and Iroquois allies, and numbered thirty-four hun-
dred men, under the command of Major-general William
Johnson, the Indian superintendent. Their ultimate object
was the reduction of Crown Pomt, or Fort Frederick, on
Lake Champlain. General Johnson, in a letter of Septem-
ber 3, 1775, writes as follows: —

" I am building a fort at this lake, which the French call
St. Sacrement, but I have given it the name of Lake
George, not only in honor to his majesty, but to ascertain
[to assert ?J, his undoubted dominion here. I found it %

INTRODUCTION. XXXVJb

mere wilderness ; not one foot cleared. I have made a good
wagon-road to it from Albany — distance about seventy
miles ; never was house or fort erected here before ; we
have cleared land enough to encamp five thousand men."

Thus it was that Andiatarocte, or the Lake of the Holy
Sacrament, received the thoroughly prosaic name of George
11. Only twenty years later, the sceptre of the house of
Hanover no longer ruled over its waters. The " undoubted
dominion " which General Johnson aimed at rendering more
certain by this royal name, had passed away forever.

So far we have undoubted history for our guide. But
half a century since, the same beautiful waters received, in
American literature, the name of Horican. This name
was by no means an imaginary one ; and there is much
more foundation for its use, than is generally supposed.
Only four years after the discovery of the Hudson River —
m 1613, when the first rude huts were built by the Dutch
on the Island of Manhattan, the skipper Adrian Blok lost
his craft, the Tiger^ by fire. The resolute man set to work
to build himself a yacht during the winter of 1613-14,
the Indians kindly supplying them " with food, and all sorts
of necessaries." When his little vessel of sixteen tons bur-
den was finished — the first act of ship-building on ground
whence so many fleets have since sailed — Blok embarked
on an exploring cruise among the bays and rivers eastward.
He entered the mouth of the Connecticut River. In lati-
tude 41° 48' — above Hartford, he found a fortified village
of a tribe called Nawaas ; from them he heard of " another
nation of savages who are called Horikans" living farther
northward, " within the landr And agam, De Laet, writ-
ing his " Description of the New Netherlands," in 1 633,
speaking of the Connecticut River, says, the Nawaas live
in latitude 41° 48', "within the land dwells another nation,
called the Horikans ; they descend the river in canoes made
of bark."

Some twenty years later, in 1656, Vanderdonck pub-
lished a map of the New Netherlands, in which the Hori-

XXXVIU INTRODUCTION.

kans are distinctly marked, as a tribe, placed between tbe
northern Connecticut and the Hudson.

In 1673, Hennepin, the companion of La Salle, travelleti
extensively in Canada, and what are now the western parte
of New York. He v\ rote his travels, and published a map
in connection with them. On this map, at a point very
near the position of Lake George, the word Horican ii
clearly printed.

Here we have, then, from early authorities, both Dutch
and French, the name of Horikan, applied to a tribe occu-
pying ground very near the Lake Andiatarocte. It would
be only consistent, therefore, with a very common practice
in American geography, to name that lake from a tribe
whose bark canoes must often have floated upon its waters.
Many a lake, and many a river in the country, are now
bearing Indian names, on much less authority. It was
from one of these old maps — which one we cannot say —
that the author of the " Last of the Mohicans," struck with
the name as more poetical and more appropriate than that
of King George, placed it on the lips of Hawk-eye. It is
very possible, that these Horikans may have been one of
those tribes called by different names, at different periods
of their cai-eer, which happened very frequently among the
Indians ; or they may have been only a subdivision of a
tribe — but their existence at the discovery of the couutry,
on hunting grounds which must naturally have brought
them to chase the elk and the bear on the mountams over-
looking the Lake Andiatarocte of the Mohawks, we have no
more reason to doubt than we have to doubt the assertion
that Blok sailed up the Connecticut to latitude 41°.

" The last of the Mohicans " was published early in Jan-
uary, 1826. It was brilliantly successful, both in America
and in Europe, where the entire novelty of a roma^^e
the wilderness, filled with striking characters and stirring
incidents, awakened an especial interest.

THE LAST OF THE MOHIOANK

CHAPTER L

Mine ear is open, and my heart prepared :
The worst is worldly loss thou canst unfold :
Say, is my kingdom lost ?

Shakksprark

It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North
America, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were
to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet. A
wide and apparently an impervious boundary of forests
severed the possessions of the hostile provinces of France
and England. The hardy colonist, and the trained Euro-
pean who fought at his side, frequently expended months in
struggling against the rapids of the streams, or in effecting
the rugged passes of the mountains, in quest of an oppor-
tunity to exhibit their courage in a more martial conflict.
But, emulating the patience and self-denial of the practiced
native warriors, they learned to overcome every difficulty ;
and it would seem that, in time, there was no recess of the
woods so dark, nor any secret place so lovely, that it might
claim exemption from the inroads of those who had pledged
their blood to satiate their vengeance, or to uphold the cold
and selfish policy of the distant monarchs of Europe.

Perhaps no disMctthroughout the wide extent of the in-
termediate frontiers can furnish a livelier picture of the cru-
elty and fierceness of the savage warfare of those periods
than the country which lies between the head waters of the
Hudson and the adjacent lakes.

The facilities which nature had there offered to the march
of the combatants were too obvious to be neglected. Tha

2 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

lengthened sheet of the Champlain stretched from the irtm-
tiers of Canada, deep within the borders of the neighboring
province of New York, forming a natural passage across
half the distance that the French were compelled to master
in order to strike their enemies. Near its southern termi-
nation, it received the contributions of another lake, whose
waters were so limpid as to have been exclusively selected
by the Jesuit missionaries to perform the typical purifica-
tion of baptism, and to obtain for it the title of lake " du
Saint Sacrement." The less zealous English thought they
conferred a sufficient honor on its unsullied fountains, when
they bestowed the name of their reigning prince, the second
of the house of Hanover. The two united to rob the un-
tutored possessors of its wooded scenery of their native
right to perpetuate its original appellation of " Horican." ^

"Winding its way among countless islands, and imbedded
in mountains, the " holy lake " extended a dozen leagues still
further to the south. With the high plain that there inter-
posed itself to the further passage of the water, commenced
a portage of as many miles, which conducted the adventurer
to the banks of the Hudson, at a point where, with the
usual obstructions of the rapids, or rifts, as they were then
termed in the language of the country, the river became
navigable to the tide.

While, in the pursuit of their daring plans of annoyance,
the restless enterprise of the French even attempted the
distant and difficult gorges of the Alleghany, it may easily
be imagined that their proverbial acuteness would not over-
look the natural advantages of the district we have just
described. It became, emphatically, the bloody arena, in
which most of the battles for the mastery of the colonies
were contested. Forts were erected at the different points
iiat commanded the facilities of the route, and were taken

1 Ah each nation of the Indians had either its language or its dialect, they
Asually gave differeut names to the same places, though nearly all of their ap-
pellations were descriptive of the object. Thus, a literal translation of th«
name of this beautiful sheet of water, used by the tribe that dwelt on it«
banks, would be "The Tail of the Lake." Lake George, as it is vulgarW
Mid now indeed legally called, forms a sort of tail to Lake Champlain, y^tm
newed on the map Hence the name.

THE LAST OF THL MOHICANS. tt

and retaken, rased and rebuilt, as victory alighted on the
hostile banners. WhUe the husbandman shrank back fi'om
the dangerous passes, within the safer boundaries of the
more ancient settlements, armies larger than those that had
often disposed of the sceptres of the mother countries, were
seen to bury themselves in these forests, whence they rarely
returned but in skeleton bands, that were haggard with carci,
or dejected by defeat. Though the arts of peace were un-
known to this fatal region, its forests were alive with men ;
its shades and glens rang with the sounds of martial music,
and the echoes of its mountains threw back the laugh, or
repeated the wanton cry, of many a gallant and reckless
youth, as he hurried by them, in the noontide of his spirits,
to slumber in a long night of forgetfulness.

It was in this scene of strife and bloodshed that the inci-
dents we shall attempt to relate occurred, during the third
year of the war which England and France last waged for
the possession of a country that neither was destined to re-
tain.

The imbecility of her military leaders abroad, and the
fatal want of energy in her councils at home, had lowered
the character of Great Britain from the proud elevation on
which it had been placed, by the talents and enterprise of
her former warriors and statesmen. No longer dieaded by
her enemies, her servants were fast losing the confidence of
self-respect. In this mortifying abasement, the colonists,
though innocent of her imbecility, and too humble to be th*»
agents of her blunders, were but the natural participators.

They had recently seen a chosen army fr6m that country,
which, reverencing as a mother, they had blindly believed
invincible — an army led by a chief who had been selected
from a crowd of trained warriors, for his rare military en-
dowments, disgracefully routed by a handful of French and
Indians, and only saved from annihilation by the coolness
and spirit of a Virginian boy, whose riper fame has since dif-
fused itself, with the steady influence of moral truth, to the
uttermost confines of Christendom.^ A wide frontier had

1 Washington : who, after uselessly admonishing the European general of
the danger into which he was heedl^j rtuuuQg, saved the remnants of iii#

4 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

oeen laid naked by this unexpected disaster, and more sub
stantial evils were preceded by a thousand fanciful and im-
aginary dangers. The alarmed colonists believed that the
yells of the savages mingled with every fitful gust of wind
that issued from the interminable forests of the west. The
terrific character of their merciless enemies increased im-
measurably the natural horrors of warfare. Numberless
recent massacres were still vivid in their recollections ; nor
was there any ear in the provinces so deaf as not to have
drunk in with avidity the narrative of some fearful tale of
midnight murder, in which the natives of the forests were
the principal and barbarous actors. As the credulous and
excited traveller related the hazardous chances of the wil-
derness, the blood of the timid curdled with terror, and
mothers cast anxious glances even at those children which
slumbered within the security of the largest towns. In
short, the magnifying influence of fear began to set at naught
the calculations of reason, and to render those who should
have remembered their manhood, the slaves of the basest of
passions. Even the most confident and the stoutest hearts
began to think the issue of the contest was becoming doubt-
ful ; and that abject class was hourly increasing in numbers,
who thought they foresaw all the possessions of the English
crown in America subdued by their Christian foes, or laid
waste by the inroads of their relentless allies.

When, therefore, intelligence was received at the fort
which covered the southern termination of the portage be-
tween the Hudson and the lakes, that Montcalm had been
seen moving up the Champlain, w'th an army '* numerous
as the leaves on the trees," its truth was admitted with
more of the craven reluctance of fear than with the stern
joy that a warrior should feel, in finding an enemy within
reach of his blow. The news had been brought, towards the

British army, on this occasion, by his decision and courage. The reputation
»amed by Washington in this battle was the principal cause of his being se-
lected to command the American armies at a later day. It is a circumstance
worthy of observation, that, while all America rang with his well merited rep-
utation, his name does not occur in any European account of the battle ; at
least, the author has searched for it without success. In this manner does thf
mother country absorb ev«Q the fame, under that systeor ^4 rule.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 5

dedine of a day in midsummer, by an Indian runner, who
alfto bore an urgent request from Munro, the commander
of a work on the shore of the " holy lake," for a speedy and
powerful reinforcement It has already been mentioned
that the distance between these two posts was less tlian five
leagues. The rude path, which originally formed their line
of communication, had been widened for the passage of
wagons ; so that the distance which had been travelled by the
hori of the forest in two hours, might easily be effected by
a detachment of troops, with their necessary baggage, be-
tween the rising and setting of a summer sun. The loyal
servants of the British crown had given to one of these for-
est fastnesses the name of William Henry, and to the other
that of Fort Edward ;^ calling each after a favorite prince
of the reigning family. The veteran Scotchman just named
held the first, with a regiment of regulars and a few provin-
cials ; a force really by far too small to make head against
the formidable power that Montcalm was leading to the foot
of his earthen mounds. At the latter, however lay General
Webb, who commanded the armies of the king in the north-
ern provinces, with a body of more than five thousand men.
By uniting the several detachments of his command, this
olhcer might have arrayed neai'ly double that number of
combatants against the enterprising Frenchman, who had
ventured so far from his reinforcements, with an army but
little superior in numbers.

But under the influence of their degraded fortunes, both
officers and men appeared better disposed |o await the ap-
proach of their formidable antagonists, within their works,
than to resist the progress of their march, by emulating the
successful example of the French at Fort du Quesne, and
striking a blow on their advance.

After the first surprise of the intelligence had a little
abated, a rumor was spread through the entrenched camp,
which stretched along the margin of the Hudson, forming a
chain of outworks to the body of the fort itself, that a
chosen detachment of fifteen hundred men was to depart,
with the dawn, for William Hen^y, the post at the northern
extremity of the portage. That which at first was only m-

1 See App«adix, Note A.

0 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

mor, soon became certainty, as orders passed from the quar*
ters of the commander-in-chief to the several corps he had
selected for this service, to prepare for their speedy departure.
All doubt as to the intention of Webb now vanished, and an
hour or two of hurried footsteps and anxious faces succeeded.
The novice in the military art flew from point to point, retard-
ing his own preparations by the excess of his violent and some-
what distempered zeal ; while the more practiced veteran
made his arrangements with a deliberation that scorned
every appearance of haste ; though his sober lineaments and
anxious eye sufficiently betrayed that he had no very strong
professional relish for the as yet untried and dreaded war-
fare of the wilderness. At length the sun set in a flood of
glory, behind the distant western hills, and as darkness drew
its veil around the secluded spot the sounds of preparation
diminished ; the last light finally disappeared from the log
cabin of some officer ; the trees cast their deeper shadows
over the mounds and the rippling stream, and a silence soon
pervaded the camp, as deep as that which reigned in the
Tast forest by which it was environed.

According to the orders of the preceding night, the heavy
sleep of the army was broken by the rolling of the warn-
ing drums, whose rattling echoes were heard issuing, on the
damp morning air, out of every vista of the woods, just as
day began to draw the shaggy outlines of some tall pines of
the vicinity, on the opening brightness of a soft and cloud-
less eastern sky. In an instant the whole camp was in mo-
tion ; the meanest soldier arousing from his lair to witness
the departure of his comrades, and to share in the excite-
ment and incidents of the hour. The simple array of the
chosen band was soon completed. While the regular and
trained hirelings of the king marched with haughtiness tA
the right of the line, the less pretending colonists took their
humbler position on its left, with a docility that long prac-
tice had rendered easy. The scouts departed ; strong guards
preceded and followed the lumbering vehicles that bore
the baggage ; and before the gray light of the morning was
mellowed by the rays of the sun, the main body of the
combatants wheeled into column, and left the encampmea*

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. T

irith a show of high military bearing, that served to drown
the slumbering apprehensions of many a novice, who was
now about to make his first essay in arms. While in view
of their admiring comrades, the same proud front and
ordered array was observed, until the notes of their fifes
growing fainter in distance, the forest at length appeared ta
swallow up the living mass which had slowly entered its
bosom.

The deepest sounds of the retiring and invisible column
had ceased to be borne on the breeze to the listeners, and
the latest straggler had already disappeared in pursuit ; but
there still remained the signs of another departure, before
a log cabin of unusual size and accomi, ^dations, in front of
which those sentinels paced their rounds, who w e known
to guard the person of the English general. At this spot
were gathered some half dozen horses, caparisoned in a man-
ner which showed that two, at least, were destined to bear
the persons of females, of a rank that it was not usual to
meet so far m the wilds of the country. A third wore tho
trappings and arms of an officer of the staff; while the rest,
from the plainness of the housings, and the travelling mails
with which they were encumbered, were evidently fitted for
the reception of as many menials, who were, seemingly,
already awaiting the pleasure of those they served. At a
respectful distance from this unusual show were gathered
divers groups of curious idlers ; some admiring the blood
and bone of the high-mettled military charger, and others
gazing at the preparations, with the dull wonder of vulgar
curiosity. There was one man, however, who, by his coun-
tenance and actions, formed a marked exception to those
who composed the latter class of spectators, being neither
idle, nor seemingly very igncrant.

The person of this individual was to the last degree un-
gainly, without being in any particular manner deformed.
He had all the bones and joints of other men, without any
of their proportions. Erect, his stature surpassed that of
his fellows ; though, seated, he appeared reduced within tho
ordinary limits of the race. The same contrariety in his
members seemed to exist throughout the whole man. Hi3

8 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAIIS.

head was large ; his shoulders narrow ; his arms long and
dangling ; while his hands were small, if not delicate.
His legs and thighs were thin, nearly to emaciation, but of
extraordinary length ; and his knees would have been con-
sidered tremendous, had they not been outdone by the
broader foundations on which this false superstructure of
blended human orders was so profanely reared. The ill-
assorted and injudicious attire of the individual only served
to render his awkwardness more conspicuous. A sky-blue
coat, with short and broad skirts and low cape, exposed a
long thin neck, and longer and thinner legs, to the worst
animadversions of the evil disposed. His nether garment
was of yellow nankeen, closely fitted to the shape, and tied
at his bunches of knees by large knots of white ribbon, a
good deal sullied by use. Clouded cotton stockings, and
shoes, on one of the latter of which was a plated spur, com-
pleted the costume of the lower extremity of this figure, no
curve or angle of which was concealed, but, on the other
hand, studiously exhibited, through the vanity or simplicity
of its owner. From beneath the flap of an enormous pocket
of a soiled vest of embossed silk, heavily ornamented with
tarnished silver lace, projected an instrument, which, from
being seen in such martial company, might have been easily
mistaken for some mischievous and unknown implement of
war. Small as it was, this uncommon engine had excited
the curiosity of most of the Europeans in the camp, though
several of the provincials were seen to handle it, not only
without fear, but with the utmost familiarity. A large, civil
cocked hat, like those worn by clergymen within the last
thirty years, surmounted the whole, furnishing dignity to &
good-natured and somewhat vacant countenance, that ap-
parently needed such artificial aid, to support the gravity of
some high and extraordinary trust.

While the common herd stood aloof, in deference to the
quarters of Webb, the figure we have described stalked into
the centre of the domestics, freely expressing his censures
or commendations on the merits of the horses, as by chance
they displeased or satisfied his judgment,

* This beast. T rather conclude, friend, is not of bomf

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 9

faising, but is from foreign lands, or perhaps from the little
island itself over the blue water?" he said, in a voice as
remarkable for the Boi'tuess and sweetness of its tones, as
was his person for its rare proportions : " I may speak of
these things, and be no braggart; for I have been down
at both havens; that which is situate at the mouth of
Thames, and is named after the capital of Old England, and
that which is called ' Haven,' with the addition of the word
* New ;' and have seen the snows and brigantines collecting
their droves, like the gathering to the ark, being outward
bound to the Island of Jamaica, for the purpose of barter
and traffic in four-footed animals ; but never before have I
beheld a beast which verified the true Scripture war-horse
like this*. 'He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his
strength : he 'goeth on to meet the armed men. He saith
among the trumpets. Ha, ha ; and he smelleth the battle
afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.'
It would seem that the stock of the horse of Israel has
descended to our own time ; would it not, friend ? "

Receiving no rrply to this extraordinary appeal, which
in truth, as it was delivered with the vigor of full and so-
norous tones, merited some sort of notice, he who had thus
sung forth the language of the holy book turned to the silent
figure to whom he had unwittingly addressed himself, and
found a new and more powerful subject of admiration in
the object that encountered his gaze. His eyes fell on the
still, upright, and rigid form of the " Indian runner," who
had borne to the camp the unwelcome tidies of the pre-
ceding evening. Although in a state of perfect repose,
and apparently disregarding, with characteristic stoicism,
the excitement and bustle around him, there was a sullen
fierceness mingled with the quiet of the savage, that was
likely to arrest the attention of much more experienced eyes
than those which now scanned him, in unconcealed amaze-
ment. The native bore both the tomahawk and knife of
his tribe; and yet his appearance was not altogether that
of a warrior. On the contrary, there was an air of neglect
Hbout his person, like that which might have proceeded from
great and recent exertion, which he had not yet found lei-

10 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

sure to repair. The colors of the war-paint had blended in
dark confusion about his fierce countenance, and rendered
his swarthy lineaments still more savage and repulsive than
if art had attempted an effect which had been thus produced
by chance. His eye, alone, which glistened like a fiery star
amid lowering clouds, was to be seen in its state of native
wildness. For a single instant, his searching and yet wary
glance met the wondering look of the other, and then chang
ing its direction, partly in cunning, and partly in disdain, it
remained fixed, as if penetrating the distant air.

It is impossible to say what unlooked-for remark this
short and silent communication, between two such singular
men, might have elicited from the white man, had not his
active curiosity been again drawn to other objects. A gen-
eral movement amongst the domestics, and a low sound of
gentle voices, announced the approach of those whose pres-
ence alone was wanted to enable the cavalcade to move.
The simple admirer of the war-horse instantly fell back to
a low, gaunt, switch-tailed mare, that was unconsciously
gleaning the faded herbage of the camp nigh by; where,
leaning with one elbow on the blanket that concealed an
apology for a saddle, he became a spectator of the departure,
while a foal was quietly making its morning repast, on the
opposite side of the same animal.

A young man, in the dress of an officer, conducted to
their steeds two females, who, as it was apparent by their
dresses, were prepared to encounter the fatigues of a jour-
ney in the woods. U One, and she was the most juvenile in
her appearance, though both were young, permitted glimpses
of her dazzling complexion, fair golden hair, andjuaj^ht blue
eyes,'to be caught, as she artlessly suffered the morning air
"To'l5l&w aside the green _veil which descended low from her
beaver. The flush which still lingered above the pii.es m
the western sky was not more bright nor delicate tlu^n the
bloom on her cheek ; nor was the openir^ day more heer-
ing than the animated smile which she bestowed o i the
youth, as he assisted her into the saddle. The othei who
appeared to share equally in the attentions of the ; oung
officer, concealed her charms from the gaze of the so.diec"'

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 11

mih a care that seemed better fitted to the experience of
foul or five additional years, lilt could be seen, however,
that her person, though moulded with the same exquisite
proportions, of which none of the graces were lost by the
travelling dress she wore, was rather fuller and more mature
than that of her companion.

No sooner were these females seated, than their attendant
•prang lightly into the saddle of the war-horse, when the
whole three bowed to Webb, who, in courtesy, awaited their
parting on the threshold of his cabin, and turning their
horses' heads, they proceeded at a slow amble, followed by
their train, towards the northern entrance of the encamp-
ment, (j As they traversed that short distance, not a voice
was heard amongst them; but a slight exclamation pro-
ceeded from the younger of the females, as the Indian run-
ner glided by her, unexpectedly, and led the way along the
military road in her front. Though this sudden and start-
ling movement of the Indian produced no sound from the
other, in the surprise her veil also was allowed to open ita
folds, and betrayed an indescribable look of pitj^ adn;)iration,
and horror, as her dark eve followed the easy motions of ^
the savage._. llie tresses of this lady were sh'^'^'g ^^^
black, like the plumage of the raven. Her complexion
was not brown, but it rather appeared charged with the
coloE-Gf-JJiS^^rich blood, that seemed ready to burst its
bounds. And yet there was neither coarseness nor want
of shadowing in a countenance that was exquisitely regular
and dignified, and surpassingly beautiful. • She smiled, as if
in pity at her own momentary forgetfulness, discovering by
the acta row of teeth that would have shamed the purest
tvory ;^hen, replaClug the veil, "she" bowed her face, anT
ro<Ie~in silence, like one whose thoughts were abstracted
from the scene around her. \

12 THE LASl OF THE MOHlC^iiiS.

CHAPTER n.

Sola, sola, wo ha, ho, sola !

Shakbspears.

"While one of the lovely beings we have so cursorily
presented to the reader was thus lost in thought, the other
quickly recovered from the alarm which induced the excla-
mation, and, laughing at her own weakness, she inquired *of
the youth who rode by her side, —

" Are such spectres frequent in the woods, Heyward ; or
Ls this sight an especial entertainment ordered on our behalf?
If the latter, gratitude must close our mouths ; but if the
former, both Cora and I shall have need to draw largely on
that stock of hereditary courage which we boast, even before
we are made to encounter the redoubtable Montcalm."

" Yon Indian is a ' runner ' of the army ; and, after the
fashion of his people, he may be accounted a hero," returned
the officer. " He has volunteered to guide us to the lake,
by a path but little known, sooner than if we followed the
tardy movements of the column : and, by consequence, more
agreeably."

" I like liim not," said the lady, shuddering, partly in
assumed, yet more in real terror. " You know him,
Duncan, or yo/ yould not trust yourself so freely to hit
keeping ? "

" Say, rather, Alice, that I would not trust you. I io
know him, or he would not have my confidence, and least of
all at this moment. He is said to be a Canadian too ; and
yet he served with our friends the Mohawks, who, as you
know, are one of the six allied nations.^ He was brought

1 There existed for a long time a confederaticn among the Indian trWyea
which occupied the northwestern part of the colony of New York, which was
%t first known as the " Five Nations." At a later day it adraitte<I another
tribe, when the appellation was changed to that of the " Six Nations." Th«

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 18

amongst us, as I Lave heard, by some strange accident in
which your father was interested, and in which the savage
\^AS rigidly dealt by — but I forget the idle tale; it is
enough, that he is now our friend."

" If he has been my father's enemy, I like him still less ! **
exclaimed the now really anxious girl. '' Will you not
speak to him, Major Hey ward, that 1 may hear his tones ?
Foolish though it may be, you have often heard me avow
my faith in the tones of the human voice ! "

" It would be in vain ; and answered, most probably, by
an ejaculation. Though he naay understand it, he affects,
like most of his people, to be ignorant of the English ; and
least of all will he condescend to speak it, now that war
demands the utmost exercise of his dignity. But he stops ;
the private path by which we are to journey is, doubtless,
at hand."

The conjecture of Major Hey ward was true. \VIien they
reached the spot where the Indian stood, pointing into the
thicket that fringed the military road, a narrow and blind
path, which might, with some little inconvenience, receive
one person at a time, became visible.

" Here, then, lies our way," said the young man, in a low
voice. " Manifest no distrust, or you may invite the danger
you appear to apprehend."

" Cora, what think you ? " asked the reluctant fair one.
" K we journey with the troops, though we may find their
presence irksome, shall we not feel better assurance of our
safety ? " ♦

" Being little accustomed to the practices of the savages,
Alice, you mistake the place of real danger," said Heyward.
" If enemies have reached the portage at all, a thing by no
means probable, as our scouts are abroad, they will surely

original confederation consisted of tlie Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Seuecas, the
Cayugas, and the Onondagoes. The sixth tribe was the Tuscaroras. There are
remnants of all these people still living on lands secured to them by the State ; but
they are daily disappearing, either by deaths or by removals to scenes more con-
genial to their habits. In a short time there will be no remains of these ex-
traordinary people, in those regions in which they dwelt for centuries, but their
namee. The State of New York has counties named after all of them but the
Mohawks and the Tuscariraa. The second river jf that State ia called tbt
liohawk.

14 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

be found skirting the column, where scalps abound the most
The route of the detachment is known, while ours, having
Deen determined within the hour, must still be secret."

" Should we distrust the man because his manners are not
our manners, and that his skin is dark ? " coldly asked Cora.

Alice hesitated no longer ; but giving her Narraganset ^
a smart cut of the whip, she was the first to dash aside the
slight branches of the bushes, and to follow the runner along
the dark and tangled pathway. The young man regarded
the last speaker in open admiration, and even permitted her
fairer though certainly not more beautiful companion to
proceed unattended, while he sedulously opened the way
himself for the passage of her who has been called Cora.
It would seem that the domestics had been previously in-
structed ; for, instead of penetrating the thicket, they fol-
lowed the route of the column ; a measure which Hey ward
stated had been dictated by the sagacity of their guide, in
order to diminish the marks of their trail, if, haply, the
Canadian savages should be lurking so far in advance of
their army. For many minutes the intricacy of the route
admitted of no fiirther dialogue ; after which they emerged
from the broad border of underbrush which grew along the
line of the highway, and entered under the high but dark
arches of the forest. Here their progress was less inter-
rupted ; and the instant the guide perceived that the females
could command their steeds, he moved on, at a pace between
a trot and a walk, and at a rate which kept the sure-footed
and peculiar animals they rode, at a fast yet easy amble.
The youth had turned to speak to the dark-eyed Cora, when
the distant sound of horses' hoofs, clattering over the roots
of the broken way in his rear, caused him to check his

1 In the State of Rhode Island there is a bay called Narraganset, so named
after a powerful tribe of Indians, which formerly dwelt on its banks. Accident,
or one of those unaccountable freaks which nature sometimes plays in the ani-
mal world, gave rise to a breed of horses which were once well known in
America by the name of the Narragansets. They were small, commonly of the
color called sonel in America, and distinguished by their habit of pacing.
Horses of this race were, and are still, in much request as saddle horses, on
account of their hardiness and the ease of their movements. As they were
also sure of foot, the Narragansets were greatly sought for by females wh#
van obUged to travel over the roots and holes in the " new countries."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 16

charger ; and, as his companions drew their reins at the same
instant, the whole party came to a halt, in order to obtain
an explanation of the unlooked-for interruption.

In a few moments a colt was seen gliding, like a fallow
deer, amongst the straight trunks of the pines ; and, in
another instant, the person of the ungainly man, described
in the preceding chapter, came into view, with as much
rapidity as he could excite his meagre l)east to endure
without coming to an open rupture. Until now this per-
sonage had escaped the observation of the travellers. If
he possessed the power to arrest any wandering eye when
exhibiting the glories of his altitude on foot, his equestrian
graces were still more likely to attract attention. Notwith-
standing a constant application of his one armeil heel to the
flanks of the mare, the most confirmed gait that he could
establish was a Canterbury gallop with the hind legs, in
which those more forward assisted for doubtful moments,
though generally content to maintain a loping trot. Per-
haps the rapidity of the changes from one of these paces to
the other created an optical illusion, which might thus
magnify the powers of the beast ; for it is certain that Hey-
ward, who possessed a true eye for the merits of a horse,
was imable, with his utmost ingenuity, to decide by what
sort of movement his pursuer worked his sinuous way on
his footsteps with such persevering hardihood.

The industry and movements of the rider were not less
remarkable than those of the ridden. At each change in
the evolutions of the latter, the former raised his tall person
in the stirrups ; producing, in this manner, by the undue
olongation of his legs, such sudden growths and diminishings
of the stature, as baffled every conjecture that might be
made as to his dimensions. If to this be added the fact
that, in consequence of the ex parte application of the spur,
one side of the mare appeared to journey faster than the
other , and that the aggrieved flank was resolutely indicated
by unremitted flourishes of a bushy tail, we finish the pio-
lu'-e of both horse and man.

The frown which had gathered around the handsome,
open, and manly brow of I ley ward, gradually relaxed, and

16 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

his lips curled into a slight smile, as he regarded the
stranger. Alice made no very powerful effort to control
her merriment ; and even the dark, thoughtful eye of Cora
lighted with a humor that, it would seem, the habit, rather
than the nature of its mistress repressed.

" Seek you any here ? " demanded Heyward, when the
other had arrived sufficiently nigh to abate his speed ; " I
trust you are no messenger of evil tidings ? "

" Even so," replied the stranger, making diligent use of
his triangular castor, to produce a circulation in the close
air of the woods, and leaving his hearers in doubt to which
of the young man's questions he responded ; when, how-
ever, he had cooled his face, and recovered his breath, he
contmued, " I hear you are riding to William Henry ; as I
am journeying thitherward myself, I concluded good com-
pany would seem consistent to the wishes of both parties."

" You appear to possess the privilege of a casting vote,"
returned Heyward . " we are three, whilst you have con-
sulted no one but yourself."

" Even so. The first point to be obtained is to know
one's own mmd. Once sure of that, and where women are
concerned, it is not easy, the next is, to act up to the decis-
ion. I have endeavored to do both, and here I am."

" If you journey to the lake, you have mistaken your
route," said Heyward, haughtily ; *' the highway thither is
at least half a mile behind you."

" Even so," returned the stranger, nothing daunted by
this cold reception ; " I have tarried at ' Edward * a week,
and I should be dumb not to have inquired the road I was
to journey ; and if dumb there would be an end to my call-
mg" After simpering in a small way, like one whose
modesty prohibited a more open expression of his admira-
tion of a witticism that was perfectly unintelligible to his
hearers, he continued, "It is not prudent for any one of
my profession to be too familial with those he has to in-
struct ; for which reason I follow not the line of the army :
besides which, I conclude that a gentleman of your charac-
ter has the best judgment in matters of wayfaring ; I have
therefore decided to join company, in order that the ride
may be made agreeable, and partake of social communion."

TflE LAST OF TflE MOHtCANS. It

" A most arbitrary, if not a hasty decision ! " ^r^umeT
Hey ward, undecided whether to give vent to his growing
anger, or to laugh in the other's face. " But you speak of
instruction, and of a profession ; are you an adjunct to the
provincial corps, as a master of the noble science of defense
and offense ; or, perhaps, you are one who draws lines and
angles, under the pretense of expounding the mathemat
ics?"

The stranger regarded his interrogator a moment, in
wonder ; and then, losing every mark of self-satisfaction in
an expression of solemn humility, he answered : —

" Of offense, I hope there is none, to either party : of de-
fense, I make none — by God's good mercy, having com-
mitted no palpable sin since last entreating his pardoning
grace. I understand not your allusions about lines and
angles ; and I leave expounding to those who have been
called and set apart for that holy office. I lay claim to no
higher gift than a small insight hito the glorious art of
petitioning and thanksgiving, as practiced in psalmody."

" The man is, most manifestly, a disciple of Apollo,"
cried the amused Alice, " and I take him under my own
especial protection. Nay, throw aside that frown, Hey-
ward, and in pity to my longing ears, suffer him to journey
in our train. Besides," she added, in a low and hurried
voice, casting a glance at the distant Cora, who slowly fol-
lowed the footsteps of their silent but sullen guide, " it may
be a friend added to our strength, in time of need."

" Think you, Alice, that I would trust those I love by
this secret path, did I imagine such need could happen ? "

" Nay, nay, I think not of it now ; but this strange man
amuses me ; and if he ' hath music in his soul,' let us not
churlishly reject his company." She pointed persuasively
along the path with her riding-whip, while their eyes mf
in a look which the young man lingered a moment to pro-
long ; then yielding to her gentle influence, he clapped his
spurs into his charger, and in a few bounds was again af
the side of Cora.

"I am glad to encounter thee, friend," continued thp
aaaiden, waving her hand to the tranger to proceed, ae ahe
9

18 THE LAST OP THE MOHICAKS. '

arged her Narraganset to renew its amble. " Partial reli
tives have almost persuaded me that I am not entirely
worthless in a duet myself; and we may enliven our way-
fering by indulging in our favorite pursuit. It might be of
signal advantage to one, ignorant as I, to hear the opinions
and experience of a master in the art."

" It is refreshing both to the spirits and to the body to
indulge in psalmody, in befitting seasons," returned the
master of song, unhesitatingly complying with her intima-
tion to follow ; " and nothing would relieve the mind more
than such a consoling communion. But four parts are al-
together necessary to the perfection of melody. You have
all the manifestations of a soft and rich treble ; I can, by
especial aid, carry a full tenor to the highest letter ; but
we lack counter and bass ! Yon officer of the king, who
hesitated to admit me to his company, might fill the latter,
if one may judge from the intonations of his voice in com-
mon dialogue."

" Judge not too rashly from hasty and deceptive appear-
ances," said the lady, smiling ; " though Major Hey ward
can assume such deep notes on occasion, believe me, his
natural tones are better fitted for a mellow tenor than the
'mss you heard."

" Is he, then, much practiced in the art of psalmody ? "
demanded her simple companion.

Alice felt disposed to laugh, though she succeeded in
suppressing her merriment, ere she answered, —

" I apprehend that he is rather addicted to profane song.
The chances of a soldier's life are but little fitted for the
encouragement of more sober inclinations."

" Man's voice is given to him, like his other talents, to
be used, and not to be abused. None can say they have
ever known me neglect my gifts! I am thankful that,
though my boyhood may be said to have been set apart,
like the youth of the royal David, for the purposes of
music, no syllable of rude verse has ever profaned my lips.'*

"You have, then, limited your efforts to sacred song? "

"Even so. As the psaims of David exceed all othe?
UuQgua^e, so does the psalmody that has been fitted to theoi

THE LAST OF TfcE MOHICANS. 19

by the divines and sages of the land, surpass all vain poe-
try. Happily, I may say that I utter nothing bat the
thoughts and the wishes of the King of Israel himself; for
though the times may call for some slight changes, yet does
this version which we use m the colonies of New England
so much exceed all other versions, that, by its richness, iti;
exactness, and its spiritual simplicity, it approacheth, as
near as may be, to the great work of the inspired writer.
I never abide in any place, sleeping or waking, without an
example of this gifted work. 'Tis the six-and-twentieth
edition, promulgated at Boston, Anno Domini 1 744 ; and
is entitled, * The Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs of the
Old and New Testaments ; faithfully translated into Eng-
lish Metre, for the Use, Edification, and Comfort of the
Saints, in Public and Private, especially in New England.* "
During this eulogium on the rare production of his na-
tive poets, the stranger had drawn the book from his
pocket, and, fitting a pair of iron-rimmed spectacles to his
nose, opened the volume with a care and veneration suited
to its sacred purposes. Then, without circumlocution or
apology, first pronouncing the word " Standish," and plac-
ing the unknown engine, already descnbed, to his mouth,
from which he drew a high, shrill sound, that was followed
by an octave below, from his own voice, he commenced
singing the following words, in full, sweet, and melodious
tones, that set the music, the poetry, and even the uneasy
motion of his ill-trained beast at defiance : —

" How good it is, 0 see,

And how it pleaseth well,
Together, e'en iu unity,

For brethren so to dwell.
It's like the choice ointment.

From the head to the beard did f^:
Down Aaron's beard, that downward went,

His garment's skirts unto."

The delivery of these skillful rhymes was accompanied,
^n the part of the stranger, by a regular rise and fall of his
•ight hand, which terminated at the descent, by suffering
die fingers to dwell a moment on the leaves of the little
volume and on the asceut, by such a flouiAdi of the mem

so THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

ber M uone but ihe initiated may ever hope to imitate. It
would seem that long practice had rendered this manual
accompaniment necessary; for it did not cease until the
preposition which the poet had selected for the close of hia
verse, had been duly delivered like a word of two syllables.

Such an innovation on the silence and retirement of the
forest could not fail to enlist the ears of those who jour-
neyed at so short a distance in advance. The Indian mut^
tered a few words in broken English to Heyward, who, in
his tarn, spoke to the stranger ; at once interrupting, and,
for the time, closing his musical efforts.

" Though we are not in danger, common prudence would
teach us to journey through this wilderness in as quiet a
nanner as possible. You will, then, pardon me, Alice,
jhould I diminish your enjoyments, by requesting this gen-
tleman to postpone his chant until a safer opportunity."

" You will diminish them, indeed," returned the arch girl,
" for never did I hear a more unworthy conjunction of exe-
cution and language, than that to which I have been listen-
ing; and I was far gone in a learned inquiry into the
causes of such an unfitness between sound and sense, when
you broke the charm of my musings by that bass of yours,
Duncan ! "

"I know not what you call my bass," said Heyward,
piqued at her remark, " but I know that your safety, and
that of Cora, is far dearer to me than could be any orches-
tra of Handel's music." He paused and turned his head
quickly towards a thicket, and then bent his eyes suspi-
ciously on their guide, who continued his steady pace, in
undisturbed gravity. The young man smiled to himself,
for he believed he had mistaken some shining berry of the
woods for the glistening eyeballs of a prowling savage, and
he rode forward, continuing the conversation which had
Oeen interrupted by the passing thought.

Major Heyward was mistaken only in suffering his youth-
ftd and generoas pride to suppress his active watchfulness.
The cavalcade had not long passed, before the branches of
the bushes that formed the thicket were cautiously moved
launder, and a hmuan visage, as fiercely wild as savage art

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. fl

and unbridled passions could make it, peered out on the re-
tiring footsteps of the travellers. A gleam of exultation
shot across the darkly painted lineaments of the inhabitant
of the forest, as he traced the route of his intended victims,
who rode unconsciously onward ; the light and graceful
forms of the females waving among the trees, in the curva-
tures of their path, followed at each bend by the manly
6gure of Heyward, until, finally, the shapeless person of the
singing-master was concealed behind the numberless tninki
of trees, that rose, in dark lines, in the interoiediate BpaoB

%2 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAKft.

CHAPTER m.

Before these fields were shorn and tilled^
Full to the brim our rivers flowed ;

The melody of waters filled
The fresh and boundless wood ;

And torrents dashed, and rivulets played.
And fountains spouted in the shade.

Bryaht.

Leaving the unsuspecting Heyward and his confiding
companions to penetrate still deeper into a forest that con-
tained such treacherous inmates, we must use an author's
privilege, and shift the scene a few miles to the westward
of the place where we have last seen them.

On that day, two men were lingering on the banks of a
small but rapid stream, within an hour's journey of the en-
campment of Webb, like those who awaited the appearance
of an absent person, or the approach of some expected
event. The vast canopy of woods spread itself to the mar-
gin of the river, overhanging the water, and shadowing its
dark current with a deeper hue. The rays of the sun were
beginning to grow less fierce, and the intense heat of the
day was lessened, as the cooler vapors of the springs and
foimtains rose above their leafy beds, and rested in the
atmosphere. Still that breathing silence, which marks the
drowsy sultriness of an American landscape in July, per-
vaded the secluded spot, interrupted only by the low voices
of the men, the occasional and lazy tap of a woodpecker,
the discordant cry of some gaudy jay, or a swelling on the
ear, from the dull roar of a distant waterfall.

These feeble and broken sounds were, however, too
fiimiliar to the foresters, to draw their attention from the
mete interesting matter of their dialogue. While one of
lb 10 loiterers showed the red skin and wild accoutrement!

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 88

df a native of the woods, the other exhibited, through th«
mask of his rude and nearly savage equipments, the brighter,
though sun-burnt and long-faded complexion of one who
might claim descent from a European parentage. The for-
mer was seated on the end of a mossy log, in a posture
that permitted him to heighten the effect of his earnest
language, by the calm but expressive gestures of an Indian
engaged in debate. His body, which was nearly naked,
presented a terrific emblem of death, drawn in intermingled
colors of white and black.^ His closely shaved head, on
which no other hair than the well known and chivalrous
scalping tuft^ was preserved, was without ornament of any
kind, with the exception of a solitary eagle's plume, that
crossed his crown, and depended over the left shoulder.
A tomahawk and scalping-knife, of English manufactui'e,
were in his girdle ; while a short military rifle, of that sort
with which the policy of the whites armed their savage
allies, lay carelessly across his bare and sinewy knee. The
expanded chest, full formed limbs, and grave countenance
of this warrior, would denote that he had reached the vigor
of his days, though no symptoms of decay appeared to have
yet weakened his manhood.

The frame of the white man, judging by such parts as
were not concealed by his clothes, was like that of one who
had known hardships and exertion from his earliest youth.
His person, though muscular, was rather attenuated than
full ; but every nerve and muscle appeared strung and indu-
rated by unremitted exposure and toil. He wore a hunt-
ing-shirt of forest green, fringed with fa'ded yellow,^ and
a summer cap of skins which had been shorn of their

1 See Appendix, Note B.

2 The North American warrior caused the hair to be plucked from hi«
whole body ; a small tuft, only, was left on the crown of his head, in order
that his enemy might avail himself of it, in wrenching off the scalp m the
event of his fall. The scalp was the only admissible trophy of victory. Thus,
it was deemed more important to obtain the scalp than to kill the man. Soma
tribes lay great stress on the honor of striking a dead body. These practices
have nearly disappeared among the Indians of the Atlantic States.

8 The hunting-shirt is a picturesque smock-frock, being shorter, and om
doented with fringes and tassels. The colors are intended to imitate the hues
of the wood, with a view to concealment. Many corj of American riflemeu
have been thus attired; and the dress is one of ths m ^ striking of mod<Ta
times. The hunting -shirt is frequently white.

24 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

fur. He also bore a knife in a girdle of wampum, like thai
which confined the scanty garments of the Indian, but no
Tomahawk. His moccasins were ornamented after the gay
fashion of the natives, while the only part of his under
dress which appeared below the hunting-frock, was a pair
of buckskin leggings, that laced at the sides, and which
were gartered above the knees, with the sinews of a deer.
A pouch and horn completed his personal accoutrements,
though a rifle of great length,^ which the theory of the
more ingenious whites had taught them was the most dan-
gerous of all fire-arms, leaned against a neighboring sap-
ling. The eye of the hunter, or scout, whichever he might
be, was small, quick, keen, and restless, roving while he
epoke, on every side of him, as if in quest of game, or dis-
trusting the sudden approach of some lurking enemy. Not-
. withstanding the symptoms of habitual suspicion, his coun-
tenance was not only without guile, but at the moment at
which he is introduced, it was charged with an expression
of sturdy honesty.

" Even your traditions make the case in my favor,
Chingachgook," he said, speaking in the tongue which was
known to all the natives who formerly inhabited the
country between the Hudson and the Potomac, and of
which we shall give a free translation for the benefit of the
reader; endeavoring, at the same time, to preserve some
of the peculiarities, both of the individual and of the lan-
guage. " Your fathers came from the setting sun, crossed
the big river,2 fought the people of the country, and took
the land ; and mine came from the red sky of the morning,
over the salt lake, and did their work much after the
feshion that had been set them by yours; then let God
judge the matter between us, and friends spare their
words ! "

" My fathers fought with the naked red-man ! " returned
the Indian sternly, in the same language. " Is there no

1 The rifle of the army is short ; that of the hunter is always long.

2 The Mississippi. The scout alludes to a tradition which is very popular
among the tribes of the Atlantic States. Evidence of their Asiatic origin ia
deduced from the circumstances, though great uncertainty hangs over tb«
vhole history of the Indiana.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS 85

difference, Hawkeye, between the stone-headed arrow of
the warrior, and the leaden bullet with which you kill ? "

" There is reason in an Indian, though nature has made
Mm with a red skin ! " said the white man, shaking his
nead like one on whom such an appeal to his justice was
not thrown away. For a moment he appeared to be
conscious of having the worst of the argument, then, rally-
ing again, he answered the objection of his antagonist in
the best manner his limited information would allow : " I
am no scholar, and I care not who knows it ; but judging
from what I have seen, at deer chases and squirrel hunts,
of the sparks below, I should think a rifle in the hands of
their grandfathers was not so dangerous as a hickory bow
and a good flint-head might be, if drawn with Indian judg-
ment, and sent by an Indian eye." ^

" You have the story told by your fathers," returned the
other, coldly waving his hand. " What say your old men ?
do they tell the young warriors, that the pale-faces met the
red-men, painted for war and armed with the stone hatchet
and wooden gun ? "

" I am not a prejudiced man, nor one who vaunts him-
self on his natural privileges, though the worst enemy I
have on earth, and he is an Iroquois, daren't deny that I
am genuine white," the scout replied, surveying, with
secret satisfaction, the faded color of his bony and sinewy
hand; "and I am willing to own that my people have
many ways, of which, as an honest man, I can't approve.
It is one of their customs to write in books what they have
done and seen, instead of telling them in their villages,
where the lie can be given to the face of a cowardly
boaster, and the brave soldier can call on his comrades to
witness for the truth of his words. In consequence of this
bad fashion, a man who is too conscientious to misspend his
days among the women, in learning the names of black
marks, may never hear of the deeds of his fathers, nor feel
a pride in striving to outdo them. For myself, I conclude
the Bumppos could shoot, for I have a natural turn with
a rifle, which must have been handed down from generation
io generation, as, our holy commandments tell us, all good

1 2»«e Appeudix, Note 0.

90 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

and evil gifts are bestowed; though I should be loth to
answer for other people in such a matter. But every
story has its two sides ; so I ask you, Chingachgook, what
passed, according to the traditions of the red-men, when
our fathers first met ? "

A silence of a minute succeeded, during which the
Indian sat mute ; then, full of the dignity of his office, he
commenced his brief tale, with a solemnity that served to
heighten its appearance of truth.

"Listen, Hawkeye, and your ear shall drink no lie.
*Tis what my fathers have said, and what the Mohicans
have done." He hesitated a single instant, and bending a
cautious glance towards his companion, he continued, in a
manner that was divided between interrogation and asser-
tion, " Does not this stream at our feet run towards the
summer, until its waters grow salt, and the current flows
upward ? "

" It can't be denied that your traditions tell you true in
both these matters," said the white man ; " for I have been
there, and have seen them ; though, why water, which is so
sweet in the shade, should become bitter in the sun, is an
alteration for which I have never been able to account."

" And the current ! " demanded the Indian, who ex-
pected his reply with that sort of interest that a man feels
in the confirmation of testimony, at which he marvels even
while he respects it ; " the fathers of Chingachgook havo
not lied!"

" The holy Bible is not more true, and that is the truest
thing in nature. They call this up-stream current the tide,
which is a thing soon explained, and clear enough. Six
hours the waters run in, and six hours they run out, and
the reason is this : when there is higher water in the sea
than in the river, they run in, until the river gets to be
highest, and then it runs out again."

" The waters in the woods, and on the great lakes, run
downward until they lie like my hand," said the Indian,
stretching the limb horizontally before him, "and thcD
ihey run no more."

'*No honest man will deny it," said the scout, a littla

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 27

nettled at the implied distrust of his explanation of the
mystery of the tides ; " and I grant that it is true on the
small scale, and where the land is level. But everything
depends on what scale you looli at things. Now, on the
small scale, the 'arth is level ; but on the large scale it is
round. In this manner, pools and ponds, and even the
great fresh-water lakes, may be stagnant, jis you and I both
know they are, having seen them ; but when you come to
spread water over a great tract, like the sea, where the
earth is round, how in reason can the water be quiet ? You
might as well expect the river to lie still on the brink of
those black rocks a mile above us, though your own ears tell
you that it is tumbling over them at this very moment ! "

If unsatisfied by the philosophy of his companion, the
Indian was far too dignified to betray his unbelief. He
listened like one who was convinced, and resumed his
narrative in his former solemn manner.

" We came from the place where the sun is hid at night,
over great plains where the buffaloes live, until we reached
the big river. There we fought the Alligewi, till the
ground was red with tlieir blood. From the banks of the
oig river to the shores of the salt lake, there was none to
meet us. The Maquas followed at a distance. We said
the country should be ours from the place where the water
runs up no longer on this stream, to a river twenty suns'
journey toward the summer. The laud we had taken
like warriors, we kept like men. We drove the Alaquas
into the woods with the bears. They oaly tasted salt at
the licks; they drew no fish from the gi-eat lake; we
threw them the bones."

" All this I have heard and believe," said the white man,
observing that the Indian paused : '* but it was long before
the English came into the country."

" A pine grew then where this chestnut now stands.
The first pale-faces who came among us spoke no English.
They came in a large canoe, when my fathers had bm'ied
the tomahawk with the red-men around them. Then,
Hawkeye," he continued, betraying his deep emotion only
by permitting his voice to fall to those low, guttural tonei,

28 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

which rnnder his language, as spoken at times, so very
musical ; " then, Hawkeye, we were one people, and we
were happy. The salt lake gave us its fish, the wood its
deer, and the air its birds. We took wives who bore us
children ; we worshipped the Great Spirit ; and we kept
the Maquas beyond the sound of our songs of triumph ! "

" Know you anything of your own family at that time ? *'
demanded the white. " But you are a just man, for an
Indian ! and, as I suppose you hold their gifts, your fathers
must have been brave warriors, and wise men at the council
fire."

" My tribe is the grandfather of nations,^ but I am an
unmixed man. The blood of chiefs is in my veins, where
it must stay forever. The Dutch landed, and gave my
people the fire-water ; they drank until the heavens and the
earth seemed to meet, and they foolishly thought they had
found the Great Spirit. Then they parted with their land.
Foot by foot, they were driven back from the shores, until
I, that am a chief and a Sagamore, have never seen the sun
shine but through the trees, and have never visited the
graves of my fathers ! "

" Graves bring solemn feelings over the mind," returned
the scout, a good deal touched at the calm suffering of his
companion ; " and they often aid a man in his good inten-
tions ; though, for myself, I expect to leave my own bones
unburied, to bleach in the woods, or to be torn asunder by
the wolves. But where are to be found those of your race
who came to their kin in the Delaware country, so many
summers since ? "

"Where are the blossoms of those summers! — fallen,
one by one : so all of my family departed, each in his turn,
to the land of spirits. I am on the hill-top, and must go
down into the valley ; and when Uncas follows in my foot-
steps, there will no longer be any of the blood of the Saga-
mores, for my boy is the last of the Mohicans."

*' Uncas is here ! " said another voice, in the same soft,
guttural tones, near his elbow ; " who speaks to Uncas ? "

The white man loosened his knife in his leathern sheath,
ftnd made an involuntary movement of the hand toward*

1 &00 Appeadiz, Note D.

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 2}

tiis rifle, at this sudden interruption ; but the Indian sat
composed, and without turning his head at the unexpected
sounds.

At the next instant, a youthful warrior passed between
them, with a noiseless step, and seated himself on the bank
of the rapid stream. No exclamation of surprise escaped
the father, nor was any question asked, or reply given, for
several minutes ; each appearing to await the moment when
he might speak, without betraying womanish curiosity or
childish impatience. The white man seemed to take coiui-
sel from their customs, and, relinquishing his grasp of the
rifle, he also remained silent and reserved. At length
Chingacligook turned his eyes slowly towards his son, and
demanded, —

" Do the Maquas dare to leave the print of their mocca
sins in these woods ? "

" I have been on their trail," replied the young Indian,
" and know that they number as many as the lingers of my
two hands ; but they lie hid like cowards."

" The thieves are out-lying for scalps and plunder ! "
said the white man, whom we shall call Hawkeye, after
the manner of his companions. " That busy Frenchman,
Montcalm, will send his spies into our very camp, but he
will know what road we travel ! "

" 'Tis enough ! " returned the father, glancing his eye
towards the setting sun ; " they shall be driven like deer
from their bushes. Hawkeye, let us eat to-night, and
show the Maquas that we are men to-morrow."

" I am as ready to do the one as the other : but to fight
the Iroquois 'tis necessary to find the skulkers ; and to eat,
'tis necessary to get the game — talk of the devil and he
will come ; there is a pair of the biggest antlers I have seen
this season, moving the bushes below the hill ! Now,
Uncas," he continued in a half whisper, and laughing with
a kind of inward sound, like one who had learnt to be
watchful, " I will bet my charger three times full of powder,
against a foot of wampum, that I take him atwix the eyes,
and nearer to the right than to the left."

" It cannot be ' " said the young Indian, springing to hii

80 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

feet with youthful eagerness ; " all but the tips of his horoi
are hid ! "

*' He's a boy ! " said the white man, shaking his head
while he spoke, and addressing the father. " Does he think
when a hunter sees a part of the creatur', he can't tell
where the rest of him should be ! "

Adjusting his rifle, he was about to make an exhibition
of that skill, on which he so much valued himself, when the
warrior struck up the piece with his hand, saying, —

" Hawkeye ! will you fight the Maquas ? "

"These Indians know the nature of the woods, as it
might be by instinct ! " returned the scout, dropping his
rifle, and turning away like a man who was convinced of
his error. " I must leave the buck to your arrow, Uncas,
or we may kill a deer for them thieves, the Iroquois, to
eat."

The instant the father seconded this intimation by an
expressive gesture of the hand, Uncas threw himself on the
ground, and approached the animal with wary movements.
When within a few yards of the cover, he fitted an arrow
to his bow with the utmost care, while the antlers moved,
as if their owner snuffed an enemy in the tainted air. In
another moment the twang of the cord was heard, a white
streak was seen glancing into the bushes, and the wounded
buck plunged from the cover, to the very feet of his hidden
enemy. Avoiding the horns of the infuriated animal,
Uncas darted to his side, and passed his knife across the
throat, when bounding to the edge of the river it fell, dye-
ing the waters with its blood.

" 'Twas done with Indian skill," said the scout, laughing
inwardly, but with vast satisfaction ; " and 'twas a pretty
sight to behold ! Though an arrow is a near shot, and
needs a knife to finish the work."

" Hugh ! " ejaculated his companion, turning quickly,
like a hound who scented game.

" By the Lord, there is a drove of them 1 " exclaimed
the scout, whose eyes began to glisten with the ardor of his
osual occupation ; " if they come within range of a bullet 1
will drop one, though the whole Six Nations should be

THli: LAST OF tHE MOHICANS. 81

lurking within sound ! What do you hear, Chingachgook ?
for to my ears the woods are dumb."

" There is but one deer, and he is dead," said the Indian,
bending his body till his ear nearly touched the earth. *' I
hear the sounds of feet ! "

" Perhaps the wolves have driven the buck to shelter,
and are following on his trail."

" No. The horses of white men are coming ! " returned
the other, raising himself with dignity, and resuming his
seat on the log with his former composure. " Hawkeye,
they are your brothers ; speak to them."

" That will I, and in English that the king needn't be
ashamed to answer," returned the hunter, speaking in the
language of which he boasted ; " but I see nothing, nor do
I hear the sounds of man or beast ; 'tis strange that an
Indian should understand white sounds better than a man
who, his very enemies will own, has no cross in his blood,
although he may have lived with the red-skins long enough
to be suspected ! Ha ! there goes something like the
cracking of a dry stick, too — now I hear the bushes move

— yes, yes, there is a trampling that I mistook for the falls

— and — but here they come themselves ; God keep thea
from the Iroquois I "

ft2 tfl£ LAST OF THE MOHICAHS

CHAPTER IV.

Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove
Till I torment thee for this injury.

Midsummer Night s Dreax.

The words were still in the mouth of the scout, when
the leader of the party, whose approaching footsteps had
caught the vigilant ear of the Indian, came openly into
view. A beaten path, such as those made by the periodical
passage of the deer, wound through a little glen at no gi*eat
distance, and struck the river at the point where the white
man and his red companions had posted themselves. Along
this track the travellers, who had produced a surprise so
unus^lal in the depths of the forest, advanced slowly towards
the hunter, who was in front of his associates, in readiness
to receive them.

"Who comes?" demanded the scout, throwing his riflo
carelessly across his left arm, and keeping the fore-finger
of his right hand on the trigger, though he avoided all
appearance of menace in the act, " Who comes hither,
among the beasts and dangers of the wilderness ? "

" Believers in religion, and friends to the law and to the
king," returned he who rode foremost. " Men who have
journeyed since the rismg sun, in the shades of this forest,
without nourishment, and are sadly tired of their wayfar-
ing."

" You are, than, lost," interrupted the hunter, " and have
found how helpless 'tis not to know whether to take the
right hand or the left ? "

" Even so ; sucking babes are not more dependent on
those who guide them than we who are of larger growth,
and who may now be said to possess the stature without
the knowledge of men. Know you the distance to a post
of the crown called William Henrv ? "

flE LAST OF THK MOHICAKS. 33

** Hoot ! " shouted the scout, who did not spare his open
laughter, though, instantly checking the dangerous sounds,
he indulged his merriment at less risk of being overheard
by any lurking enemies. " You are as much off the scent
as a hound would be, with Horican atwixt him and the
deer ! William Henry, man ! if you are friends to the
king, and have business with the army, your better way
would be to follow the river down to Edward, and lay the
matter before Webb ; who tarries there, instead of pushing
into the defiles, and driving this saucy Frenchman back
across Champlain, into his den again."

Before the stranger could make any reply to this unex-
pected proposition, another horse mau dashed the bushes
aside, and leaped his charger into the pathway, in front of
his companion.

" What, then, may be our distance from Fort Edward ? "
demanded a new speaker ; " the place you advise us to
seek we left this morning, and our destination is the head
of the lake."

"Then you must have lost your eyesight afore losing
your way, for the road across the portage is cut to a good
two rods, and is as grand a path, I calculate, as any that
runs into London, or even before the palace of the king
himself."

" We will not dispute concerning the excellence of the
passage," returned Heyward, smiling ; for, as the reader
has anticipated, it was he. " It is enough, for the present,
that we trusted to an Indian guide to take us by a nearer,
though blinder path, and that we are deceived in his knowl-
edge. In plain words, we know not where we are."

" An Indian lost in the woods ! " said the scout, shaking
his head doubtingly ; " when the sun is scorching the tree
tops, and the water-courses are full ; when the moss on
every beech he sees, will tell him in which quarter the
north star will shine at night ! The woods are ftdl of deer
paths which run to the streams and licks, places well known
to everybody ; nor have the geese done their flight to the
Canada waters altogether ! 'Tis strange that an Indifta

B4 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

should be lost atwixt Horican and the bend in the river!

Is he a Mohawk ? "

" Not by birth, though adopted in that tribe ; I think
his birthplace was farther north, and he is one of those
you call a Huron."

" Hugh ! " exclaimed the two companions of the scout,
who had continued, until this part of the dialogue, seated
immovable, and apparently indifferent to what passed, but
who now sprang to their feet with an activity and interest
that had evidently got the better of their reserve, by sur-
prise.

" A Huron ! " repeated the sturdy scout, once more shak-
mg his head in open distrust ; " they are a thievish race,
nor do I care by whom they are adopted ; you can never
make anything of them but skulks and vagabonds. Since
you trusted yourself to the care of one of that nation, I
only wonder that you have not fallen in with more."

" Of that there is little danger, since William Henry is
60 many miles in our front. You forget that I have told
you our guide is now a Mohawk, and that he serves with
our forces as a friend."

" And I tell you that he who is born a IVIingo will die
a Mingo," returned the other, positively. " A Mohawk !
No, give me a Delaware or a Mohican for honesty ; and
when they will fight, which they won't all do, having suf-
fered their cunning enemies, the Maquas, to make them
women, — but when they will fight at all, look to a Dela-
ware, or a Mohican, for a warrior ! "

" Enough of this," said Hey ward, impatiently ; " I wish
not to inquire into the character of a man that I know,
and to whom you must be a stranger. You have not yet
answered my question ; what is our distance from the main
army at Edward ? "

** It seems that may depend on who is your guide. One
would think such a horse as that might get over a good
deal of ground atwixt sun-up and sun-down."

" I wish no contention of idle words with you, friend,"
Baid Heyward, curbing his dissatisfied manner, and 8j>eaii-
ing in a more gentle voice ; " if you will teli me the d**

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 86

tance to Fort Edward, and conduct me thither, your labor
shall not go without its reward."

" And in so doing, how know I that I don't guide an
enemy, and a spy of Montcalm, to the works of the army ?
It is not every man who can speak the English tongue
tjiat is an honest subject."

" K you serye with the troops, of whom I judge you to
be a scout, you should know of such a regiment of the
king as the 60th."

" The 60th ! you can tell me little of the Royal Ameri-
cans that I don't know, tliough I do wear a hunting-shirt
instead of a scarlet jacket."

"Well, then, among other things, you may know the
name of its major ? "

" Its major ! " interrupted the hunter, elevating his body
like one who was proud of his trust. "If there is a man
in the country who knows Major Effingham, he stands be-
fore you."

" It is a corps which has many majors ; the gentleman
you name is the senior, but I speak of the junior of them
all ; he who commands the companies in garrison at Wil-
liam Henry."

" Yes, yes, I have heard that a young gentleman of vast
riches, from one of the provinces far south, has got the
place. He is over young, too, to hold such rank, and to
be put above men whose heads are beginning to bleach;
and yet they say he is a soldier in his knowledge, and a
gallant gentleman ! " •

" Whatever he may be, or however he may be qualified
for his rank, he now speaks to you, and of course can be
no enemy to dread."

The scout regarded Heyward in surprise, and then lift<
ing his cap, he answered, in a tone less confident than be-
fore, though still expressing doubt, —

^ I have heard a party was to leave the encampment
this morning, for the lake shore ? "

" You have heard the truth ; but 1 preferred a nearer
route, trusting to the knowledge of the Indian I mentioned."

** And he deceived you, and then deserted ? "

81 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" iNfc.iner, as I believe ; certainly not the latter, for he is
to be found in the rear."

** I should like to look at the creatur' ; if it is a true
Iroquois I can tell him by his knavish look, and by his
paint," said the scout, stepping past the charger of Heyward,
and entering the path behind the mare of the singing-master,
whose foal had taken advantage of the halt to exact the
maternal contribution. After shoving aside the bushes, and
proceeding a few paces, he encountered the females, who
awaited the result of the conference with anxiety, and not
entirely without apprehension. Behind these, the runner
leaned against a tree, where he stood the close examination
of the scout with an air unmoved, though with a look so
dark and savage, that it might in itself excite fear. Satis-
fied with his scrutiny, the hunter soon left him. As he
repassed tho females, he paused a moment to gaze upoa
their beauty, answering to the smile and nod of Alice with
a look of open pleasure. Thence he went to the side of
the motherly animal, and spending a minute in a fruitless
inquiry into the character of her rider, he shook his head
and returned to Heyward.

" A Mingo is a JVIingo, and God having made him so,
neither the Mohawks nor any other tribe can alter him," he
said, when he had regained his former position. " If we
were alone, and you would leave that noble horse at the
mercy of the wolves to-night, I could show you the way to
Edward, myself, within an hour, for it lies only about an
hour's journey hence ; but with such ladies in your com*
pany 'tis impossible ! "

" And why ? they are fatigued, but they are quite equal
to a ride of a few more miles."

" 'Tis a natural impossibility ! " repeated the scout ; " I
wouldn't walk a mile in these woods after night gets into
them, in company with that runner, for the best rifle in the
colonies. They are full of outlying Iroquois, and your
mongrel Mohawk knows where to find them too well, to be
my companion."

" Think you so ? " said Heyward, leaning forward in the
iaddle, and dropping his voice nearly to a whisper ; " 2

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. ST

confess I have not been without my own suspicions, tlbngb
I have endeavored to conceal them, and affected a confidenco
I have not always felt, on account of my companions. It
was because I suspected him that I would follow no longer ;
making him, as you see, follow me."

" I knew he was one of the cheats as soon as I laid eyea
on him ! " returned the scout, placing a finger on his nose,
in sign of caution. " The thief is leaning against the foot
of the sugar sapling, that you can see over them bushes ;
his right leg is in a line with the bark of the tree, and,"
tapping his rifle, " I can take him from where I stand, between
the ankle and the knee, with a single shot, putting an end
to his tramping through the woods, for at least a month to
come. If I should go back to him, the cunning varmint
would suspect something, and be dodging through the trees
like a frightened deer."

" It will not do. He may be innocent, and I dislike the
act. Though, if I felt confident of his treachery " —

" 'Tis a safe thing to calculate on the knavery of an Iro-
quois," said the scout, throwing his rifle forward, by a sort
of instinctive movement.

" Hold ! " interrupted Hey ward, " it will not do — we
must think of some other scheme ; and yet, I have much
reason to believe the rascal has deceived me."

The hunter, who had already abandoned his intention of
maiming the runner, mused a moment, and then made a
gesture, which instantly brought his two red companions to
his side. They spoke together earnestly in the Delaware
language, though in an undertone ; and •by the gestures of
the white man, which were frequently directed towards the
top of the sapling, it was evident he pointed out the situa-
tion of their hidden enemy. His companions were not long
in comprehending his wishes, and laying aside their fire
arms, they parted, taking opposite sides of the path, and
burying themselves in the thicket, with such cautious move-
ments, that their steps ware inaudible.

" Now, go you back," said the hunter, speaking again to
Hey ward, "and hold the imp in talk ; these Mohicans here
•rill take him without breaking his paint."

88 THE I AST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Nay," said Heyward, proudly, " I will seize him my*
self."

" Hist ! what could you do, mounted, against an Indian in
the bushes ? "

" I will dismount."

" And, think you, when he saw one of your feet out of
the stirrup, he would wait for the other to be free? Who-
ever comes into the woods to deal with the natives, must
use Indian fashions, if he would wish to prosper in his
undertakings. Go, then, talk openly to the miscreant, and
seem to believe him the truest friend you have on 'arth."

Heyward prepared to comply, though with strong disgust
at the nature of the office he was compelled to execute.
Each moment, however, pressed upon him a conviction of
the critical situation in which he had suffered his invaluable
trust to be involved through his own confidence. The sun
had already disappeared, and the woods, suddenly deprived
of his light,! were assuming a dusky hue, which keenly
reminded him that the hour the savage usually chose for his
most barbarous and remorseless acts of vengeance or hostil-
ity, was speedily drawing near. Stimulated by apprehen-
sion, he lefl the scout, who immediately entered into a loud
conversation with the stranger that had so unceremoniously
enlisted himself in the party of travellers that morning. In
passing his gentler companions Heyward uttered a few
words of encouragement, and was pleased to find that,
though fatigued with the exercise of the day, they appeared
^o entertain no suspicion that their present embarrassment
was other than the result of accident. Giving them reason
to believe he was merely employed in a consultation con-
».\erning the future route, he spurred his charger, and drew
the reins again, when the animal had carried him within a
few yards of the place where the sullen runner still stood,
leaning against the tree.

" You may see, Magua," he said, endeavoring to assume
an air of freedom and confidence, " that the night is closing
around us, and yet we are no nearer to William Henry than

1 The same of this tale waa in the 42d degree of latitude, where the twilight
U never of longj continuance.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 89

when we lefi the encampment of Webb with the rising sun
You have missed the way, nor have I been more fortunate.
But, happily we have fallen in with a hunter, he whom you
hear talking to the singer, that is acquainted with the deer
paths and by-ways of the woods, and who promises to lead
us to a place where we may rest securely till the morning.**

The Indian riveted his glowing eyes on Heyward as he
asked, in his imperfect English, " Is he alone ? "

"Alone ! " hesitatingly answered Heyward, to whom
deception was too new to be assumed without embarrass-
ment. " O ! not alone, surely, Magna, for you know that
we are with him."

" Then Le Renard Subtil will go," returned the runner,
coolly raising his little wallet from the place where it had
lain at his feet ; " and the pale-faces will see none but their
own color."

" Go ! Whom call you Le Renard ? "

" 'Tis the name his Canada fathers have given to
Magna," returned the runner, with an air that manifested
his pride at the distinction. " Night is the same as day to
Le Subtil, when Munro waits for him."

" And what account will Le Renard give the chief of
William Henry concerning his daughters ? Will he dare
to tell the hot-blooded Scotsman that his children are left
without a guide, though Magna promised to be one ? "

" Though the gray head has a loud voice, and a long
arm, Le Renard will not hear him, or feel him, in the
woods."

" But what will the Mohawks say ?• They will make
him petticoats, and bid him stay in the wigwam with the
women, for he is no longer to be trusted with the business
of a man."

" Le Subtil knows the path to the great lakes, and he
can find the bones of his fathers," was the answer of the
unmoved runner.

" Enough, Magna," said Heyward ; " are we not friends ?
Why should there be bitter words between us ? Munro
has promised you a gift for your services when performed,
»nd I shall be your debtor for another. Rest your wearj

40 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

limbs, then, and open your wallet to eat. We have a few
moments to spare; let us not waste them in talk like
wrangling women When the ladies are refreshed we will
proceed."

" The pale-faces make themselves dogs to their women,'*
muttered the Indian, in his native language, "and when
they want to eat, their warriors must lay aside the toma-
hawk to feed their laziness."

" What say you, Renard ? "

" Le Subtil says it is good."

The Indian then fastened his eyes keenly on the open
countenance of Heyward, but meeting his glance, he turned
them quickly away, and seating himself deliberately on the
ground, he drew forth the remnant of some former repast,
and began to eat, though not without first bending his looks
slowly and cautiously around him.

" This is well," continued Heyward ; " and Le Renard
will have strength and sight to find the path in the morn-
ing ; " he paused, for sounds like the snapping of a dried
stick, and the rustling of leaves, rose from the adjacent
bushes, but recollecting himself instantly, he continued, —
" we must be moving before the sun is seen, or Montcalm
may lie in our path, and shut us out from the fortress."

The hand of Magna dropped from his mouth to his side,
and though his eyes were fastened on the ground, his head
was turned aside, his nostrils expanded, and his ears seemed
even to stand more erect than usual, giving to him the ap-
pearance of a statue that was made to represent intense
attention.

Heyward, who watched his movements with a vigilant
eye, carelessly extricated one of his feet from the stirrup,
while he passed a hand towards the bear-skin covering ot
his holsters. Every effort to detect the point most re-
^rded by the runner was completely frustrated by the
tremulous glances of his organs, which seemed not to rest a
single instant on any particular object, and which, at the
eame time, could be hardly said to move. While he hesi-
>)ated how to proceed. Le Subtil cautiously raised himself to
Lis feet, though wiih a motion so slow and guarded, tha;

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 41

jot the slightest noise was produced by the change. Hey-
ward felt it had now become incumbent on him to act.
Throwing his leg over the saddle, he dismounted, with a
determination to advance and seize his treacherous compan-
ion, trusting the result to his own manhood. In order,
however, to prevent unnecessary alarm, he still preserved
an air of calmness and friendship.

" Le Renard Subtil does not eat," he said, using the
appellation he had found most flattering to the vanity of
the Indian. " His corn is not well parched, and it seems
dry. Let me examine ; perhaps something may be found
among my own provisions that will help his appetite."

Magna held out the wallet to the proffer of the other.
He even suffered their hands to meet, without betraying
the least emotion, or varying his riveted attitude of atten-
tion. But when he felt the fingers of Heyward moving
gently along his own naked arm, he struck up the limb of
the young man, and uttering a piercing cry as he darted
beneath it, plunged, at a single bound, into the opposite
thicket. At the next instant the form of Chingachgook
appeared from the bushes, looking like a spectre in its
paint, and glided across the path in swifl pursuit. Next
followed the shout of Uncas, when the woods were lighted
by a sudden flash, that was accompanied bv the sharp re-
port of the hunter's rifle.

4S IHH; LAST OF THE MOUlCAfiB*

CHAPTER V.

In such a night
Did Tiasbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself.

Merchant op Ykrio^

The suddenness of the flight of his guide, and the wild
ciies of the pursuers, caused Heyward to remain fixed, for
a few moments, in inactive surprise. Then recollecting
the importance of securing the fiigitive, he dashed aside the
surrounding bushes, and pressed eagerly forward to lend
his aid in the chase. Before he had, however, proceeded a
hundred yards, he met the three foresters already returning
from their unsuccessful pursuit.

" Why so soon disheartened ! " he exclaimed ; " the
scoundrel must be concealed behind some of these trees,
and may yet be secured. We are not safe while he goei
at large."

" Would you set a cloud to chase the wind ? " returned
the disappointed scout ; " I heard the imp, brushing ovei
the dry leaves, like a black snake, and blinking a glimps*
of him, just over ag'in yon big pine, I pulled as it might b«
on the scent ; but 'twouldn't do ! and yet for a reasonina
aim, if anybody but myself had touched the trigger, J
should call it a quick sight; and I may be accounted t€
have experience in these matters, and one who ought to
know. Look at this sumach; its leaves are red, though
everybody knows the fruit is in the yellow blossom, in the
month of July ! "

" 'Tis the blood of Le Subtil ! he is hurt, and may yet
tall!"

" No, no," returned the scout, in decided disapprobation
of this opinion, " I rubbed the bark off a limb, perhaps, but
the creature leaped the longer for it. A rilie bullet a_ts

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 48

un a running animal, when it barks him, much the name
as one of your spurs on a horse; that is, it quickens mo-
tion, and puts life into the flesh, instead of taking it away.
But when it cuts the ragged hole, after a bound or two,
there is, commonly, a stagnation of further leaping, be it
Indian or be it deer ! "

" We are four able bodies, to one wounded man ! "
" Is life grievous to you ? " interrupted the scout. " Yon-
der red devil would draw you within swing of the toma-
hawks of his comrades, before you were heated in the
chase. It was an unthoughtfid act in a man who has so
often slept with the war-whoop ringing in the air, to let
off his piece within sound of an ambushment ! But then
it was a natural temptation! 'twas very natural! Come,
jfriends, let us dlovc our station, and in such a fashion, too,
as will throw the cunning of a Mingo on a wrong scent, or
our scalps will be drying in the wind in front of Mont-
calm's marquee, ag'in this hour to-morrow.'

This appalling declaration, which the scout uttered with
the cool assurance of a man who fully comprehended, while
he did not fear to face the danger, served to remind Hey-
ward of the importance of the charge with which he him-
self had been intrusted. Glancing his eyes around, with a
vain effort to pierce the gloom that was thickening beneath
the leafy arches of the forest, he felt as if, cut off from
human aid, his miresisting companions would soon lie at
the entire mercy of those barbarous enemies, who, like
beasts of prey, only waited till the gathering darkness
might render their blows more fatally certain. His awak-
ened imagination, deluded by the deceptive light, converted
each waving bush, or the fragment of some fallen tree, in o
human forms, and twenty times he fancied he could distin-
guish the horrid visages of his lurking foes, peering from
*heir hiding places, in never-ceasing watchfulness of the
movements of his party. Looking upward, he found that
the thin fleecy clouds, which evening had pointed on the
blue sky, were already losing their faintest tints ot rose-
tolor, while the imbedded stream, which glided past the
«pot where he stood, was to be traced only by tlie dark
boundary of its wooded banks.

44 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" What is to be done ? " he said, feeling the utter help.
lessness of doubt in such a pressing strait ; " desert me not,
for God's sake ! remain to defend those I escort, and freely
name your own reward ! "

His companions, who conversed apart in the language of
their tribe, heeded not this sudden and earnest appeal.
Though their dialogue was maintained in low and cautious
sounds, but little above a whisper, Heyward, who now ap-
proached, could easily distinguish the earnest tones of the
younger warrior from the more deliberate speeches of his
seniors. It was evident that they debated on the propriety
of some measure that nearly concerned the welfare of the
travellers. Yielding to his powerful interest in the subject,
and impatient of a delay that seemed fraught with so much
additional danger, Heyward drew still nigher to the dusky
group, with an intention of making his offers of compensa-
tion more definite, when the white man, motioning, with
his hand, as if he conceded the disputed point, turned away,
saying in a sort of soliloquy, and in the English tongue, —

" Uncas is right ! it would not be the act of men to leave
such harmless things to their fate, even though it breaks up
the harboring place forever. If you would save these ten-
der blossoms from the fangs of the worst of sarpents, gentle-
man, you have neither time to lose nor resolution to throw
away ! "

" How can such a wish be doubted ! have I not already
offered" —

" Offer your prayers to Him, who can give us wisdom to
circumvent the cunning of the devils who fill these woods,*'
calmly interrupted the scout, "but spare your offers of
money, which neither you may live to realize, nor I to
profit by. These Mohicans and I will do what man's
thoughts can invent, to keep such flowers, which, though
80 sweet, were never made for the wilderness, from harm,
and that without hope of any other recompense but such as
God always gives to upright dealings. First, you must
promise two things, both in your own name and for your
friends, or without serving you, we shall only injure our>
•elves I **

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 45

•Name them."

** The one is, to vw still as these sleeping woods, !et what
irill happen ; and the other is, to keep the place where we
shall take you, forever a secret from all mortal men."

" 1 will do my utmost to see both these conditions ful*
mied."

" Then follow, for we are losing moments that are m
precious as the heart's blood to a stricken doer ! "

Heyward could distinguish the impatient gesture of the
scout, through the increasing shadows of the evening, and
he moved in his footsteps, swiftly, towards the place where
he had left the remainder of his party. When they re-
joined the expecting and anxious ft^males, he brieHy ac-
quainted them with the conditions of their new guide, and
with the necessity that existed for their hushing every ap-
prehension, in instant and serious exertions. Although bis
alarming commimication was not received without much
secret terror by the listeners, his earnest and impressive
manner, aided perhaps by the nature of the danger, suc-
ceeded in bracing their nerves to undergo some unlooked-
for and unusual trial. Silently, and without a moment's
delay, they permitted him to assist them from their saddles,
when they descended quickly to the water's edge, where the
scout had collected the rest of the party, more by the
agency of expressive gestures than by any use of words.

" What to do with these dumb creatures ! " muttered the
white man, on whom the sole control of their future move-
ments appeared to devolve ; *' it would be tkne lost to cut
their throats, and cast them into the river ; and to leave
them here, would be to tell the Mingoes that they have not
far to seek to find their owners! "

" Then give them their bridles, and let them range the
woods," Heyward ventured to suggest.

" No ; it would be better to mislead the imps, and make
them believe they must equal a horse's speed to run down
their chase. Aye, aye, that will blind their fire-balls of
Chingach — Hist ! whdt stirs the bush ? "

" The colt."

**That colt, at least, must d:t," muttered the scout, gra8|>

46 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

ing at the mane of the nimble beast, which easily eluded l^i
hand ; " Uncas, your arrows ! "

"Hold!" exclaimed the proprietor of the condemned ani-
mal, aloud, without regard to the whispering tones used by
the others ; " spare the foal of Miriam ! it is the comely off-
spring of a faithful dam, and would willingly injure naught."

" When men struggle for the single life God has given
them," said the scout sternly, " even their own kind seem
no more than the beasts of the wood. If you speak again,
I shall leave you to the mercy of the Maquas ! Draw to
your arrow's head, Uncas ; we have no time for second
blows."

The low, muttering sounds of his threatening voice were
still audible, when the wounded foal, first rearing on its
hinder legs, plunged forward to its knees. It was met by
Chingachgook, whose knife passed across its throat quicker
than thought, and then precipitating the motions of the
struggling victim, he dashed it into the river, down whose
stream it glided away, grasping audibly for breath with its
ebbing life. This deed of apparent cruelty, but of real ne-
cessity, fell upon the spirits of the travellers like a terrific
warning of the peril in which they stood, heightened as it
was by the calm though steady resolution of the actors in
the scene. The sisters shuddered and clung closer to each
other, while Heyward instinctively laid his hand on one of
the pistols he had just drawn from their holsters, as he
placed himself between his charge and those dense shadows
that seemed to draw an impenetrable veil before the bosom
of the forest.

The Indians, however, hesitated not a moment, but tak-
ing the bridles, they led the frightened and reluctant horses
into the bed of the river.

At a short distance from the shore they turned, and
were soon concealed by the projection of the bank, under
the brow of which they moved, in a direction opposite to
the course of the waters. In the mean time, the scout drew
a canoe of bark from its place of concealment beneath some
low bushes, whose branches were waving with the eddies of
the current, into which he silently motioned for the female*

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 47

to enter. They complied without hesitation, though many
a fearful and anxious glance was thrown behind them,
towards the thickening gloom, which now lay like a daik
barrier along the margin of the stream.

So soon as Cora and Alice were seated, the scout, with-
out regarding the element, directed Heyward to support one
side of the frail vessel, and posting himself at the other,
they bore it up against the stream, followed by the dejected
owner of the dead foal. In this manner they proceeded,
for many rods, in a silence that was only interrupted by the
rippling of the water, as its eddies played around them, or
the low dash made by their own cautious footsteps. Hey-
ward yielded the guidance of the canoe implicitly to the
scout, who approached or receded from the shore, to avoid
the fragments of rocks, or deeper parts of the river, with a
readiness that showed his knowledge of the route they held.
Occasionally he would stop ; and in the midst of a breath-
ing stillness, that the dull but increashig roar of the water-
fall only served to render more impressive, he would listen
with painful intenseness, to catch any sounds that might
arise from the slumbering forest. When assured that all
was still, and unable to detect, even by the aid of his prac-
ticed senses, any sign of his approaching foes, he would de-
liberately resume his slow and guarded progress. At length
they reached a point in the river, where the roving eye of
Heyward became riveted on a cluster of black objects, col-
lected at a spot where the high bank threw a deeper shadow
than usual on the dark waters. Hesitating ato advance, he
pointed out the place to the attention of his companion.

" Aye," returned the composed scout, " the Indians have
hid the beasts with the judgment of natives ! Water leaves
no trail, and an owl's eyes would be blinded by the dark-
ness of such a hole."

The whole party was soon reunited, and another consul-
tation was held between the scout and his new comrades,
during which, they whose fates depended on the faith and
ingenuity of these unknown foresters, had a little leisure to
observe their situation more minutely.

The river was confined between high and cragged rocka,

48 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

one of which impended above the spot where the canoe
rested. As these, again, were surmounted by tall trees,
which appeared to totter on the brows of the precipice, it
gave the stream the appearance of ruuuing through u deep
and narrow dell. All beneath the fantastic limbs and ragged
tree tops, which were, here and there, dimly painted against
the starry zenith, lay alike in shadowed obscurity. Behind
them, the curvature of the banks soon bounded the view, by
the same dark and wooded outline ; but in front, and appar-
ently at no great distance, the water seemed piled against
the heavens, whence it tumbled into caverns, out of which
issued those sullen sounds that had loaded the evening
atmosphere. It seemed, in truth, to be a spot devoted to
seclusion, and the sisters imbibed a soothing impression of
security, as they gazed upon its romantic, though not unap-
palling beauties. A general movement among their con-
ductors, however, soon recalled them from a contemplation
of the wild charms that night had assisted to lend the place,
to a painful sense of their real peril.

The horses had been secured to some scattering shrubs
that grew in the fissures of the rocks, where, standing in the
water, they were left to pass the night. The scout directed
Heyward and his disconsolate fellow-travellers to seat them-
selves in the forward end of the canoe, and took possession
of the other himself, as erect and steady as if he floated in a
vessel of much firmer materials. The Indians warily re-
traced their steps towards the place they had left, when the
scout, placing his pole against a rock, by a powerful shove,
sent his frail bark directly into the centre of the turbulent
stream. For many minutes the struggle between the light
bubble in which they floated, and the swift current, was
severe and doubtful. Forbidden to stir even a hand, and
almost afraid to breathe, lest they should expose the frail
fabric to the fury of the stream, the passengers watched the
glancing waters in feverish suspense. Twenty times they
thought the whirling eddies were sweeping them to destruc*
tion, when the master-hand of their pilot would bring the
bovv'G of the canoe to stem the rapid. A long, a vigorous,
and, as it appeared to the females, a desperate effort, closed

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 49

the struggle. Just as Alice veiled her eyes in horror, imder
the impression that they were about to be swept within the
vortex at the foot of the cataract, the canoe floated, station-
ary, at the side of a flat rock, that lay on a level with the
water.

" Where are we ? and what is next to be done ? ** de-
manded Heyward, perceiving that the exertions of the scout
had ceased.

"You are at the foot of Glenn's," returned the other,
speaking aloud, without fear of consequences, within the roar
of the cataract ; " and the next thing is to make a steady
lauding, lest the canoe upset, and you should go down again
the hard road we have travelled, faster than you came up ;
'tis a hard rift to stem, wlien the river is a little swelled ;
and five is an unnatural number to keep dry, in the hurry-
skurry, with a little birchen bark and gum. There, go you
all on the rock, and I will bring up the Mohicans with the
venison. A man had better sleep without his scalp, thai"
famish in the midst of plenty."

His passengers gladly complied with these directions. Ai
the last foot touched the rock, the canoe whirled from lU
station, when the tall form of the scout was seen, for an
instant, gliding above the waters, before it disappeared in th^
impenetrable darkness that rested on the bed of the river.
Left by their guide, the travellers remained a few minutec
in helpless ignorance, afraid even to move along the broken
rocks, lest a false step should precipitate them down some
one of the many deep and roaring caverns, into which the
water seemed to tumble, on every side of them. Their sus-
pense, however, was soon relieved ; for aided by the skill of
the natives, the canoe shot back into the eddy, and floated
again at the side of the low rock before they thought the
scout had even time to rejoin his companions.

" We are now fortified, garrisoned, and provisioned," cried
Heyward, cheerfully, " and may set Montcalm and his alliea
at defiance. How, now, my vigilant sentinel, can you see
anything of those you call the Iroquois, on the main land ? "

" I call them Iroquois, because to me every native, who
■peaks a foreign tongue, is accounted an enemy, though he

M THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

may pretend to serve the king ! If Webb wants faith and
honesty in an Indian, let him bring out the tribes of the
Delawares, and send these greedy and lying Mohawks and
Oneidas, with their six nations of varlets, where in nature
they belong, among the French ! "

" We should then exchange a warlike for a useless friend!
I have heard that the Delawares have laid aside the hatchet,
and are content to be called women ! "

" Aye, shame on the Hollanders ^ and Iroquois, who cir-
cumvented them by their deviltries, into such a treaty I
But I have known them for twenty years, and I call him
liar, that says cowardly blood runs in the veins of a Dela-
ware. You have driven their tribes from the sea-shore, and
would now believe what their enemies say, that you may
sleep at night upon an easy pillow. No, no ; to me, every
Indian who speaks a foreign tongue is an Iroquois, whether
the castle '^ of his tribe be in Canada, or be in York."

Heyward, perceiving that the stubborn adherence of the
scout to. the cause of his friends the Delawares or Mohicans,
for they were branches of the same numerous people, was
likely to prolong a useless discussion, changed the subject.

" Treaty or no treaty, I know full well, that your two
companions are brave and cautious warriors! have they
heard or seen anything of our enemies ? "

" An Indian is a mortal to be felt afore he is seen," re-
turned the scout, ascending the rock, and throwing the deer
carelessly down. " I trust to other signs than such as come
in at the eye, when I am outlying on the trail of the
Mingoes.'*

" Do your ears tell you that they have traced our re-
treat?"

" I should be sorry to think they had, though this is a
spot that stout courage might hold for a smart skrimmage.
I will not deny, however, but the horses cowered when I
passed them, as though they scented the wolves ; and a wolf

1 The reader will remember that New York was originally a colony of the
Dutch.

2 The principal villages of the Indians are still called "castles" by th«
whites of New York. " Oneida castle " is no more than a scattered hamlet
Mit the rarae is in general use.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. £1

is a beast that is apt to hover about an Indian ambushment,
craving the offals of the deer the savages kill."

" You forget the buck at your feet ! or, may we not owe
their visit to the dead colt ? I la! what noise is that?**

" Poor Miriam ! " murmured the stranger ; ** thy foal WM
foreordained to become a prey to ravenous beasts I " Then,
suddenly lifting up his voice, amid the eternal din of the
waters, he sang aloud, —

" First bom of Egypt, smite did Hfl^
Of mankind, and of beast also;
O, t^jypt ! wonders sent 'midst thee,
Ou Pljaraoli and his servants tool *'

« The death of the colt sits heavy ou the heart of iU
owner," said the scout ; " but it's a good sign to see a man
account upon his dumb friends. He has the religion of the
matter, in believing what is to happen will happen ; and
with such a consolation, it won't be long afore he submits to
the rationality of killing a four-footed beast, to save the lives
of human men. It may be as you say,'* he continued, re-
verting to the purport of Heyward's last remark ; " and the
greater the reason why we should cut our steaks, and let
the carcase drive down the stream, or we shall have the
pack howling along the cliffs, begrudging every moutliful we
swallow. Besides, though the Delaware tongue is the same
as a book to the Iroquois, the cunning varlets are quick
enough at understanding the reason of a woirs howl.**

The scout, whilst making his remarks, was busied in col-
lecting certain necessary implements ; as he concluded, he
moved silently by the group of travellers, accompanied by
the Mohicans, who seemed to comprehend his intentions
with instinctive readiness, when the whole tliree disappeared
in succession, seeming to vanish against the dark face of a
perpendicular rock, that rose to the height of a few yarda
within as many feet of the water's edge.

52 THE LAST Ui<' THE MOiliCAM^

CHAPTER VL

Tbose strains that once did sweet in Zion glide ;

He wales a portion with judicious care;

And " Let us worsliip God," he says, with solemn air.

Buiwi.

Heyward, and his female compauious, witnessed thii
mysterious movement with secret uneasiness; for, though
the conduct of the white man had hitherto been above re-
proach, his rude equipments, blunt addi'ess, and strong an-
tipathies, together with the character of his silent associ-
ates, were all causes for exciting distrust in minds that had
been so recently alarmed by Indian treachery.

The stranger alone disregarded the passing incidents.
He seated himself on a projection of the rocks, whence he
gave no other signs of consciousness than by the struggles
cf his spirit, as manifested in frequent and heavy sighs.
Smothered voices were next heard, as though men called to
each other in the bowels of the earth, when a sudden light
flashed upon those without, and laid bare the much-prized
secret of the place.

At the further extremity of a narrow, deep cavern in the
rock, whose length appeared much extended by the perspec-
tive and the nature of the light by which it was seen, was
seated the scout, holding a blazing knot of pine. The strong
glare of the fire fell full upon his sturdy, weather-beaten
countenance and forest attire, lending an air of romantic
wildness to the aspect of an individual, who, seen by the
sober light of day, would have exhibited the peculiarities of
a man remarkable for the strangeness of his dress, the iron-
like inflexibility of his frame, and the singular compound
>if quick, vigilant sagacity, and of exquisite simplicity, that
by tui'ns usurped the possession of his muscular features.
A.t a little distance in advance stood Uncas, his whole per«

THE LAST OF THE M0HICAN8. 61

ion thrown powerfully into view. The travellers anxioaslj
regarded the upright, flexible figure of the young Mohican,
graceful and unrestrained in the attitudes and movements
oi nature. Though his j)er8on was more tlian usually
screened by a green and frnige<l hunting-shirt, like that of
the white man, there was no concealment to his dark, glanc-
ing, fearless eye, alike terrible and calm ; the bold outline
of his high, haughty features, pure in their native red ; or
to the dignified elevation of his receding forehead, together
with all the finest proportions of a noble heatl, bared to the
generous scalping tufl. It was the first opportunity pos-
sessed by Dunciin and his companions, to view the marked
lineaments of either of their Indian attendants, and each
mdividual of the p:irty felt relieved from a burden of doubt,
as the proud and determined, though wild exj)res.=ion of the
features of the young warrior forced itself on their notice.
They felt it might be a being partially benighted in the
vale of ignorance, but it could not be one who would will-
ingly devote his rich natural gifts to the purix)8es of wanton
treachery. The ingenuous Alice gazed at his free air and
proud carriage, as she would have looked ujwn some pre-
cious relic of the Grecian chisel, to which life had been im-
parted by the intervention of a miracle ; while Heyward,
though accustomed to see the perfection of form which
abounds among the uncorruptetl natives, openly expressed
his admiration at such an unblemished specimen of the no-
blest proportions of man.

" I could sleep in peace," whisperai Alice, in reply,
^ with such a fearless and generous looking youth for my
sentinel. Surely, Duncan, those cruel murders, those ter-
rific scenes of torture, of which we read and heai* so much,
are never acted in the presence of such as he ! **

" This, certainly, is a rare and brilliant instance of those
natural qualities, in which these peculiar people are said to
excel," he answered. "' I agree with you, Alice, in think*
ing that such a front and eye were formed rather to intimi-
date than to deceive ; but let us not practice a deception
vpon ourselves, by expecting any other exhibition of what
^e esteem virtue than aa^ording to the fashion oi a savaga

64 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

As bright examples of great qualities are but too uncom»
mou among Christians, so are they singular and solitary
with the Indians; though, for the honor of our common
nature, neither are incapable of producing them. Let ua
then hope that this Mohican may not disappoint our wishes,
but prove, what his looks assert him to be, a brave and
constant friend."

" Now Major Hey ward speaks as Major Hey ward
should," said Cora; "who, that looks at this creature of
nature, remembers the shade of his skin ! "

A short, and apparently an embarrassed silence suc-
ceeded this remark, which was interrupted by the scout
calling to them, aloud, to enter.

*' This fire begins to show too bright a flame," he contin-
ued, as they complied, " and might light the Mingoes to our
undoing. Uncas, drop the blanket, and show the knaves
its dark side. This is not such a supper as a major of the
Royal Americans has a right to expect, but I've known
stout detachments of the corps glad to eat their venison
raw, and without a relish too.^ Here, you see, we have
pienty of salt, and can make a quick broil. There's fresh
sassafras boughs for the ladies to sit on, which may not be
as proud as their my-hog-guinea chairs, but which sends up
a sweeter flavor than the skin of any hog can do, be it of
Guinea, or be it of any other land. Come, friend, don't be
mournful for the colt ; 'twas an innocent thing, and had not
seen much hardship. Its death will «!ave the creature many
a sore back and weary foot ! "

Uncas did as the other had directed, and when the voico
of Ilawkeye ceased, the roar of the cataract sounded liko
the rumbling of distant thunder.

" Are we quite safe in this cavern ? " demanded Hey-
ward. " Is there no danger of surprise ? A single armed
man, at its entrance, would hold us at his mercy."

1 In vulgar parlance the condiments of a repast are called by the American
" a relish," substituting the thing for its effect. These provincial terms are
frequently put in the mouths of the speakers, according to their several condi-
tions in life. Most of them are of local use, and others quite peculiar to the
particular class of men to which the character belongs. In the present in-
stance, the scout uses the word with immediate reference to the "salt," with
which his own party was so fortunate as to be provided.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 55

A spectral-looking figure stalked from out the darkuesn
beMnd the scout, and seizing a blazing brand, held it
towards the further extremity of their place of retreat
Alice uttered a faint shriek, and even Cora rose to her
feet, as this appalling object moved into the light ; but a
single word from Ileyward calmed them, with the assur-
ance it was only their attendant, Chingachgook, who, lift-
ing another blanket, discovered that the cavern had two
outlets. Then, holding the brand, he crossed a deep,
narrow chasm in the rocks, which ran at right angles with
the passage they were in, but which, unlike that, was open
to the heavens, and entered another cave, answering to the
description of the first, in every essential particular.

" Such old foxes as Chingachgook and myself are not
often caught in a burrow with one hole," said Hawkeye,
laughing ; " you can easily see the cunning of the place —
the rock is black limestone, which everybody knows is
soft ; it makes no uncomfortable pillow, where brush and
pine wood is scarce ; well, the fall was once a few yards be-
low us, and I dare to say was, in its time, as regular and as
handsome a sheet of water as any along the Hudson. But
old age is a great injury to good looks, as these sweet
young ladies have yet to I'arn ! The place is sadly changed !
These rocks are full of cracks, and in some places they are
softer than at othersome, and the water has worked out
deep hollows for itself, until it has fallen back, aye, some
hundred feet, breaking here and wearing there, until the
falls have neither shape nor consistency."

" In what part of them are we ? " asked Hey ward.

" Why, we are nigh the spot that Providence first placed
them at, but where, it seems, they were too rebellious to
stay. The rock proved softer on each side of us, and so
they left the centre of the river bare and dry, first working
out these two little holes for us to hide in."

" We are then on an island ? "

" Aye ! there are the falls on two sides of ub, and the
river above and below. If you had daylight, it would be
worth the trouble to step up on the height of this rock, and
look at the perversity of the water. It falls by no nile at

66 THE LAST OF IHE MOHICANh.

all ; sometimes it leaps, sometimes it tumbles ; there, it
?kips ; here, it shoots ; in one place 'tis white as snow, and
in another 'tis green as grass ; hereabouts, it pitches into
deep hollows, that rumble and quake the 'arth ; and there-
away, it ripples and sings like a brook, fashioning whirl-
pools and gulleys in the old stone, as if 'twas no harder
than trodden clay. The whole design of the river seems
disconcerted. First it runs smoothly, as if meaning to go
down the descent as things were ordered ; then it angles
about and faces the shores ; nor are there places wanting
where it looks backward, as if unwilling to leave the
wilderness, to mingle with the salt! Aye, lady, the fine
cobweb-looking cloth you wear at your throat, is coarse,
and like a fish net, to little spots I can show you, where
the river fabricates all sorts of images, as if, having broke
loose from order, it would try its hand at everything. And
yet what does it amount to ! After the water has been
Buffered to have its will, for a time, like a headstrong man,
it is gathered together by the hand that made it, and a
^ew rods below you may see it all, flowing on steadily
towards the sea, as was foreordained from the first founda-
tion of the 'arth ! "

While his auditors received a cheering assurance of the
security of their place of concealment, from this untutored
description of Glenn's,^ they were much inclined to judge
differently from Hawkeye, of its wild beauties. But they
were not in a situation to suffer their thoughts to dwell on
the charms of natural objects ; and, as the scout had not
found it necessary to cease his culinary labors while he
spoke, unless to point out, with a broken fork, the direction

1 Glenn's Falls are on the Hudson, some forty or fifty miles above the head
of tide, or the place where that river becomes navigable for sloops. The
description of this picturesque and remarkable little cataract, as given by the
scout, is suflSciently correct, though the application of the water to the -^sea
of civilized life has materially injured its beauties. The rocky island and the
two caverns are well known to every traveller, since the former sustains a pier
of a bridge, which is now thrown across the river, immediately above the fall.
In explanation of the taste of Hawkeye, it should be remembered that men
always prize that most which is least enjoyed. Thus, in a new country, the
woods and other objects, which in an old country would be maintained at great
tost, are got rid of, simply with a view of " improving," as it is csihd.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 67

ot some particularly obnoxious point in the rebellious
stream, they now suffered their attention to be drawn to
the necessary, though more . vulgar consideration of their
supper.

The repast, which was greatly aided by the addition of a
few delicacies that Hey ward had the precaution to bring
with him when they left their horses, was exceedingly
refreshing to the wearied party. Uncas acted as at'?ndant
to the females, performing all the little offices within his
power, with a mixture of dignity and anxious grace, that
served to amuse Heyward, who well knew that it was an
utter innovation on the Indian customs, which forbid their
warriors to descend to any menial employment, especially
in favor of their women. As the rites of hospitality were,
however, considered sacred among them, this little departure
from the dignity of manhood excited no audible commenL
Had there been one there sufficiently disengaged to become
a close observer, he might have fancied that the services of
the young chief were not entirely impartial. That wliile
he tendered to Alice the gourd of sweet water,^ and the
venison in a trencher, neatly carved from the knot of the
pepperidge, with sufficient courtesy, in performing the same
offices to her sister, his dark eye lingered on her rich,
speaking countenance. Once or twice he was compelled to
speak, to command the attention of those he served. In
such cases, he made use of English, broken and imperfect,
but sufficiently intelligible, and which he rendered so mild
and musical, by his deep,^ guttural voice, » that it never
failed to cause both ladies to look up in admiration and
astonishment. In the course of these civilities, a few
sentences were exchanged, that served to establish the
appearance of an amicable intercourse between the parties.

In the mean while, the gravity of Chingachgook re-
mained immovable. He had seated himself more within
the circle of light, where the frequent uneasy glances of his
guests were better enabled to separate the natural expres-
sion of his face from the artificial terrors of the war-paint
They found a strong resemblance between father and son,

I See Appendix, Note E.

' The meaning of Indian words is nrueb sovarnad bj the emphasis and tonea

58 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

with the difference that might be expected from age and
hardships. The fierceness of his countenance now seemed
to slumber, and in its place was to be seen the quiet,
vacant composure, which distinguishes an Indian warrior,
when his faculties are not required for any of the greater
purposes of his existence. It was, however, easy to be
seen, by the occasional gleams that shot across his swarthy
visage, that it was only necessary to arouse his passions, in
order to give fiill effect to the terrific device which he had
adopted to intimidate his enemies. On the other hand, the
quick, roving eye of the scout seldom rested. He ate and
drank with an appetite that no sense of danger could
disturb, but his vigilance seemed never to desert him.
Twenty times the gourd or the venison was suspended
before his lips, while his head was turned aside, as though
he listened to some distant and distrusted sounds — a
movement that never failed to recall his guests from regard-
ing the novelties of their situation, to a recollection of the
alarming reasons that had driven them to seek it. As
these /requent pauses were never followed by any remark,
the momentary uneasiness they created quickly passed
away, and for a time was forgotten.

" Come, friend," said Hawkeye, drawing out a keg from
beneath a cover of leaves, towards the close of the repast,
and addressing the stranger who sat at his elbow, doing
great justice to his culinary skill, " try a little spruce ;
'twill wash away all thoughts of the colt, and quicken tlie
life in your bosom. I drink to our better friendship, hop-
ing that a little horseflesh may leave no heart-burnings
atween us. How do you name yourself?"

" Gamut — David Gamut," returned the singing-master,
preparing to wash down his sorrows in a powerful draught
of the woodman's high-flavored and well-laced compound,

" A very good name, and, I dare say, handed down from
honest forefathers. I'm an admh-ator of names, though the
Christian fashions fall far below savage customs in this par-
ticular. The biggest coward I ever knew was called Lyon;
and his wife. Patience, would scold you out of hearing in
less time than a hunted deer would run a rod. With an

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 69

Indian 'tis a matter of conscience ; what he calls himself,
he generally is — not that Chingachgook, which signifies
Big Sarpent, is really a snake, big or little ; but that he un.
derstands the windings and turnings of human natur*, and
is silent, and strikes his enemies when they least expec*
him. Wliat may be your calling ? "

" I am an unworthy instructor in the art of psalmody.**

"Anan!"

" I teach singing to the youths of the Connecticut levy."

" You might be better employed. The young hounds go
laughing and singing too much already through the woods,
when they ought not to breathe louder than a fox in his
cover. Can you use the smooth bore, or handle the
rifle ? "

" Praised be God, I have never had occasion to meddle
with murderous implements ! "

" Perhaps you understand the compass, and lay down
the water-courses and mountains of the wilderness on paper,
in order that they who follow may find places by theii
given names ? "

" I practice no such employment."

" You have a pair of legs that might make a long path
seem short ! you journey sometimes, I fancy, with tidings
for the general."

" Never ; I follow no other than my own high vocation,
which is instruction in sacred music ! "

" 'Tis a strange calling ! " muttered Ilawkeye, with an
inward laugh, " to go through life, like a cmt-bird, mocking
all the ups and downs that may happen to come out of
other men's throats. Well, friend, I suppose it is your gift,
and mustn't be denied any more than if 'twas shooting, or
some other better inclination. Let us hear what you can
do in that way ; 'twill be a jfriendly manner of saying good
night, for 'tis time that these ladies should be getting
strength for a hard and a long push, in the pride of the morn-
ing, afore the Maquas are stirruig ! "

" With joyful pleasure do I consent," said David, adjust
Ing his iron-rimmed spectacles, and pi educing his beloved
little volume, which he immediatidy tendered to Alice.

60 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

** What can be more fitting and consolatory, than to offer
op evening praise, after a day of such exceeding jeop-
ardy!"

Alice smiled ; but regarding Heyward, she blushed and
hesitated.

" Indulge yourself," he whispered : " ought not the sug-
gestion of the worthy namesake of the Psalmist to have its
weight at such a moment ? "

Encouraged by his opinion, Alice did what her pious
inclinations and her keen relish for gentle sounds, had be-
fore so strongly urged. The book was opened at a hymn
not ill adapted to their situation, and in which the poet, no
longer goaded by his desire to excel the inspired king of
Israel, had discovered some chastened and respectable pow-
ers. Cora betrayed a disposition to support her sister, and
the sacred song proceeded, after the indispensable prelim -
naries of the pitch-pipe and the tune had been duly attended
to by the methodical David.

The air was solemn and slow. At times it rose to the
fullest compass of the rich voices of the females, who hung
over their little book in holy excitement, and again it sank
so low, that the rushing of the waters ran through their
melody, like a hollow accompaniment. The natural taste
and true ear of David governed and modified the sounds to
suit the confined cavern, every crevice and cranny of which
was filled with the thrilling notes of their flexible voices.
The Indians riveted their eyes on the rocks, and listened
with an attention that seemed to turn them into stone.
But the scout, who had placed his chin in his hand, with an
expression of cold indifference, gradually suffered his rigid
features to relax, until, as verse succeeded verse, he felt his
iron nature subdued, while his recollection was carried back
to boyhood, when his ears had been accustomed to listen to
similar sounds of praise, in the settlements of the colony.
His roving eyes began to moisten, and before the hymn waa
ended, scalding tears rolled out of fountains that had long
seemed dry, and followed each other down those cheeks,
that had oftener felt the storms of heaven than any testimo-
nials of weakness. The singers were dwelling oi one of

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 61

those low, dying chords, which the ear devours with such
greedy rapture, as if conscious that it is about to lose them,
when a cry, that seemed neither human nor earthly, rose in
the outward air, penetrating not only the recesses of the
cavern, but to the inmost hearts of all who heard it. It
was followed by a stillness apparently as deep as if the
waters had been checked in their furious progress, at sucb
a horrid and unusual interruption.

" What is it ? " murmured Alice, after a few moments of
terrible suspense.

" What is it ? " repeateded Hey ward aloud.

Neither Hawkeye nor the Indians made any replj
They listened, as if expecting the sound would be repeated,
with a manner that expressed their own astonishment At
length they spoke together earnestly, in the Delaware lan-
guage, when Uncas, passing by the inner and most concealed
aperture, cautiously left the cavern. Wlien he had gone,
the scout first spoke in English.

" What it is, or what it is not, none here can tell ;
thousch two of us have ranwd the woods for more than
thirty years ! I did believe there was no cry that Indian
or beast could make, that my ears had not heard ; but this
has proved that I was only a vain and conceited mortal ! "

" Was it not, then, the shout the warriors make when
they wish to intimidate their enemies ? " asketl Cora, who
stood drawing her veU about her person, with a lalmness to
which her agitated sister was a stranger.

" No, no ; this was bad, and shocking, and hact a sort of
unhuman sound ; but when you once heaf the war-whoop,
you will never mistake it for anything else ! Well, Ud
cas ! " speaking in Delaware to the young chief as he re-
entered, " what see you ? do our lights shine through th«
blankets ? "

The answer was short, and apparently decided, being
given in the same tongue.

" There is nothing to be seen without," continued Hawk-
eye, shaking his head in discontent ; " and our hiding-place
18 still in darkness ! Pass into the other cave, you that
need it, and seek for sleep ; we must be afoot long before

62 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

the sun, and make the most of our time to get to Edward,
while the ISIingoes are taking their morning nap." -

Cora set the example of compliance, with a steadiness
that taught the more timid Alice the necessity of obedience.
Before leaving the place, However, she whispered a request
to Duncan that he would follow. Uncas raised the blanket
for their passage, and as the sisters turned to thank him for
this act of attention, they saw the scout seated again before
the dying embers, with his face resting on his hands, in a
manner which showed how deeply he brooded on the unac-
countable interruption which had broken up their evening
devotions.

Heyward took with him a blazing knot, which threw a
dim light through the narrow vista of their new apartment.
Placing it in a favorable position, he joined the females,
who now found themselves alone with him for the first
time since they had left the friendly ramparts of Fort Ed-
ward.

'• Leave us not, Duncan," said Alice ; " we cannot sleep
in such a place as this, with that horrid cry still ringing in
our ears ! "

" First let us examine into the security of your fortress,"
he answered, " and then we will speak of rest."

He approached the further end of the cavern, to an out-
let, which, like the others, was concealed by blankets, and
removing the thick screen, breathed the fresh and reviving
air from the cataract. One arm of the river flowed through
a deep, narrow ravine, which its current had worn in the
soft rock, directly beneath his feet, forming an effectual de-
fense, as he believed, against any danger from that quarter*
the water, a few rods above them, plunging, glancing, and
sweeping along, in its most violent and broken manner.

'* Nature has made an impenetrable barrier on this side,"
he continued, pointing down the perpendicular declivity into
the dark current, before he dropped the blanket ; " and as
you know that good men and true are on guard in front, I
see DO reason why the advice of our honest host should bo
disregarded. 1 am certain Cora will join me in saying thai
•leep is necessary to you both."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 68

* Cora may submit to the justice of your opinion, though
she cannot put it in practice," returned the elder sister, who
had placed herself by the side of Alice, on a couch of sassa-
fras ; " there would be other causes to cKtse away sleep,
though we had been spared the shock of this mysterious
noise. Ask yourself, Heyward, can daughters forget the
anxiety a father must endure, whose children lodge, he
knows not where or how, in such a wilderness, and in the
midst of so many perils ? "

" He is a soldier, and knows how to estimate the chances
of the woods."

" He is a father, and cannot deny his nature.**

" How kind has he ever been to all my follies ! how ten-
der and indulgent to all my wishes ! " sobbed Alice. " We
have been selfish, sister, in urging our visit at such hazard ! "

" I may have been rash in pressing his consent in a
mornent of much embarrassment, but I would have proved
Ko him, that however others might neglect him in his strait,
iiis children at least were faithful ! "

" When he heard of your arrival at Edward," said Hey-
ward, kindly, " there was a powerful struggle in his bosom
between fear and love ; though the latter, heightened, if pos-
sible, by so long a separation, quickly prevailed. ' It is the
spirit of my noble-minded Cora that leads them, Duncan,'
he said, ' and I will not balk it. Would to God, that he
who holds the honor of our royal master in his guardian-
ship, would show bat half her firmness ! ' "

" And did he not speak of me, Heyward ? " demande \
Alice, with jealous affection. " Surely, he iorgot not alto
^ether his little Elsie ! "

" That were impossible," returned the young man ; " ht
called you by a thousand endearing epithets, that I may not
presume to use, but to the justice of which I can warmly
testify. Once, indeed, he said " —

Duncan ceased speaklrig ; for while his eyes were riveted
on those of Alice, who had turned towards him with the
eagerness of tilial affection, to catch his words, the same
strong horrid cry, as before, tilled the air, and rendered him
mate. A long, breathless silence succeeded, during vhicb

64 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

each looked at the others in fearful expectation of hearing
the sound repeated. At length the blanket was slowly
raised, and the scout stood in the aperture with a counte-
nance whose firmness evidently began to give way, before a
mystery that seemed to threaten some danger, against which
ftll hifl cuDning aud experience mi^ht prove of no avaiL

TB£ LAST Oi TH£ MOHICANS. tf

CHAPTER VIL

They do not sleep.
On yonder clif&, a grisly band^
I see them sit."

Grat.

* TwouLD be neglecting a warning that is given for our
good, to lie hid any longer," said Hawkeye, " when such
sounds are raised in the forest ! The gentle ones may keep
close, but the Mohicans and I will watch upon the rock,
where I suppose a major of the 60th would wish to keep us
company."

" Is then our danger so pressing ? " asked Cora.

" He who makes strange sounds, and gives them out for
man's information, alone knows our danger. I should think
myself wicked, unto rebellion against his will, was I to bur-
row with such warnings in the air ! Even the weak soul
who passes his days in singing, is stirred by the cry, and, as
he says, is * ready to go forth to the battle.' If 'twere only
a battle, it would be a thing understood by us all, and easily
managed; but I have heard that when such shrieks are
atween heaven and 'arth, it betokens another sort of war-
fare ! "

" If all our reasons for fear, my friend, are confined to
such as proceed from supernatural causes, we have but little
occasion to be alarmed," continued the undisturbed Cora ,
" are you certain that our enemies have not invented some
new and ingenious method to strike us with terror, that
their conquest may become more easy ? "

" Lady," returned the scout, solemnly, " I have listened
to all the sounds of the woods for thirty years, as a man will
listen, whose life and death depend on the quickness of his
ears. There is no whine of the panther, no whistle of the
cat-bird, nor any invention of the devilish Mingoes, thai
5

66 THE LAST OF FHE MOHICANS.

can cheat me ! I have heard the forest moan like mortal
men in their affliction ; often, and again, have I listened to
the wind playing its music in the branches of the girdled
trees ; and I have heard the lightning cracking in the air,
like the snapping of blazing brush, as it spitted forth sparks
and forked flames ; but never have I thought that I heard
more than the pleasure of Him who sported with the things
of his hand. But neither the Mohicans, nor I, who am a
white man without a cross, can explain the cry just heard.
We, therefore, believe it a sign given for our good."

" It is extraordinary ! " said Heyward, taking his pis-
tols from the place where he had laid them on entering ;
" be it a sign of peace or a signal of war, it must be looked
to. Lead the way, my friend ; I follow."

On issuing from their place of confinement, the whole
party instantly experienced a grateful renovation of spirits,
by exchanging the pent air of the hiding-place for the cool
and invigorating atmosphere, which played around the
whirlpools and pitches of the cataract. A heavy evening
breeze swept along the surface of the river, and seemed to
drive the roar of the falls into the recesses of their own
caverns, whence it issued heavily and constant, like thunder
rumbling beyond the distant hills. The moon had risen,
and its light was already glancing here and there on the
waters above them ; but the extremity of the rock where
they stood still lay in shadow. With the exception of the
sounds produced by the rushing waters, and an occasional
breathing of the air, as it murmured past them in fitful cur-
rents, the scene was as still as night and solitude could make
it. In vain were the eyes of each individual bent along the
opposite shores, in quest of some signs of life, that might
explain the nature of the interruption they had heard.
Their anxious and eager looks were baffled by the de-
ceptive light, or rested only on naked rocks, and straight
and immovable trees.

" Here is nothing to be seen but the gloom and quiet of
a lovely evening," whispered Duncan ; " how much should
we prize such a scene, and all this breathing solitude, a*
any other moment, Cora ! Fancy yourselves in security

THE LASt OF THE MOHICANS. 67

and what now, perhaps, increases your terror, may be made
conducive to enjoyment " —

" Listen ! " interrupted Alice.

The caution was unnecessary. Once more the same
sound arose, as if from the bed of the river, and having
broken out of the narrow bounds of the cliffs, was heard
andulating through the forest, in distant and dying car
dences.

" Can any here give a name to such a cry ? " demanded
Hawkeye, when the last echo was lost in the woods ; " if
so, let him speak ; for myself, I judge it not to belong to
'arth!"

" Here, then, is one who can undeceive you," said Dun-
can ; " I know the sound full well, for often have I heard it
on the field of battle, and in situations which are frequent
in a soldier's Hfe. 'Tis the horrid shriek that a horse will
give in his agony ; oflener drawn from him in pain, though
sometimes in terror. My charger is either a prey to the
beasts of the forest, or he sees his danger, without the
power to avoid it. The sound might deceive me in the
cavern, but in the open air I know it too well to be
wrong."

The scout and his companions listened to this simple ex
planation with the interest of men who imbibe new ideas,
at the same time that they get rid of old ones, which had
proved disagreeable inmates. The two latter uttered their
usual and expressive exclamation, "Hugh!" as the truth
first glanced upon their minds, while the. former, after a
short musing pause, took upon himself to reply.

" I cannot deny your words," he said ; " for I am little
skilled in horses, though born where they abound. The
wolves must be hovering above their heads on the bank,
and the timorsome creatures are calling on man for help, in
the best manner they are able. Uncas" — he spoke in
Delaware — " Uncas, drop down in the canoe, and whirl a
brand among the pack ; or fear may do what the wolves
can't get at to perform, and leave us without horses in the
morning, when we shall have so much need to journey
swiftly!"

68 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAHS.

The young native had already descended to the water, to
comply, when a long howl was raised on the edge of the
river, and was borne swiftly off into the depths of the for-
est, as though the beasts, of their own accord, were aban-
doning their prey in sudden terror. Uncas, with instinctive
quickness, receded, and the three foresters held another of
their low, earnest conferences.

" We have been like hunters who have lost the points of
the heavens, and from whom the sun has been hid for days,"
said Hawkeye, turning away from his companions ; " now
we begin again to know the signs of our course, and the
paths are cleared from briers ! Seat yourselves in the
shade which the moon throws from yonder beech — 'tis
thicker than that of the pines — and let us wait for that
which the Lord may choose to send next. Let all your
conversation be in whispers ; though it would be better,
and perhaps, in the end, wiser, if each one held discourse
with his own thoughts, for a time."

The manner of the scout was seriously impressive, though
no longer distinguished by any signs of unmanly apprehen-
sion. It was evident that his momentary weakness had
vanished with the explanation of a mystery which his own
experience had not served to fathom ; and though he now
felt all the realities of their actual condition, that he was
prepared to meet them with the energy of his hardy nature.
This feeling seemed also common to the natives, who placed
themselves in positions which commanded a full view of
both shores, while their own persons were effectually con-
cealed from observation. In such circumstances, common
prudence dictated that Heyward and his companions should
imitate a caution that proceeded from so intelligent a
wurce. The young man drew a pile of the sassafras from
the cave, and placing it in the chasm which separated the
two caverns, it was occupied by the sisters ; who were thus
protected by the rocks from any missiles, while their anx'
iety was relieved by the assurance that no danger could ap-
proach without a warning. Heyward himself was poster?
at hand, so near that he might communicate with his con*
pamons without raising his voice to a dangerous elevation

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. Of

while David, in imitation of the woodsmen, bestowed his
person in such a manner among the fissures of the rocks,
that his ungainly limbs were no longer offensive to the eye.

In this manner, hours passed by without further mter-
ruption. The moon reached the zenith, aud shed its mild
light perpendicularly on the lovely sight of the sisters slum-
bering peacefully in each other's arms. Duncan cast the
wide shawl of Cora before a spectacle he so much loved to
contemplate, and then suffered his own head to seek a pil-
low on the rock. David began to utter sounds that would
have shocked his delicate organs in more wakeful moments ;
in short, all but Hawkeye aud the Mohicans lost every
idea of consciousness, in uncontrollable drowsiness. But
the watchfulness of these vigilant protectors neither tired
nor slumbered. Immovable as that rock, of which each ap-
peared to form a part, they lay, with their eyes roving,
without intermission, along the dark marghi of trees that
bounded the adjacent shores of the narrow stream. Not a
sound escaped them ; the most subtle examination could not
have told they breathed. It was evident that this excess of
caution proceeded from an experience that no subtlety on
the part of their enemies could deceive. It was, however,
continued without any apparent consequences, until the
moon had set, aud a pale streak above the tree-tops, at the
bend of the river a little below, announe^^d the approach of
day.

Then, for the first time, Hawkeye was seen to stir. He
crawled along the rock, and shook Dunc^i^ from his heavy
slumbers.

" Now is the time to journey," he whispered ; " awake
the gentle ones, and be ready to get into the canoe when I
bring it to the landing-place."

" Have you had a quiet night ? " said Heyward ; " for
myself, I believe sleep has got the better of my vigilance."

" All is yet still as midnight. Be silent, but be quick."

By this time Duncan was thoroughly awake, and he im-
mediately lifted the shawl from the sleeping females. The
motion caused Cora to raise her hand as if to repulse him,
while Alice murmured, in her soft, gentle voice, " No, no
dear father, we were not deserted ; Duncan was with us I "

TO THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Yes, sweet innocence," whispered the youth ; ** Duncaii
18 here, and while life continues or danger remains, he will
never quit tliee. Cora ! Alice ! awake ! The hour has
come to move ! "

A loud shriek from the younger of the sisters, and the
form of the other standing upright before him, in bewil-
dered horror, was the unexpected answer he received.
Wh'le the words were still on the lips of Hey ward, there
had arisen such a tumult of yells and cries as served to
drive the swift currents of his own blood back from its
bounding course into the fountains of his heart. It seemed,
for near a minute, as if the demons of hell had possessed
themselves of the air about them, and were venting their
savage humors in barbarous sounds. The cries came from
no particular direction, though it was evident they filled the
woods, and as the appalled listeners easily imagined, the
caverns of the falls, the rocks, the bed of the river, and the
upper air. David raised his tall person in the midst of
the infernal din, with a hand on either ear, exclaiming —

" Whence comes this discord ! Has hell broke loose,
that man should utter sounds like these ! "

The bright flashes and the quick reports of a dozen rifles,
from the opposite banks of the stream, followed this incau-
tious exposure of his person, and left the unfortunate sing-
ing-master senseless on that rock where he had been so
long slumbering. The Mohicans boldly sent back the intim-
idating yell of their enemies, who raised a shout of savage
triumph at the fall of Gamut. The flash of rifles was then
quick and close between them, but either party was too
well skilled to leave even a limb exposed to the hostile aim.
Duncan listened with intense anxiety for the strokes of the
paddle, believing that flight was now their only refuge.
The river glanced by with its ordinary velocity, but the
canoe was nowhere to be seen on its dark waters. He had
just fancied they were cruelly deserted by the scout, as a
stream of flame issued from the rock beneath him, and a
fierce yell, blended with a shriek of agony, announced that
the messenger of death, sent from the fatal weapon of
Hawkeye, had found a victim. At this slight repulse tho

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANb. 71

Mijailaiita instantly withdrew, and gradually the place be-
came as still as before the sudden tumult.

Duncan seized the favorable moment to spring to the
body of Gamut, which he bore within the shelter of the
narrow chasm that protected the sisters. In another min-
ute the whole party was collected in this spot of compara-
tive safety.

" The poor fellow has saved his scalp," said Hawkeye,
coolly passing his hand over the head of David ; " but he
is a proof that a man may be born with too long a tongue !
*Twas downright madness to show six feet of flesh and
blood, on a naked rock, to the raging savages. I only
wonder he has escaped with life."

^' Is he not dead ! " demanded Cora, in a voice whose
husky tones showed how powerfully natural horror strug
gled with her assumed firmness. " Can we do aught to
assist the wretched man ? "

" No, no ! the life is in his heart yet, and after he has
slept awhile he will come to himself, and be a wiser man
for it, till the hour of his real time shall come," returned
Hawkeye, casting another oblique glance at the msensible
body, while he filled his charger with admirable nicety.
" Carry him in, Uncas, and lay him on the sassafras. The
longer his nap lasts the better it will be for him, as I doubt
whether he can find a proper cover for such a shape on
these rocks ; and singing won't do any good with the Iro-
quois."

" You believe, then, the attack will be renewed ? *' asked
Heyward.

" Do I expect a hungry wolf will satisfy his craving
with a mouthful ! They have lost a man, and 'tis their
fashion, when they meet a loss, and fail in the surprise, to
fall back ; but we shall have them on again, with new ex-
pedients to circumvent us, and master our scalps. Our
main hope," he continued, raising his rugged countenance,
across which a shade of anxiety just then passed like a
darkening cloud, " will be to keep the rock until Munro
can send a party to om* help ! God send it may be soon,
wid under a leader that knows the Indian custom.s ! "

72 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" You hear our probable fortunes, Cora," said Duncan
" and you know we have everything to hope from the anx*
iety and experience of your father. Come, then, with
Alice, into this cavern, where you, at least, will be safe
from the murderous rifles of our enemies, and where you
may bestow a care suited to your gentle natures on our
unfortunate comrade."

The sisters followed him into the outer cave, where
David was beginning, oy his sighs, to give symptoms of
returning consciousness ; and then commending the wounded
man to their attention, he immediately prepared to leave
them.

" Duncan ! " said the tremulous voice of Cora, when he
had reached the mouth of the cavern. He turned, and
beheld the speaker, whose color had changed to a deadly
paleness, and whose lip quivered, gazing after him, with an
expression of interest which immediately recalled him to
her side. " Remember, Duncan, how necessary your safety
is to our own — how you bear a father's sacred trust —
how much depends on your discretion and care — in short,"
she added, while the tell-tale blood stole over her features,
crimsoning her very temples, " how very deservedly dear
you are to all of the name of Munro."

" If anything could add to my own base love of life,**
said Heyward, suffering his unconscious eyes to wander to
the youtliful form of the silent Alice, " it would be so kind
an assurance. As major of the 60th, our honest host will
tell you I must take my share of the fray ; but our task
will be easy ; it is merely to keep these blood-hounds at
bay for a few hours."

Without waiting for reply, he tore himself from the pres-
ence of the sisters, and joined the scout and his companions,
who still lay within the protection of the little chasm be-
tween the two caves.

" I tell you, Uncas," said the former, as Heyward joined
them, "you are wasteful of your powder, and the kick of
the rifle disconcerts your aim ! Little powder, light lead,
and a long arm, seldom fail of bringing the death screech
from a Mmgo! At least, such has been my experience

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 7R

with the creatur's. Come, friends; let us to our covers,
for no man can tell when or where a Maqua ^ will strike
his blow."

The Indians silently repaired to their appointed stations,
which were fissures in the rocks, whence they could com-
mand the approaches to the foot of the falls. In the cen-
tre of the little island, a few short and stunted pines had
found root, forming a thicket, into which Hawkeye darted
with the swiftness of a deer, followed by the active Duncan.
Here they secured themselves, as well as circumstances
would permit, among the shrubs and fragments of stone
that were scattered about the place. Above them was a
bare, rounded rock, on each side of which the water played
Its gambols, and plunged into the abysses beneath, in the
manner already described. As the day had now dawned,
the opposite shores no longer presented a confused outline,
but they were able to look into the woods, and distinguish
objects beneath the canopy of gloomy pines.

A long and anxious watch succeeded, but without any
further evidences of a renewed attack ; and Duncan began
to hope that their fire had proved more fatal than was sup-
posed, and that their enemies had been etFectually repulsed.
When he ventured to utter this impression to his compan-
ion, it was met by Hawkeye with an incredulous shake of
the head.

" You know not the nature of a Maqua, if you think ht
u so easily beaten back without a scalp ! " he answered.
" K there was one of the imps yelling this morning, there
were forty! and they know our number and quality too
well to give up the chase so soon. Hist ! look into the
water above, just where it breaks over the rocks. I am no
mortal, if the risky devils haven't swam down upon the
very pitch, and, as bad luck would have it, they have hit
the head of the island. Hist ! man, keep close ! or the
hair will be off your crown in the turning of a knife ! "

Hey ward lifted his head from the cover, and beheld what

1 Mingo was the Delaware tenn for the Five Nations. Maqnas was tha
name given them by the Dutch. The French, from tbeir first ioteroouwf
with them, called them Iroquois.

74 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

he justly considered a prodigy of rashness and skill. The
river had worn away the edge of the soft rock in such a
manner, as to render its first pitch less abrupt and perpen-
dicular than is usual at waterfalls. With no other guide
than the ripple of the stream where it met the head of the
island, a party of their insatiable foes had ventured into
the current, and swam down upon this point, knowing the
ready access it would give, if successful, to their intended
victims. As Hawkeye ceased speaking, four human heads
could be seen peering above a few logs of drift-wood that
had lodged on these naked rocks, and which had probably
Buggested the idea of the practicability of the hazardous
andertaking. At the next moment, a fifth form was seen
floating over the green edge of the fall, a little from the
line of the island. The savage struggled powerfully to
gain the point of safety, and, favored by the glancing water,
he was already stretching forth an arm to meet the grasp
of his companions, when he shot away again with the
whirling current, appeared to rise into the air, with uplifted
arms and starting eyeballs, and fell, with a sullen plunge,
into that deep and yawning abyss over which he hovered.
A single, wild, despairing shriek rose from the cavern, and
all was hushed again, as the grave.

The first generous impulse of Duncan was to rush to
the rescue of the hapless wretch ; but he felt himself bound
to the spot by the iron grasp of the immovable scout.

" Would ye bring certain death upon us, by telling the
Mingoes where we lie ? " demanded Hawkeye, sternly ;
" 'tis a charge of powder saved, and ammunition is as pre-
cious now as breath to a worried deer ! Freshen the
priming of your pistols — the mist of the falls is apt to
dampen the brimstone — and stand firm for a close strug.
gle, while I fire on their rush."

He placed a finger in his mouth, and drew a long, shrill
whistle, which was answered from the rocks that were
guarded by the Mohicans. Duncan caught glimpses of
heads above the scattered drift-wood, as this signal rose on
the air, but they disappeared again as suddenly as they had
glanced upon his sight. A low, rustling sound next drew

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 75

his attention behind him, and turning his head, he beheld
Uncas within a few feet, creeping to his sida Hawkeye
cpoke to him in Delaware, when the young chief took his
position with singular caution and undisturbed coolness.
To Heyward this was a moment 0/ feverish and impatient
suspense ; though the scout saw fit to select it as a fit oc-
casion to read a lecture to his more youthful associates on
the art of using fire-arms with discretion.

" Of all we'pons," he commenced, " the long-barreled,
true-grooved, soft-metaled rifle is the most dangerous in
skillful hands, though it wants a strong arm, a quick eye,
and great judgment in charging, to put forth all its beau-
ties. The gunsmiths can have but little insight into their
trade, when they make their fowling-pieces and short horse-
men's"—

He was interrupted by the low but expressive " Hugh ! "
of Uncas.

" I see them, boy, I see them ! " continued Hawkeye ;
" they are gathering for the rush, or they would keep their
dingy backs below the logs. Well, let them," he added,
examining his flint ; " the leading man certainly comes on
to his death, though it should be Montcalm himself ! "

At that moment the woods were filled with another burst
of cries, and at the signal four savages sprang from the
cover of the drift-wood. Heyward felt a burning desire to
rush forward to meet them, so intense was the delirious
anxiety of the moment ; but he was restrained by the de-
liberate examples of the scout and Uncas. When their
foes who leaped over the black rock that divided them, with
long bounds, uttering the wildest yeUs, were within a few
rods, the rifle of Hawkeye slowly rose among the shrubs,
and poured out its fatal contents. The foremost Indian
bounded like a stricken deer, and fell headlong among the
clefts of the island.

" Now, Uncas ! " cried the scout, drawing his long knife,
while his quick eyes began to flash with ardor, '' take the
last of the screeching imps ; of the other two we are sar-
tam!"

He was obeyed ; and but two enemies remained to b«

76 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

orercome. Hey ward had given one of his pistols to Hawkeye,
and together they rushed down a little declivity towarda
their foes ; they discharged their weapons at the same in-
stant, and equally without success.

" I know'd it ! and I said it ! " muttered the scout, whirl-
ing the despised little implement over the falls with bitter
disdain. " Come on, ye bloody minded hell-hounds ! ye
meet a man without a cross ! "

The words were barely uttered, when he encountered a
savage of gigantic stature, and of the fiercest mien. At
the same moment, Duncan found himself engaged with the
other, in a similar contest of hand to hand. With ready
skill, Hawkeye and his antagonist each grasped that up-
lifted arm of the other which held the dangerous knife.
For near a minute they stood looking one another in the
eye, and gradually exerting the power of theii muscles for
the mastery. At length, the toughened sinews of the white
man prevailed over the less practiced limbs of the native.
The arm of the latter slowly gave way before the increas-
ing force of the scout, who, suddenly wresting his armed
hand from the grasp of the foe, drove the sharp weapon
through his naked bosom to the heart. In the mean time
Hey ward had been pressed m a more deadly struggle. His
slight sword was snapped in the first encounter As he was
destitute of any other means of defense, his safety now de-
pended entirely on bodily strength and resolution. Though
deficient in neither of these qualities, he had met an enemy
every way his equal. Happily, he soon succeeded m dis-
arming his adversary, whose knife fell on the rock at their
feet ; and from this moment it became a fierce struggle, who
should cast the other over the dizzy height into a neighbor-
ing cavern of the falls. Every successive struggle brought
them nearer to the verge, where Duncan perceived the final
and conquering effort must be made. Each of the combat-
ants threw all his energies into that effort, and the result
was, that both tottered on the brink of the precipice.
Heyward felt the grasp of the other at his throat, and saw
the grim smile the savage gave, under the revengeful hope
that he hurried his enemy to a fate similar to his own, a#

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. V

he felt his bodj slowly yielding to a resistless power, and
the young man experienced the passing agony of such a
moment in all its horrors. At that instant of extreme dan-
ger, a dark hand and glancing knife appeared before him ;
the Indian released his hold, as the blood flowed freely
from around the severed tendons of the wrist ; and while
Duncan was drawn backward by the saving arm of Uncas,
his charmed eyes were still riveted on the flerce and disap-
pointed countenance of his foe, who fell sullenly and disap-
pointed down the irrecoverable precipice.

" To cover ! to cover ! " cried Hawkey e, who just then
had despatched the enemy ; " to cover, for your lives ! the
work is but half ended ! "

The young Mohican gave a shout of triumph, and, fol-
lowed by Duncan, he glided up the acclivity they had de-
scended to the combat, and sought the friendly shelter ot
the rocks and shrubs.

78 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANft

CHAPTER Vm.

They linger yet,
Avengers of their native land.

Gray.

The warning call of the scout was not uttered without
occasion. During the occurrence of the deadly encounter
just related, the roar of the falls was unbroken by any
human sound whatever. It would seem that interest in. the
result had kept the natives on the opposite shores in breath-
less suspense, while the quick evolutions and swift changes
in the positions of the combatants, effectually prevented a
fire that might prove dangerous alike to friend and enemy.
But the moment the struggle was decided, a yell arose as
fierce and savage as wild and revengeful passions could
throw into the air. It was followed by the swift flashes of
the rifles, which sent their leaden messengers across the rock
in volleys, as though the assailants would pour out their
impotent fury on the insensible scene of the fatal contest.

A steady, though deliberate return was made from the
rifle of Chingachgook, who had maintained his post through-
out the fray with unmoved resolution. "When the triumph-
ant shout of Uncas was borne to his ears, the gratified
father raised his voice in a single responsive cry, after
which his busy piece alone proved that he still guarded his
pass with unwearied diligence. In this manner many min-
utes flew by with the swiftness of thought : the rifles of the
assailants speaking, at times, in rattling volleys, and at oth-
ers, in occasional, scattering shots. Though the rock, the
trees, and the shrubs, were cut and torn in a hundred places
around the besieged, their cover was so close, and so rigidly
maintained, that, as yet, David had been the only sufferer
in their little band.

THE LAST OF THE MOHtCANS. 79

*< Let them burn their powder," said the deliberate scout,
while bullet after bullet whizzed by the place where he
securely lay ; " there will be a fine gathering of lead when
it is over, and I fancy the imps will tire of the sport, afore
these old stones cry out for mercy ! Uncas, boy, you waste
the kernels by overcharging : and a kicking rifle never car-
ries a true bullet. I told you to take that loping miscreant
under the line of white paint ; now, if your bullet went a
hair's breadth, it went two inches above it. The life lies
low in a Mmgo, and humanity teaches us to make a quick
end of the sarpents."

A quiet smile lighted the haughty features of the young
Mohican, betraying his knowledge of the English language,
as well as of the other's meaning ; but he suffered it to pass
away without vindication or reply.

" I cannot permit you to accuse Uncas of want of judg-
ment or of skill," said Duncan : " he saved my life in the
coolest and readiest manner, and he has made a friend who
never will require to be reminded of the debt he owes."

Uncas partly raised his body, and offered his hand to the
grasp of Heyward. During this act of friendship, the two
young men exchanged looks of intelligence which caused
Duncan to forget the character and condition of his wild
associate. In the mean while, Hawkeye, who looked on
this burst of youthful feeling with a cool but kind regard,
made the following reply : —

" Life is an obligation which friends often owe each other
in the wilderness. I dare say I may have served Uncas
some such turn myself before now ; and I very well remem-
ber that he has stood between me and death five different
times : three times from the Mingoes, once in crossing Hor-
ican, and " —

" That bullet was better aimed than common ! " exclaimed
Duncan, involuntarily shrinking from a shot which struck
the rock at his side with a smart rebound.

Hawkeye laid his hand on the shapeless metal, and shook
his head, as he examined it, saying, " Falling lead is never
flattened ! had it come from the clouds this might have hap
'leaed ! "

80 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

But the rifle of Uncas was deliberately raised toward*
the heavens, directing the eyes of his companions to a
point, where the mystery was immediately explained. A
ragged oak grew on the right bank of the river, nearly
opposite to their position, which, seeking the freedom of the
open space, had inclined so far forward, that its upper
branches overhung that arm of the stream which flowe(i
nearest to its own shore. Among the topmost leaves, which
scantily concealed the gnarled and stunted limbs, a savage
was nestled, partly concealed by the trunk of the tree, and
partly exposed, as though looking down upon them to ascer«
tain the effect produced by his treacherous aim.

" These devils will scale heaven to circumvent us to our
ruin," said Hawkeye ; " keep him in play, boy, until I can
bring ' Killdeer ' to bear, when we will try his metal on
each side of the tree at once."

Uncas delayed his fire until the scout uttered the word.
The rifles flashed, the leaves and bark of the oak flew into
the air, and were scattered by the wind, but the Indian
answered their assault by a taunting laugh, sending down
upon them another bullet in return, that struck the cap of
Hawkeye from his head. Once more the savage yells
burst out of the woods, and the leaden hail whistled above
the heads of the besieged, as if to confine them to a place
where they might become easy victims to the enterprise of
the warrior who had mounted the tree.

" This must be looked to ! " said the scout, glancing
about him with an anxious eye. "Uncas, call up your
father ; we have need of all our we'pons to bring the cun-
ning varment from his roost."

The signal was instantly given; and, before Hawkeye
had reloaded his rifle, they were joined by ChingachgooL
When his son pointed out to the experienced warrior the sit-
uation of their dangerous enemy, the usual exclamatory
♦ Hugh ! " burst from his lips ; after which, no further expres-
sion of surprise or alarm was suffered to escape him.
Hawkeye and the Mohicans conversed earnestly together
in Delaware for a few moments, when each quietly took
his post, in order to execute the plan they had speedily
terised.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 81

'fhe warrior in the oak had maintained a quick, though
ineflfectual fire, from the moment of his discovery. But hia
aim was interrupted by the vigilance of his enemies, whose
rifles instantaneously bore on any part of his person that
was left exposed. Still his bullets fell in the centre of the
crouchmg party. The clothes of Ileyward, which rendered
him peculiarly conspicuous, were repeatedly cut, and once
blood was drawn from a slight wound in his arm.

At length, emboldened by the long and patient watchftil*
ness of his enemies, the Huron attempted a better and more
fatal aim. The quick eyes of the Mohicans caught the dark
line of his lower limbs incautiously exposed through the
thin foliage, a few inches from the trunk of the tree. Their
rifles made a common report, when, sinking on his wounded
limb, part of the body of the savage came into view. Swift
as thought, Hawkeye seized the advantage, and discharged
his fatal weapon into the top of the oak. The leaves were
unusually agitated ; the dangerous rifle fell from its com-
manding elevation, and after a few moments of vain strug-
gling, the form of the savage was seen swinging in the wind,
while he still grasped a ragged and naked branch of the
tree, with hands clenched in desperation.

" Give him in pity give him — the contents of another
rifle ! " cried Duncan, turning away his eyes in horror from
the spectacle of a fellow creature in such awful jeopardy.

" Not a karnel ! " exclaimed the obdurate Hawkeye ;
" his death is certain, and we have no powder to spare, for
Indian fights sometimes last for days ; 'tis their scalps or
ours ! — and God, who made us, has put into our natures
the craving to keep the skin on the head ! "

Against this stern and unyielding morality, supported as
it was by such visible policy, there was no appeal. From
that moment the yells in the forest once more ceased, the
tire was suffered to decline, and all eyes, those of friends aa
well as enemies, became fixed on the hopeless condition of
the wretch who was dan^lincr between heaven and earth
The body yielded to the currents of air, and though no mur-
mur or groan escaped the victim, there were instants when
he grimly faced his foes, and the angui ^ of cold despail

52 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

might be traced, through the intervening distance, in pofr
session of his swarthy lineaments. Three several times the
Bcout raised his piece in mercy, and as often prudence get-
ting the better of his intention, it was again silently lowered.
At length one hand of the Huron lost its hold, and dropped
exhausted to his side. A desperate and fruitless struggle
to recover the branch succeeded, and then the savage was
seen for a fleeting instant, grasping wildly at the empty air
The lightning is not quicker than was the flame from the
rifle of Hawkeye ; the limbs of the victim trembled and
contracted, the head fell to the bosom, and the body parted
the foaming waters like lead, when the element closed above
it, in its ceaseless velocity, and every vestige of the imhappy
Huron was lost forever.

No shout of triumph succeeded this important advantage,
but even the Mohicans gazed at each other in silent horror.
A single yell burst from the woods, and all was again still.
Hawkeye, who alone appeared to reason on the occasion,
shook his head at his own momentary weakness, even utter-
ing his self-disapprobation aloud.

" 'Twas the last charge in my horn, and the last bullet in
my pouch, and 'twas the act of a boy ! " he said ; " what
mattered it whether he struck the rock living or dead ! feel-
ing would soon be over. Uncas, lad, go down to the canoe,
and bring up the big horn ; it is all the powder we have
left, and we shall need it to the last grain, or I am ignorant
of the Mingo nature."

The young Mohican complied, leaving the scout turning
over the useless contents of his pouch, and shaking the
empty horn with renewed discontent. From this unsatis-
fectory examination, however, he was soon called by a loud
and piercing exclamation from Uncas, that sounded, even to
the unpracticed ears of Duncan, as the signal of some new
and unexpected calamity. Every thought filled with appre-
hension for the precious treasure he had concealed in the
cavern, the young man started to his feet, totally regardless
of the hazard he incurred by such an exposure. As if
actuated by a common impulse, his movement was imitated
by his companions, and, together, they rushed down tha

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 8t

{Mise to the friendly chasm, with a rapidity that rendered
the scattering fire of their enemies perfectly harmless. The
unwonted cry had brought the sisters, together with the
womided David, from their place of refuge ; and the whole
party, at a single glance, was made acquainted with the
nature of the disaster that had disturbed even the practiced
stoicism of their youthful Indian protector.

At a short distance from the rock, their little bark was
to be seen floating across the eddy, towards the swift cur-
rent of the river, in a manner which proved tlir.t its course
was directed by some hidden agent. The instant this
unwelcome sight caught the eye of the scout, his rifle was
leveled as by instinct, but the barrel gave no answer to
the bright sparks of the flint.

" 'Tis too late, 'tis too late ! " Hawkeye exclaimed,
dropping the useless piece in bitter disappointment ; " the
miscreant has struck the rapid ; and had we powder, it could
hardly send the lead swifter than he now goes ! "

The adventurous Huron raised his head above the shelter
of the canoe, and while it glided swiftly down the stream,
he waved his hand, and gave forth the shout, which was the
known signal of success. His cry was answered by a yell
and a laugh from the woods, as tauntingly exulting as if
fifty demons were uttering their blasphemies at the fall of
some Christian soul.

" Well may you laugh, ye children of the devil ! " said
the scout, seating himself on a projection of the rock, and
suffering his gun to fall neglected at his feet^ " for the three
quickest and truest rifles in these woods are no better than
80 many stalks of mullein, or the last year's horns of a
buck ! "

" What is to be done ? " demanded Duncan, losing the
first feeling of disappointment in a more manly desire for
exertion ; " what will become of us ? "

Hawkeye made no other reply than by passing his finger
around the crown of his head, in a manner so significant,
that none who witnessed the action could mistake its mean-
tog.

** Surely, surely, our easels not so desperate ! " exclaimed

84 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

the youth ; " the Hurons are not here ; we may make good
the caverns ; we may oppose their landing."

" With what ? " coolly demanded the scout. " The
arrows of Uncas, or such tears as women shed ! No, no ;
you are young, and rich, and have friends, and at such an
age I know it is hard to die ! But," glancing his eyes at
the Mohicans, " let us remember we are men without a
cross, and let us teach these natives of the forest that white
blood can run as freely as red, when the appointed hour is
come."

Duncan turned quickly in the direction indicated by the
other's eyes, and read a confirmation of his worst apprehen-
sions in the conduct of the Indians. Chingachgook, placing
himself in a dignified postm'e on another fragment of the
rock, had already laid aside his knife and tomahawk, and
was in the act of taking the eagle's plume from his head,
and smoothing the solitary tuft of hair in readiness to per-
form its last and revolting office. His countenance was
composed, though thoughtful, while his dark gleaming eyes
were gradually losing the fierceness of the combat in an
expression better suited to the change he expected moment-
arily to undergo.

" Our case is not, cannot be so hopeless ! " said Duncan ;
" even at this very moment succor may be at hand. I see
no enemies ! they have sickened of a struggle in which they
risk so much with so little prospect of gain ! "

" It may be a minute, or it may be an hour, afore the
wily sarpents steal upon us, and it is quite in natur' for them
to be lying within hearing at this very moment," said Hawk-
eye ; " but come they will, and in such a fashion as will
leave us nothing to hope ! Chingachgook " — he spoke in
Delaware — " my brother, we have fought our last battle
together, and the Maquas will triumph in the death of the
sage man of the Mohicans, and of the pale -face, whose eyes
tan make night as day, and level the clouds to the mists of
the springs ! "

" Let the Mingo women go weep over their slain ! '* re-
turned the Indian, with characteristic pride and unmoved
firmness ; " the Great Snake of the Mohicans has coiled

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 9^

himself in their wigwams, and has poisoned their triumph
with the wailings of children, whose fathers have not re-
turned ! Eleven warriors lie hid from the graves of their
tribes since the snows have melted, and none will tell where
to find them when the tongue of Chingachgook shall be
silent ! Let them draw the sharpest knife, and whirl the
swiftest tomahawk, for their bitterest enemy is in their
hands. Uncas, topmost branch of a noble trunk, call on the
cowards to hasten or their hearts will soften, and they will
change to women ! "

" They look among the fishes for their dead ! " returned
the low, soft voice of the youthful chieftain ; " the Hurons
float with the slimy eels ! They drop from the oaks like
fruit that is ready to be eaten ! and the Delawares laugh ! "

"Aye, aye," muttered the scout, who had listened to this
peculiar burst of the natives with deep attention ; " they
have warmed their Indian feelings, and they'll soon provoke
the Maquas to give them a speedy end. As for me, who
am of the whole blood of the whites, it is befitting that I
should die as becomes my color, with no words of scoffing in
my mouth, and without bitterness at the heart!"

" Why die at all ! " said Cora, advancing from the place
where natural horror had, until this moment, held her riv-
eted to the rock ; " the path is open on every side ; fly,
then, to the woods, and call on God for succor. Go, brave
men, we owe you too much already ; let us no longer in-
volve you in our hapless fortunes ! "

" You but little know the craft of the Iroquois, lady, if you
judge they have left the path open to the Wbods ! " returned
Hawkeye, who, however, immediately added in his sim-
plicity, " the down stream^ current, it is certain, might soon
sweep us beyond the reach of their rifles or the sounds of
their voices."

" Then try the river. Why linger to add to the numbei
of the victims of our merciless enemies ? "

" Wliy," repeated the scout, looking about him proudly
^ because it is better for a man to die at peace with himseh
than to live haunted by an evil conscience ! What answei
could we give Munro, when he asked us where and how we
left his children'^**

56 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Go to him, and say, that you left them with a messag*
to hasten to their aid," returned Ck)ra, advancing nigher to
the scout, in her generous ardor ; " that the Hurons bear
them into the northern wilds, but that by vigilance and
speed they may yet be rescued ; and if, after all, it should
please heaven that his assistance come too late, bear to him,"
she continued, her voice gradually lowering, until it seemed
nearly choked, " the love, the blessings, the final prayers of
his daughters, and bid him not mourn their early fate, but
to look forward with humble confidence to -the Christian's
goal to meet his children."

The hard, weather-beaten features of the scout began to
work, and when she had ended, he dropped his chin to his
hand, like a man musing profoundly on the nature of the
proposal.

" There is reason in her words ! " at length broke from
his compressed and trembling lips ; " aye, and they bear the
spirit of Christianity ; what might be right and proper in a
red-skin, may be sinful in a man who has not even a cross
in blood to plead for his ignorance. Chingachgook ! Uncas I
hear you the talk of the dark-eyed woman ! "

He now spoke in Delaware to his companions, and his
address, though calm and deliberate, seemed very decided.
The elder Mohican heard him with deep gravity, and ap-
peared to ponder on his words, as though he felt the impor-
tance of their import. After a moment of hesitation, he
waved his hand in assent, and uttered the English word
" Good ! " with the peculiar emphasis of his people. Then,
replacing his knife and tomahawk in his girdle, the warrior
moved silently to the edge of the rock which was most con-
cealed from the banks of the river. Here he paused a mo-
ment, pointed significantly to the woods below, and saying
a few words in his own language, as if indicating his intended
route, he dropped into the water, and sank from before the
eyes of the witnesses of his movements.

The scout delayed his departure to speak to the generous
girl, whose breathing became lighter as she saw the s^access
of her remonstrance.

** Wisdom is sometimes given to the young, as well as to

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 87

the old," he said ; " and what you have spoken is wise, not
to call it by a better word. If you are led into the woods,
that is such of you as may be spared for a while, break the
twigs on the bushes as you pass, and make the marks of
your trail as broad as you can, when, if mortal eyes can see
them, depend on having a friend who will follow to the ends
of 'arth afore he desarts you."

He gave Cora an aflfectionate shake of the hand, lifted his
rifle, and after regarding it a moment with melancholy solici-
tude, laid it carefully aside, and descended to the place where
Chingachgook had just disappeared. For an instant he hung
suspended by the rock ; and looking about him, with a coun-
tenance of peculiar care, he added, bitterly, " Had the pow-
der held out, this disgrace could never have befallen ! " then,
loosening his hold, the water closed above his head, and he
also became lost to view.

All eyes were now turned on Uncas, who stood leaning
against the ragged rock, in immovable composure. After
waiting a short time, Cora pointed down the river, and
eaid : —

"Your friends have not been seen, and are now, most
probably, in safety ; is it not time for you to follow ? "

" Uncas will stay," the young Moliican calmly answered
in English.

"To increase the horror of our capture, and to diminish
the chances of our release ! Go, generous young man,"
Cora continued, lowering her eyes under the gaze of the
Mohican, and, perhaps, with an intuitive consciousness of her
power ; " go to my father, as I have said, and be the most
confidential of my messengers. Tell him to trust you with
the means to buy the freedom of his daughters. Go ! 'tis
my wish, 'tis my prayer, that you will go ! "

The settled, calm look of the young chief changed to an
expression of gloom, but he no longer hesitated. With a
noiseless step he crossed the rock, and dropped into the
troubled stream. Hardly a breath was drawn by those he
left behind, until they caught a glimpse of his head emerging
for air, far down the current, when he again sank, and was
leen no more.

88 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

These sudden and apparently successful experiments liad
all taken place in a few minutes of that time which had now
become so precious. After the last look at Uncas, Cora
turned, and, with a quivering lip, addressed herself to Hey*
ward: —

" I have heard of your boasted skill in the water, too,
Duncan," she said ; " follow, then, the wise example set you
by these simple and faithful beings."

" Is such the faith that Cora Munro would exact from hex
protector?" said the young man, smiling mournfully, but
with bitterness.

" This is not a time for idle subtleties and false opinions,"
she answered ; " but a moment when every duty should be
equally considered. To us you can be of no further service
here, but your precious life may be saved for other and
nearer friends."

He made no rep^y, inough his eyes fell wistfully on the
beautiful form of Alice, who was clinging to his arm with
the dependency of an infant.

*' Consider," continued Cora, after a pause, during which
she seemed to struggle with a pang even more acute than
any that her fears had excited, " that the worst to us can be
but death ; a tribute that all must pay at the good time of
God's appointment."

" There are evils worse than death," said Duncan, speak-
ing hoarsely, and as if fretful at her importunity, " but which
the presence of one who would die in your behalf may
avert."

Cora ceased her entreaties ; and, veiling her face in her
shawl, drew the nearly insensible Alice after her into th*'
deepe*^ recess of the inner cavera.

THK LAST OF TH£ MOHICA^Ui. Irtf

CHAPTER IX.

Be gay securely;
Dispel, my fair, with smiles, ttie tim'rous clondt,
That haiig ou thy clear brow.

Death of Agrippira.

The sudden and almost magical change, from the stirring
incidents of the combat to the stillness that now reigned
aroimd him, acted on the heated imagination of Heyward
like some exciting dream. While all the images and
events he had witnessed remained deeply impressed on his
memory, he felt a difficulty in persuading himself of their
truth. Still ignorant of the fate of those who had trusted
to the aid of the swift current, he at first listened intently
to any signal, or sounds of alarm, which might announce
the good or evil fortune of their hazardous undertaking.
His attention was, however, bestowed in vain ; for, with the
disappearance of Uncas, every sign of the adventurers had
been lost, leaving him in total uncertainty of their fate.

In a moment of such painful doubt, Duncan did not
hesitate to look about him, without consulting that protec-
tion from the rocks which just before had been so necessary
to his safety. Every effi^rt, however, to detect the least
evidence of the approach of their hidden enemies, was as
fi'uitless as the inquiry after his late companions. The
wooded banks of the rivers seemed again deserted by
everything possessing animal life. The uproar which had
BO lately echoed through the vaults of the forest was gone,
leaving the rush of the waters to swell and sink on the
currents of the air, in the unmingled sweetness of nature.
A fish-hawk, which, secure on the topmost branches of a
dead pine, had been a distant spectator of the fray, now
stooped from his high and ragged perch, and soared, in
wide sweeps, above his prey ; while a jay, whose noisy

S*0 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAJJ54.

voice had been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages,
ventured again to open his discordant throat, as though
once more in undisturbed possession of his wild domains.
Duncan caught from these natural accompaniments of the
solitary scene a glimmering of hope ; and he began to
rally his faculties to renewed exertions, with something like
a reviving confidence of success.

" The Hurons are not to be seen," he said, addressing
David, who had by no means recovered from the effects of
the stunning blow he had received; "let us conceal our-
selves in the cavern, and trust the rest to Providence.'*

"I remember to have united with two comely maidens,
in lifting up our voices in praise and thanksgiving," re-
turned the bewildered singing-master ; " since which time
I have been visited by a heavy judgment for my sins.
I have been mocked with the likeness of sleep, while
sounds of discord have rent my ears, such as might mani-
fest the fullness of time, and that nature had forgotten her
harmony."

" Poor fellow ! thine own period was, in truth, near its
accomplishment! But arouse, and come with me; I will
lead you where all other sounds but those of your own
psalmody shall be excluded.

" There is melody in the fall of the cataract, and the
rushing of many waters is sweet to the senses ! " said
David, pressing his hand confusedly on his brow. " Is not
the air yet filled with shrieks and cries, as though the de-
parted spirits of the damned " —

"Not now, not now," interrupted the impatient Hey-
ward, "they have ceased, and they who raised them, I
trust in God, they are gone too ! everything but the water
is still and at peace ; in, then, where you may create those
sounds you love so well to hear."

David smiled sadly, though not without a momentary
gleam of pleasure, at this allusion to his beloved vocation.
He no longer hesitated to be led to a spot which promised
such unalloyed gratification to his wearied senses; and,
leaning on the arm of his companion, he entered the
narrow ipouth of the cave. Duncan seized a pile of th»

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 91

idissafras, which ha drew before the passage, studiously
concealing every appearance of an aperture. Within this
fragile barrier he arranged the blankets abandoned by the
foresters, darkening the inner extremity of the cavern,
while its outer received a chastened light from tlie narrow
ravine, through which one arm of the river rushed, to form
the junction with its sister branch, a few rods below.

" I like not that principle of the natives, wliich teaches
them to submit without a struggle, in emergencies that
appear desperate," he said, while busied in this employment ;
" our own maxim, which says, * while life remains there is
hope,* is more consoling, and better suited to a soldier's
temperament. To you, Cora, I will urge no words of idle
encouragement; your own fortitude and undisturbed reason
will teach you all that may become your sex ; but cannot
we dry the tears of that trembling weeper on your bosom ? *'

" I am calmer, Duncan," said Alice, raising herself from
the arms of her sister, and forcing an appearance of com-
posure through her tears ; " much calmer, now. Surely, in
this hidden spot we are safe, we are secret, free from
injury ; we will hope everything from those generous men
who have risked so much already in our behalf."

" Now does our gentle Alice speak like a daughter of
Munro ! " said Heyward, pausing to press her hand as he
passed towards the outer entrance of the cavern. " With
two such examples of courage before him, a man would be
ashamed to prove other than a hero." He then seated
himself in the centre of the cavern, grasping 4iis remaining
pistol with a hand convulsively clenched, while his con-
tracted and frowning eye announced the sullen desperation
of his purpose. " The Hurons, if they come, may not gain
our position so easily as they think," he lowly muttered;
ind dropping his head back against the rock, he seemed to
await the result in patience, though his gaze was unceas-
ingly bent on the open avenue to their place of retreat.

With the last sound of his voice, a deep, a long, and
almost breathless silence succeeded. The fresh air of the
morning had penetrated the recess, and its influence was
gradually felt on the spirits of its inmates. As minute afta^

92 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

minute passed by, leaving them in undisturbed security, the
insinuating feeling of hope was gradually gaining possession
of every bosom, though each one felt reluctant to give utter-
ance to expectations that the next moment might so fear-
fully destroy.

David alone formed an exception to these varying emo-
tions. A gleam of light from the opening crossed his wan
countenance, and fell upon the pages of the little volume,
"whose leaves he was again occupied in turning, as if search-
lag for some song more fitted to their condition than any
that had yet met his eye. He was, most probably, acting
all this time under a confused recollection of the promised
consolation of Duncan. At length, it would seem, his pa-
tient industry found its reward ; for, without explanation or
apology, he pronounced aloud the words " Isle of Wight,"
drew a long, sweet sound from his pitch-pipe, and then ran
through the preliminary modulations of the air, whose name
he had just mentioned, with the sweeter tones of his own
musical voice.

" May not this prove dangerous ? " asked Cora, glancing
her dark eye at Major Hey ward.

" Poor fellow ! his voice is too feeble to be heard amid
the din of the falls," was the answer ; " besides, the cavern
will prove his friend. Let him indulge his passion, since it
may be done without hazard."

" Isle of Wight ! " repeated David, looking about him
with that dignity with which he had long been wont to
gilence the whispering echoes of his school ; " 'tis a brave
tune, and set to solemn words : let it be sung with meet
respect ! "

After allowing a moment of stillness to enforce his disci-
pline, the voice of the singer was heard, in low, murmuring
Byllabies, gradually stealing on the ear, until it filled th«
narrow vault with sounds rendered trebly thrilling by the
feeble and tremulous utterance produced by his debility.
The melody, which no weakness could destroy, gradually
wrought its sweet influence on the senses of those who heard
it. It even prevailed over the miserable travesty of the
%oi\g of David which the singer had selected from a volume

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 93

of aimilar effiisions, and caused the sense to be forgotten in
the insinuating harmony of the sounds. Alice unconsciously
dried her tears, and bent her melting eyes on the pallid
features of Gamut, with an expression of chastened delight
that she neither affected nor wished to conceal. Cora be-
stowed an approving smile on the pious efforts of the name-
sake of the Jewish prince, and Heyward soon turned his
steady, stern look from the outlet of the cavern, to fasten
it, with a milder character, on the face of David, or to meet
the wandering beams which at moments strayed from the
humid eyes of Alice. The open sympathy of the listeners
stirred the spirit of the votary of music, whose voice re-
gained its richness and volume, without losing that touching
softness which proved its secret charm. Exerting his reno-
vated powers to their utmost, he was yet filling the arches
of the cave with long and full tones, when a yell burst into
the air without, that instantly stilled his pious strains, chok-
ing his voice suddenly, as though his heart had literally
bounded into the passage of his throat

" We are lost ! " exclaimed Alice, throwing herself into
the arms of Cora.

" Not yet, not yet," returned the agitated but undaunted
Heyward ; " the sound came from the centre of the island,
and it has been produced by the sight of their dead com-
panions. We are not yet discovered, and there is still
hope."

Faint and almost despairing as was the prospect of es-
cape, the words of Duncan were not thrown .away, for it
awakened the powers of the sisters in such a manner that
they awaited the result in silence. A second yell soon fol-
lowed the first, when a rush of voices was heard pouring
down the island, from its upper to its lower extremity, until
they reached the naked rock above the caverns, where, after
a shout of savage triumph, the air continued full of horrible
cries and screams, such as man alone can utter, and he only
ifhen in a state of the fiercest barbarity.

The sounds quickly spread around them in every direc-
tion. Some called to their fellows from the water's edge,
and were answered from the heights above. Cries were

d4 tHE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

heard in the startling vicinity of the chasm between the twc
caves, which mingled with hoarser yells that arose out of the
abyss of the deep ravine. In short, so rapidly had the sav-
age sounds difiused themselves over the barren rock, that
it was not difficult for the anxious listeners to imagine they
could be heard beneath, as in truth they were above and on
every side of them.

In the midst of this tumult, a triumphant yell was raised
within a few yards of the hidden entrance to the cave.
Heyward abandoned every hope, with the belief it was
the signal that they were discovered. Again the impression
passed away, as he heard the voices collect near the spot
where the white man had so reluctantly abandoned his rifle.
Amid the jargon of the Indian dialects that he now plainly
heard, it was easy to distinguish not only words, but sen-
tences, in the patois of the Canadas. A burst of voices had
shouted simultaneously, " La Longue Carabine ! " causing
the opposite woods to reecho with a name which, Heyward
well remembered, had been given by his enemies to a cele-
brated hunter and scout of the English camp, and who, he
now learnt for the first time, had been his late companion.

" La Longue Carabine ! La Longue Carabine ! " passed
from mouth to mouth, until the whole band appeared to be
collected around a trophy which would seem to announce
the death of its formidable owner. After a vociferous con-
sultation, which was, at times, deafened by bursts of savage
joy, they again separated, filling the air with the name of a
foe, whose body, Heyward could collect from their expres-
sions, they hoped to find concealed in some crevice of the
island.

" Now," he whispered to the trembling sisters, " now is
the moment of uncertainty ! if our place of retreat escape
this scrutiny, we are still safe ! In every event, we are
assured, by what has fallen from our enemies, that our
friends have escaped, and in two short hours we may look
for succor from Webb."

There were now a few minutes of fearful stillness, during
which Heyward well knew that the savages conducted their
search with greater vigilance and method. More than onco

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 95

fee could distinguish their footsteps, as they brushed the
sassafras, causing the faded leaves to rustle, and the
branches to snap. At length, the pile yielded a little, a
corner of a blanket fell, and a faint ray of light gleamed
into the inner part of the cave. Cora folded Agnes to her
bosom in agony, and Duncan sprang to his feet. A shout
Was at that moment heard, as if issuing from the centre of
the rock, announcing that the neighboring cavern had at
length been entered. In a minute, the number and loudness
of the voices indicated that the whole party was collected
in and around that secret place.

As the inner passages to the two caves ere so close to
each other, Duncan, believing that escape was no longer
possible, passed David and the sisters, to place himself be-
tween the latter and the first onset of the terrible meeting.
Grown desperate by his situation, he drew nigh the slight
barrier which separated him only by a few feet from his
relentless pursuers, and placing his face to the casual open-
ing, he even looked out, with a sort of desperate indiffer-
ence, on their movements.

Within reach of his arm was the brawny shoulder of a
gigantic Indian, whose deep and authoritative voice ap-
peared to give directions to the proceedings of his fellows.
Beyond him again, Duncan could look into the vault oppo-
site, which was filled with savages, upturning and rifling the
humble furniture of the scout. The wound of David had
dyed the leaves of sassafras with a color that the natives
well knew was anticipating the season. Over this sign of
their success, they set up a howl, like an opening from so
many hounds who had recovered a lost trail. After this
yell of victory, they tore up the fragrant bed of the cavern,
and bore the branches into the chasm, scattering the boughs,
as if they suspected them of concealing the person of the
man they had so long hated and feared. One fierce and
wild-looking warrior approached the chief, bearing a load
of the brush, and pointing, exultingly, to the deep red stains
with which it was sprinkled, uttered his joy in Indian yells,
whose meaning Heyward was only enabled to comprehend
by the frequent repetition of the name of " La Lougue Cara

96 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

bine ! " When his triumph had ceased, he cast the brush
on the slight heap that Duncan had made before the en-
trance of the second cavern, and closed the view. His ex-
ample was followed by others, who, as they drew the
branches from the cave of the scout, threw them into one
pile, adding, imconsciously, to the security of those they
Bought. The very slightness of the defense was its chief
merit, for no one thought of disturbing a mass of brush,
which all of them believed, in that moment of hurry and
confusion, had been accidentally raised by the hands of their
own party.

As the blankets yielded before the outward pressure, and
the branches settled in the fissure of the rock by their own
weight, forming a compact body, Duncan once more
breathed freely. With a light step, and lighter heart, he
returned to the centre of the cave, and took the place he
had left, where he could command a view of the opening
next the river. While he was in the act of making this
movement, the Indians, as if changing their purpose by a
common impulse, broke away from the chasm in a body,
and were heard rushing up the island again, towards the
point whence they had originally descended. Here another
wailing cry betrayed that they were again collected around
the bodies of their dead comrades.

Duncan now ventured to look at his companions ; for,
during the most critical moments of their danger, he had
been apprehensive that the anxiety of his countenance
might communicate some additional alarm to those who
were so little able to sustain it.

" They are gone, Ck)ra ! " he whispered ; " Alice, they are
returned whence they came, and we are saved ! To Heaven,
that has alone delivered us from the grasp of so merciless
an enemy, be all the praise ! "

** Then to Heaven will I return my thanks ! " exclaimed
the younger sister, rising from the encircling arms of Cora,
and casting herself with enthusiastic gratitude on the naked
rock ; *' to that Heaven who has spared the tears of a gray-
beaded father; has saved the lives of those I so much
love" —

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 97

Both Heyward, and the more tempered Cora, witnessed
Ihe act of involuntary emotion with powerful sympathy, the
former secretly believing that piety had never worn a form
80 lovely as it had now assumed in the youthful person of
Alice. Her eyes were radiant with the glow of grateful
feelings ; the flush of her beauty was again seated on her
cheeks, and her whole soul seemed ready and anxious to
pour out its thanksgivings, through the medium of her elo-
quent features. But when her lips moved, the words they
should have uttered appeared frozen by some new and sud-
den chill. Her bloom gave place to the paleness of death ;
\ier soft and melting eyes grew hard, and seemed contract-
ing with horror ; while those hands, which she had raised,
clasped in each other, towards heaven, dropped in horizon-
tal lines before her, the fingers pointed forward in con-
vulsed motion. Heyward turned, the instant she gave a
direction to his suspicions, and, peering just above the ledge
which formed the threshold of the open outlet of the cav-
ern, he beheld the malignant, fierce, and savage features of
Le Reuard Subtil.

In that moment of surprise, the self-possession of Hey-
ward did not desert him. He observed by the vacant ex-
pression of the Indian's countenance, that his eye, accus-
tomed to the open air, had not yet been able to penetrate
the dusky light which pervaded the depth of the cavern.
He had even thought of retreating beyond a curvature in
the natural wall, which might still conceal him and his com-
panions, when, by the sudden gleam of intelligence that
shot across the features of the savage, he saw it was too
late, and that they were betrayed.

The look of exultation and brutal triumph which an
nounced this terrible truth was irresistibly irritating. For
getful of everything but the impulses of his hot blood,
Duncan leveled his pistol and fired. The report of the
weapon made the cavern bellow like an eruption from a
volcano ; and when the smoke it vomited had been driven
away before the current of air which issued from the ravine,
the place so lately occupied by the features of his treacher-
ous guide was vacant. Rushing to the outlet, Heyward

98 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

caught a glimpse of his dark figure, stealing around a Iotp
and narrow ledge, which soon hid him entirely from sight.

Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the
explosion, which had just been heard bursting from the
bowels of the rock. But when Le Renard raised his voice
in a long and intelligible whoop, it was answered by a spon-
taneous yell from the mouth of every Indian within hearing
of the sound. The clamorous noises again rushed down
the island ; and before Duncan had time to recover from
the shock, his feeble barrier of brush was scattered to the
winds, the cavern was entered at both its extremities, and
he and his companions were dragged from their shelter and
borne into the day, where they stood surrounded by the
whole band of the triumphant Hurons.

tm LAST OF THE MOHICANS, W

CHAPTER X.

I fear we shall outsleep the coming mora
As much as we this night have overwatched !

MIDSU5IMER Night's Drkam.

The instant the shock of this sudden misfoitune had
abated, Duncan began to make his observations on the ap-
pearance and proceedings of their captors. Contrary to
the usages of the natives in the wantonness of their success,
they had respected, not only the persons of the trembling
sisters, but his own. The rich ornaments of his military
attire had indeed been repeatedly handled by different indi-
viduals of the tribe with eyes expressing a savage longing
to possess the baubles ; but before the customary violence
could be resorted to, a mandate in the authoritative voice
of the large warrior already mentioned, sUiyed the uplifted
hand, and convinced Heyward that they were to be re-
served for some object of particular moment.

While, however, these manifestations of weakness were
exhibited by the young and vain of the party, the more ex-
perienced warriors continued their search throughout both
caverns, with an activity that denoted they were far from
being satisfied with those fruits of their conquest which had
already been brought to light. Unable to discover any
new victim, these diligent workers of vengeance soon ap-
proached their male prisoners, pronouncing the name of
'" La Longue Carabine," with a fierceness that could not
easily be mistaken. Duncan affected not to comprehend
the meaning of their repeated and violent interrogatories,
while his companion was spared the effort of a similar de-
ception by his ignorance of French. Wearied, at length,
by their importunities, and apprehensive of irritating his
captors by too stubborn a silence, the former looked about
him in quest of iSIagua ; who might interpret his answer!

100 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

to questions which were at each moment becoming more
earnest and threatening.

The conduct of this savage had formed a solitary excep-
tion to that of all his fellows. While the others were busily
occupied in seeking to gratify their childish passion for
finery, by plundering even the miserable effects of the scout,
or had been searching, with such bloodthirsty vengeance in
their looks, for their absent owner, Le Renard had stood at
a little distance from the prisoners, with a demeanor so quio
and satisfied, as to betray that he had already effected the
grand piu-pose of his treachery. When the eyes of Hey-
ward first met those of his recent guide, he turned them
away in horror at the sinister though calm look he encoun-
tered. Conquering his disgust, however, he was able, with
an averted face, to address his successful enemy.

" Le Renard Subtil is too much of a warrior," said the
reluctant Heyward, "to refuse telling an unarmed man
what his conquerors say."

" They ask for the hunter who knows the paths through
the woods," returned Magua, in his broken English, laying
his hand, at the same time, with a ferocious smile, on the
bundle of leaves with which a wound on his own shoulder
was bandaged. " La Longue Carabine ! his rifle is good,
and his eye never shut ; but, like the short gun of the white
chief, it is nothing against the life of Le Subtil ! "

" Le Renard is too brave to remember the hurts received
in war, or the hands that gave them ! "

" Was it war, when the tired Lidian rested at the sugar-
tree to taste his corn ! who filled the bushes with creeping
enemies ! who drew the knife ! whose tongue was peace,
while his heart was colored with blood ! Did Magua say
that the hatchet was out of the ground, and that his hand
had dug it up ? "

As Duncan dared not retort upon his accuser by remind-
ing him of his own premeditated treachery, and disdained to
deprecate his resentment by any words of apology, he
remained silent. Magua seemed also content to rest the
controversy as well as all further communication there, for
be resumed the leamn£: attitude agamst the rock, &ofli

THli; LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 101

which, in momentary energy, he had arisen. But the cry
of " La Longue Carabine " was renewed the instant the
impatient savages perceived that the short dialogue was
ended.

" You hear," said Magna, with stubborn indifference ;
** the red Hurons call for the life of ' The Long Rifle,' or
they will have the blood of them that keep him hid ! "

" He is gone — escaped ; he is far beyond their reach."

Renard smiled with cold contempt, as he answered, —

" When the white man dies, he thinks he is at peace ;
but the red-men know how to torture even the ghosts of
their enemies. Where is his body? Let the Hurons see
his scalp ! "

" He is not dead, but escaped. '

Magua shook his head incredulously.

" Is he a bird, to spread his wings ; or is he a fish, to
swim without air ! The white chief reads in his books, and
he believes the Hurons are fools ! "

" Though no fish, * The Long Rifle ' can swim. He floated
down the stream when the powder was all burnt, and when
the eyes of the Hurons were behind a cloud."

" And why did the white chief stay ? " demanded the still
incredulous Indian. " Is he a stone that goes to the bottom,
or does the scalp burn his head ? "

" That I am not a stone, your dead comrade, who fell
into the falls, might answer, were the life still in him," said
the provoked young man, using, in his anger, that boastful
language which was most likely to excite the admiration of
an Indian. " The white man thinks none but cowards
desert their women."

Magua muttered a few words, inaudibly, between his
teeth, before he continued, aloud, —

" Can the Delawares swim, too, as well as crawl in the
bushes ? Where is * Le Gros Serpent ? ' "

Duncan, who perceived by the use of these Canadian
appellations, that his late companions were much better
known to his enemies than to himself, answered, reluctantly
** He also is gone down with the water."

«' Le Cerf Agile ' is not here? "

102 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

" I know not whom you call ' The Nimble Deer,' " said
Duncan, gladly profitmg by any excuse to create delay.

" Uncas," returned Magna, pronouncing the Delaware
Dame with even greater difficulty than he spoke his English
words. " * Bounding Elk ' is what the white man says,
when he calls to the young Mohican."

" Here is some confusion m names between us, Le
Renard," said Duncan, hoping to provoke a discussion.
" Daim is the French for deer, and cerf for stag ; elan is
the true term, when one would speak of an elk."

" Yes," muttered the Indian, m his native tongue ; " the
pale-faces are prattling women ! they have two words for
each thing, while a red-skin will make the so'md of his
voice speak for him." Then changing his language, he con-
tinued, adhering to the imperfect nomenclature of his pro-
vincial instructors, " The deer is swift, but weak ; the elk is
swift, but strong ; and the son cf ' Le Serpent ' is * Le Cerf
Agile.' Has he leaped the river to the woods ? "

"K you mean the younger Delaware, he too is gone
down with the water."

As there was nothing improbable to an Indian in the
manner of the escape. Magna admitted the truth of what he
had heard, with a readiness that afforded additional evidence
how little he would prize such worthless captives. With
his companions, however, the feeling was manifestly differ-
ent.

The Hurons had awaited the result of this short dialogue
with characteristic patience, and with a silence that increased
until there was a general stillness in the band. When Hey-
ward ceased to speak, they turned their eyes, as one man,
on Magna, demanding, in this expressive manner, an expla
nation of what had been said. Their interpreter pointed to
the river, and made them acquainted with the result, as
much by the action as by the few words he uttered. When
the fact was generally understood, the savages raised a
frightful yell, which declared the extent of their disappoint-
ment. Some ran furiously to the water's edge, beating th«
»ir with frantic gestures, while cUiers spat upon the element,
to resent the supposed treason Tt had committed against

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 108

tiitfir acknowledged rights as conquerors. A few, and thej
Dot the least powerful and terrific of the band, threw lower-
ing looks, in which the fiercest passion was only temperec?
by habitual self-command, at those captives who stiiV
remained in their power ; while one or two even gave vent
to their malignant feelings by the most menacing gestures,
against which neither the sex nor the beauty of the sisters
was any protection. The young soldier made a desperate,
but fruitless effort, to spring to the side of Alice, when he
saw the dark hand of a savage twisted in the rich tressep
which were flowing in volumes over her shoulders, while &
knife was passed around the head from which they fell, a^
if to denote the horrid manner m which it was about to be
robbed of its beautiful ornament. But his hands were
bound ; and at the first movement he made, he felt the grat »
of the powerful Indian who directed the band, pressing hi.
shoulder like a vice. Immediately conscious how unavail-
ing any struggle against such an overwhelming force must
prove, he submitted to his fate, encouraging his gentle com-
panions by a few low and tender assurances, that the natives
seldom failed to threaten more than they performed.

But, while Duncan resorted to these words of consolation
to quiet the apprehensions of the sisters, he was not so
weak as to deceive himself. He well knew that the author-
ity of an Indian chief was so little conventional, that it was
oftener maintained by physical superiority than by any
moral supremacy he might possess. The danger was, there-
fore, magnified exactly in proportion to the number of the
savage spirits by which they were surrounded. The most
positive mandate from him who seemed the acknowledgeo
iCader, was liable to be violated at each moment, by any
rash hand that might choose to sacrifice a victim to th«
raanes of some dead friend or relative. While, therefore,
he sustained an outward appearance of calnmess and forti-
tude, his heart leaped into his throat, whenever any of theii
fierce captors drew nearer than common to the helpless
sisters, or fastened one of their suII^m) wandering looks on
those fragile forms which were so liLtio able to resist the
slightest a<;sault.

104 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

His apprehensions were, however, greatly relieved, when
he saw that the leader had summoned his warriors to him-
self in council. Their deliberations were short, and it
would seem, by the silence of most of the party, the decis-
ion unanimous. By the frequency with which the few
speakers pointed in the direction of the encampment of
Webb, it was apparent they dreaded the approach of dan-
ger from that quarter. This consideration probably has-
tened their determination, and quickened the subsequent
movements.

During this shoi t conference, Heyward, finding a respite
from his greatest fears, had leisure to admire the cautious
manner in which the Hurons had made their approaches,
even after hostilities had ceased.

It has already been stated, that the upper half of the
island was a naked rock, and destitute of any other defenses
than a few scattered logs of drift-wood. They had selected
this point to make their descent, having borne the canoe
through the wood around the cataract for that purpose.
Placing their arms in the little vessel, a dozen men clinging
to its sides had trusted themselves to the direction of the
canoe, which was controlled by two of the most skillful
warriors, in attitudes that enabled them to command a view
of the dangerous passage. Favored by this arrangement,
they touched the head of the island at that point which had
proved so fatal to their first adventurers, but with the ad-
vantages of superior numbers, and the possession of fire-
arms. That such had been the manner of their descent
was rendered quite apparent to Duncan ; for they now bore
the light bark from the upper end of the rock, and placed
it in the water, near the mouth of the outer cavern. As
30on as this change was made, the leader made signs to the
prisoners to descend and enter.

As resistance was impossible, and remonstrance useless,
Heyward set the example of submission, by leading the
way into the canoe, where he was soon seated with the sis-
ters, and the still wondering David. Notwithstanding the
Hurons were necessarily ignorant of the little channels
among the eddies and rapids of the stream, they knew thtt

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 105

common signs of such a navigation too well to commit anj
roaierial blunder. When the pilot chosen for the task of
guiding the canoe had taken his station, the whole banri
plunged again into the river, the vessel glided down the
current, and in a few moments the captives found them-
selves on the south bank of the stream, nearly opposite to
the point where they had struck it the preceding even
big.

Here was held another short but earnest consultation,
during which the horses, to whose panic their owners ar-
cribed their heaviest misfortune, were led from the co^'Sv
of the woods, and brought to the sheltered spot. The Dund
now divided. The great chief so often mentioned, mount-
ing the charger of Hey ward, led the way directly across
the river, followed by most of his people, and disappeared
in the woods, leaving the prisoners in charge of six savages,
at whose head was Le Renard Subtil. Dmican witnessed
all their movements with renewed uneasiness.

He had been fond of believing, from the uncommon for
bearance of the savages, that he was reserved as a prisoner
to be delivered to Montcalm. As the thoughts of those
who are in misery seldom slumber, and the invention is
never more lively than when it is stimulated by hope, how-
ever feeble and remote, he had even imagined that the
parental feelings of Munro were to be made instrumental
in seducing him from his duty to the king. For though
the French commander bore a high character for courage
and enterprise, he was also thought to be expert in those
political practices, which do not always respect the nicei
obligations of morality, and which so generally disgrace/
the European diplomacy of that period.

All those busy and ingenious speculations were now
annihilated by the conduct of his captors. That portion
of the band who had followed the huge warrior took the
toute towards the foot of the Horican, and no other expec-
taUoa ?^as left for himself and companions, than that they
were to be retained as hopeless captives by their savage
conquerors. Anxious to know the worst, and willing, in
•uch an esaergency, to try the potency of gold, he over

106 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

came Lie reluctance to speak to Magna. Addressing him*
self to his former guide, who had now assumed the author-
ity and manner of one who was to direct the future move-
ments of the party, he said, in tones as friendly and
confiding as he could assume, —

" I would speak to Magua, what is fit only for so great a
chief to hear."

The Indian turned his eyes on the young soldier scorn-
fhlly, as he answered, —

" Speak ; trees have no ears ! "

" But the red Hurons are not deaf; and counsel that is
fit for the great men of a nation would make the young
warriors drunk. If Magua will not listen, the officer of the
king knows how to be silent."

The savage spoke carelessly to his comrades, who were
busied, after their awkward manner, in preparing the horses
for the reception of the sisters, and moved a little to one
side, whither, by a cautious gesture, he induced Heyward to
follow.

" Now speak," he said ; " if tlie words are such as
Magua should hear.'

" Le Renard Subtil has proved himself worthy of the
honorable name given to him by his Canada fathers," com-
menced Heyward ; " I see his wisdom, and all that he has
done for us, and shall remember it, when the hour to reward
him arrives. Yes ! Renard has proved that he is not only
a great chief in council, but one who knows how to deceive
his eneoies ! "

"What has Renard done?" coldly demanded the In-
dian.

" What ! has he not seen that the woods were filled with
outlying parties of the enemies, and that the Serpent could
not steal through them without being seen ? Then, did he
not lose his path to blind the eyes of the Hurons ? Did he
not pretend to go back to his tribe, who had treated him
ill, and driven him from their wigwams like a dog ? And,
when we saw what he wished to do, did we not aid him, by
making a false face, that the Hurons might think the white
man believed that his friend was his enemy ."^ Is not all

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 107

Ihis true? And when Le Subtil had shut the eyes and
stopped the ears of his nation by his wisdom, did they not
forget that they had once done him wrong, and forced him
to flee to the Mohawks? And did they not leave him
on the south side of the river, with their prisoners, while
they have gone foolishly on the north ? Does not Renard
mean to turn like a fox on his footsteps, and to carry to the
rich and gray-headed Scotchman his daughters? Yes,
Magna, I see it all, and I have already been thinking how
BO much wisdom and honesty should be repaid. First, the
chief of William Henry will give as a great chief should
for such a service. The medal ^ of Magna will no longer
be of tin, but of beaten gold ; his horn will run over with
powder; dollars will be as plenty in his pouch as peb-
bles on the shore of Horican ; and the deer will lick his
hand, for they will know it to be vain to fly from the rifle
he will carry ! As for myself, I know not how to exceed
the gratitude of the Scotchman, but I — yes, I will " —

"What will the young chief who comes from towards
the sun, give ? " demanded the Huron, observing that Hey-
ward hesitated in his desire to end the enumeration of
benefits with that which might form the climax of an In-
dian's wishes.

" He will make the fire-water fi-om the Islands in the
salt lake flow before the wigwam of Magna, until the heart
of the Indian shall be lighter than the feathers of the hum-
ming bird, and his breath sweeter than the wild honey-
suckle."

Le Renard had listened gravely as Heyward slowly pro
ceeded in this subtle speech. When the young man mec
tioned the artifice he supposed the Indian to have practiced
on his own nation, the countenance of the listener was
veiled in an expression of cautious gravity. At the allu-
iion to the mjury which Duncan aftected to believe had
driven the Huron from his native tribe, a gleam of such

1 It has long been a practice with the whites to conciliate the important
men of the Indians, by presenting medals, which are worn in the place of
their own rude ornaments. Those given by the English generally bear th«
impression of the reigning king, and those given by the Americans th»t of
the president.

108 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

ungovernable ferocity flashed from the other's eyes, as in*
duced the adventurous speaker to believe he had struck the
proper chord. And by the time he reached the part where
he so artfully blended the thirst of vengeance with the
desire of gain, he had, at least, obtained a command of the
deepest attention of the savage. The question put by Le
Renard had been calm, and with all the dignity of an In-
dian ; but it was quite apparent, by the thoughtful expres-
sion of the listener's countenance, that the answer was most
cunningly devised. The Huron mused a few moments, anc
then laying his hand on the rude bandages of his wounded
shoulder, he said, with some energy, —

" Do friends make such marks ? "

" Would ' La Longue Carabine ' cut one so light on an
enemy ? "

" Do the Dela wares crawl upon those they love like
snakes, twisting themselves to strike?"

" Would ' Le Gros Serpent ' have been heard by the ears
of one he wished to be deaf? "

" Does the white chief burn his powder in the faces of
his brothers?"

"Does he ever miss his aim, when seriously bent to
kill ? " returned Duncan, smiling with well acted sincerity.

Another long and deliberate pause succeeded these sen-
tentious questions and ready replies. Duncan saw that the
Indian hesitated. In order to complete his victory, he was
in the act of recommencing the enumeration of the rewards,
when Magna made an expressive gesture and said —

" Enough ; Le Renard is a wise chief, and what he does
will be seen. Go, and keep the mouth shut. When
Magua speaks, it will be the time to answer."

Heyward, perceiving that the eyes of his companion
were warily fastened en the rest of the band, fell back
immediately, in order to avoid the appearance of any sus-
picious confederacy with their leader. Magua approached
the horses, and affected to be well pleased with the dili-
gence and ingenuity of his comrades. He then signed to
Heyward to assist the sisters into the saddles, for he seldom
deigned to use the English tongue, unless urged by some
motive of more than usual moment.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. lOi)

There was no longer any plausible pretext for delay ;
Bnd Duncan was obliged, however reluctantly, to comply.
As he performed this office, he whispered his reviving
hopes in the ears of the trembling females, who, through
dread of encountering the savage countenances of their
captors, seldom raised their eyes from the ground. Tlie
mare of David had been taken with the followers of the
large chief; in consequence, its owner, as well as Duncan,
was compelled to journey on foot. The latter did not,
however, so much regret this circumstance, as it might
enable him to retard the speed of the party ; for he still
turned his longing looks in the direction of Fort Edward, in
the vain expectation of catching some sound from that
quarter of the forest, which might denote the approach of
succor.

When all were prepared, Magna made the signal to pro-
ceed, advancing in front to lead the party in person. Next
followed David, who was gradually coming to a true sense
of his condition, as the effects of the wound became less
and less apparent. The sisters rode in his rear, with Hey-
ward at their side, while the Indians flanked the party, and
brought up the close of the march, with a caution that
seemed never to tire.

In this manner they proceeded in uninterrupted silence,
•xcept when Hey ward addressed some solitary word of
comfort to the females, or David gave vent to the moanings
of his spirit, in piteous exclamations, which he intended
should express the humility of resignation. Their direc-
tion lay towards the south, and in a course nearly opposite
to the road to William Henry. Notwithstanding this
apparent adherence in Magna to the original determina-
tion of his conquerors, Heyward could not believe his
tempting bait was so soon forgotten; and he knew the
windings of an Indian path too well, to suppose that its
apparent course led directly to its object, when artifice was
Jit all necessary. JVIile afler mile was, however, passed
through the boundless woods, in this painful manner, with-
out any prospect of a termination to their journey. Hey-
ward watche«i the sun, as he dartei his meridian ray«

110 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS,

through the branches of the trees, and pined for the mo*
ment when the policy of Magna should change their route
to one more favorable to his hopes. Sometimes he fancied
the wary savage, despairing of passing the army of Mont-
calm in safety, was holding his way towards a well-known
border settlement, where a distinguished officer of the
crown, and a favored friend of the Six Nations, held his
large possessions, as well as his usual residence. To be
delivered into the hands of Sir William Johnson was h.r
preferable to being led into the wilds of Canada; but in
order to effect even the former, it would be necessary to
traverse the forest for many weary leagues, each step of
which was carrying him further from the scene of the war,
and, consequently, from the post, not only of honor, but of
duty.

Cora alone remembered the parting injunctions of the
scout, and whenever an opportunity offered, she stretche<i
forth her arm to bend aside the twigs that met her hands.
But the vigilance of the Indians, rendered this act of pre-
caution both difficult and dangerous. She was often de-
feated in her purpose, by encountering their watchful eyes,
when it became necessary to feign an alarm she did not
feel, and occupy the limb by some gesture of feminine
apprehension. Once, and once only, was she completely
successful; when she broke down the bough of a large
sumach, and, by a sudden thought, let her glove fall at the
same instant. This sign, intended for those that might
follow, was observed by one of her conductors, who restored
the glove, broke the remaining branches of the bush in
such a manner that it appeared to proceed from the strug-
gling of some beast in its branches, and then laid his hand
on his tomahawk, with a look so significant, that it put an
effectual end to these stolen memorials of their passage.

As there were horses, to leave the prints of their foot-
steps, in both bands of the Indians, this interruption cut off
any probable hopes of assistance being conveyed through
the means of their trail.

Heyward would have ventured a remonstrance, had
there hf ^n anything encouraging in the gloomy reserve of

i

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. Ill

Magua. But the savage, during all this time, seldom
turned to look at his followers, and never spoke. With
the sun for his only guide, or aided by such blind marks aa
are only known to the sagacity of a native, he held his way
along the barrens of pine, through occasional little fertile
vales, across brooks and rivulets, and over undulating hills,
with the accuracy of instinct, and nearly with the directness
of a bird. He never seemed to hesitate. Whether the
path was hardly distinguishable, whether it disappeared, or
whether it lay beaten and plain before him, made no
sensible difference in his speed or certainty. It seemed as
if fatigue could not affect him. Whenever the eyes of the
wearied travellers rose from the decayed leaves over which
they trod, his dark form was to be seen glancing among the
stems of the trees in front, hia head immovably fastened in
a forward position, with the light plume on his crest flutter-
ing in a current of air, made siolely by the swiftness of his
own motion.

But all this diligence and speed were not without an
object. After crossing a low vale, through which a gush-
ing brook meandered, he suddenly ascended a hill, so steep
^ind difficult of ascent, that the sisters were compelled to
"ilight, in order to follow. When the summit was gained,
♦Jiey found themselves on a /.evel spot, but thinly covered
with trees, under one of which Magua had thrown his dark
Corm, as if willing and ready /,o seek that rest which waa wo
'^nch needed by the whole party.

112 THE LAST OF TH£ MOHlGilfid

CHAPTER XI.

Cursed be ray tribe
If I forgive him.

Shtlock.

The Indian had selected, for this desirable purpose, oo6
if those steep, pyramidal hills, which bear a strong resem-
blance to artificial mounds, and which so frequently occur in
the valleys of America. The one in question was high and
precipitous ; its top flattened, as usual ; but with one of its
sides more than ordinarily irregular. It possessed no other
apparent advantage, for a resting-place, than in its elevation
and form, which might render defense easy, and surprise
nearly impossible. As Heyward, however, no longer ex-
pected that rescue which time and distance now rendered so
improbable, he regarded these little peculiarities with an eye
devoid of interest, devoting himself entirely to the comfort
and condolence of his feebler companions. The Narragan-
sets were suffered to browse on the branches of the trees
and shrubs that were thinly scattered over the summit of
the hill, while the remains of their provisions were spread
under the shade of a beech, that stretched its horizontal
limbs like a canopy above them.

Notwithstanding the swiftness of their flight, one of the
Indians had found an opportunity to strike a straggling fawn
with an arrow, and had borne the more preferable fragments
of the victim, patiently on his shoulders, to the stopping-
place. Without any aid from the science of cookery, he
was immediately employed, in common with his fellows, in
gorging himself with this digestible sustenance. Magna
alone sat apart, without participating in the revolting meal,
and apparently buried in the deepest thought.

This abstinence, so remarkable in an Indian, when h«

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 113

possessed the means of satisfying hunger, at length attracted
the notice of Heyward. The young man willingly believed
that the Huron deliberated on the most eligible manner of
eluding the vigilance of his associates. With a view to as-
sist his plans, by any suggestion of his own, and to strengthen
the temptation, he left the beech, and straggled as if without
an object, to the spot where Le Renard was seated.

" Has not Magna kept the sun in his face long enough to
escape all danger from the Canadians?" he asked, as though
no longer doubtful of the good intelligence established bo-
tween them ; " and will not the chief of William Henry be
better pleased to see his daughters before another night may
have hardened his heart to their loss, to make him less lib-
eral in his reward ? "

" Do the pale-faces love their children less in the morning
than at night ? " asked the Indian, coldly.

" By no means," returned Heyward, anxious to recall his
error, if he had made one ; " the wliite man may, and does
often, forget the burial-place of his fathers ; he sometimes
ceases to remember those he should love, and has promised
to cherish ; but the affection of a parent for his child is never
permitted to die."

" And is the heart of the white-headed chief soft, and will
he think of the babes that his squaws have given him ? He
is hard to his warriors, and his eyes are made of stone ! "

" He is severe to the idle and wicked, but to the sober
and deserving he is a leader, both just and humane. I have
known many fond and tender parents, but never have I seen
a man whose heart was softer towards his child. You have
seen the gray-head in front of his warriors. Magna ; but I
have seen his eyes swimming in water, when he spoke of
those children who are now in your power ! "

Heyward paused, for he knew not how to construe the
remarkable expression that gleamed across the swarthy fea-
tures of the attentive Indian. At first it seemed as if the
tememhrance of the promised reward grew vivid in his mind,
ivhile he listened to the sources of parental feeling which
were to assure its possession ; but as Duncan proceeded, the
expression of joy became so fiercely malignant, that it waa

114 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

impossible not to apprehend it proceeded from some passion
more sinister than avarice.

" Go," said the Huron, suppressing the alarming exhibition
in an instant, in a death-like calmness of countenance ; " gc
to the dark-haired daughter, and say, Magna waits to speak
The father will remember what the child promises."

Duncan, who interpreted this speech to express a wish foi
some additional pledge that the promised gifts should not be
withheld, slowly and reluctantly repaired to the place where
the sisters were now resting from their fatigue, to communi-
cate its purport to Cora.

" You understand the nature of an Indian's wishes," he
concluded, as he led her towards the place where she was
expected, " and must be prodigal of your offers of powder
and blankets. Ardent spirits are, however, the most prized
by such as he ; nor would it be amiss to add some boon from
your own hand, with that grace you so well know how to
practice. Remember, Cora, that on your presence of mind
and ingenuity even your life, as well as that of Alice, may
in some measure depend."

" Heyward, and yours ! "

" Mine is of little moment ; it is already sold to my king,
and is a prize to be seized by any enemy who may possess
the power. I have no father to expect me, and but few
friends to lament a fate which I have courted with the un-
satiable longings of youth after distinction. But hush ! we
approach the Indian. Magna, the lady with whom you wish
to speak, is here."

The Indian rose slowly from his seat, and stood for near
a minute silent and motionless. He then signed with his
hand for Heyward to retire, saying coldly, —

" When the Huron talks to the women, his tribe shut their

Duncan, still lingering, as if refusing to comply, Cora said,
with a calm smile, —

" You hear, Heyward, and delicacy at least should urge
jou to retire. Go to Alice, and comfort her with our re-
viving prospects."

She waited until he had departed, and then turning to thf*

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS* 116

iiative, with the dignity of her sex in her voice and manner,
she added, " What would Le Renard say to the daughter of
Munro?"

" Listen," said the Indian, laying his hand firmly upon her
arm, as if willing to draw her utmost attention to his words ;
a movement that Cora as firmly but quietly repulsed, by
extricating the limb from his grasp: "Magna was born ;,
chief and a warrior among the red Hurons of the lakes ; he
saw the suns of twenty summers make the snows of twenty
winters run off in the streams, before he saw a pale-face ;
and he was happy ! Then his Canada fathers came into the
woods, and taught him to drink the fire-water, and he be-
came a rascal. The Hurons drove him from the graves of
his fethers, as they would chase the hunted buffalo. He ran
down the shores of the lakes, and followed their outlet to
the * city of cannon.' There he hunted and fished, till the
people chased him again through the woods into the arms
of his enemies. The chief, who was born a Huron, was at
last a warrior among the Mohawks ! "

" Something like this I had heard before," said Cora, ob-
serving that he paused to suppress those passions which be-
gan to burn with too bright a flame, as he recalled the rec-
ollection of his supposed injuries.

" Was it the fault of Le Renard that his head was not
made of rock ? Who gave him the fire-water ? who made
him a villain ? 'Twas the pale-faces, the people of your
own color."

" And am I answerable that thoughtless and unprincipled
men exist, whose shades of countenance may resemble mine ? **
G)ra calmly demanded of the excited savage.

" No ; Magna is a man, and not a fool ; such as you
never open their lips to the burning stream: the Great
Spirit has given you wisdom 1 "

^ What then have I to do, or say, in the matter of your
misfortunes, not to say of your errors ? "

" Listen," repeated the Indian, resuming his earnest atti-
tude ; " when his English and French fathers dug up the
hatchet, Le Renard struck the war-post of the Mohawks,
and went out against his own nation. The pale-faces hav«

116 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

driven the red-skins from their hunting grounds, ana now,
when they fight, a white man leads the way. The old
chief at Horican, your father, was the great captain of our
war-party. He said to the Mohawks do this, and do that,
and he was minded. He made a law, that if an Indian
swallowed the fire-water, and came into the cloth wigwams
of his warriors, it should not be forgotten. Magna fool-
ishly opened his mouth, and the hot liquor led him into the
cabin of Munro. What did the gray-head ? let his daugh-
ter say."

" He forgot not his words, and did justice, by punishing
the offender," said the undaunted daughter.

" Justice ! " repeated the Indian, casting an oblique glance
of the most ferocious expression at her unyielding counte-
nance ; " is it justice to make evil, and then punish for it ?
Magna was not himself; it was the fire-water that spoke
and acted for him! but Munro did not believe it. The
Huron chief was tied up before all the pale-faced warriors,
and whipped like a dog."

Cora remained silent, for she knew not how to palliate
this imprudent severity on the part of her father, in a man-
ner to suit the comprehension of an Indian.

" See ! " continued Magna, tearing aside the slight calico
that very imperfectly concealed his painted breast ; " here
are scars given by knives and bullets — of these a warrior
may boast before his nation ; but the gray-head has left
marks on the back of the Huron chief, that he must hide,
like a squaw, under this painted cloth of the whites."

" I had thought," resumed Cora, " that an Indian warrior
was patient, and that his spirit felt not, and knew not, the
pain his body suffered."

" When the Chippewas tied Magna to the stake, and cut
this gash," said the other, laying his finger on a deep scar,
**the Huron laughed in their faces, and told them. Women
struck so light ! His spirit was then in the clouds ! But
when he felt the blows of Munro, his spirit lay under the
birch. The spirit of a Huron is never drr.uk ; it remem-
bers forever I "

"* But j^ oiav be appeased. I£ my father has doiw vo«

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. ilT

du& itjustice, show him how an Indian can forgive an in-
jury, and take back his daughters. You have heard from
Major Hey ward " —

Magna shook his liead, forbidding the repetition of offers
he so much despised.

" What would you have ? " continued Cora, ifler a most
painful pause, while the conviction forced itself on her mind
that the too sanguine and generous Duncan had been cru-
elly deceived by the cunning of the savage.

" What a Huron loves — good for good ; bad for bad ! **

" You would then revenge the injury inflicted by Munro
on his helpless daughters. Would it not be more like a
man to go before his face, and take the satisfaction of a

warrior

" The arms of the pale-faces are long, and their knivea
sharp ! " returned the savage, with a malignant laugh :
" why should Le Renard go among the muskets of his war-
riors, when he holds the spirit of the gray-head in his
hand?"

"Name your intention. Magna," said Cora, struggling
with herself to speak with steady calmness. " Is it to lead
us prisoners to the woods, or do you contemplate even
some greater evil ? Is there no reward, no means of palli-
ating the injury, and of softening your heart ? At least,
release my gentle sister, and pour out all your malice on
me. Purchase wealth by her safety, and satisfy your re-
venge with a single victim. The loss of both his daughteru
might bring the aged man to his grave, and where would
then be the satisfaction of Le Renard ? "

" Listen," said the Indian again. " The light eyes can
go back to the Horican, and tell the old chief what has
been done, if the dark-haired woman will swear by the
Great Spirit of her fathers to tell no lie."

" What must I promise ? " demanded Cora, still main-
taining a secret ascendency over the fierce native, by the
collected and feminine dignity of her presence.

" When Magna left his people, his wife was given to
another chief; he has now made friends with the Hurons,
feJBfl will go back to the graves of his tribe, on the shores of

118 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

the great lake. Let the daughter of the EDglish chief fol
low, and live in his wigwam forever."

However revolting a proposal of such a character might
prove to Cora, she retained, notwithstanding her powerful
disgust, sufficient self-command to reply, without betraying
the weakness.

" And what pleasure would Magna find in sharing hk
cabin with a wife he did not love ; one who would be of a
nation and color different from his own ? It would be bet-
ter to take the gold of Munro, and buy the heart of some
Huron maid with his gifts."

The Indian made no reply for near a minute, but bent
his fierce looks on the countenance of Cora, in such waver-
ing glances, that her eyes sank with shame, under an im-
pression that, for the first time, they had encountered an
expression that no chaste female might endure. While she
was shrinking within herself, in dread of having her ears
wounded by some proposal still more shocking than the
last, the voice of Magna answered, in its tones of deepest
malignancy —

" When the blows scorchea ine back of the Huron, he
would know where to find a woman to feel the smart. The
daughter of Munro would draw his water, hoe his corn, and
cook his venison. The body of the gray-head would sleep
among his cannon, but his heart would lie within reach of
the knife of Le SubtU."

" Monster ! well dost tnou deserve thy treacherous
name ! " cried Cora, in an ungovernable burst of filial indig-
nation. " None but a fiend could meditate such a ven-
geance ! But thou overratest thy power ! You shall find
it is, in truth, the heart of Munro you hold, and that it will
defy your utmost malice ! "

The Indian answered this bold defiance by a ghastly
smile, that showed an unaltered purpose, while he motioned
her away, as if to close the conference forever. Cora, al-
ready regretting her precipitation, was obliged to comply;
for Magua instantly left the spot, and approached his glut-
tonous comrades. Heyward fiew to the side of the agitated
female, and demanded the result of a dialogue, that he had

THE LAST OF TttE MOHICANS. 119

watched at a distance with so much interest. But unwill-
rjg to alarm the fears of Alice, she evaded a direct reply,
betraying only by her countenance her utter want of sue
sess, and keeping her anxious looks fastened on the slight
«8t movements of their captors. To the reiterated and ear-
nest questions of her sister, concerning their probable desti-
nation, she made no other answer than by pointing towards
the dark group, with an agitation she could not control,
and murmuring, as she folded Alice to her bosom —

" There, there ; read our fortunes in their faces : we shall
see ; we shall see ! "

The action, and the choked utterance of Cora, spoke
more impressively than any words, and quickly drew the
attention of her companions on that spot where her own
was riveted with an intenseness that nothing but the impor-
tance of the stake could create.

When Magna reached the cluster of lolling savages, who,
gorged with their disgusting meal, lay stretched on the
earth in brutal indulgence, he commenced speaking with the
dignity of an Indian chief. The first syllables he uttered
had the effect to cause his listeners to raise themselves in
attitudes of respectful attention. As the Huron used his
native language, the prisoners, notwithstanding the caution
of the natives had kept them witnm the swing of their
tomahawks, could only conjecture the substance of his har-
angue, from the nature of those significant gestures with
which an Indian always illustrates his eloquence.

At first, the language, as well as the action of Magua,
appeared calm and deliberative. When he had succeeded
in suflBciently awakening the attention of his comrades, I ley-
ward fancied, by his pointing so frequently toward the di-
rection of the great lakes, that he spoke of the land of their
fathers, and of their distant tribe. Frequent indications of
applause escaped the listeners, who, as they uttered the ex-
pressive " Hugh ! " looked at each other in commendation
of the speaker. Le Renard was too skillful to neglect his
advantage. He now spoke of the long and painfnl route
by which they had left those spacious grounds and happy
tillages, to come and battle against the enemies of their

120 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Can.idian fathers. He enumerated the warriors of the
party ; their several merits ; their frequent services to the
nation ; their wounds, and the number of the scalps they
had taken. Whenever he alluded to any present (and the
subtle Indian neglected none), the dark countenance of the
flattered individual gleamed with exultation, nor did he
even hesitate to assert the truth of the words, by gestures
of applause and confirmation. Then the voice of the
speaker fell, and lost the loud, animated tones of triumph
with which he had enumerated their deeds of success and
victory. He described the cataract of Glenn's ; the im-
pregnable position of its rocky island, with its caverns, and
its numerous rapids and whirlpools; he named the name of
" La Longue Carabine," and paused until the forest beneath
them had sent up the last echo of a loud and long yell, with
which the hated appellation was received. He pointed to-
ward the youthful military captive, and described the death
of a favorite warrior, who had been precipitated into the
deep ravine by his hand. He not only mentioned the fate
of him who, hanging between heaven and earth, had pre-
sented such a spectacle of horror to the whole band, but he
acted anew the terrors of his situation, his resolution and
his death, on the branches of a sapling ; and, finally, he
rapidly recounted the manner in which each of their friends
had fallen, never failing to touch upon their courage, and
their most acknowledged virtues. When this recital of
events was ended, his voice once more changed, and became
plaintive, and even musical, in its low guttural sounds. He
now spoke of the wives and children of the slain ; their
destitution ; their misery, both physical and moral ; their
distance ; and, at last, of their unavenged wrongs. Then
suddenly lifting his voice to a pitch of terrific energy, he
concluded, by demanding, —

** Are the Hurons dogs to bear this ? Who shall say to
the wife of Menowgua that the fishes have his scalp, and
that his nation have not taken revenge ! Who will dare
meet the mother of Wassawattimie, that scornful woman,
with his hands clean ! What shall be said to the old men
when they ask us for scalps, and we have not a hah* from a

tflE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. lH

wLite head to give them ! The women will point their
Sngers at us. There is a dark spot on the names of the
Hurons, and it must bo hid in blood ! "

His voice was no longer audible in the burst of rage
which now broke mto the air, as if the wood, instead of
containing so small a band, was filled with the nation.
During the foregoing address the progress of the speaker
was too plainly read by those most interested in his success,
through the medium of the countenances of the men he ad-
dressed. They had answered his melancholy and mourning
by sympathy and sorrow ; his assertions, by gestures of
confirmation ; and his boastings, with the exultation of
savages. When he spoke of courage, their looks were firm
and responsive; when he alluded to their injuries, their
eyes kindled with fury ; when he mentioned the taunts of
the women, they dropped their heads in shame ; but when
he pomted out their means of vengeance, he struck a chord
which never failed to thrill in the breast of an Indian.
With the first intimation that it was within their reach, the
whole band sprang upon their feet as one man ; giving
utterance to their rage m the most frantic cries, they rushed
upon their prisoners in a body with drawn knives and up-
lifted tomahawks. Heyward threw himself between the
sisters and the foremost, whom he grappled with a desperate
strength that for a moment checked his violence. This un-
expected resistance gave Magna time to interpose, and with
rapid enunciation and animated gesture, he drew the atten-
tion of the band again to himself. In that .language he
knew so well how to assume, he diverted his comradea
from their instant purpose, and invited them to prolong
the misery of their victims. His proposal was received
with acclamations, and executed with the swiftness of
thought.

Two powerful warriors cast themselves on Heyward,
while another was occupied in securing the less active
singing-master. Neither of the captives, however, sub-
mitted without a desperate though fruitless struggle. Even
David hurled his assailant to the earth ; nor was Heywai*d
isecured until the victory over his companion enabled the

122 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAilS.

Indians to direct their united force to that object. He wai
then bound and fastened to the body of the sapling, on
whose branches Magna had acted the pantomime of the fall-
ing Huron. When the young soldier regained his recol-
lection, he had the painful certainty before his eyes that a
common fate was intended for the whole party. On his
•ight was Cora, in a durance similar to his own, pale and
d^itated, but with an eye, whose steady look still read the
proceedings of their enemies. On his left, the withes which
bound her to a pine, performed that office for Alice which
her trembling limbs refused, and alone kept her fragile form
from sinking. Her hands were clasped before her in prayer,
but instead of looking upwards towards that power which
alone could rescue them, her unconscious looks wandered
to the countenance of Duncan with infantile dependency.
David had contended, and the novelty of the circumstance
held him silent, in deliberation on the propriety of the
unusual occurrence.

The vengeance of the Hurons had now taken a new
direction, and they prepared to execute it with that barba-
rous ingenuity with which they were familiarized by the
practice of centuries. Some sought knots, to raise the blaz-
ing pile ; one was riving the splinters of pine, in order to
pierce the flesh of their captives with the burning frag-
ments ; and others bent the tops of two saplings to the
earth, in order to suspend Heyward by the arms between
the recoiling branches. But the vengeance of Magna
sought a deeper and a more malignant enjoyment.

While the less refined monsters of the band prepared,
before the eyes of those who were to suffer, these well
known and vulgar means of torture, he approached Cora,
and pointed out, with the most malign expression of counte-
nance, the speedy fate that awaited her : —

" Ha ! " he added, " what says the daughter of Munro ?
Her head is too good to find a pillow in the wigwam of Le
Renard ; will she like it better when it rolls about this hill
a plaything for the wolves ? Her bosom cannot nurse the
children of a Huron; she will see it spit upon by Indians!^

" What means the monster ! " demanded the astonished
Heyward.

THE LAST Of IHE MOHICANS. llJJ!

«* Nothing ! " was the firm reply. " He is a savage, a
barbarous and ignorant savage, and knows not what he
does. Let us find leisure, with our dying breath, to ask for
him penitence and pardon."

" Pardon ! " echoed the fierce Huron, mistaking, in his
anger, the meaning of her words ; " the memory of an In-
dian is longer than the arm of the pale-faces ; his mercy
shorter than their justice ! Say ; shall I send the yellow
hair to her father, and will you follow Magna to the great
lakes, to carry his water, and feed him with corn ? "

Cora beckoned him away, "'ith an emotion of disgust she
could not control.

" Leave me," she said, with a solemnity that for a mo-
ment checked the barbarity of the Indian ; " you mingle
bitterness in my prayers • you stand between me and my
God ! "

The slight impression produced on the savage was, how-
ever, soon forgotten, and he continued pointing, with taunt-
ing irony, towards Alice.

" Look ! the child weeps ! She is young to die ! Send
her to Munro, to comb his gray hairs, and keep life in the
heart of the old man."

Cora could not resist the desire to look upon her youth-
ful sister, in whose eyes she met an imploring glance, that
betrayed the longings of nature.

" What says he, dearest Cora ? " asked the trembling
voice of Alice. " Did he speak of sending me to our
father ? "

For many moments tne elder sister looked upon the
younger, with a countenance that wavered with powerful
and contending emotions. At length she spoke, though her
tones had lost their rich and calm fullness, in an expression
of tenderness that seemed maternal.

" Alice," she ^.aid, " the Huron offers us both life, nay,
more than both ; he offers to restore Duncan, our invalu-
able Duncan, as well as you, to our friends — to our fother
— to our heart-stricken, childless father, if I will bow down
this rebellious, stubborn pride of mine, and consent " —

Her voice became choked, and <ilasping her hands, she

l^ THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

looked upward, as if seeking, in her agony, intelligence
from a wisdom that was infinite.

" Say on," cried Alice ; " to what, dearest Cora ? O !
that the proffer were made to me ! to save you, to cheer
our aged father, to restore Duncan, how cheerfully could I
die!"

" Die ! " repeated Cora, with a calmer and a firmer voice,
" that were easy ! Perhaps the alternative may not be less
BO. He would have me," slie continued, her accents sink-
ing under a deep consciousness of the degradation of the
proposal, " follow him to the wilderness ; go to the habita-
tions of the Hurons ; to remain there : in short to become
his wife ! Speak, then, Alice ; child of my affections ! sis-
ter of my love ! And you, too, Major Heyward, aid my
weak reason with your counsel. Is life to be purchased by
such a sacrifice ? Will you, Alice, receive it at my hands
at such a price ? And you^ Duncan, guide me ; control me
between you ; for I am wholly yours."

" Would I ! " echoed the indignant and astonished youth.
*' Cora ! Cora ! your jest with our misery ! Name not the
horrid alternative again ; the thought itself is worse than a
thousand deaths."

" That such would be your answer, I well knew ! " ex-
claimed Cora, her cheeks flushing, and lier dark eyes once
more sparkling with the lingering emotions of a woman.
" What says my Alice ? for her will I submit without an-
other murmur."

Although both Heyward and Cora listened with painfiil
suspense and the deepest attention, no sounds were heard in
reply. It appeared as if the delicate and sensitive form of
Alice would slirink into itself, as she listened to this pro
posal. Her arms had fallen lengthwise before her, the fin-
gers moving in slight convulsions ; her head dropped upon
her bosom, and her whole person seemed suspended against
the tree, looking like some beautiful emblem of the wounded
delicacy of her sex, devoid of animation, and yet keenly
conscious. In a few moments, however, her head began to
move slowly, m a sign of deep, unconquerable disapproba^
lion.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 125

** No, no, no ; better that we die as we have lived, to-
gether ! "

" Then die ! " shouted Magua, hurling his towahawk
with violence at the unresisting speaker, and gnashing his
teeth with a rage that could no longer be bridled, at this
sudden exhibition of firmness in the one he believed the
weakest of the party. The axe cleaved the air in front of
Heyward, and cutting some of the flowing ringlets of Alice,
quivered in the tree above her head. The sight maddened
Duncan to desperation. Collecting all his energies in one
effort, he snapped the twigs which bound him and rushed
upon another savage, who was preparing with loud yells,
and a more deliberate aim, to repeat the blow. They en-
countered, grappled, and fell to the earth together. The
naked body of his antagonist afforded Heyward no means
of holding his adversary, who glided from his grasp, and
rose again with one knee on his chest, pressing him down
with the weight of a giant. Duncan already saw the knife
gleaming in the air, when a whistling sound swept past him,
and was rather accompanied, than followed, by the sharp
crack of a rifle. He felt his breast relieved from the load
it had endured ; he saw the savage expression of his adver-
sary's countenance change to a look of vacant wildness,
when the Indian fell dead on the faded leaves by his
side.

126 HE LAST OF THE MOHICANS,

CHAPTER Xn.

Clo. — I am gone, sir,

And anon, sir,

I'll be with you again.

Twelfth Kight.

The Hurons stood aghast at this sudden visitation of
death on one of their band. But, as they regarded the
fatal accuracy of an aim which had dared to immolate an
enemy at so much hazard to a friend, the name of " La
Longue Carabine " burst simultaneously from every lip, and
was succeeded by a wild and a sort of plaintive howl. The
cry was answered by a loud shout from a little thicket,
where the incautious party had piled their arms ; and at
the next moment, Hawkeye, too eager to load the rifle he
had regained, was seen advancing upon them, brandishing
the clubbed weapon, and cutting the air with wide and
powerful sweeps. Bold and rapid as was the progress of
the scout, it was exceeded by that of a light and vigorous
form which, bounding past him, leaped, with incredible ac-
tivity and daring, into the very centre of the Hurons, where
it stood, whirling a tomahawk, and flourishing a glittering
knife, with fearful menaces, in front of Cora. Quicker
than the thoughts could follow these unexpected and auda-
cious movements, an image, armed in the emblematic pan-
oply of death, glided before their eyes, and assumed a
threatening attitude at the other's side. The savage tor-
mentors recoiled before these warlike intruders, and uttered
as they appeared in such quick succession, the often re-
peated and peculiar exclamation of surprise, followed by
the well known and dreaded appellations of —

« Le Cerf Agile ! Le Gros Serpent ! "

But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 127

10 easily disconcerted. Casting his keen eyes around the
little plain, he comprehended the nature of the assault at a
glance, and encouraging his followers by his voice as well
as by his example, he unsheathed his long and dangerous
knife, and rushed with a loud whoop upon the expecting
Chingachgook. It was the signal for a general combat.
Neither party had fire-arms, and the contest was to be de-
cided in the deadliest manner ; hand to hand, with weapon!
of offense, and none of defense.

Uncas answered the whoop, and leaping on an enemy,
with a single, well directed blow of his tomahawk, cleft him
to the brain. Heyward tore the weapon of Magna from
the sapling, and rushed eagerly towards the fray. As the
combatants were now equal in number, each singled an oppo-
nent from the adverse band. The rush and blows passed
with the fury of a whirlwind, and the swiftness of lightning.
Hawkeye soon got another enemy within reach of his arm,
and with one sweep of his formidable weapon he beat down
the slight and inartificial defenses of his antagonist, crusn-
ing him to the earth with the blow. Heyward ventured
to hurl the tomahawk he had seized, too ardent to await
the moment of closing. It struck the Indian he had se-
lected on the forehead, and checked for an instant his
onward rush. Encouraged by this slight advantage, the
impetuous young man continued his onset, and sprang upon
his enemy with naked hands. A single instant was enough
to assure him of the rashness of the measure, for he imme-
diately found himself fully engaged, with all his activity
and courage, in endeavoring to ward the desperate thmsts
made with the knife of the Huron. Unable longer to foil
an enemy so alert and vigilant, he threw his arms about
him, and succeeded in pinning the limbs of the other to his
side, with an iron grasp, but one that was far too exhaust-
ing to himself to continue long. In this extremity he
heard a voice near him, shouting —

" Extarminate the varlets ! no quarter to an accursed
Mingo 1 "

At the next moment, the breech of Hawkeye's rifle fell
on the naked head of his adversary, whose muscles appeu^ed

128 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

to wither under the shock, as he sank from the anns of
Duncan, flexible and motionless.

When Uncas had brained his first antagonist, he turned,
like a hungry lion, to seek another. The fifth and only
Huron disengaged at the first onset had paused a moment,
and then seeing that all around him were employed in the
deadly strife, he had sought, with hellish vengeance, to
complete the baffled work of revenge. Raising a shout of
triumph, he sprang towards the defenseless Cora, sending
his keen axe, as the dreadful precursor of his approach.
The tomahawk grazed her shoulder, and cutting the withes
which bound her to the tree, left the maiden at liberty to
fly. She eluded the grasp of the savage, and reckless of
her own safety, threw herself on the bosom of Alice, striv*
ing with convulsed and ill-directed fingers, to tear asunder
the twigs which confined the person of her sister. Any
other than a monster would have relented at such an act of
generous devotion to the best and purest affection ; but the
breast of the Huron was a stranger to sympathy. Seizing
Cora by the rich tresses which fell in confusion about her
form, he tore her from her frantic hold, and bowed her
down with brutal violence to her knees. The savage drew
the flowing curls through his hand, and raising them on
high with an outstretched arm, he passed the knife around
the exquisitely moulded head of his victim, with a taunting
and exulting laugh. But he purchased this moment of
fierce gratification with the loss of the fatal opportunity.
It was just then the sight caught the eye of Uncas.
Bounding from his footsteps he appeared for an instant
darting through the air, and descending in a ball he fell
on the chest of his enemy, driving him many yards fi'om
the spot, headlong and prostrate. The violence of the ex-
ertion cast the young Mohican at his side. They aros
together, fought, and bled, each in his turn. But the con-
flict was soon decided ; the tomahawk of Heyward and the
rifle of Hawkeye descended on the. skull of the Huron, at
the same monieist that the knife of Uncas reached hii
heart.

The battle was now entirely terminated, with tha ei

. ^rHE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 129

eiDtion of the protracted struggle between " Le Reuard
3abtil " and " Le Gros Serpent." Well did these barbarous
warriors prove that they deserved those significant names
which had been bestowed for deeds in former wars. When
they engaged, some little time was lost in eluding the
quick and vigorous thrusts which had been aimed at their
iives. Suddenly darting on each other, they closed, and
came to the earth, twisted together like twming serpents,
in pliant and subtle folds. At the moment when the
victors found themselves unoccupied, the spot where these
experienced and desperate combatants lay, could only be
distinguished by a cloud of dust and leaves which moved
from the centre of the little plain towards its boundary, as
if raised by the passage of a whirlwind. Urged by tlie
different motives of filial affection, friendship, and gratitude,
Heyward and his companions rushed with one accord to
the place, encircling the little canopy of dust which hung
above the warriors. In vain did Uncas dart around the
cloud, with a wish to strike his knife into the heart of his
father's foe ; the threatening rifle of Hawkeye was raised
and suspended in vain, while Duncan endeavored to seize
the limbs of the Huron with hands that appeared to have
lost their power. Covered, as they were, with dust and
olood; the swift evolutions of the combatants seemed to
incorporate their bodies into one. The death-like looking
figure of the Mohican, and the dark form of the Huron,
gleamed before their eyes in such quick and confused suc-
cession, that the friends of the former, knew not where nor
when to plant the succoring blow. It is true there were
short and fleeting moments, when the fiery eyes of Magua
were seen glittering, like the fabled organs of the basilisk,
through the dusty wreath by which he was enveloped, and
he read by those short and deadly glances the fate of the
combat in the presence of his enemies ; ere, however, any
hostile hand could descend on his devoted head, its place
was filled by the scowling visage of Chingachgook. Ii\
this manner the scene of the combat was removed from
the centre of tha little plain to its verge. The Mohican
PO\t found an ojiportunity to make a powerful thrust with

180 THE LAST OF IHE MOHICANS.

his knife ; Magua suddenly relinquished hia grasp, and
fell backward without motion, and seemingly without life.
His adversary leaped on his feet, making the arches of the
forest ring with the sounds of triumph.

" Well done for the Delawares ! victory to the Mohican ! **
cried Hawkeye, once more elevating the butt of the long
and fatal rifle ; " a finishing blow from a man without a
cross will never tell against his honor, nor rob him of hia
right to the scalp."

But, at the very moment when the dangerous weapon
was in the act of descending, the subtle Huron rolled
swiftly from beneath the danger, over the edge of the
precipice, and falling on his feet, was seen leaping, with a
single bound, into the centre of a thicket of low bushes,
which clung along its sides. The Delawares, who had
believed their enemy dead, uttered their exclamation of
surprise, and were following with speed and clamor, like
hounds in open view of the deer, when a shrill and peculiar
cry from the scout instantly changed their purpose, and
recalled them to the summit of the hill.

" 'Twas like himself' cried the inveterate forester, whose
prejudices contributed so largely to veil his natural sense
of justice in all matters which concerned the ivimgoes; '^ a
lying and deceitful varlet as he is. An honest Delaware
now, being fairly vanquished, would have lain still and
been knocked on the head, but these knavish Maquas cling
to life like so many cats-o'-the-mountain. Let nim go —
let him go ; 'tis but one man, and he without rifle or bow,
many a long mile from his French commerades ; and, like
a rattler that has lost his fangs, he can do no farther mis-
chief, until such time as he, and we too, may lea»e vhe
prints of our moccasins over a long reach of sandy plain.
See, Uncas," he added, in Delaware, " your latner is flaying
the scalps already. It may be well to go round and feel
the vagabonds that are left, or we may have another of
them loping through the woods, and screeching like a jay
that has been winged."

So saying, the honest, but implacable scout, mad.e the
circuit of the dead, into whose senseless bosoms he thrust

THE LAST OF THE VIOHICANS. 131

his long knife, with a^ much coo'^ness as though they had
been so many brute carcasses. He had, however, been
anticipated by the elder Mohican, who had already torn the
emblems of victory from the unresisting heads of the slain.

But Uncas^ denying his habits, we had almost said his
nature, flew with instinctive delicacy, accompanied by Hey
ward, to the assistance of the females, and quickly releas-
ing Alice, placed her in the arms of Cora. We shall not
attempt to describe the gratitude to the Almighty Disposer
of events which glowed in the bosoms of the sisters, who
were thus unexpectedly restored to life and to each other.
Their thanksgivings were deep and silent ; the oiferings of
their gentle spirits, burning brightest and purest on the
secret altars of their hearts ; and their renovated and more
earthly feelings exhibiting themselves in long and fervent,
though speechless caresses. As Alice rose from her knees,
where she had sunk by the side of Cora, she threw herself
on the bosom of the latter, and sobbed aloud the name of
their aged father, while her soft, dove-like eyes, sparkled
with the rays of hope.

" We are saved ! we are saved ! " she murmured ; " to
return to the arms of our dear, dear father, and his heart
will not be broken with grief. And you too, Cora, my
sister ; my more than sister, my mother ; you too are
spared. And Duncan," she added, looking romid upon the
youth with a smile of ineffable innocence, " even our own
brave and noble Duncan has escaped without a hurt."

To these ardent and nearly incoherent wrords Cora made
no other answer than by straining the youthful speaker to
her heart, as she bent over her, in melting tenderness.
The manhood of Heyward felt no shame in dropping tears
over this spectacle of affectionate rapture; and Uncas
utood, fresh and blood-stained from the combat, a calm,
and, apparently, an unmoved looker-on, it is true, but with
eyes that had already lost their fierceness, and were beam-
ing with a sympathy that elevated him far above the in-
telligence, and advanced him probably centuries before the
practices of his nation.

Dm-ing this display of emotions so natural in their sitnar

13^ THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

tion, Hawkeje, whose vigilant distrust had satisfied itself
chsx the Hurons, who disfigured the heavenly scene, no
longer possessed the power to interrupt its harmony, ap-
proached David, and liberated him from the bonds he had,
until that moment, endured with the most exemplary
patience.

"There," exclaimed the scout, casting the last withe
behind him, " you are once more master of your own limbs,
though you seem not to use them with much greater judg-
ment than that in which they were first fashioned. If
advice from one who is not older than yourself, but who,
having lived most of his time in the wilderness, may be said
to have experienced beyond his years, will give no ofiense,
you are welcome to my thoughts ; and these are, to part
with the little tooting instrument in your jacket to the first
fool you meet with, and buy some useful we'pon with the
money, if it be only the barrel of a horseman's pistol. By
industry and care, you might thus come to some prefar-
ment ; for by this time, I should think, your eyes would
plainly tell you that a carrion crow is a better bird than a
mocking thresher. The one will, at least, remove foul
sights from before the face of man, while the other is only
good to brew disturbances in the woods, by cheating the
ears of all that hear them."

" Arms and the clarion for the battle, but the song of
thanksgiving to the victory ! " answered the liberated
David. " Friend," he added, thrusting forth his lean,
delicate hand towards Hawkeye, in kindness, while his eyes
twinkled and grew moist, " I thank thee that the hairs of
my head still grow where they were first rooted by Prov-
idence ; for, though those of other men may be more glossy
and curling, I have ever found mine own well suited to the
brain they shelter. That I did not join myself to the
battle, was less owing to disinclination, than to the bonds
of the heathen. Valiant and skillful hast thou proved thy-
eelf in the conflict, and I hereby thank thee, before pro-
a^.eding to discharge other and more important duties, be-
cause thou hast proved thyself well worthy of a Christian's
oraise."

THE LAST OF THB MOHICANS. 188

* The thing is but a trifle, and what you may often see,
if you tarry long among us," returned the scout, a good deal
Boftened towards the man of song, by this unequivocal ex-
pression of gratitude. " I have got back my old companion,
*Killdeer,' " he added, striking his hand on the breech of hia
rifle ; " and that in itself is a victory. These Iroquois are
cunning, but they outwitted themselves when they placed
their fire-arms out of reach ; and had Uncas or his father
been gifted with only their common Indian patience, we
should have come in upon the knaves with three bullets
instead of one, and that would have made a finish of the
whole pack ; yon loping varlet, as well as his commerades.
But 'twas all fore-ordered, and for the best."

" Tliou sayest well," returned David, " and hast caught
the true spirit of Christianity. He that is to be saved will
be saved, and he that is predestined to be damned will be
damned. Tliis is the doctrine of truth, and most consoling
and refreshing it is to the true believer."

The scout, who by this time was seated, examining into
the state of his rifle with a species of parental assiduity, now
looked up at the other in a displeasure that he did not
affect to conceal, roughly interrupting further speech.

" Doctrine or no doctrine," said the sturdy woodsman,
" 'tis the belief of knaves, and the curse of an honest man.
I can credit that yonder Huron was to fall by my hand, for
with my own eyes I have seen it ; but nothing short of
being a witness, will cause me to think he has met with any
reward, or that Chingachgook, there, will J^e condemned at
the final day."

" You have no warranty for such an audacious doctrine,
nor any covenant to support it," cried David, who was
deeply tinctured with the subtle distinctions which, in his
time, and more especially in his province, had been drawn
around the beautiful simplicity of revelation, by endeavor-
ing to penetrate the awful mystery of the divine nature,
supplying faith by self-sufficiency, and by consequence,
involving those who reasoned fiom such human dogmas in
absurdities and doubt ; " 3 Gar temple is reared on the sands,
%nd ths first tempest v^iU wash away its foundatioo- I

184 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS,

demand your authorities for such an uncharitable assertion
(like other advocates of a system, David was not always
accurate in his use of terms). Name chapter and verse;
in which of the holy books do you find language to support
you ? "

" Book ! " repeated Hawkeye, with singular and ill-con-
cealed disdain ; " do you take me for a whimpering boy at
the apron-string of one of your old gals ; and this good rifle
on my knee for the feather of a goose's wing, my ox's horn
for a bottle of ink. and my leathern pouch for a cross-barred
handkercher to carry my dinner ? Book ! what have such
as I, who am a warrior of the wilderness, though a man
without a cross, to do with books ? I never read but in
one, and the words that are written there are too simple and
too plain to need much schooling ; though I may boast that
of forty long and hard-working years."

"What call you the volume ? " said David, misconcei"^-
ing the other's meaning.

" 'Tis open before your eyes," returned the scout; "and
he who owns it is not a niggard of its use. I have heard
it said that there are men who read in books to convince
themselves there is a God. I know not but man may so
deform his works in the settlement, as to leave that which
is so clear in the wilderness a matter of doubt among traders
and priests. If any such there be, and he will follow me
from sun to sun, through the windings of the forest, he shall
see enough to teach him that he is a fool, and that the great-
est of his folly lies in striving to rise to the level of One he
can never equal, be it in goodness, or be it in power."

The instant David discovered that he battled with a dis-
pulant who imbibed his faith from the lights of nature,
eschewing all subtleties of doctrine, he willingly abandoned
a controversy from which he believed neither profit nor
credit was to be derived. While the scout was speaking,
he had also seated himself, and producing the ready little
volume and the iron-rimmed spectacles, he prepared to dis
charge a duty, which nothing but the unexpected assault he
had received in his orthodoxy could have so long suspended
He was, in truth, a minstrel «f the western continent — ' ol

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 185

A much later day, certainly, than those gifted baids, who
formerly sang the profane renown of baron and pripce, but
after the spirit of his own age and country ; and he was
now prepared to exercise the cunning of his craft, in cele-
bration of, or rather in thanksgiving for, the recent victory.
He waited patiently for Hawkey e to cease, then lifting his
eyes, together with his voice, he said, aloud, —

" I invite you, friends, to join in praise for this signal
deliverance from tlie hands of barbarians and infidels, to the
comfortable and solemn tones of the tune, called ' Northamp-
ton.' "

He next named the page and verse where the rhymes
selected were to be found, and applied the pitch-pipe to his
lips, with the decent gravity that he had been wont to use
in the temple. This time he was, however, without any
accompaniment, for the sisters were just then pouring out
those tender effusions of affection which have been already
alluded to. Nothing deterred by the smallness of his audi-
ence, which, in truth, consisted only of the discontented
scout, he raised his voice, commencing and ending the sacred
song without accident or interruption of any kind.

Hawkeye listened, while he coolly adjusted his flint and
reloaded his rifle ; but the sounds, wanting the extraneous
assistance of scene and sympathy, failed to awaken his
slumbering emotions. Never minstrel, or by whatever
more suitable name David should be known, drew upon his
talents in the presence of more insensible auditors; though
considering the singleness and sincerity of his motive, it is
probable that no bard of profane song ever uttered notes
^hat ascended so near to that throne where all homage and
praise is due. The scout shook his head, and muttering
•ome unintelligible words, among which " throat " and
*^ Iroquois," were alone audible, he walked away, to collect,
tnd to examine into, the state of the captured arsenal of
the Hurons. In this office he was now joined by Chin-
gachgook, who found his own, as well as the rifle of his soi*,
among the arms. Even Heyward and David were fu.
nished with weapons; nor was ammunition wanting to
render them all effectual.

136 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

When the foresters had raade their selection, and di8«
tributed their prizes, the scout announced that the hour had
arrived when it was necessary to move. By this time the
song of Gamut had ceased, and the sisters hcid learned to
still the exhibition of their emotions. Aided by Duncan
and the younger Mohican, the two latter descended the
precipitous sides of that hill which they had so lately
ascended under so very different auspices, and whose summit
had so nearly proved the scene of their massacre. At the
foot, they found the Narragansets browsing the herbage of
the bushes ; and having mounted, they followed the move-
ments of a guide, who, in the most deadly straits, had so
often proved himself their friend. The journey was, how-
ever, short. Hawkeye, leaving the blind path that the
Hurons had followed, turned short to his right, and entering
the thicket, he crossed a babbling brook, and halted in a
narrow dell, under the shade of a few water elms. Their
distance from the base of the fatal hill was but a few rods,
and the steeds had been serviceable only in crossing the
shallow stream.

The scout and the Indians appeared to be familiar with
the sequestered place where they now were ; for, leaning
their rifles against the trees, they commenced throwing aside
the dried leaves, and opening the blue clay, out of which a
clear and sparkling spring of bright, glancing water, quickly
bubbled.^ The white man then looked about him, as though
seeking for some object, which was not to be found as
readily as he expected : —

" Them careless imps, the Mohawks, with their Tusca-
rora and Onondaga brethren, have been here slaking their
thirst," he muttered, " and the vagabonds have thrown away
the gourd ! This is the way with benefits, when they are
bestowed on such disremembering hounds ! Here has the
Lord laid his hand, in the midst of the howling wilderness,
for their good, and raised a fountain of water from the
bowels of the 'arth, that migh^, laugh at the richest shop of
apothecary's ware in all the colonies ; and see ! the knaves
have trodden in the clay, and deformed the cleanliness of
the place, as though they were brute beasts, instead of
tiuman ^ren."

^ See Appendix, Note 7

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 137

Uncas sUentl^ extended towards him the desired gouro,
which the spleen of Hawkeye had hitherto prevented him
from observing, on a branch of an elm. Filling it with
water, he retired a short distance, to a place where the
ground was more firm and dry ; here he coolly seated him-
self, and after taking a long, and, apparently, a grateful
draught, he commenced a very strict examination of the
fragments of food left by the Hurons, which had hung in a
wallet on his arm.

"Thank you, lad!" he ccntmued, returning the empty
gourd to Uncas ; " now we will see how these rampaging
Hurons lived, when outlying in ambushments. Look at
this ! The varlets know the better pieces of the deer ; and
one would think they might carve and roast a saddle, equal
to the best cook in the hind ! But everything is raw, for
the Iroquois are thorough savages. Uncas, take my steel,
and kindle a fire ; a mouthful of a tender broil will give
natm*' a helping hand, after so long a trail."

Heyward, perceiving that their guides now set about
their repast in sober earnest, assisted the ladies to alight,
and placed himself a^ their side, not unwilling to enjoy a
few moments of grateful rest, after the bloody scene he had
just gone through. While the culinary process was in
hand, curiosity induced him to inquire into the circum-
stances which had led to their timely and unexpected res-
cue : —

" How is it that we see you so soon, my generous friend,"
he asked, " and without aid from the garrison •of Edward ? "

" Had we gone to the bend in the river, we might have
been in time to rake the leaves over your bodies, but too
late to have saved your scalps," coolly answered the scout
" No, no ; instead of throwing away strength and opportu-
nity by crossing to the fort, we lay by, under the bank of
the Hudson, waiting to watch the movements of the Hu-
rons."

" You were, then, witnesses of all that passed ? "

" Not of all ; for Indian sight is too keen to be easily
cheated, and we kept close. A difficult matter it was, too,
to keep this Mohican boy snug in the ambushment. Ah !

138 TH3 LAS'' OF THE MOHICANS.

Uncas, Uncas, your behavior was more like that of a can
ous woman than of a warrior on his scent."

Uncas permitted his eyes to turn for an instant on the
sturdy countenance of the speaker, but he neither spoke
nor gave any indication of repentance. On the contrary,
Hey ward thought the manner of the young Mohican was
disdainful, if not a little fierce, and that he suppressed pas-
sions thai were ready to explode, as much in compliment to
the listeners, as from the deference he usually paid to his
white associate.

" You saw our capture ? " Heyward next demanded.

" We heard it," was the significant answer. " An Indian
yell is plain language to men who have passed their days in
the woods. But when you landed, we were driven to
crawl, like sarpents, beneath the leaves ; and then we lost
sight of you entirely, until we placed eyes on you again,
trussed to the trees, and ready bound for an Indian massa-
cre."

" Our rescue was the deed of Providence. It was nearly
a miracle that you did not mistake the path, for the Hurons
divided, and each band had its horses."

" Aye ! there we were thrown off the scent, and might,
indeed, have lost the trail, had it not been for Uncas ; we
took the path, however, that led into the wilderness ; for
we judged, and judged rightly, that the savages would hold
that course with their prisoners. But when we had fol-
lowed it for many miles, without finding a single twig
broken, as I had advised, my mind misgave me ; especially
as all the footsteps had the prints of moccasins."

"Our captors had the precaution to see us shod like
themselves," said Duncan, raising a foot, and exhibiting the
buckskin he wore.

" Aye ! 'twas judgmatical, and like themselves : though
we were too expart to be thrown from a trail by so com-
aaon an invention."

" To what, then, are we indebted for our safety ? "

" To what, as a white man who has no taint of Indian
blood, I should be ashamed to own ; to the judgment of
the yoang Mohican, in matters which I should know better

THE l.AST OF THE MOHICANS. 139

fhan he, but which I can uow hardly believe to be true
though my own eyes tell me it is so."

« 'Tis extraordinary ! will you not name the reason ? "

" Uncas was bold enough to say, that the beasts ridden
by the gentle ones," continued Hawkeye, glancing his eyesL
not without curious interest, on the fillies of the ladies,
** planted the legs of one side on the ground at the same
time, which is contrary to the movements of all trotting
four-footed animals of my knowledge, except the bejir.
And yet here are horses that always journey in this man-
ner, as my own eyes have seen, and as their trail has shown
for twenty long miles."

" 'Tis the merit of the animal ! They come from the
shores of Narragansct Bay, in the small province of Provi-
dence Plantations, and are celebrated for their hardihood,
and the ease of this peculiar movement ; though other
horses are not unfrequently trained to the same."

" It may be — it may be," said Ilawkeye, who had lis-
tened with singular attention to this explanation ; " though
I am a man who has the full blood of tlie whites, my judg-
ment in deer and beaver is greater than in beasts of bur-
den. Major Effingham has many noble chargers, but I
have never seen one travel after such a sideling gait."

" True ; for he would value the animals for very different
properties. Still is this a breed highly esteemed, and as
you witness, much honored with the burdens it is often
destined to bear."

The Mohicans had suspended their operations about the
glinmiering fire, to listen ; and when Duncan had done,
they looked at each other significantly, the fiither uttering
ihe E ever-failing exclamation of surprise. The scout rumi-
nated, like a man digesting his newly acquired knowledge,
^nd once more stole a curious glance at the horses.

" I dare to say there are even stranger sights to be seen
m the settlements ! " he said, at length ; " natur' is sadly
abused by man, when he once gets the mastery. But, go
sideling or go straight, Uncas had seen the movement, and
their trail led us ou to the broken bush. The outei
branch, near the prints of one of the horses, was bent up

140 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

ward, as a lady breaks a flower from its stem, but all the
rest were ragged and broken down, as if the strong hand of
a man had been tearing them ! So I concluded that the
cunning varments had seen the twig bent, and had torn the
rest, to make us believe a buck had been feeling the boughs
with his antlers."

** I do believe your sagacity did not deceive you ; for
some such thing occurred ! "

" That was easy to see," added the scout, in no degree
conscious of having exhibited any extraordinary sagacity ;
" and a very different matter it was from a waddling horse !
It then struck me the Mingoes would push for this spring,
for the knaves well know the vartue of its waters ! "

" Is it, then, so famous ? " demanded Heyward, examin-
ing, with a more curious eye, the secluded dell, with its
bubbling fountain, surroimded, as it was, by earth of a deep
dingy brown.

" Few red-skins, who travel south and east of the great
lakes, but have heard of its qualities. Will you taste for
yourself? "

Heyward took the gourd, and after swallowing a little of
the water, threw it aside with grimaces of discontent. The
8Cout laughed in his silent, but heartfelt manner, and shook
his head with vast satisfaction.

" Ah ! you want the flavor that one gets by habit ; the
time was when I liked it as little as yourself; but I have
come to my taste, and I now crave it, as a deer does the
licks.^ Your high spiced wmes are not better liked than a
red-skin relishes this water ; especially when his natur' is
ailing But Uncas has made his fire, and it is time we think
j)f eating, for our journey is long, and all before us."

Interrupting the dialogue by this abrupt transition, the
scout had instant recourse to the fragments of food which
had escaped the voracity of the Ilurons. A very summary

1 Many of the animals of the American forests resort to those spots wher«
■alt springs are found. These are called " licks " or <' salt licks," in the lan-
guafre of the country, from the circumstance that the quadruped is often obliged
to lick the earth, in order to obtain the saline particles. Tliese licks are great
places of resort with the hunters, who waylay their game near the paths thai
lead tc them.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 141

process completed the simple cookery, when he and the
Mohicans commenced their humble meal, with the silence
and characteristic diligence of men who ate in order to en-
able themselves to endure great and unremitting toil.

When this necessary, and, happily, gratefid duty had been
performed, each of the foresters stooped and took a long and
parting draught at that solitary and silent spring,^ arou**d
which and its sister fountains, within fifty years, the wealth,
beauty, and talents of a hemisphere were to assemble in
throngs, in pursuit of health and pleasure. Then Hawk^ye
announced his determination to proceed. The sisters re-
sumed their saddles ; Duncan and David grasped their rifles,
and followed on their footsteps ; the scout leading the ad-
vance, and the Mohicans bringing up the rear. The vhole
party moved swiftly through the narrow path, towards the
north, leaving the healing waters to mingle unheeded with
the adjacent brook, and the bodies of the dead to fester on
the neighboring mount, without the rites of sepulture ; a
fate but too common to the warriors of the woods to excitfj
either commiseration or comment.

1 The scene of the foregoing incidents is on the spot where the villagt H
IJellston oow stands ; one of the two princir^^ watering places of America.

142 THE LAST OF I HE MOHICANS.

CHAPTER Xm.

I'll seek a readier path.

Parnell.

The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy
plains, relieved by occasional valleys and swells of land,
which had been traversed by their party on the morning of
the same day, with the baffled Magna for their guide. The
sun had now fallen low towards the distant mountains ; and
as their journey lay through the interminable forest, the
heat was no longer oppressive. Their progress, in conse-
quence, was proportionate ; and long before the twilight
gathered about them, they had made good many toilsome
miles on their return.

The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed
to select among the blind signs of their wild route, with a
species of instinct, seldom abating his speed, and never
pausing to deliberate. A rapid and oblique glance at the
moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze towardh
the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction
of the numerous watercourses, through which he waded,
were sufficient to determine his path, and remove his great-
est difficulties. In the mean time, the forest began to change
its hues, losing that lively green which had embellished its
arches, in the graver light which is the usual precursor of
tlie close of day.

While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch
glimpses through the trees, of the flood of golden glors
which formed a glittering halo around the san, tinging here
and there with ruby streaks, or bordering with narrow edg-
ings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled at nq
great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned
suddenly, and, pointing upwards towards the gorgeous heav-
«ns, he spoke —

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 142

* Yonder Is the signal given to man to seek bis food and
natural rest," he said ; " better and wiser would it be, if he
could understand the signs of nature, and take a lesson from
the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the fields ! Our night,
however, will soon be over ; for, with the moon, we must
be up and moving again. I remember to have fout the
Maquas, here-aways, in the first war in which I ever drew
blood from man ; and we threw up a work of blocks, to keep
the ravenous varments from handling our scalps. If my marka
do not fail me, we shall find the place a few rods further to
our left."

Without waiting for an assent, or, mdeed, for any reply,
the sturdy hunter moved boldly into a dense thicket of young
chestnuts, shoving aside the branches of the exuberant shoota
which nearly covered the ground, like a man who expected,
at each step, to discover some object he had formerly known.
The recollection of the scout did not deceive him. After
penetrating through the brush, matted as it was with briers,
for a few hundred feet, he entered an open space, that sur-
rounded a low, green hillock, which was crowned by the
decayed block-house in question. This rude and neglected
building was one of those deserted works, which, having
been thrown up on an emergency, had been abandoned with
the disappearance of danger, and was now quietly crumbling
in the solitude of the forest,^ neglected, and nearly forgotten,
like the circumstances which had caused it to be reared.
Such memorials of the passage and struggles of man are yet
fi*equent throughout the broad barrier of wilderness which
once separated the hostile provinces, and form* a species of
ruins that are intimately associated with the recollections o*
colonial history, and which are ui appropriate keeping with
the gloomy character of the surrounding scenery.- The

1 See Appendix, Note (i.

2 Borne years since, the writer was shooting in the vicinity of ♦be ruina ol
Fort Oswego, which stands on the shores of Lake Ontario H'** j^auie waa
deer, and his chase a forest that stretched, with little interruption, fifty miles
inland. Unexpectedly he came upon six or eight ladders lying in the woodj
within a short distance of each other. They were rudely made, and much de-
cayed. Wondering what could have assembled so many of these instrument*
in such a place, he sought an old man who resided near fwr the explanation.

During the war of 1776 Fort Oswego was held by the British. An expedi-
^Q had been seL.t two hundred miles through the wilderness to surprise Uu

144 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

roof of bark had long since fallen, and mingled with the soil
but the huge logs of pine, which had been hastily thrown
together, still preserved their relative positions, though one
angle of the work had given way under the pressure, and
threatened a speedy downfall to the remainder of the rustic
edifice. While Hey ward and his companions hesitated to
approach a building so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians
entered within the low walls, not only without fear, but
with obvious interest. While the former surveyed the ruins,
both internally and externally, with the curiosity of one
whose recollections were reviving at each moment, Chin-
gachgook related to his son, in the language of the Dela-
wares, and with the pride of a conqueror, the brief history
of the skirmish which had been fought, in his youth, in that
secluded spot. A strain of melancholy, however, blended
with his triumph, rendering his voice, as usual, soft and
musical.

In the mean time, the sisters gladly dismounted, and pre-
pared to enjoy their halt in the coolness of the evening, and
in a security which they believed nothing but the beasts of
the forest could invade.

" Would not our resting-place have been more retired, my
worthy friend," demanded the more vigilant Duncan, per-
ceiving that the scout had already finished his short survey,
" had we chosen a spot less known, and one more rarely
visited than this?"

" Few live who know the block-house was ever raised,"
Was the slow and musing answer ; " 'tis not often that books
are made, and narratives written, of such a skrimmage as
was here fou'tatween the Mohicans and the Mohawks, in a
war of their own waging. I was then a younker, and went
out with the Delawares, because I know'd they were a scan-
dalized and wronged race. Forty days and forty nights did
the imps crave our blood around this pile of logs, which I
designed and partly reared, being, as you'll remember, no

fort. It appears that the Americans, on reaching the spot named, which waa
within a mile or two of the fort, first learned that they were expected, and in
great danger of being cut off. They threw away their scaling-ladders, and
ttiade a rapid retreat. Tiiese ladders had lain unmolested thirty yea? 4, in tix9
^;X)t whore the" ^ad thua been cast.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 146

Indian myself, but a man without a cross. The Delawarea
lent themselves to the work, and we made it good, ten to
twenty, until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we
sallied out upon the hounds, and not a man of them ever
got back to tell the fate of his party. Yes, yes ; I was then
young, and new to the sight of blood ; and not relishing the
thought that creatures who had spirits like myself should lay
on the naked ground, to be torn asunder by beasts, or to
bleach in the rains, I buried the dead with my own hands,
under that very little hillock where you have placed your-
selves ; and no bad seat does it make neither, though it be
raised by the bones of mortal men."

Heyward and the sisters arose, on the instant, from the
grassy sepulchre ; nor could the two latter, notwithstanding
the terrific scenes they had so recently passed through, en-
tirely suppress an emotion of natural horror, when they
found themselves in such familiar contact with the grave of
the dead Mohawks. The gray light, the gloomy little area
of dark grass, surrounded by its border of brush, beyond
which the pines rose, in breathing silence, apparently, into
the very clouds, and the deathlike stillness of the vast
forest, were all in unison to deepen such a sensation.

" They are gone, and the> ^re harmless," continued Hawk-
eye, waving his hand, with a melancholy smile, at their
manifest alarm : " they'll never shout the war-whoop nor
strike a blow with the tomahawk again ! And of all those
who aided in placing them where they lie, Chingachgook
and I only are living ! The brothers and family of the
Mohican formed our war party ; and you se% before you all
that are now left of his race."

The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms
o*. the Indians, with a compassionate interest in their deso-
late fortune. Their dark persons were still to be seen
within the shadows of the block-house, the son listenins: to
the relation of his father with that sort of intenseness which
would be created by a narrative that redounded so much to
the honor of those whose names he had long revered for
their courage and savage virtues.

" I had thought the Delawares a pacific people," said
10

146 THE LASr OF THE MOHICANS.

Duncan, " and that they never waged war in person ; trnst
ing the defense of their lands to those very Mohawks thai
you slew ! "

" 'Tis true in part," returned the scout, " and yet, at the
bottom, 'tis a wicked lie. Such a treaty was made in ages
gone by, through the deviltries of the Dutchers, who wished
to disarm the natives that had the best right to the country,
where they had settled themselves. The Mohicans, though
a part of the same nation, having to deal with the English,
never entered into the silly bargain, but kept to their man-
hood ; as in truth did the Delawares, when their eyes were
opened to their folly. You see before you a chief of the
great Mohican Sagamores ! Once his family could chase
their deer over tracts of country wider than that which be-
longs to the Albany Patteroon, without crossing brook or
bill that was not their own ; but what is left to their de-
scendant ! He may find his six feet of earth when God
chooses, and keep it in peace, perhaps, if he has a friend
who will take the pains to sink his head so low, that the
ploughshares cannot reach it ! "

" Enough ! " said Heyward, apprehensive that the sub-
ject might lead to a discussion that would interrupt the
harmony so necessary to the preservation of his fair com-
panions : " we have journeyed far, and few among us are
blessed with forms like that of yours, which seems to know
neither fatigue nor weakness."

" The sinews and bones of a man carry me through it
all," said the hunter, surveying his muscular limbs with a
simplicity that betrayed the honest pleasure the compliment
afforded him : " there are larger and heavier men to be
found in the settlements, but you might travel many days in
a city before you could meet one able to walk fifty miles
without stopping to take breath, or who has kept the
hounds within hearing during a chase of hours. However,
as flesh and blood are not always the same, it is quite rea-
sonable to suppose that the gentle ones are willing to rest,
after all they have seen and done this day. Uncas, clear
out the sprmg, while your father and T make a cover for
their tender heads of these chestnut hhootis, and a bed of
grass and leaves."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 147

The dialogue ceased, while the hunter and his compan-
ions busied themselves in preparations for the comfort and
protection of those they guided. A spring, which many
long years before had induced the natives to select the
place for their temporary fortification, was soon cleared of
leaves, and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed, diffus-
ing its waters over the verdant hillock. A corner of the
blading was thon roofed in such a manner as to exclude
the heavy dew of the climate, and piles of sweet shrubs
and dried leaves were laid beneath it for the sisters to re
pose on.

While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this man-
ner, Cora and Alice partook of that refreshment which duty
required much more than inclination prompted them to ac-
cept. They then retired within the walls, and first offering
up their thanksgivings for past mercies, and petitioning for
a continuance of the Divine favor throughout the coming
night, they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch,
and in spite of recollections and forebodings, soon sank into
those slumbers which nature so imperiously demanded, and
which were sweetened by hopes for the morrow. Duncan
had prepared himself to pass the night in watchfulness near
them, just without the ruin, but the scout, perceiving his
intention, pointed towards Chiugachgook, as he coolly dis-
posed his own person on the grass, and said —

" The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind
for such a watch as this ! The Mohican will be our senti-
nel, therefore let us sleep."

" I proved myself a sluggard on my post during the past
night," said Heyward, " and have less need of repose than
you, who did more credit to the character of a soldier. Let
all the party seek their rest, then, while I hold the guard."

" If we lay among the white tents of the 60th, and in
front of an enemy like the French, I could not ask for a
better watchman," returned the scout ; *' but in the darkness
and among the signs of the wilderness your judgment would
be like the folly of a child, and your vigilance thrown away.
Do then, like Uncas and myself, sleeo, and sleep in safety."

Heyward perceived, in truth, that the younger Indian

148 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

had thrown his form on the side of the hillock wMle the"
were talking, like one who sought to make the most of the
time allotted to rest, and that his example had been fol«
lowed by David, whose voice literally " clove to his jaws,"
with the fever of his wound, heightened, as it was, by their
toilsome march. Unwilling to prolong a useless discussion,
the young man affected to comply, by posting his back
against the logs of the block-house, in a half-recumbent
posture, though resolutely determined, in his own mind, not
to close an eye until he had delivered his precious charge
into the arms of Munro himself. Hawkey e, believing he
had prevailed, soon fell asleep, and a silence as deep as the
solitude in which they had found it, pervaded the retired
spot.

For many minutes Duncan succeeded in keeping his
senses on the alert, and alive to every moaning sound that
arose from the forest. His vision became more acute as
the shades of evening settled on the place ; and even after
the stars were glimmering above his head, he was able to
distinguish the recumbent forms of his companions, as they
lay stretched on the grass, and to note the person of Chin-
gachgook, who sat upright and motionless as one of the trees
which formed the dark barrier on every side. He still
heard the gentle breathings of the sisters, who lay within a
few feet of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing
air, of which his ear did not detect the whispering sound.
At length, however, the mournfiil notes of a whip-poor-will
became blended with the meanings of an owl ; his heavy
eyes occasionally sought the bright rays of the stars, and
then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids. At
instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for
his associate sentinel ; his head next sank upon his shoulder,
which, in its turn, sought the support of the ground ; and,
finally, his whole person became relaxed and pliant, and the
young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming that he was a
knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigils before
the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did not
despair of gaining, by such a proof of devotion and watch
fulness.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 140

How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state
he never knew himself, but his slumbering visions had been
long lost in total forgetful ness, when he was awakened by
a light tap on the shoulder. Aroused by this signal, slight
as it was, he sprang upon his feet with a confused recollec-
tion of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the com
mencement of the night.

" Who comes ? " he demanded, feeling for his sword, at
the place where it was usually suspended. " Speak ! friend
or enemy ? "

" Friend," replied the low voice of Cliingachgook ; who,
pointing upwards at the luminary which was shedding its
mild light tlirough the opening in the trees, directly in their
bivouac, immediately added, in his rude English, "moon
comes, and white man's fort far — far off; time to move,
when sleep shuts both eyes of the Frenchman ! "

"You say true! call up your friends, and bridle the
horses, while I prepare my own companions for the
march ! "

" AVe are awake, Duncan,*' said the soft, silvery tones of
Alice within the building, " and ready to travel very fast
after so refreshing a sleep ; but you have watched through
the tedious night in our behalf, after having endured so
much fatigue the livelong day ! "

" Say, rather, I would have watched, but my treacherous
eyes betrayed me ; twice have I proved myself unfit for the
trust I bear."

" Nay, Duncan, deny it not," interrupted the smiling
Alice, issuing from the shadows of the building into the
light of the moon, in all the loveliness of her freshened
beauty ; " I know you to be a heedless one, when self is
the object of your care, and but too vigilant in favor of
others. Can we not tarry here a little longer, while you
find the rest you need ? Cheerfully, most cheerfully, will
Cora and I keep the vigils, while you, and all these brave
men, endeavor to snatch a little sleep ! "

"If shame could cure me of my drowsiness, I should
never close an eye again," said the uneasy youth, gazing at
the ingenuous countenance of Alice, where, however, in its

160 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

■wed solicitude, he read nothing to confirm his half awak
ened suspicion. " It is but too true, that after leading you
into danger by my heedlessness, I have not even the merit
of guarding your pillows as should become a soldier."

" No one but Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of
such a weakness. Go, then, and sleep ; believe me, neither
of us, weak girls as we are, will betray our watch."

The young man was relieved from the awkwardness of
making any further protestations of his own demerits, by
an exclamation from Chingachgook, and the attitude of riv-
eted attention assumed by his son.

" The Mohicans hear an enemy ! " whispered Hawkeye,
who, by this time, in common with the whole party, was
awake and stirring. " They scent danger in the wind ! "

" God forbid ! " exclaimed Heyward. " Surely we have
had enough of bloodshed ! "

While he spoke, however, the young so dier seized his
rifle, and advancing towards the front, prepared to atone
for his venial remissness, by freel" exposing his life in de-
fense of those he attended.

" 'Tis some creature of the forest prowling around us in
quest of food," he said, in a whisper, as soon as the low,
and apparently distant sounds, which had startled the Mo-
hicans, reached his own ears.

" Hist ! " returned the attentive scout ; " 'tis man ; even
1 can now tell his tread, poor as my senses are when com-
pared to an Indian's ! That scampering Huron has fallen
in with one of Montcalm's outlying parties, and they have
struck upon our trail. I shouldn't like, myself, to spill
more human blood in this spot," he added, looking around
with anxiety in his features, at the dim objects by which he
was surrounded; "but what must be, must! Lead the
horses into the block-house, Uncas; and, friends, do you
follow to the same shelter. Poor and old as it is, it offers
a cover, and has rung with the crack of a rifle afore to-
night!"

He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the Nar
ragansets within the rum, whither the whole party repaired
with the most guarded silenor>

THE 7.AST OF THE MOHICANS. loT

The sounds of approaching footsteps were now too dis-
tinctly audible to leave any doubts as to the nature of the
interruption. They were soon mingled with voices calling
to each other in an Indian dialect, which the hunter, in a
whisper, affirmed to Ileyward was the language of the Hu-
rons. Wlien the party reached the point where the horses
had entered the thicket which surrounded the block-house,
they were evidently at fault, having lost those ni 'cs which,
until that moment, had directed their pursuit.

It would seem by the voices that twenty men /ere soon
collected at that one spot, mingling their different opinions
and advice in noisy clamor.

" The knaves know our weakness," whispered Hawkeye,
who stood by the side of Ileyward, in deep shade, looking
through an opening in tlie logs, " or they wouldn't indulge
their idleness in such a squaw's march. Listen to the rep-
tiles ! cacli man among them seems to have two tongues,
and but a single leg."

Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in
such a moment of painful suspense, make any reply to the
cool and characteristic remark of the scout. He only
grasped his rifle more firmly, and fastened Ids eyes upon the
narrow opening, through which he gazed upon the moon-
light view with increasing anxiety. The deeper tones of
one who spoke as having authority were next heard, amid a
silence that denoted the respect with wliich his orders, or
rather advice, was received. After which, by the rustling
of leaves, and cracking of dried twigs, it ^as apparent the
savages were separating in pursuit of the lost trail. For-
tunately for the pursued, the light of the moon, while it
shed a flood of mild lustre upon the little area around the
ruin, was not sufiiciently strong to penetrate the deep
arches of the forest, where the objects still lay in deceptive
shadow. The search proved fruitless ; for so short and sud-
den had been the passage from the faint path the travellers
had journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of their
footsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.

It was not long, however, before the restless savages
were heard beating the brush, and gradually approaching

162 THE LASi OF THE MOHICANS.

the inner edge of that dense border of yoang chesinntz
which encircled the little area.

" They are coming," muttered Heyward, endeavoring fo
thrust his rifle through the chink in the logs ; " let us fire
on their approach.'*

"Keep everything in the shade," returned the scout;
" the snapping of a flint, or even the smell of a single kar-
nel of the brimstone, would bring the hungry varlets upon
us in a body. Should it please God that we must give bat-
tle for the scalps, trust to the experience of men who know
the ways of the savages, and who are not often backward
when the war-whoop is howled." ^

Duncan cast his eyes behind him, and saw that the
tremblmg sisters were cowering in the far corner of the
building, while the Mohicans stood in the shadow, like two
upright posts, ready, and apparently willing, to strike when
the blow should be needed. Curbing his impatience, he
again looked out upon the area, and awaited the result in
silence. At that instant the thicket opened, and a tall and
armed Huron advanced a few paces into the open space.
As he gazed upon the silent block-house, the moon fell upon
his swarthy countenance, and betrayed its surprise and curi-
osity. He made the exclamation which usually accompanies
the former emotion in an Indian, and, calling in a low voice,
soon drew a companion to his side.

These children of the woods stood together for several
moments pointing at the crumbling edifice, and conversing
in the unintelligible language of their tribe. They then
approached, though with slow and cautious steps, pausing
every instant to look at the building, like startled deer,
whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened
apprehensions for the mastery. The foot of one of them
suddenly rested on the mound, and he stooped to examine
its nature. At this moment, Heyward observed that the
scout loosened his knife in its sheath, and lowered the muz-
zle of his rifle. Imitating these movements, the young man
prepared himself for the struggle, which now seemed inev-
itable.

The savages were so near, that the least motion in one

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 158

of the horses, or even a breath louder tliaii common, would
have betrayed the fugitives. But, in discovering the char-
acter of the mound, the attention of the Ilurons appeared
directed to a different object. They spoke together, and
the sounds of their voices were low and solemn, as if influ-
enced by a reverence that was deeply blended with awe.
Then they drew warily back, keeping their eyes riveted on
the ruin, as if they expected to see the apparitions of the
dead issue from its silent walls, until having reached the
boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket,
and disappeared.

Hawkeye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth,
and drawing a loug, free breath, exclaimed, in an audible
whisper, —

" Aye ! they respect the d(^ad, and it has this time saved
their own live? and, it ma- he the lives of better men
too."

Hey ward len^ nis attention .or a single moment, to his
companion, but without replying, he again turned towards
those who just then interested him more. He heard the
two Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soon plain that all
the pursuers were gathered about them, in deep attention to
their report. After a few minutes of earnest and solemn
dialogue, altogether different from the noisy clamor with
which they had first collected about the spot, the sounds
grew fainter and more distant, and finally were lost in the
depths of the forest.

Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chin-
gachgook assured him that every sound from the retiring
party was completely swallowed by the distance, when he
motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, and to assist
the sisters into their saddles. The instant this was done,
they issued through the broken gateway, and stealing out by
a direction opposite to the one by which they had entered,
they quitted the spot, the sisters casting furtive glances at
the silent grave and crumbling ruin, as they left the soft
light of tJie moon, to bury themselves in the gloom of the
woods.

154 THE LAST OF THE MOHICajMA.

CHAPTER XIV.

Guard. — Qui est la ?

Puc. — Palsans, pauvres geus de France.

King (Iemrt VL

During the rapid movement from the block-house, and
until the party was deeply buried in the forest, each indi-
vidual was too much interested in the escape to hazard a
word even in whispers. The scout resumed his post in the
advance, though his steps, after he had thrown a safe dis-
tance between himself and his enemies, were more deliber-
ate than in their previous march, in consequence of his utter
ignorance of the localities of the surrounding woods. More
than once he halted to consult with his confederates, the
Mohicans, pointing upwards at the moon, and examining
the barks of the trees with care. In these brief pauses,
Heyward and the sisters listened, with senses rendered
doubly acute by the danger, to detect any symptoms which
might announce the proximity of their foes. At such mo-
ments, it seemed as if a vast range of country lay buried
in eternal sleep ; not the least sound arising from the forest,
unless it was the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a
water-course. Birds, beasts, and man, appeared to slumber
alike, if, indeed, any of the latter were to be found in that
wide tract of wilderness. But the sounds of the rivulet,
feeble and murmuring as they were, relieved the guides at
once from no trifling embarrassment, and towards it thej
immediately held their way.

When the banks of the little stream were gamed, Hawk-
eye made another halt ; and, taking the moccasins from his
feet, he invited Heyward and Gamut to follow his example.
He then entered the water, and for near an hour they trav-
elled in the bed of the brook, leaving no trail. The moon

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 155

had already sunk into an immense pile of blacL jloudsy
which lay impending above the western horizon, when they
issued from the low and devious water-course to rise again
to the light and level of the sandy but wooded plain.
Here the scout seemed to be once more at home, for he
held on his way with the certainty and diligence of a man
who moved in the security of his own knowledge. The
path soon became more uneven, and the travellers could
plainly perceive that the momitains drew nigher to them on
each hand, and that they were, in truth, about entering one
of their gorges. Suddenly, Hawkeye made a pause, and
tvaiting until he was joined by the whole party, he spoke,
though in tones so low and cautious, that they added to the
solemnity of his words, in the quiet and darkness of the
place.

" It is easy to know the pathways, nd to find the licks
and water-courses of the wilderness," he said ; " but who
that saw this spot could venture to say, that a mighty army
was at rest among yonder silent trees and barren moun-
tains?"

" We are then at no great distance from William
Henry?" said Hey ward, advancing nigher to the scout

" It is yet a long and weary path, and when and where
to strike it, is now our greatest difficulty. See," he said,
pointing through the trees towards a spot where a little
basin of water reflected the stars from its placid bosom,
" here is the * bloody pond ; ' and I am on ground that I
have not only often travelled, but over whfch I have fou't
the enemy, from the rising to the setting sun."

" Ha ! that sheet of dull and dreary water, then, is the
sepulchre of the brave men who fell in the contest. I have
heard it named, but never have I stood on its banks be-
fore."

" Three battles did we make with the Dutch-Frenchman ^
in a day," continued Hawkeye, puiiSuing the train of hiii
own thoughts, rather than replying to the remark of Dun-

1 Baron Dieskau, a German, in the service of France. A few years pre-
rioualy to tie period of tlie tale, this officer was defeated by Sir Williaa
Johnson of Johnstown, New York, on the shores of Lake Geori^e. iSee Ap-
^lendix, Note II-

166 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

can. " He met us hard by, in our outward march to Ambofib
his advaijoe, and scattered us, like driven deer, through the
defile, to the shores of Horican. Then we rallied behind
our fallen trees, and made head against him, under Sir
William — who was made Sir William for that very deed j
and well did we pay him for the disgrace of the morning !
Hundreds of Frenchmen saw the sun that day for the last
time ; and even their leader, Dieskau himself, fell into our
bauds, so cut and torn with the lead, that he has gone back
to his own country, unfit for further acts in war."

" 'Twas a noble repulse ! " exclaimed Hey ward, in the
heat of his youthful ardor ; " the fame of it reached us
early, in our southern army."

" Aye ! but it did not end there. I was sent by Major
Efiingham, at Sir William's own bidding, to outflank the
French, and carry the tidmgs of their disaster across the
portage, to the fort on the Hudson. Just here-away, where
you see the trees rise into a mountain swell, I met a
party coming down to our aid, and I led them where the
enemy were taking their meal, little dreaming that they
had not finished the bloody work of the day."

" And you surprised them ? "

"If death can be a surprise to men who are thinking
only of the cravings of their appetites. We gave them
but little breathing time, for they had borne hard upon us
in the fight of the morning, and there were few in our party
who had not lost friend or relative by their hands. When
all was over, the dead, and some say the dying, were cast
into that little pond. These eyes have seen its waters col-
ored with blood, as natural water never yet flowed from the
bowels of the 'arth."

" It was a convenient, and, I trust, will prove a peaceful
grave for a soldier. You have, then, seen much service on
this frontier ? "

" I ! " said the scout, erecting his tall person with an air
of military pride ; " there are not many echoes among
these hills that haven't rung with the crack of my rifle, nor
is there tlie space of a square mile atwixt Horican and the
liver, that * Killdeer ' hasn't dropped a living bovly on, bo

THE LAST OF TBE MOHICANS. 157

it an enemy or be it a brute beast. As for the grave there
being as quiet as you mention, it is another matter. There
are them in the camp who say and think, man, to lie stiU,
should not be buried while the breath is in tlie body ; and
certain it is that in the hurry of that evening, the doctors
had but little time to say who was living and who was
dead. Hist ! see you nothing walking on the shore of the
pond ? "

" 'Tis not probable that any are as houseless as ourselves,
in this dreary forest."

" Such as he may care but little for house or shelter, and
night dew can never wet a body that passes its days in the
water," returned the scout, grasping the shoulder of Hey-
ward with such convulsive strength as to make the young
soldier painfully sensible how much superstitious terror had
got the mastery of a man usually so dauntless.

" By heaven ! there is a human form, and it approaches I
Stand to your arms, my friends ; for we know not whom
we encounter.''

" Qui vive ? " demanded a stern, quick voice, which
sounded like a challenge from another world, issuing out oi
that solitary and solemn place.

" What says it ? " whispered the scout ; " it speaks
neither Indian nor English ! "

" Qui vive ? " repeated the same voice, which was
quickly followed by the rattling of arms, and a menacing
attitude.

" France ! " cried Heyward, advancing from the shadow
of the trees to the shore of the pond, within a few yards
of the sentinel.

" D'ou venez-vous — oil allez-vous, d'aussi bonne heure ? **
demanded the grenadier, in the language and with the ac-
cent of a man from old France.

" Je viens de la decouverte, et je vais me coucher."

" Etes-vous officier du roi ? "

" Sans doute, mon camarade ; me prends-tu pour un pro
rincial! Je suis capitaine de chasseurs (Heyward well
knew that the other was of a regiment m the line) ; j'ai
ici, avec moi, les filles du commandant de la fortificatioa

168 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Aha ! tu en as entendu parler ! je les ai fait prisonni^rto
pres de I'autre fort, et je les conduis au general."

" Ma foi ! mesdames ; j'en suis fach^ pour vous," ex-
claimed the young soldier, touching his cap with grace;
" rnais — fortune de guerre ! vous trouverez notre general
un brave homme, et bien poll avec les dames."

" Cest le caractere des gens de guerre," said Cora, with
admirable self-possession. " Adieu, mon ami ; je vous sou-
haiterais un devoir plus agreable a remplir."

The soldier made a low and humble acknowledgment
for her civility ; and Heyward adding a " Bonne nuit, mon
camarade," they moved deliberately forward, leavmg the
sentinel pacing the banks of the silent pond, little suspect-
ing an enemy of so much effrontery, and humming to him-
self those words, which were recalled to his mind by the
sight of women, and perhaps by recollections of his own
distant and beautiful France —

" Vive le vin, vive I'aniour," etc., etc.

" 'Tis well you understood the knave ! " whispered the
scout, when they had gained a little distance from the place,
and letting his rifle fall into the hollow of his arm again ;
" I soon saw that he was one of them uneasy Frenchers ; and
well for him it was that his speech was friendly and his
wishes kind, or a place might have been found for his bones
amongst those of his countrymen."

He was interrupted by a long and heavy groan which
arose from the little basin, as though, in truth, the spirits of
the departed lingered about their watery sepulchre.

" Surely it was of flesh ! " continued the scout ; " no
spirit could handle its arms so steadily ! "

" It was of flesh ; but whether the poor fellow still be-
longs to this world may well be doubted," said Heyward,
glancing his eyes around him, and missing Chingachgook
from their little band. Another groan more faint than the
former, was succeeded by a heavy and sullen plunge into
the water, and all was as still again as if the borders of the
dreary pool had never been awakened from the silence of
creation. While they yet hesitated in uncertainty, the forjD

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 159

of the Indian was seen gliding out of the thicket. As the
chief rejoined them, with one hand he attached the reeking
scalp of the unfortunate young Frenchman to his girdle, and
with the other he replaced the knife and tomahawk that had
drunk his blood. He then took his wonted station, with
the air of a man who believed he had done a deed of
merit.

The scout dropped one end of his rifle to the earth, and
leaning his hands on the other, he stood musing in profound
silence. Then shaking his head in a mournful manner, he
muttered, —

*' 'Twould have been a cruel and an unhuman act for a
white-skin ; but 'tis the gift and natur' of an Indian, and I
suppose it should not be denied. I could wish, though, it
had befallen an accursed ]\iingo, rather than that gay young
boy from the old countries."

" Enough ! " said Heyward, apprehensive the uncon-
scious sisters might comprehend the nature of the deten-
tion, and conquering his disgust by a train of reflections
very much like that of the hunter ; " 'tis done ; and though
better it were left undone, cannot be amended. You see
we are, too obviously, within the sentinels of the enemy ;
what course do you propose to follow ? "

" Yes," said Hawkeye, rousing himself again, " 'tis as you
say, too late to harbor further thoughts about it. Aye,
the French have gathered around the fort in good ear-
nest, and we have a delicate needle to thread in passing
them."

" And but little time to do it in," added Heyward, glanc-
ing his eyes upwards, towards the bank of vapor that con-
cealed the setting moon.

" And little time to do it in ! " repeated the scoot.
" The thing may be done in two fashions, by the help of
Providence, without which it may not be done at all."

" Name them quickly, for time presses."

" One would be to dismount the gentle ones, and let
their beasts range the plain ; by sending the Mohicans in
front, we might then cut a lane through their sentries, and
enter the fort over the dead Ixxlies."

160 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

" It mil not do — it will not do ! " interrupted the gen-
erous Heyward ; " a soldier might force his way in this
manner, but never with such a convoy."

" 'Twould be, indeed, a bloody path for such tender feet
to wade in," returned the equally reluctant scout ; " but I
thought it befitting my manhood to name it. We must
then turn on our trail and get without the line of their
look-outs, when we will bend short to the west, and enter
the mountains ; where I can hide you, so that all the devil's
hounds in Montcalm's pay would be thrown off the scent,
for months to come."

" Let it be done, and that instantly.'* ^

Further words were unnecessary ; for Hawkeye, merely
uttering the mandate to " follow," moved along the route
by which they had just entered their present critical and
even dangerous situation. Their progress, like their late
dialogue, was guarded, and without noise ; for none knew
at what moment a passing patrol, or a crouching picket of
the enemy, might rise upon their path. As they held their
silent way along the margin of the pond, again Heyward
and the scout stole furtive glances at its appalling dreari-
ness. They looked in vain for the form they had so re-
cently seen stalking along its silent shores, while a low and
regular wash of the little waves, by announcing that the
waters were not yet subsided, furnished a frightful memorial
of the deed of blood they had just witnessed. Like all
that passing and gloomy scene, the low basin, however,
quickly melted in the darkness, and became blended with
the mass of black objects, in the rear of the travellers.

Hawkeye soon deviated from the line of their retreat,
and striking off towards the mountains which form the
western boundary of the narrow plain, he led his followers,
with swift steps, deep within the shadows that were cast
from their high and broken summits. The route was now
painful ; lying over ground ragged with rocks, and intersected
with ravines, and their progress proportionately slow.
Bleak and black hills lay on every side of them, compen-
sating hi some degree for the additional toil of the march,
by the sense of security they imparted. At length the

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 161

^rty began slowly to rise a steep and rugged ascent, by a
path that curiously wound among rocks and trees, avoiding
the one, and supported by the other, in a manner that
showed it had been devised by men long practiced in the
arts of the wilderness. As they gradually rose from the
level of the valleys, the thick darkness which usually pre-
cedes the approach of day began to disperse, and objects
were seen in the plain and palpable colors with which they
had been gifted by nature. When they issued from the
stunted woods which clung to the barren sides of the moun-
tain, upon a flat and mossy rock that formed its summit,
they met the morning, as it came blushing above tlie green
pines of a hill that lay on the opposite side of the valley of
the Horican.

The scout now told the sisters to dismount ; and taking
the bridles fi-om the mouths, and the saddles off the backs
of the jaded beasts, he turned them loose, to glean a scanty
subsistence among the shrubs and meagre herbage of that
elevated region.

" Go," he said, " and seek your food where natur' gives it
you; and beware that you become not food to ravenous
wolves yourselves, among these hills."

" Have we no further need of them ? " demanded Hey-
ward.

" See, and judge with your own eyes," said the scout,
advancing towards the eastern brow of the mountain,
whither he beckoned for the whole party to follow ; " if it
was as easy to look into the heart of man as it is to spy
out the nakedness of Montcalm's camp from this spot, hyp-
ocritea would grow scarce, and the cunning of a IVIingo
might prove a losing game, compared to the honesty of a
Delaware."

When the travellers reached the verge of the precipice,
they saw, at a glance, the truth of the scout's declaration,
and the admirable foresight with which he had led them to
their commanding station.

The mountain on which they stood, elevated, perhaps, a
thousand feet in the air, was a high cone that rose a little
in advance of that range wkich stretches for miles along the
11

162 THE LAST OF THE M0HI0AN8.

western shores of the lake, until meetin-^ its sister pile*,
beyond the water, it ran off towards the Canadas, in con-
fiised and broken masses of rock, thinly sprinkled with ever,
greens. Immediately at the feet of the party, the southern
shore of the Horican swept in a broad semicircle, from
mountain to mountain, marking a wide strand, that soor
rose into an uneven and somewhat elevated plain. To thv<
north, stretched the limpid, and, as it appeared from tha?
dizzy height, the narrow sheet of the " holy lake," indented
with numberless bays, embellished by fantastic headlands,
and dotted with countless islands. At the distance of a
few leagues, the bed of the waters became lost among moun-
tains, or was wrapped in the masses of vapor that came
slowly rolling along their bosom, before a light morning air
But a narrow opening between the crests of the hills
pointed out the passage by which they found their way still
further north, to spread their pure and ample sheets again,
before pouring out their tribute into the distant Champlain.
To the south stretched the defile, or rather broken plain, so
often mentioned. For several miles in this direction, the
mountains appeared reluctant to yield their dominion, but
within reach of the eye they diverged, and finally melted
into the level and sandy lands, across which we have accom-
panied our adventurers in their double journey. Along
both ranges of hills, which bounded the opposite sides of
the lake and valley, clouds of light vapor were rising in
spiral wreaths from the uninhabited woods, looking like the
smokes of hidden cottages ; or rolled lazily down the de*
clivities, to mingle with the fogs of the lower land. A sin-
gle, solitary, snow-white cloud floated above the valley, and
marked the spot beneath which lay the silent pool of tha
" bloody pond."

Directly on the shore of the lake, and nearer to its west-
ern than to its eastern margin, lay the extensive earthen
ramparts and low buildings of William Henry. Two of
the sweeping bastions appeared to rest on the water which
washed their bases, while a deep ditch and extensive
morasses guarded its other sides and angles. The land had
been cleared of wood for a reasonable distance around the

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 188

i?ork, but every other part of the scene lay in the green
livery of nature, except where the limpid water mellowed
the view, or the bold rocks thrust their black and naked^
heads above the undulating outline of the mountain ranges.
In its front might be seen the scattered sentinels, who held
a weary watch against their numerous foes ; and within the
walls themselves, the travellers looked down upon men still
drowsy with a night of vigilance. Towards the southeast,
but in immediate contact with the fort, was an entrenched
camp, posted on a rocky eminence, that would have been
far more eligible for the work itself, in which Hawkeye
pointed out the presence of those auxiliary regiments that
had so recently left the Hudson in their company. From
the woods, a little further to the south, rose numerous dark
and lurid smokes, that were easily to be distinguished from
the purer exhalations of the springs, and which the scout
also showed to Heyward, as evidences that the enemy lay
in force in that direction.

But the spectacle which most concerned the young sol
dier was on the western bank of the lake, though q*iite
near to its southern termination. On a stripe of land,
which appeared, from his stand, too narrow to contain such
an army, hut which, in truth, extended many hundreds of
yards from the shores of the Horican to the base of the
mountain, were to be seen the white tents and military en-
gines of an encampment of ten thousand men. Batteries
were already thrown up in their front, and even while the
spectators above them were looking down, with such dif-
ferent emotions, on a scene which lay like a map be-
neath their feet, the roar of artillery rose from the valley,
and passed off in thundering echoes, along the eastern
hills.

" Morning is just touching them below," said the delib-
erate and musing scout, " and the watchers have a mind to
wake up the sleepers by the sound of cannon. We are a
few hours too late ! Montcalm has already filled the woodd
with his accursed Iroquois."

"■ The place is, indeed, invested," returned Duncan, " but
is there no expedient by which we may enter ? capture in

164 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

the works would be fkr preferable to falling again into th€
hands of roving Indians."

" See ! " exclaimed the scout, unconsciously directing the
attention of Cora to the quarters of her own father, " how
that shot has made the stones % from the side of the
commandant's house ! Aye ! these Frenchers will pull it
to pieces faster than it was put together, solid and thick
though it be."

" Hey ward, I sicken at the sight of danger that I cannot
share," said the undaunted, but anxious daughter. " Let us
go to Montcalm, and demand admission : he dare not deny
a child the boon.**

" You would scarce find the tent of the Frenchman with
the hair on your head," said the blunt scout. " If I had
but one of the thousand boats which lie empty along that
shore, it might be done. Ha ! here will soon be an end of
the firing, for yonder comes a fog that will turn day to
night, and make an Indian arrow more dangerous than a
moulded cannon. Now, if you are equal to the work, am'
will follow, I will make a push ; for I long to get dowi
into that camp, if it be only to scatter some Mingo dogs
that I see lurking in the skirts of yonder thicket of
birch."

" We are equal," said Cora, firmly : " on such an errand
we will follow to any danger."

The scout turned to her with a smile of honest and cor-
dial approbation, as he answered, —

" I would I had a thousand men, of brawny limbs and
quick eyes, that feared death as little as you! I'd send
them jabbering Frenchers back into their den again, afore
the week was ended, howling like so many fettered hounds
or hungry wolves. But stir," he added, turning from her
to the rest of the party, " the fog comes rolling down so
fast, we shall have but just the time to meet it on the plain,
and use it as a cover. Remember, if any accident should
befall me, to keep the air blowing on your left cheeks — or
rather, follow the Mohicans ; they'd scent their way, be if
in day or be it a,t night."

He then waved his hand *or them to follow, and threw

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 166

himself down the steep declivity, with free, but careful foot-
steps. Heyward assisted the sisters to descend, and in a
few minutes they were all far down a mountain whose sides
they had climbed with so much toil and pain.

The direction taken by Hawkeye soon brought the trav-
ellers to the level of the plain, nearly opposite to a sally-
port in the western curtain of the fort, which lay, itself, at
the distance of about half a mile from the point where he
halted to allow Duncan to come up with his charge. In
their eagerness, and favored by the nature of the ground,
they had anticipated the fog, which was rolling heavily
down the lake, and it became necessary to pause, until the
mists had wrapped the camp of the enemy in their fleecy
mantle. The Mohicans profited by the delay, to steal out
of the woods, and to make a survey of surrounding objects.
They were followed at a little distance by the scout, with &
view to profit early by their report, and to obtain some
faint knowledge for himself of the more immediate localities.

In a very few moments he returned, his face reddened
with vexation, while he muttered his disappointment in
words of no very gentle import.

" Here has the cunning Frenchman been posting a picket
directly in our path," he said ; " red-skins and whites ; and
we shall be as likely to fall into their midst as to pass them
in the fog!"

" Cannot we make a circuit to avoid the danger," asked
Heyward, " and come into our path again when it is
passed ? "

" Who that once bends from the line 8f his march in a
fog can tell when or how to turn to find it again ! The
mists of Horican are not like the curls from a peace-pipe,
or the smoke which settles above a mosquito fire."

He was yet speaking, when a crashing sound was heard,
and a cannon-ball entered the thicket, striking the body of
ft sapling, and rebounding to the earth, its force being much
expended by previous resistance. The Indians follower]
instantly like busy attendants on the terrible messenger,
»nd Uncas commenced speaking earnestly, and with much
action, in the Delaware tongue.

166 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

** It may be so, lad," muttered the scout, when lie had
ended ; " for desperate fevers are not to be treated like a
toothache. Come, then, the fog is shutting in."

" Stop ! " cried Hey ward ; " first explain your expecta-
tions."

" 'Tis soon done, and a small hope it is ; but it is better
than nothing. This shot that you see," added the scout,
kicking the harmless iron with his foot, " has ploughed the
'arth in its road from the fort, and we shall hunt for the
furrow it has made, when all other signs may fail. No
more words, but follow, or the fog may leave us in the
middle of our path, a mark for both armies to shoot a^ ."

Heyward perceiving that, in fact, a crisis had arrived,
when acts were more required than words, placed himself
between the sisters, and drew them swiftly forward, keep-
ing the dim figure of their leader in his eye. It was soon
apparent that Hawkeye had not magnified the power of
the fog, for before they had proceeded twenty yards, it was
difficult for the different individuals of the party to distin-
guish each other, in the vapor.

They had made their little circuit to the left, and were
already inclining again towards the right, having, as Hey-
ward thought, got over nearly half the distance to the
friendly works, when his ears were saluted with the fierce
summons, apparently within twenty feet of them, of ^

"Qui vala?"

" Push on ! " whispered the scout, once more bending to
the left.

" Push on ! " repeated Heyward ; when the summon?
was renewed by a dozen voices, each of which seemed
charged with menace.

" C'est moi," cried Duncan, dragging, rather than leading
those he supported, swiftly onward.

"Bete! — qui? — moi!"

" Ami de la France."

" Tu m'as plus I'air d'un enntmi de la France ; arrete !
ou pardieu je te ferai ami du diable. Non ! feu, cama-
rades, feu ! "

The order was instantly obeyed, and the fog was stirred

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 167

by the explosion of fifty muskets. Happily, the aim was
bad, and the bullets cut the air in a direction a little differ-
ent from that taken by the fugitives ; though still so nigh
them, that to the unpracticed ears of David and the two
females, it appeared as if they whistled within a few inches
of the organs. The outcry was renewed, and the order, not
only to fire again, but to pm-sue, was too plainly audible.
When Heyward briefly explained the meaning of the words
they heard, Hawkeye halted, and spoke with quick decision
and great firmness.

" Let us deliver our fire," he said ; " they will believe it a
sortie, and give way, or they will wait for reinforcements."

The scheme was well conceived, but failed in its effect
The instant the French lieard the pieces, it seemed as il
the plain was alive with men, muskets rattling along its
whole extent, from the shores of the lake to the fm'thest
boundary of the woods.

" We shall draw their entire army upon us, and bring on
a general assault," said Duncan : " lead on, my friend, for
your own life, and ours."

The scout seemed willing to comply ; but, in the hurry
of the moment, and in the change of position, he had lost
the direction. In vain lie turned either cheek towards the
light air ; they felt equally cool. In this dilemma, Uncas
lighted on the furrow of the cannon-ball, where it had cut
the ground in three adjacent ant-hills.

" Give me the range ! " said Hawkeye, bending to catch
a glimpse of the direction, and then instantly moving on-
ward. *

Cries, oaths, voices calling to each other, and the report,
of muskets, were now quick and incessant, and, apparently,
on every side of them. Suddenly, a strong glare of light
flashed across the scene, the fog rolled upwards in thick
wreaths, and several cannon belched across the plain, and
the roar was thrown heavily back from the bellowing
echoes of the mountain.

" 'Tis from the fort ! " exclaimed Hawkeye, turning short
on bis tracks ; " and we, like stricken fools, were rushing to
the woods, imder the very knives of the Maquas."

168 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

The instant their mistake was rectified, the whole party
retraced the error with the utmost diligence. Duncan will-
ingly relinquished the support of Cora to the arm of Uncaa^
and Cora as readily accepted the welcome assistance. Men,
hot and angry in pursuit, were evidently on their footsteps,
and each instant threatened their capture, if not their de-
struction.

" Point de quartier aux coquins ! " cried an eager pur-
suer, who seemed to direct the operations of the enemy.

" Stand firm, and be ready, my gallant 60ths ! " suddenly
exclaimed a voice above them ; " wait to see the enemy ;
fire low, and sweep the glacis."

" Father ! father ! " exclaimed a piercing cry from out
the mist ; " it is I ! Alice ! thy own Elsie ! spare, 0 !
save your daughters ! "

" Hold ! " shouted the former speaker, in the awful tones
of parental agony, the sound reaching even to the woods,
and rolling back in solemn echo. " 'Tis she ! God has re-
stored me my children! Throw open the sally-port; to
the field, 60ths, to the field ; pull not a trigger, lest ye kill
my lambs ! Drive off these dogs of France with your
steel."

Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and dart-
ing to the spot, directed by the sound, he met a long line
of dark-red warriors, passing swiftly towards the glacis.
He knew them for his own battalion of the royal Ameri-
cans, and flying to their head, soon swept every trace of
his pursuers from before the works.

For an instant, Cora and Alice had stood trembling and
bewildered by this unexpected desertion ; but, before either
had leisure for speech, or even thought, an officer of gi-
gantic frame, whose locks were bleached with years and
service, but whose air of military grandeur had been rather
softened than destroyed by time, rushed out of the body of
the mist, and folded them to his bosom, while large scalding
tears rolled down his pale and wrinkled cheeks, and he
exclaimed, in the peculiar accent of Scotland, —

" For this I thank thee. Lord ! Let danger come as il
will, thy servant is now prepared 1 "

tm LAST OF THE MUiHUAAi^^ 169

CHAPTER XV.

Then go we in, to know his embassy ;
Which I could, with ready guess, declare.
Before the Frenchman speak a word of it.

Kino Hbhbt V,

A FEW succeeding days were passed amid the privationa,
the uproar, and the dangers of the siege, which was vigor-
ously pressed by a power, against whose approaches Munro
possessed no competent means of resistance. It appeared
as if Webb, with his army, which lay slumbering on the
banks of the Hudson, had utterly forgotten the strait to
which his countrymen were reduced. Montcalm had filled
the woods of the portage with his savages, every yell and
whoop from whom rang through the British encampment,
chilling the hearts of men who were already but too much
disposed to magnify the danger

Not so, however, with the besieged. Animated by the
words, and stimulated by the examples, of their leader^
thej had found their courage, and maintained their ancient
reputation, with a zeal that did justice to the stern charac-
ter of their commander. As if satisfied with the toil of
marching through the wilderness to encounter his enemy,
the French general, though of approved skiB, had neglected
to seize the adjacent mountains ; whence the besieged might
have been exterminated with impunity, and which, in the
more modern warfare of the country, would not have been
neglected for a single hour. This sort of contempt for em-
inences, or rather dread of the labor of ascending them,
might have been termed the besetting weakness of the war-
fare of the period. It originated in the simplicity of the
Indian contests, in which, from the nature of the combats,
and the density of the forests, fortresses were rare, and
artillery next to useless. The carelessness engendered by

ITO THE Last of the mohicans.

these usages descended even to the war of the Revolution,
and lost the States the important fortress of Ticonderoga,
opening a way for the army of Burgoyne into what wat
then the bosom of the country. We look back at this
ignorance, or infatuation, whichever it may be called, with
wonder, knowing that the neglect of an eminence, whose
difficulties, like those of Mount Defiance, have been so
greatly exaggerated, would, at the present time, prove fatal
to the reputation of the engineer who had planned the
♦rorks at their base, or to that of the general whose lot it
Was to defend them.

The tourist, the valetudinarian, or the amateur of the
beauties of nature, who, in the train of his four-in-hand,
now rolls through the scenes we have attempted to describe,
in quest of information, health, or pleasure, or floats stead-
ily towards his object on those artificial waters which have
sprung up under the administration of a statesman ^ who
has dared to stake his political character on the hazardous
issue, is not to suppose that his ancestors traversed those
hills, or struggled with the same currents with equal facil-
ity. The transportation of a single heavy gun was often
considered equal to a victory gained ; if, happily, the diffi-
culties of the passage had not so far separated it from its
necessary concomitant, the ammunition, as to render it no
more than an useless tube of unwieldy iron.

The evils of this state of things pressed heavily on the
fortunes of the resolute Scotsman who now defended Wil-
liam Henry. Though his adversary neglected the hills, he
had planted his batteries with judgment on the plain, and
caused them to be served with vigor and skill. Against
this assault, the besieged could only oppose the imperfect
and hasty preparations of a fortress in the wilderness.

It was in the afternoon of the fifth day of the siege, and
the fourth of his own service in it, that Major Heyward
profited by a parley that had just been beaten, by repairing
to the ramparts of one of the water bastions, to breathe
the cool air from the lake, and to take a survey of tlie

> EvidenUy the late De Witt Clinton, who died governor of New York ia

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 171

progress of the siege. He was alone, if the solitary senti-
nel who paced the mound be excepted ; for the artillerists
had hastened also to profit by the temporary suspension of
their arduous duties. The evening was delightfully calm
and the light air from the limpid water fresh and soothing.
It seemed as if, with the termination to the roar of artil-
lery and the plunging of shot, nature had also seized the
moment to assume her mildest and most captivating form.
The sun poured down his parting glory on the scene, with-
out the oppression of those fierce rays that belong to the
climate and the season. The mountains looked green, and
fresh, and lovely ; tempered with the milder light, or soft-
ened in shadow, as thin vapors floated between them and
the sun. The numerous islands rested on the bosom of the
Horican, some low and sunken, as if imbedded in the
waters, and others appearing to hover above the element,
in little hillocks of green velvet ; among which the fisher-
men of the beleaguering army peacefully rowed their skiffs,
or floated at rest on the glassy mirror, in quiet pursuit of
their employment.

The scene was at once animated and still. All that per-
tained to nature was sweet, or simply grand ; while those
parts which depended on the temper and movements of
man were lively and playful.

Two little spotless flags were abroad, the one on a salient
angle of the foi t, and the other on the advanced battery of
the besiegers ; emblems of the truce which existed, not only
to the acts, but it would seem, also, to the^ enmity of the
combatants.

Behind these, again, swung, heavily opening and clos-
ing in silken folds, the rival standards of England and
France.

A hundred gay and thoughtless young Frenchmen were
irawing a net to the pebbly beach, within dangerous prox-
onity to the sullen but silent cannon of the fort, while the
eastern mountain was sending back the loud shouts and gay
merriment that attended their sport. Some were rushing
eagerly to enjoy the aquatic games of the lake, and others
were already toiling their way up the neighboring hills.

172 THE LAST OF 1U£ MOHICANS.

with the restless curiosity of their nation. To all these
sports and pursuits, those of the enemy who watched the
besieged, and the besieged themselves, were, however,
merely the idle, though sympathizing spectators. Here
and there a picket had, indeed, raised a song, or mingled io
a dance, which had drawn the dusky savages around them,
from their lairs in the forest. In short, everything wore
rather the appearance of a day of pleasure, than of an houi
stolen from the dangers and toil of a bloody and vindictive
warfare.

Duncan had stood in a musing attitude, contemplating
this scene a few minutes, when his eyes were directed to
the glacis in front of the sally-port already mentioned, by
the sounds of approaching footsteps. He walked to an
angle of the bastion, and beheld the scout advancing, under
the custody of a French officer, to the body of the fort.
The countenance of Hawkeye was haggard and careworn,
<ind his air dejected, as though he felt the deepest degrada-
tion at having fallen into the power of his enemies. He
was without his favorite weapon, and his arms were even
bound behind him with thongs, made of the skin of a deer.
The arrival of flags, to cover the messengers of summons,
had occurred so often of late, that when Heyward first
threw his careless glance on this group, he expected to see
mother of the officers of the enemy, charged with a simi-
lar office ; but the instant he recognized the tall person, and
still sturdy, though downcast features of his friend, the
woodsman, he started with surprise, and turned to descend
from the bastion into the bosom of the work.

The sounds of other voices, however, caught his atten-
tion, and for a moment caused him to forget his purpose.
At the inner angle of the mound he met the sisters, walk-
ing along the parapet, in search, like himself, of air and
relief from confinement. They had not met from that
painful moment when he deserted them on the plain, only
to assure their safety. He had parted from them worn with
care, and jaded with fatigue ; he now saw thera refreshed
and blooming, though timid and anxious. Under such au
inducement, it will cause no surprise that the young man

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 178

lost eight, for a time, of other objects in order to addresi
them. He was, however, anticipated by the voice of the
ingenuous and youthful Alice.

" Ah ! thou truant ! thou recreant knight ! he who aban-
dons his damsels in the very lists ! " she cried ; " here have
we been days, nay, ages, expecting you at our feet, implor-
ing mercy and forgetful ness of your craven backsliding, or,
I should rather say, back -running — for verily you fled in
a manne:* that no stricken deer, as our worthy friend the
Bcout would say, could equal ! "

" You know that Alice means our thanks and our bless-
ings," added the graver and more thoughtful Cora. "In
truth, we have a little wondered why you should so rigidly
absent yourself from a place where the gratitude of the
daughters might receive the support of a parent's thanks."

" Your father himself could tell you, that though absent
from your presence, I have not been altogether forgetful of
your safety," returned the young man ; " the mastery of
yonder village of huts," pointing to the neighboring en-
trenched camp, "has been keenly disputed; and he who
holds it is sure to be possessed of this fort, and that which
it contains. My days and my nights have all been passed
there since we separated, because I thought that duty
called me thither. But," he added with an air of chagrin,
which he endeavored, though unsuccessfully, to conceal,
" had I been aware that what I then believed a soldier's
conduct could so be construed, shame would have been
added to the list of reasons."

" Heyward ! — Duncan ! " exclaimed Alice, bending for-
ward to read his half-averted countenance, until a lock of
her golden hair rested on her flushed cheek, and nearly con-
cealed the tear that had started to her eye ; " did I think
this idle tongue of mine had pained you, I would silence it
forever. Cora can say, if Cora would, how justly we have
prized your services, and how deep — I had almost said,
how fervent — is our gratitude."

" And will Cora attest the truth of this ? " cried Dun-
can, suffering the cloud to. be chased from his counte-
nance by a smile of open pleasufe. " What says cm
f •■* '*'.

174 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

graver sister ? Will she find an excuse for the neglect of
the knight in the duty of a soldier ? "

Cora made no immediate answer, but turned her face
towards the water, as if looking on the sheet of the Hori-
can. When she did bend her dark eyes on the young man,
they were yet filled with an expression of anguish that at
once drove every thought but that of kind solicitude from
his mind.

" You are not well, dearest Miss Munro ! " he exclaimed ;
" we have trifled while you are in suffering."

" 'Tis nothing," she answered, refusing his offered sup-
port with feminine reserve. " That I cannot see the sunny
side of the picture of life, like this artless but ardent en-
thusiast," she added, laying her hand lightly, but affection-
ately, on the arm of her sister, " is the penalty of expe-
rience, and, perhaps, the misfortune of my nature. See,"
she continued, as if determined to shake off infirmity, in a
sense of duty; "look around you. Major Hey ward, and
tell me what a prospect is this for the daughter of a soldier
whose greatest happiness is his honor and his military re-
nown."

" Neither ought nor shall be tarnished by circumstances
over which he has had no control," Duncan warmly replied.
" But your words recall me to my own duty. I go now to
your gallant father, to hear his determination in matters of
the last moment to the defense. God bless you in every
fortune, noble — Cora — I may and must call you." She
frankly gave him her hand, though her lip quivered, and
her cheeks gradually became of an ashy paleness. " In
every fortune, I know you will be an ornament and honor
to your sex. Alice, adieu" — his tone changed from
admiration to tenderness — "adieu, Alice; we shall soon
meet again ; as conquerors, I trust, and amid rejoicings ! "

Without waiting for an answer from either, the young
man threw himself down the grassy steps of the bastion,
and moving rapidly acrc:s the parade, he was quickly in
the presence of their father. Munro was pacing his narroTiV
apartment with a disturbed air and gigantic strides as Dun-
can enterAd.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 116

<« You have anticipated my wishes, Major Heyward ," be
said ; " I was about to request this favor."

" I am sorry to see, sir, that the messenger I so warmly
recommended has returned in custody of the French ! 1
hope there is no reason to distrust his fidelity ? "

" The fidelity of * The Long Rifle * is well known to
me," returned Munro, " and is above suspicion ; though his
usual good fortune seems, at last, to have failed. Mont-
calm has got him, and with the accursed politeness of hia
nation, he has sent him in with a doleful tale, of ' knowing
how I valued the fellow, he could not think of retaining
him.' A Jesuitical way, that, Major Duncan Heyward, of
telling a man of his misfortunes ! "

" But the general and his succor ? **

" Did ye look to the south as ye entered, and could ye
not see them ? " said the old soldier, laughing bitterly.
" Hoot ! hoot ! you're an impatient boy. sir, and cannot
give the gentlemen leisure for their march ! "

" They are coming, then ? The scout has said aa
much?"

" When ? and by what path ? for the dunce has omitted
to tell me this. There is a letter, it would seem, too ; and
that is the only agreeable part of the matter. For the
customary attentions of your Marquis of Montcalm — I
warrant me, Duncan, that he of Lothian would buy a
dozen such marquisates — but, if the news of the letter
were bad, the gentility of this French monsieur would cer-
tainly compel him to let us know it."

"He keeps the letter, then, while he releases the messen-
ger?"

" Aye, that does he, and all for the sake of what you call
your *bonhommie.' I would venture, if the truth was
known, the fellow's grandfather taught the noble science of
dancing."

" But what says the scout ? he has eyes and ears, and a
tongue : what verbal report does he make ? "

" O ! sir, he is not wanting in natural organs, and he is
free to tell all that he has seen and heard The whole
•mount is this : there is a fort of his majesty's on the

1T6 THE LAST OP THE MOHrCANS.

banks of the Hudson, called Edward, in honor of his gtt^
cious highness of York, you'll know ; and it is well filled
with armed men, as such a work should be."

•* But was there no movement, no signs of any intention
to advance to our relief ? "

" There were the morning and evening parades ; and
when one of the provincial loons — you'll know, Duncan,
you're half a Scotsman yourself — when one of them
dropped his powder over his porretch, if it touched the
coals, it just burnt ! " Then suddenly changing his bitter,
ironical manner, to one more grave and thoughtful, he con-
tinued ; " and yet there might, and must be, something in
that letter which it would be well to know ! "

"Our decision should be speedy," said Duncan, gladly
availing himself of this change of humor, to press the more
important objects of their interview ; " I cannot conceal
from you, sir, that the camp will not be much longer tena-
ble; and I am sorry to add, that things appear no better in
the fort ; more than half the guns are bursted."

" And how should it be otherwise ? Some were fished
from the bottom of the lake ; some have been rusting in
the woods since the discovery of the country ; and some
were never guns at all — mere privateersmen's playthings !
Do you think, sir, you can have Woolwich Warren in the
midst of a wilderness, three thousand miles from Great
Britain ? "

" The walls are crumbling about our ears, and provisions
begin to fail us," continued Heyward, without regarding this
new burst of indignation ; " even the men show signs of
discontent and alarm."

" Major Heyward," said Munro, turning to his youthful
associate with the dignity of his years and superior rank ;
" I should have served his majesty for half a century, and
earned these gray hairs, in vain, were I ignorant of all you
say, and of the pressing nature of our circumstances ; still,
there is everything due to the honor of the king's arms and
something to ourselves. While there is hope of succor,
this fortress will I defend, though it be to be done with
pebbles gathered on the lake shore. It is a sight of the

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 177

letter, therefore, that we want, that we may know the in-
tentions of the man the Earl of Loudon has left among mi
as his substitute."

" And can I be of service in the matter ? "

" Sir, you can ; the Marquis of Montcalm has, in addition
to his other civUities, invited me to a personal interview be-
tween the wArks and his own camp ; in order, as he says,
to impart some additional information. Now, I think it
would not be wise to show any undue solicitude to meet
him, and I would employ you, an officer of rank, as my
substitute ; for it would but ill comport with the honor of
Scotland to let it be said one of her" gentlemen was outdone
in civility by a native of any other country on earth."

Without assuming the supererogatory task of entering
into a discussion of the comparative merits of national cour-
tesy, Duncan cheerfvilly assented to supply the place of the
veteran in the approaching interview. A long and confiden-
tial communication now succeeded, during which the young
man received some additional insight into his duty, from the
experience and native acuteness of his commander, and then
the former took his leave.

As Duncan could only act as the representative of the
commandant of the fort, the ceremonies which should have
accompanied a meeting between the heads of the adverse
forces were of course dispensed with. The truce still ex-
isted, and with a roll and beat of the drum, and covered by
a little white flag, Duncan left the sally-port, within ten
minutes after his instructions were ended. He was received
by the French officer in advance with the ustial formalities,
and immediately accompanied to a distant marquee of the
renowned soldier who led the forces of France.

The general of the enemy received the youthful messeu
ger, surrounded by his principal officers, and by a swarthy
band of the native chiefs, who had followed him to the field,
with the warriors of their several tribes. Heyward paused
short, when, in glancing his eyes rapidly over the dark
group of the latter, he beheld the malignant countenance of
Magna, regarding him with the calm but sullen attention
which marked the exprsssion of that 8n]>tle savage. A
IS

178 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

•light exclamation of surprise even burst from the lips of (Jm
young man ; but instantly recollecting his errand, and the
presence in which he stood, he suppressed every appearance
of emotion, and turned to the hostile leader, who had already
advanced a step to receive him.

The Marquis of Montcalm was, at the period of which
we write, in the flower of his age, and, it may be added, in
the zenith of his fortunes. But, even in that enviable situa-
tion, he was affable, and distinguished as much for his atten-
tion to the forms of courtesy, as for that chivalrous courage
which, only two short years afterwards, induced him to
throw away his life on the plains of Abraham. Duncan, in
turning his eyes from the malign expression of Magna, suf-
fered them to rest with pleasure on the smiling and polished
features, and the noble military air, of the French gen-
eral.

" Monsieur," said the latter, " j'ai beaucoup de plaisir k
— bah ! — ou est cet interprete ? "

" Je crois, monsieur, qu'il ne sera pas necessaire," Hey-
ward modestly replied ; " je parle un pen Fran9ais."

" Ah ! j'en suis bien aise," said Montcalm, taking Duncan
familiarly by the arm, and leading him deep into the mar-
quee, a little out of ear-shot; "je deteste ces fripons-lk ; on
ne sait jamais sur quel pie on est avec eux. Eh, bien !
monsieur," he continued, still speaking in French ; " though
I should have been proud of receiving your commandant, I
am very happy that he has seen proper to employ an officer
so distinguished, and who, I am sure, is so amiable, as your-
self."

Duncan bowed low, pleased with the compliment, in spite
of a most heroic determination to suffer no artifice to allure
him into forgetfulness of the interest of his prince; and
Montcalm, after a pause of a moment, as if to collect his
thoughts, proceeded, —

" Your commandant is a brave man, and well qualified to
repel my assault. Mais, monsieur, is it not time to begin to
take more counsel of humanity, and less of your courage ?
The one as strongly characterizes the hero as the other."

"We consider the qualities as insepaiable," retumei)

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 179

Duncan, smiling ; " but while we find in the vigor of your
excellency every motive to stimulate the one, we can, as yet,
see no particular call for the exercise of the other."

Montcalm, in his turn, slightly bowed, but it was with
the air of a man too practiced to remember the language of
flattery. After musing a moment, he added, —

"It is possible my glasses have deceived me, and that
your works resist our cannon better than I had supposed.
You know our force ? "

" Our accounts vary," said Duncan, carelessly ; " the
highest, however, has not exceeded twenty thousand men."

The Frenchman bit his lip, and fastened his eyes keenly
on the other as if to read his thoughts; then, with a readi-
ness peculiar to himself, he continued, as if assenting to the
truth of an enumeration which quite doubled his army, —

" It is a poor compliment to the vigilance of us soldiers,
monsieur, that, do what we will, we never can conceal ou*
numbers. If it were to be done at all, one would believe it
might succeed hi these woods. Though you think it too
soon to listen to the calls of humanity," he added, smiling
archly, *• I may be permitted to believe that gallantry is not
forgotten by one so young as yourself. The daughters of
the commandant, I learn, have passed into the fort since it
was invested ? "

" It is true, monsieur ; but, so far from weakening our
efforts, they set us an example of courage in their own for-
titude. Were nothing but resolution necessary to repel so
accomplished a soldier as M. de Montcalm^ I would gladly
trust the defense of William Henry to the elder of those
ladies."

" We have a wise ordinance in our Salique laws, which
says, * The crown of France shall never degrade the lance to
the distaff,' " said Montcalm,dryly, and with a little hauteur ;
but instantly adding, with his former frank and easy air, " as
all the nobler qualities are hereditary, I can easily credit you ;
though, as I said before, courage has its limits, and humanity
must nor be forgotten. I trust, monsieur, you come author-
ized to treat for the surrender of the place ? "

" Has your excellency found our defense so feeble as 10
believe the measure necessary ? "

180 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" 1 should be sorry to have the defense protracted in such
a manner as to irritate my red friends there," continued
Montcalm, glancing his eyes at the group of grave and atten-
tive Indians, without attending to the other's question ; " I
find it difficult, even now, to limit them to the usages of
war."

Heyward was silent; for a painful recollection of th'3
dangers he had so recently escaped came over his mind, and
recalled the images of those defenseless beings who had
shared in all his sufferings.

" Ces messieurs-la," said Montcalm, following up the ad-
vantage which he conceived he had gained, " are most for-
midable when baffled : and it is mmecessary to tell you with
what difficulty they are restramed m their anger. Eh bien,
monsieur! shall we speak of the terms? "

" 1 fear your excellency has been deceived as to the
strength of "William Henry, and the resources of its gar-
rison ! "

" I have not sat down before Quebec, but an earthen
work, that is defended by twenty-three hundred gallant
men," was the laconic reply.

" Our mounds are earthen, certainly — nor are they seated
on the rocks of Cape Diamond ; but they stand on that
shore which proved so destructive to Dieskau and his army.
There is also a powei-ful force within a few hours' march of
us, which we account upon as part of our means."

" Some six or eight thousand men," returned Montcalm,
with much apparent indifference, *' whom their leader wisely
judges to be safer in their works than in the field."

It was now Heyward's turn to bite his lip with vexation,
as the other so coolly alluded to a force which the young
man knew to be overrated. Both mused a little while hi
silence, when Montcalm renewed the conversation, in a way
that showed he believed the visit of his guest was solely to
{.vropose terms of capitulation. On the other hand, Heyward
began to throw sundry inducements in the way of the
French general, to betray the discoveries he had made
through the intercepted letter. The artifice of neither,
however, succeeded ; and after a protracted and fruitlesg iu

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 181

ferview, Duncan took his leave, favorably impressed with
An opinion of the courtesy and talents of the enemy's captain,
but as ignorant of what he came to learn as when he arrived.
Montcalm followed him as far as the entrance of the mar-
quee, renewing his invitations to the commandant of the fort
to give him an immediate meeting in the open ground, be-
tween the two armies.

There they separated, and Duncan returned to the ad-
vanced post of the French, accompanied as before ; whence
he instantly proceeded to the fort, and to the qiiarters /
|u§ o^jx coirmander.

18& THE LAST OF THE MOHICANi

CHAPTER XVI.

Edg. — Beibre you fight the battle, ope this letter.

Major Heyward found Munro attended only by his
daughters. Alice sat upon his knee, parting the gray
hairs on the forehead of the old man with her delicate
fingers ; and, whenever he affected to frown on her trifling,
appeasing his assumed anger by pressing her ruby lips
fondly on his wrinkled brow. Cora was seated nigh them,
a calm and amused looker-on ; regarding the wayward
movements of her more youthful sister, with that species
of maternal fondness which characterized her love for Alice.
Not only the dangers through which they had passed, but
those which stUl impended above them, appeared to be
momentarily forgotten, in the soothing indulgence of such
a femily meeting. It seemed as if they had profited by the
short truce, to devote an instant to the purest and best
affections: the daughters forgetting their fears, and the
veteran his cares, in the security of the moment. Of this
scene, Duncan, who in his eagerness to report his arrival
had entered unannounced, stood many moments an unob-
served and a delighted spectator. But the quick and danc-
ing eyes of Alice soon caught a glimpse of his figure re-
flected from a glass, and she sprang blushing from her
fiither's knee, exclaiming aloud, —

" Major Heyward ! "

"What of the lad?" demanded her father; «I have
sent him to crack a little with the Frenchman. Ha ! sir,
you are young, and you're nimble ! Away with you, ye
baggage ; as if there were not troubles enough for a soldier,
without having his camp filled with such prattling hussies
as yourself! '*

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 18S

Alice laughingly followed her sister, who instantly led
the way from an apartment where she perceived their pres-
ence was no longer desirable. Munro, instead of demand-
ing the result of the young man's mission, paced the room
for a few moments, with his hands behind his back, and his
head inclined towards the floor, like a man lost in thought.
At length he raised his eyes, glistening with a father's fond-
ness, and exclaimed, —

" They are a pair of excellent girls, Hey ward, and such
as any one may boast of."

" You are not now to learn my opinion of your daugh-
ters, Colonel Munro."

" True, lad, true," interrupted the impatient old man ;
"you were about opening your mind more fully on that
matter the day you got in ; but I did not think it becoming
in an old soldier to be talking of nuptial blessings and wed-
ding jokes when the enemies of his king were likely to be
unbidden guests at the feast ! But I was wrong, Duncan,
boy, I was wrong there ; and I am now ready to hear what
you have to say."

" Notwithstanding the pleasure your assurance gives me,
dear sir, I have, just now, a message from Montcalm " —

" Let the Frenchman and all his host go to the devil,
sir ! *' exclaimed the hasty veteran. " He is not yet master
of William Henry, nor shall he ever be, provided Webb
proves himself the man he should. No, sir ! thank Heaven,
we are not yet in such a strait that it can be said Munro is
too much pressed to discharge the little domestic duties of
his own family. Your mother was th^ only child of my
bosom friend, Duncan; and I'll just give you a hearing,
though all the knights of St. Louis were in a body at the
sally-port, with the French saint at their head, craving to
speak a word under favor. A pretty degree of knighthood,
ftir, is that which can be bought with sugar-hogsheads ! and
tfhen your two-penny marquisates ! The thistle is the order
for dignity and antiquity ; the veritable ' nemo me impune
lacessit ' of chivalry ! Ye had ancestors in that degree,
Duncan, and they were an ornament to the nobles of Scot*
umd."

184 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Heyward, who perceived that his superior took a malic-
ious pleasure in exhibiting his contempt for the message of
the French general, was fain to humor a spleen that h«
knew would be short-lived ; he therefore replied with as
much indifference as he could assume on such a subject, —

" My request, as you know, sir, went so far as to presume
to the honor of being your son."

" Aye, boy, you found words to make yourself very plainly
comprehended. But, let me ask ye, sir, have you been a?
intelligible to the girl ? "

" On my honor, no," exclaimed Duncan, warmly ; " there
would have been an abuse of a confided trust, had T taken
advantage of my situation for such a purpose."

" Your notions are those of a gentleman, Major Hey-
ward, and well enough in their place. But Cora Munro is
a maiden too discreet, and of a mind too elevated and im-
proved, to need the guardianship e\en of a father."

«Cora!"

" Aye — Cora ! we are talking of your pretensions to
Miss Munro, are we not, sir ? "

"I — I — I was not conscious of having mentioned her
name," said Duncan, stammering.

"And to marry whom, then, did you wish my consent,
Major Heyward ? " demanded the old soldier, erecting him-
self in the dignity of offended feeling.

" You have another, and not less lovely child."

" Alice ! " exclaimed the father, in an astonishment equal
to that with which Duncan had just repeated the name of
her sister.

" Such was the direction of my wishes, sir."

The young man awaited in silence the result of the ex-
traordinary effect produced by a communication which, as
it now appeared, was so unexpected. For several minutes
Munro paced the chamber with long and rapid strides, his
rigid features working convulsively, and every faculty seem-
.\ngly absorbed in the musings of his own mind. At length,
he paused directly in front of Heyward, and riveting his
eyes upon those of the other, he said, with a lip that quiv*
•red violently, —

THE L^ST OP THE MOHICANS. 186

« Duncan Hey ward, I have loved you for the sake of him
whose blood is in your veins ; I have loved you for your
own good qualities ; and I have loved you, because I thought
you would contribute to the happiness of my child. But all
this love would turn to hatred, were I assured that what I
so much apprehend is true."

" God forbid that any act or thought of mine should lead
to such a change ! " exclaimed the young man, whose eye
never quailed under the penetrating look it encountered.
Without adverting to the impossibility of the other's com-
prehending those feelings which were hid in his own bosom,
Munro suffered himself to be appeased by the unaltered
countenance he met, and with a voice sensibly softened, he
continued, —

" You would be my son, Duncan, and you're ignorant of
the history of the man you wish to call your father. Sit ye
down, young man, and I will open to you the wounds of a
seared heart, in as few words as may be suitable."

By this time, the message of Montcalm was as much for-
gotten by him who bore it as by the man for whose ears it
was intended. Each drew a chair, and while the veteran
tjommuned a few moments with his own thoughts, apparently
in sadness, the youth suppressed his impatience in a look
and attitude of respectful attention. At length the former
spoke : —

" You'll know, already. Major Heyward, that my family
was both ancient and honorable," commenced the Scotsman ;
" though it might not altogether be endowed with thai
amount of wealth that should correspond with its degree. I
was, may be, such an one as yourself when I plighted my
faith to Alice Graham, the only child of a neighboring laird
of some estate. But the connection was disagreeable to hei
feither, on more accounts than my poverty. I did therefore
what an honest man should — restored the maiden her tioth,
and departed the country in the service of my king. I had
seen many regions, and had shed much blood in different
lands, before duty called me to the islands of the West Indies.
There it was my lot to form a connection with one who in
time became my wife, and the mother of Cora. She was th€

186 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

daughter of a gentleman of those isles, by a lady whose mS»
fortune it was, if you will," said the old man, proudly, " to
be descended, remotely, from that unfortunate class who are
80 basely enslaved to administer to the wants of a luxu-
rious people. Aye, sir, that is a curse entailed on Scotland
by her unnatural union with a foreign and trading people.
But could I find a man among them who would dare to re*
fleet on my child, he should feel the weight of a father's
anger ! Ha ! Major Hey ward, you are yourself born at the
south, where these unfortunate beings are considered of a
race inferior to your own."

" 'Tis most unfortunately true, sir," said Duncan, unable
any longer to prevent his eyes from sinking to the floor in
embarrassment.

" And you cast it on my child as a reproach ! You scorn
to mingle the blood of the Heywards with one so degraded
— lovely and virtuous though she be?" fiercely demanded
the jealous parent.

" Heaven protect me from a prejudice so unworthy of my
reason ! " returned Duncan, at the same time conscious of
Buch a feeling, and that as deeply rooted as if it had been
ingrafted in his nature. " The sweetness, the beauty, the
witchery of your younger daughter. Colonel Munro, might
explain my motives, without imputing to me this injustice."

" Ye are right, sir," returned the old man, again changing
his tones to those of gentleness, or rather softness ; " the
girl is the image of what her mother was at her years, and
before she had become acquainted with grief. When death
deprived me of my wife I returned to Scotland, enriched by
the marriage ; and would you think it, Duncan ! the suffer-
ing angel had remained in the heartless state of celibacy
twenty long years, and that for the sake of a man who could
forget her ! She did more, sir ; she overlooked my want of
faith, and all difficulties being now removed, she took me for
her husband."

" And became the mother of Alice ? " exclaimed Duncan,
with an eagerness that might have proved dangerous at a
moment when the thoughts of Munro were less occupied
than at present

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 187

« She did, indeed," said the old man, " and dearly did sbo
pay for the blessing she bestowed. But she is a saint in
heaven, sir ; and it ill becomes one whose foot rests on the
grave to mourn a lot so blessed. I had her but a single
year, though ; a short term of happiness for one who had
3een her youth fade in hopeless pining."

There was something so commanding in the distress of the
old man, that Heyward did not dare to venture a syllable of
consolation. Munro sat utterly unconscious of the other'u
presence, his features exposed and working with the anguish
of his regrets, while heavy tears fell from his eyes, and rolled
unheeded from his cheeks to the floor. At length he moved,
as if suddenly recovering his recollection ; when he arose,
and taking a single turn across the room, he approached his
companion with an air of military grandeur, and demanded, —

" Have you not. Major Heyward, some communication
that I should hear from the Marquis de Montcalm ? "

Duncan started, in his turn, and immediately commenced,
ir an embarrassed voice, the half-forgotten message. It is
unnecessary to dwell upon the evasive, though polite man-
ner, with which the French general had eluded every attempt
of Heyward to worm from him the purport of the communi-
cation he had proposed making, or on the decided, though
still polished message, by which he now gave his enemy to
understand, that unless he chose to receive it in person, he
should not receive it at all. As Munro listened to the de-
tail of Duncan, the excited feelings of the father gradually
gave way before the obligations of his station^ and when the
other was done, he saw before him nothing but the veteran,
swelling with the wounded feelings of a soldier.

" You have said enough, Major Heyward ! " exclaimed
the angry old man ; " enough to make a volume of commen.
tary on French civility. Here has this gentleman invited
me to a conference, and when I send him a capable substi-
tute, for ye're all that, Duncan, though your years are but
few, he answers me with a riddle."

" He may have thought less favorably of the aubstitute,
my dear sir ; and you will remember diat the invitation,
which he now repeats, was to the commandant of the workA
and not to his second."

188 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Well, sir, is not a substitute clothed with all the power
and dignity of him who grants the commission ? He wishes
to confer with Munro ! Faith, sir, I have much inclination
to indulge the man, if it should only be to let him behold
the firm countenance we maintain in spite of his numbers
and his summons. There might be no bad policy in such 3
stroke, young man."

Duncan, who believed it of the last importance that they
should speedily come at the contents of the letter borne by
the scout, gladly encouraged this idea.

" Without doubt, he could gather no confidence by wit-
nessing our indifference," he said.

" You never said truer word. I could wish, sir, that he
would visit the works in open day, and in the form of a
storming party : that is the least failing method of proving
the countenance of an enemy, and would be far preferable
to the battering system he has chosen. The beauty and
manliness of warfare has been much deformed. Major Hey-
ward, by the arts of your Monsieur Vauban. Our ancestors
were far above such scientific cowardice ! "

" It may be very true, sir ; but we are now obliged to
repel art by art. What is your pleasure in the matter of
the inter^dew ? "

" I will meet the Frenchman, and that without fear or
delay; promptly, sir, as becomes a servant of my royal
master. Go, Major Heyward, and give them a flourish of
the music ; and send out a messenger to let them know who
is coming. We will follow with a small guard, for such re-
spect is due to one who holds the honor of his king in keep-
ing; and harkee, Duncan," he added, in a half whisper,
though they were alone, " it may be prudent to have some
aid at hand, in case there should be treachery at the bottom
of it all."

The young man availed himself of this order to quit the
apartment ; and, as the day was fast coming to a close, he
hastened, without delay, to make the necessary arrange-
ments. A very few minutes only were necessary to parade
a few files, and to despatch an orderly with a flag to an-
Bounce the approach of the commandant of the fort. When

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 189

Duncan had done both these, he led the guard to the sally-
port, near which he found his superior ready, waiting hui
appearance. As soon as the usual ceremonials of a military
departure were observed, the veteran and Ids more youthful
companion left the fortress, attended by the escort.

They had proceeded only a hundred yards from the works,
when the little array which attended the French general to
the conference, was seen issuing from the hollow way, which
formed the bed of a brook that ran between the batteries of
the besiegers and the fort. From the moment that Munro
left his own works to appear in front of his enemies, his air
had been grand, and his step and countenance highly mili-
tary. The instant he caught a glimpse of the white plume
that waved in the hat of Montcalm, his eye lighted, and age
no longer appeared to possess any influence over his vast
and still muscular person.

" Speak to the boys to be watchful, sir," he said, in an
ander-tone, to Duncan ; " and to look well to their flints and
steel, for one is never safe with a servant of these Louis's ;
at the same time, we will show them the front of men in
deep security. Ye'll understand me, Major Heyward ! "

He was interrupted by the clamor of a drum from the
approaching Frenchmen, which was immediately answered,
when each party pushed an orderly in advance, bearing a
white flag, and the wary Scotsman halted, with his guard
close at his back. As soon as this slight salutation had
passed, Montcalm moved towards them with a quick but
graceful step, baring his head to the veteran^nd dropping
his spotless plume nearly to the earth in courtesy. K the
air of Munro was more commanding and manly, it wanted
both the ease and insinuating polish of that of the French-
man. Neither spoke for a few moments, each regarding the
other with curious and interested eyes. Then, as became
his superior rank and the nature of the interview, Montcalm
broke the silence. After uttering the usual words of greet-
ing, he turned to Duncan, and continued, with a smile of
recognition, speaking always in French, —

" I am rejoiced, monsieur, that you have given us the
pleasure of your company on this occasion. There will b«

190 *aE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

no necessity to employ an ordinary interpreter ; for, in yow
hands, I feel the same security as if I spoke your language
myself."

Duncan acknowledged the compliment, when Montcalm,
turning to his guard, which, in imitation of that of their ene-
mies, pressed close upon him, continued, —

" En arriere, mes enfans — il fait chaud retirez-vous un
pen."

Before Major Heyward would imitate this proof of con-
fidence, he glanced his eyes around the plain, and beheld
with uneasiness the numerous dusky groups of savages, who
looked out from the margin of the surrounding woods, curi-
ous spectators of the interview.

" Monsieur de Montcalm will readily acknowledge the
difference in our situation," he said, with some embarrass-
ment, pointing at the same time towards those dangerous
foes, who were to be seen in almost every direction.
" Were we to dismiss our guard, we should stand here at
iie mercy of our enemies."

" Monsieur, you have the plighted faith of ' un gentil-
homme Frangais,' for your safety," returned Montcalm, lay-
ing his hand impressively on his heart ; " it should suffice."

" It shall. Fall back," Duncan added to the officer who
led the escort ; "fall back, sir, beyond hearing, and wait for
orders."

Munro witnessed this movement with manifest uneasiness ;
nor did he fail to demand an instant explanation.

" Is it not our interest, sir, to betray no distrust ? " re-
torted Duncan. " Monsieur de Montcalm pledges his word
for our safety, and I have ordered the men to withdraw a
little, in order to prove how much we depend on his assur-
ance."

" It may be all right, sir, but I have no overweening reli-
ance on the faith of these marquesses, or marquis, as they
call themselves. Their patents of nobility are too common
to be certain that they bear the seal of true honor."

" You forget, dear sir, that we confer with an officer, dis-
tinguished alike in Europe and America, for his deeds
From a soldier of his reputation we can have nothing to
•pprehend."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 191

The old man made a gestm-e of resignation, though hii
rigid features still betrayed his obstinate adherence to a dis-
trust, which he derived from a sort of hereditary contempt
of his enemy, rather than from any present signs which
might warrant so uncharitable a feeling. Montcalm waited
patiently until this little dialogue in demi-voice was ended,
when he drew nigher, and opened the subject of their con-
ference.

" I have solicited this interview from your superior, mon-
sieur," he said, " because I believe he will allow himself to
be persuaded that he has already done everything which is
necessary for the honor of his prince, and will now listen to
the admonitions of humanity. I will forever bear testimony
that his resistance has been gallant, and was contmued as
long as there was hope."

When this opening was translated to Munro, he answered
with dignity, but with sufficient courtesy, —

" However I may prize such testimony from Monsieur
Montcalm, it will be more valuable when it shall be better
merited."

The French general smiled, as Duncan gave him the
purport of this reply, and observed, —

" What is now so freely accorded to approved courage,
may be refhsed to useless obstinacy. Monsieur would wish
to see my camp, and witness, for himself, our numbers, and
the impossibility of his resisting them, with success ? "

" I know that the King of France is well served," re-
turned the unmoved Scotsman, as soon as Dunaan ended hi»
translation ; " but my own royal master has as many and as
faithful troops."

" Though not at hand, fortunately for us," said Montcalm,
without waiting, in his ardor, for the interpreter. " There
is a destiny in war, to which a brave man knows how to
submit, with the same courage that he faces his foes."

"Had I been conscious that Monsieur Montcalm was
master of the English, I should have spared myself the
trouble of so awkward a translation," said the vexed Dun-
can, dryly ; rememberirg instantly his recent by-play with
Munro.

192 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Your pardon, monsieur," rejoined the Frenchman, suf-
fering a slight color to appear on his dark cheek. " There
is a vast difference between understanding and speaking a
foreign tongue ; you will, therefore, please to assist me still."
Then after a short paiiSe, he added, " These hills afford us
every opportunity of reconnoitering your vforks, messieurs,
and I am possibly as well acquainted with their weak condi-
tion as you can be yourselves."

" Ask the French general if his glasses can reach to the
Hudson," said Munro, proudly ; " and if he knows when and
where to expect the army of Webb."

" Let General Webb be his own interpreter," returned
the politic Montcalm, suddenly extending an open letter
towards Munro, as he spoke ; " you will there learn, mon-
sieur, that his movements are not likely to prove embarrass-
ing to my army."

The veteran seized the offered paper, without waiting for
Duncan to translate the speech, and with an eagerness that
betrayed how important he deemed its contents. As his eye
passed hastily over the words, his countenance changed from
its look of military pride to one of deep chagrin : his lip
began to quiver ; and, suffering the paper to fall from his
hand, his head dropped upon his chest, like that of a man
whose hopes were withered at a single blow. Duncan
caught the letter from the ground, and without apology for
the liberty he took, he read at a glance its cruel purport
Their common superior, so far from encouraging them to
resist, advised a speedy surrender, urging in the plainest
language as a reason, the utter impossibility of his sending
a single man to their rescue.

" Here is no deception ! " exclaimed Duncan, examining
the billet both inside and out ; " this is the signature of
Webb, and must be the captured letter."

" The man has betrayed me ! " Munro at length bitterly
exclaimed : " he has brought dishonor to the door of one
where disgrace was never before known to dwell, and
Rhame has he heaped heavily on my gray hairs."

" Say not so," cried Duncan ; " we are yet masters of
the fort, and of our honor. Let us then sell our lives as

THE LAST OF THE MOHICAIJS. 19l

•ucli a rate as shall make our enemies believe the purchase
too dear.**

" Boy, I thank thee," exclaimed the old man, rousing
himself from his stupor ; " you have, for once, reminded
Munro of his duty. We will go back, and dig our graves
behind those ramparts."

"Messieurs," said Montcalm, advancing towaras them a
step, in generous interest, " you little know Louis do St.
Veran, if you believe him capable of profiting by this let-
ter to humble brave men, or to build up a dishonest repu-
tation for himself. Listen to my terms before you leave
me."

"What says the Frenchman?" demanded the veteran,
sternly ; ** does he make a merit of having captured a scout,
with a note from headquarters ? Sir, he had better raise
this siege, to go and sit down before Edward if he wishea
to frighten his enemy with words."

Duncan explained the other's meaning.

" Monsieur de Montcalm, we will hear you," the veteran
added, more calmly, as Duncan ended.

" To retain the fort is now impossible," said his liberal
enemy ; " it is necessary to the interests of my master that
it should be destroyed ; but, as for yourselves, and your
brave comrades, there is no privilege dear to a soldier that
shall be denied."

" Our colors ? " demanded Heyward.

" Carry them to England, and show them to youi
king."

" Our arms ? **

" Keep them ; none can use them better."

" Our march ; the surrender of the place ? "

" Shall all be done in a way most honorable to your-
selves."

Duncan now turned to explain these proposals to hia
commander, who heard him with amazement, and a seasi
bility that was deeply touched by so unusual and unex
pected generosity.

" Go you, Duncan," he said ; " go with this marquess, a&
indeed marquess he should be ; go to his marquee and a-'
13

194 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

range it all. I have lived to see two things in my old age,
that never did I expect to behold. An Englishman afi*aid
to support a friend, and a Frenchman too honest to profit
by his advantage."

So saying, the veteran again dropped his head to his
chest, and returned slowly towards the fort, exhibiting, by
the dejection of his air, to the anxious garrison, a harbin-
ger of evil tidings.

From the shock of this unexpected blow the haughty
feelings of Munro never recovered;^ but from that moment
there commenced a change in his determined character,
r^hich accompanied him to a speedy grave. Duncan re-
mained to settle the terms of the capitulation. He was
seen to reenter the works during the first watches of the
night, and immediately after a private conference with the
commandant, to leave them again. It was then openly an-
iiounced, that hostilities must cease — Munro having signed
a treaty, by which the place was to be yielded to the
enemy, with the morning ; the garrison to retain their arms,
their colors, and their baggage, and consequently, according
?o Eialitary opinion, their honor.

' Se Note I.

Ta* LAST OF THE MOHIOAilS. t&5

CHAPTER XVn.

Weave we the woof. The thread is spun.
The web is wove. The woric is done.

Gray.

The hostUe armies, which lay in the wilds of the Hon-
can, passed the night of the ninth of August, 1757, much
in the manner they would had they encountered on the fair-
est field of Europe. While the conquered were still, sul-
len, and dejected, the victors triumphed. But there are
limits alike to grief and joy ; and long before the watches
of the morning came, the stillness of those boundless woods
was only broken by a gay call from some exulting young
Frenchman of the advanced pickets, or a menacing chal-
lenge from the fort, which sternly forbade the approach of
any hostile footsteps before the stipulated moment. Even
these occasional threatening sounds ceased to be heard in
that dull hour which precedes the day, at which period a
listener might have sought in vain any evidence of the
presence of those armed powers that then slumbered on the
shores of the " holy lake."

It was during these moments of deep silence, that the
canvas which concealed the entrance to a spacious marquee
in the French encampment was shoved aside, and a man
issued from beneath the drapery into the open air. He
was enveloped in a cloak that might have been intended as
a protection from the chilling damps of the woods, but
which served equally well as a mantle, to conceal his per-
son. He was permitted to pass the grenadier, who watched
over the slumbers of the French commander, without inter-
ruption, the man making the usual salute which betokens
military deference, as the other passed swiftly through the
little city of tents, in the direction of William Hemy

196 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAm.

Whenever this unknown individual encountered one of t1i#»
numberless sentinels who crossed his path, his answer
was prompt, and as it appeared satisfactory ; for he was
uniformly allowed to proceed, without fiu-ther interroga-
tion.

With the exception of such repeated, but brief interrup-
tions, he had moved, silently, from the centre of the camp,
to its most advanced outposts, when he drew nigh the sol-
dier who held his watch nearest to the works of the enemy.
As he approached he was received with the usual chjd-
lenge,—

"Qui vive?"

" France," was the reply.

" Le mot d'ordre ? "

" La victoire," said the other, drawing so nigh as to be
heard in a loud whisper.

" Cest bien," returned the sentinel, throwing his musket
from the charge to his shoulder ; " vous vous promenez
bien matin, monsieur ! "

" II est necessaire d'etre vigilant, mon enfant," the other
observed, dropping a fold of his cloak, and looking the sol-
dier close in the face, as he passed him, still continuing his
way towards the British fortification. The man started;
his arms rattled heavily, as he threw them forward, in the
lowest and most respectful salute ; and when he had again
recovered his piece, he turned to walk his post, muttering
between his teeth, —

" H faut etre vigilant, en v^rit^ ! je crois que nous avons
Ik, un caporal qui ne dort jamais ! "

The officer proceeded, without affecting to hear the words
which escaped the sentinel in his surprise ; nor did he agair
pause until he had reached the low strand, and in a some-
what dangerous vicinity to the western water bastion of
the fort. The light of an obscure moon was just sufficient
to render objects, though dim, perceptible in their outlines.
He, therefore, took the precaution to place himself against
the trunk of a tree, where he leaned for many minutes,
and seemed to conter^.plate the dark and silent mounds of
the English works in profound attention. His ^aze at the

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 197

ramparts was not that of a curious or idle spectator ; bnl
his looks wandered from point to point, denoting his knowl-
edge of military usages, and betraying that his search was
not unaccompanied by distrust. At length ho appeared
satisfied ; and having cast his eyes impatiently upward to-
wards the summit of the eastern mountain, as if anticipating
the approach of the morning, he was in the act of turning
on his footsteps, when a light sound on the nearest angle
jf the bastion caught his ear, and induced him to remain.

Just tlien a figure was seen to approach the edge of the
rampart, where it stood, apparently contemplating in its
turn the distant tents of the French encampment. Its
head was then turned towards the east, as though equally
anxious for the appearance of light, when the form leaned
against the mound, and seemed to gaze upon the glassy ex-
panse of the waters, which, like a submarine firmament, glit-
tered with its thousand mimic stars. The melancholy air,
the hour, together with the vast frame of the man who thus
leaned, in musing, against the English ramparts, left no
doubt as to his person, in the mind of the observant spec-
tator. Delicacy, no less than prudence, now urged him to
retire ; and he had moved cautiously round the body of the
tree for that purpose, when another sound drew his atten-
tion, and once more arrested his footsteps. It was a low,
and almost inaudible movement of the water, and was suc-
ceeded by a grating of pebbles one against the other. In
a moment he saw a dark form rise, as it were out of the
lake, and steal without further noise to the land, within a
few feet of the place where he himself sto©d. A rifle next
slowly rose between his eyes and the watery mirror ; but
before it could be discharged his own hand was on the
lock.

" Hugh ! " exclaimed the savage, whose treacherous aim
was so singularly and so unexpectedly interrupted.

Without making any reply, the French officer laid his
hand on the shoulder of the Indian, and led him in pro-
found silence to a distance from the spot, where their sub*
sequent dialogue might have proved dangerous, and where
it seemed that one of them, at least, sought a victim. TheiK

198 THE LAST OF THE MOHICAKS.

throwing open his cloak, so as to expose his uniform and
the cross of St. Louis which was suspended at his breast,
Montcalm sternly demanded, —

" What means this ! Does not my son know that the
hatchet is buried between the English and his Canadian
Father?"

" What can the Hurons do ? " returned the savage,
speaking also, though imperfectly, in the French language.
" Not a warrior has a scalp, and the pale-faces make
friends !

" Ha Le Renard Subtil ! Methinks this is an excess
of zeal for a friend who was so late an enemy ! How
many suns have set since Le Renard struck the war-post
of the English?"

" Where is that sun ! " demanded the sullen savage.
" Behind the hill ; and it is dark and cold. But when he
comes again, it will be bright and warm. Le Subtil is the
sun of his tribe. There have been clouds, and many
mountains between him and his nation ; but now he shines,
and it is a clear sky ! "

"That Le Renard has power with his people, I well
know," said Montcalm ; " for yesterday he hunted for their
scalps, and to-day they hear him at the council fire."

" Magna is a great chief."

" Let him prove it, by teaching his nation how to con-
duct towards our new friends."

" Why did the chief of the Canadas bring his young
men into the woods, and fire his cannon at the earthen
house ? " demanded the subtle Indian.

"To subdue it. My master owns the land, and your
father was ordered to drive off these English squatters.
They have consented to go, and now he calls them enemies
no longer."

" 'Tis well. Magna took the hatchet to color it with
blood. It is now bright ; when it is red, it shall be
buried."

" But Magna is pledged not to sully the lilies of France.
The enemies of the great king across the salt lake are hit
enemies ; his friends, the friends of the Hurons."

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 19^

« Friends ! " repeated the Indian, in scorn. " Let hia
fether give Magna a hand."

Montcalm, who felt that his influence over the wariika
tribes he had gathered was to be mamtained by concession
rather than by power, complied reluctantly with the other's
request. The savage placed the finger of the French com-
mander on a deep scar in his bosom, and then eiultingly
demanded, —

" Does my father know that ? "

" What warrior does not ? 'tis where a leaden bullet has
cut."

" And this ? " continued the Indian, who had turned his
naked back to the other, his body being without its usual
calico mantle.

" This ! — my son has been sadly injured, here ; who has
done this ? "

" Magna slept hard in the English wigwams, and the
sticks have left their mark," returned the savage, with a
hollow laugh, which did not conceal the fierce temper that
nearly choked him. Then recollecting himself, with sud-
den and native dignity, he added, " Go ; teach your young
men, it is peace. Le Renard Subtil knows how to speak
to a Huron warrior."

Without deigning to bestow further words, or to wait for
any answer, the savage cast his rifle into the hollow of his
arm, and moved silently through the encampment towards
the woods where his own tribe was known to lie. Every
few yards as he proceeded he was challenged by the senti
nels ; but he stalked sullenly onward, utterly disregarding
the summons of the soldiers, who only spared his life be-
cause they knew the air and tread no less than the obsti-
nate daiing of an Indian.

Montcalm lingered long and melancholy on the strand,
where he had been left by his companion, brooding deeply
on the temper which his ungovernable ally had just discov-
ered. Already had his fair fame been tarnished by one
horrid scene, and in circumstances fearfully resembling
those under which he now found himself. As he mused he
became keenly sensible of the deep responsibility thej as

200 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

»ume, who disregard the means to attain their end, and of
all the danger of setting in motion an engine which i.
exceeds human power to control. Then shaking off a train
of reflections that he accounted a weakness in such a ma
ment of triumph, he retraced his steps towards his tent,
giving the order as he passed, to make the signal that
«ihould arouse the army from its slumbers.

The first tap of the French drums was echoed from th(
bosom of the fort, and presently the valley was filled with
the strains of martial music, rising long, thrilling, and
lively above the rattling accompaniment. The horns of the
victors sounded merry and cheerful flourishes, until the last
laggard of the camp was at his post ; but the instant th^
British fifes had blown their shrill signal, they became
mute. In the mean time the day had dawned, and when
the line of the French army was ready to receive its gen-
eral, the rays of a brilliant sun were glancing along the
glittering array. Then that success, which was already so
well known, was officially announced ; the favored band
who were selected to guard the gates of the fort were de-
tailed, and defiled before their chief; the signal of their
approach was given, and all the usual preparations for a
change of masters were ordered and executed directly under
the guns of the contested works.

A very different scene presented itself within the lines
)f the Anglo-American army. As soon as the warning
ignal was given, it exhibited all the signs of a hurried and
forced departure. The sullen soldiers shouldered their
empty tubes and fell into their places, like men whose blood
had been heated by the past contest, and who only desired
the opportunity to revenge an indignity which was still
wounding to their pride, concealed as it was under all the
observances of military etiquette. Women and children
ran from place to place, some bearing the scanty rem-
nants of their baggage, and others searching in the ranks
or those countenances they looked up to for protec-
tion.

Munro appeared among his silent troops firm but de-
jected. It was evident that the unexpected blow had struck

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 201

foep into his heart, though he struggled to sustain his mi«
fortune with the port of a man.

Duncan was touched at the q^iiet and impressive exhibi-
tion of his grief. He had discharged his own duty, and he
now pressed to the side of the old man, to know in what
particular he might serve him.

" My daughters," was the brief but expressive reply.

" Good heavens ! are not arrangements already made
for their convenience ? "

" To-day I am only a soldier. Major Heyward," said the
veteran. " All that you see here, claim alike to be my chil-
dren."

Duncan had heard enough. Without losing one of those
moments which had now become so precious, he flew towards
the quarters of Munro, in quest of the sisters. He found
them on the threshold of the low edifice, already prepared
to depart, and surrounded by a clamorous and weeping as-
semblage of their own sex, that had gathered about the
place, with a sort of instinctive consciousness that it was the
point most likely to be protected. Though the cheeks of
Cora were pale, and her countenance anxious, she had lost
none of her firmness ; but the eyes of Alice were inflamed,
and betrayed how long and bitterly she had wept. They
both, however, received the yomig man with undisguised
pleasure ; the former, for a novelty, being the first to
speak.

" The fort is lost," she said, with a melancholy smile ;
" though our good name, I trust, remains."

" 'Tis brighter than ever. But, dearest* Miss Munro, it
is time to think less of others, and to make some provision
for yourself. Military usage, — pride, — that pride on which
you so much value yourself, demands that your father and
I should for a little while continue with the troops. Then
where to seek a proper protector for you against the con-
fusion and chances of such a scene ? "

" None is necessary," returned Cora ; " who will dare to
Injure or insult the daughter of such a father, at a time like
this ? "

'* I would not leave you alone," continued the youth.

202 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

looking about him in a hurried manner, " for the command
of the best regiment in the pay of the king. Remembei;
our Alice is not gifted with all your firmnesa, and God only
knows the terror she might endure."

" You may be right," Cora replied, smiling again, but far
more sadly than before. " Listen ! chance has already sent
us a friend when he is most needed." v

Duncan did listen, and on the instant comprehended her
meaning. The low and serious sounds of the sacred music,
80 well known to the eastern provinces, caught his ear, and
instantly drew him to an apartment in an adjacent building,
which had already been deserted by its customary tenants.
There he found David, pouring out his pious feelings,
through the only medium in which he ever indulged. Dun-
can waited, until, by the cessation of the movement of the
hand, he believed the strain was ended, when, by touching
his shoulder, he drew the attention of the other to himself,
and in a few words explained his wishes.

" Even so," replied the single-minded disciple of the King
of Israel, when the young man had ended ; " I have found
much that is comely and melodious in the maidens, and it is
fitting that we who have consorted in so much peril, should
abide together in peace. I will attend them, when I have
completed my morning praise, to which nothing is now
wanting but the doxology. Wilt thou bear a part, friend ?
The metre is common, and the tune * Southwell.' "

Then, extending the little volume, and giving the pitch
of the air anew with considerate attention, David recom-
menced and finished his strains, with a fixedness of manner
that it was not easy to interrupt. Heyward was fain to
wait until the verse was ended ; when, seeing David reliev-
ing himself from the spectacles, and replacing the book, he
continued, —

" It will be your duty to see that none dare to approach
the ladies with any rude intention, or to offer insult or taunt
at the misfortune of their brave father. In this task you
•nil be seconded by the domestics of their household."

« Even so."

'^ It is possible fliat the Indians and stragglers of the

IHE LAST OF THE MOfilCAlnb. 203

enemy may intrude- in which case you will remind them of
the terms of the capituIatioD, and threaten to report their
conduct to Montcalm. A word will suffice."

" K not, I have that here which shall," returned David,
exhibiting his book, with an air in which meekness and con.
fidence were singularly blended. " Here are words which,
uttered, or rather thundered, with proper emphasis, and in
measured time, shall quiet the most unruly temper : —

« i Why rage the heathen furiously ! ' " —

" Enough," said Heyward, interrupting the burst of hi*
musical invocation : " we understand each other ; it is time
that we should now assume our respective duties."

Gamut cheerfully assented, and together they sought the
females. Cora received her new, and somewhat extraor-
dinary protector, courteously at least ; and even the pallid
features of Alice lighted again with some of their native
archness as she thanked Heyward for his care. Duncan
took occasion to assure them he had done the best that cir-
cumstances permitted, and, as he believed, quite enough for
the security of their feelings ; of danger there was none.
He then spoke gladly of his intention to rejoin them the
moment he had led the advance a few miles towards the
Hudson, and immediately took his leave.

By this time the signal of departure had been given, and
the head of the English column was in motion. The
Bisters started at the sound, and glancing their eyes arouncf
they saw the white uniforms of the French grenadiers, wh
had already taken possession of the gates of the fort. Av
that moment, an enormous cloud seemed to pass suddenly
above their heads, and looking upward, they discovered that
they stood beneath the wide folds of the standard of France.

" Let us go," said Cora ; " this is no longer a fit place
for the children of an English officer."

Alice clung to the arm of her sister, and together they
left the parade, accompanied by the moving throng that sur-
rounded them.

As they passed the gates, the French officers, who had
barned their rank, bowed often and low, forbearing, how*

204 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

ever, to intrude those attenticos which they saw, with pe-
culiar tact, might not be agreeable. 'As every vehicle and
each beast of burden was occupied by the sick and wounded,
Cora had decided to endure the fatigues of a foot march,
rather than interfere with their comforts. Indeed, many a
maimed and feeble soldier was compelled to drag his ex-
hausted limbs in the rear of the columns, for the want of
the necessary means of conveyance, in that wilderness. The
whole, however, was in motion ; the weak and wounded,
groaning, and in suffering ; their comrades, silent and
sullen ; and the women and children in terror, they knew
not of what.

As the confused and timid throng left the protecting
mounds of the fort, and issued on the open plain, the whole
scene was at once presented to their eyes. At a little dis-
tance on the right, and somewhat in the rear, the French
army stood to their arms, Montcalm having collected his
parties, so soon as his guards had possession of the works.
They were attentive but silent observers of the proceedings
of the vanquished, failing in none of the stipulated military
honors, and offering no taunt or insult, in their success, to
theh' less fortunate foes. Living masses of the English, to
the amount in the whole of near three thousand, were mov-
mg slowly across the plain, towards the common centre, and
gradually approached each other, as they converged to the
point of their march, a vista cut through the lofty trees,
where the road to the Hudson entered the forest. Along
the sweeping borders of the woods, hung a dark cloud of
savages, eying the passage of their enemies, and hovering,
at a distance, like vultures, who were only kept from stoop-
ing on their prey, by the presence and restraint of a supe-
rior army. A few had straggled among the conquered
columns, where they stalked in sullen discontent ; attentive,
though, as yet, passive observers of the moving multitude.

The advance, with Hey ward at its head, had already
reached the defile, and was slowly disappearing, when the
attention of Cora was drawn to a collection of stragglers, by
the soimds of contention. A truant provincial was paying
(be foi-feit of his disobedience, by being plimdered of tho8«

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 805

fery effects which had caused him to desert his place in the
ranks. The man was of powerful frame, and too avaricious
to part with his goods without a struggle. Individuals from
either party interfered ; the one side to prevent, and tho
other to aid in the robbery. Voices gi-ew loud and angry,
and a hundred savages appeared, as it were by magic, where
a dozen only had been seen a minute before. It was then
that Cora saw the form of Magna gliding among his coun-
trymen, and speaking with his fatal and artful eloquence.
The mass of women and children stopped, and hovered to-
gether like alarmed and fluttering birds. But the cupidity
of the Indian was soon gratified, and the different bodies
again moved slowly onward.

The savages now fell back, and seemed content to let
their enemies advance without further molestation. But as
the female crowd approached them, the gaudy colors of a
ahawl attracted the eyes of a wild and untutored Huron.
He advanced to seize it, without the least hesitation. The
woman, more in terror than through love of the ornament,
wrapped her child in the coveted article, and folded both
more closely to her bosom. Cora was in the act of speak-
ing, with an intent to advise the woman to abandon the
trifle, when the savage relinquished his hold of the shawl,
and tore the screaming infant from her arms. Abandoning
everything to the greedy grasp of those around her, the
mother darted, with distraction in her mien, to reclaim her
child. The Indian smiled grimly, and extended one hand,
in sign of a willingness to exchange, while, with the other,
he flourished the babe over his head, holdiilg it by the feet
as if to enhance the value of the ransom.

" Here — here — there — all — any — everything ! " ex-
claimed the breathless woman ; tearing the lighter article*
of dress from her person, with ill-directed and trembling
fingers ; " take all, but give me my babe ! "

The savage spurned the worthless rags, and perceiving
that the shawl had already become a prize to another, his
bantering but sullen smile changing to a gleam of ferocity,
he dashed the head of the infant against a rock, and cast ita
quivering remains to her very feet. For an instant, th«

206 THE LAST OF THii MOHICANS.

mother stood, like a statue of despair, looking wildly down
at the unseemly object, which had so lately nestled in hef
bosom and smiled in her face ; and then she raised her eyea
and countenance towards heaven, as if calling on God to
curse the perpetrator of the foul deed. She was spared the
sin of such a prayer; for, maddened at his disappointment,
and excited at the sight of blood, the Huron mercifully
drove his tomahawk into her own brain. The mother sank
under the blow, and fell, grasping at her child, in death,
with the same engrossing love that had caused her to cher-
ish it when living.

At that dangerous moment Magna placed his hands to
his mouth, and raised the fatal and appallmg whoop. The
scattered Indians started at the well-known cry, as coursers
bound at the signal to quit the goal; and, directly, there
arose such a yell along the plain, and through the arches of
the wood, as seldom burst from human lips before. They
who heard it listened with a curdling horror at the heart,
little inferior to that dread which may be expected to at-
tend the blasts of the final summons.

More than two thousand raving savages broke from the
forest at the signal, and threw themselves across the fatal
plain with instinctive alacrity. We shall not dwell on the
revolting horrors that succeeded. Death was everywhere,
and in his most terrific and disgusting aspects. Resistance
only served to inflame the murderers, who inflicted their
furious blows long after their victims were beyond the
i^ower of their resentment. The flow of blood might be
iikened to the outbreaking of a torrent ; and as the natives
became heated and maddened by the sight, many among
them even kneeled to the earth, and drank freely, exultingly,
hellishly, of the crimson tide.

The trained bodies of the troops threw themselves quickly
into solid masses, endeavoring to awe their- assailants by the
imposing appearance of a military front.. The experiment
in some measure succeeded, though far too many suffered
their unloaded muskets to be torn from their hands, in the
vain hope of appeasing the savages.

In such a scene none had leisure to note the fleeting mo*

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 207

ments. It might have been ten minutes (it seemed an age),
that the sisters had stood riveted to one spot, horror-
Btricken, and nearly helpless. When the first blow wai
struck, their screaming companions had pressed upon them
in a body, rendering flight impossible ; and now that fear
or death had scattered most, if not all, from around them
they saw no avenue open, but such as conducted to the
tomahawks of their foes. On every side arose shrieks,
groans, exhortations, and curses. At this moment, Alice
caught a glimpse of the vast form of her father, moving
rapidly across the plain, in the direction of the French army.
He was, in truth, proceeding to Montcalm, fearless of every
danger, to claim the tardy escort for which he had before
conditioned. Fifty glittering axes and barbed spears, were
offered unheeded at his life, but the savages respected his
rank and calmness, even in their fury. The dangerous
weapons were brushed aside by the still nervous arm of the
veteran, or fell of themselves, after menacing an act that it
would seem no one had courage to perform. Fortunately,
the vindictive Magua was searching for his victim in the
very band the veteran had just quitted.

" Father — father — we are here ! " shrieked Alice, as
he passed, at no great distance, without appearing to heed
them. " Come to us, father, or we die ! "

The cry was repeated, and in terms and tones that might
have melted a heart of stone, but it was unanswered.
Once, indeed, the old man appeared to catch the sounds, for
he paused and listened ; but Alice had dropped senseless on
the earth, and Cora had sunk at her side, hovering in mi-
tiring tenderness over her lifeless form. Munro shook his
head in disappointment, and proceeded, bent on the high
duty of his station.

" Lady," said Gamut, who, helpless and useless as he waa,
had not yet dreamed of deserting his trust, " it is the jubilee
of the devils, and this is not a meet place for Christians to
tarry in. Let us up and fly."

" Gro," said Cora, still gazing at her unconscious sister ;
^* oave thyself. To me thou canst not be of ftirther use."

Pavid comprehended the unyielding character of her res-

208 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

olntioii, by the simple but expressive gesture that accompa*
uied her words. He gazed, for a moment, at the dusky
forms that were acting their hellish rites on every side of
him, and his tall person grew more erect, while his chest
heaved, and every feature swelled, and seemed to speak
with the power of the feelings by which he was governed.

" If the Jewish boy might tame the evil spirit of Saul by
the sound of his harp, and the words of sacred song, it may
not be amiss," he said, " to try the potency of music here."

Then raising his voice to its highest tones, he poured out
a strain so powerful as to be heard even amid the din of that
bloody field. More than one savage rushed towards them,
thinking to rifie the unprotected sisters of their attire, and
bear away their scalps ; but when they found this strange
and unmoved figure riveted to his post, they paused to lis-
ten. Astonishment soon changed to admiration, and they
passed on to other, and less courageous victims, openly ex-
pressing their satisfaction at the firmness with which the
white warrior sang his death song. Encouraged and de-
luded by his success, David exerted all his powers to ex-
tend what he believed so holy an influence. The unwonted
sounds caught the ears of a distant savage, who flew raging
from group to group, like one who, scorning to touch the
vulgar herd, hunted for some victim more worthy of his re-
nown. It was Magna, who uttered a yell of pleasure when
he beheld his ancient prisoners again at his mercy.

" Come," he said, laying his soiled hands on the dress of
Cora, " the wigwam of the Huron is still open. Is it not
better than this place ? "

" Away ! " cried Cora, veiling her eyes from his revolt-
ing aspect.

ITie Indian laughed tauntingly, as he held up his reek-
ing hand, and answered, — " It is red, but it comes from
l^hite veins ! "

" Monster ! there is blood, oceans of blood, upon thy
Boul : thy spirit has moved this scene."

" Magna is a great chief ! " returned the exulting savage .*
** will the dark hair go to his tribe ? "

** Never 1 strike, if thou wilt, and complete thy revenge."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 209

He hesitated a moment ; and then catching the light and
ienseless form of Ahce in his arms, the subtle Indian
moved swiftly across the plain towards the woods.

" Hold ! " shrieked Cora, following wildly on his foot-
steps : " release the child ! wretch ! what is't you do ? "

But Magna was deaf to her voice ; or rather he knew
his power, and was determined to maintain it.

" Stay — lady — stay," called Gamut, after the uncon-
scious Cora. " The holy charm is beginning to be felt,
and soon shalt thou see this horrid tumult stilled."

Perceiving that, in his turn, he was unheeded, the faith-
ful David followed the distracted sister, raising his voice
again in sacred song, and sweeping the air to the measure,
with his long arm, in diligent accompaniment. In this
manner they traversed the plain, through the flying, the
wounded, and the dead. The fierce Huron was, at any
time, sufficient for himself and the victim that he bore ;
though Cora would have fallen, more than once, under the
blows of her savage enemies, but for the extraordinary
being who stalked in her rear, and who now appeared to
the astonished natives gifted with the protecting spirit of
madness.

Magna, who knew how to avoid the more pressing dan-
gers, and also to elude pursuit, entered the woods through
a low ravine, where he quickly found the Narragansets,
which the travellers had abandoned so shortly before, await-
ing his appearance, in custody of a savage as fierce and as
malign in his expression as himself. Laying Alice on one
of the horses, he made a sign to Cora to mount the other.

Notwithstanding the horror excited by the presence of
her captor, there was a present relief in escaping from the
bloody scene enacting on the plain, to which Cora could
not be altogether insensible. She took her seat, and held
forth her arms for her sister, with an air of entreaty and
love that even the Huron could not deny. Placing Alice,
then, on the same animal with Cora, he seized the bridle,
ftnd commenced his route by plunging deeper into the for-
est David, perceiving that he was left alone, utterly dis-
r^arded as a subject too worthless even to destroy, thr©^
14

210 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

his long limb across the saddle of the beast they had de-
serted, and made such progress in the pursuit as the diffi-
culties of the path permitted.

They soon began to ascend ; but as the motion had a
tendency to revive the dormant faculties of her sister, the
attention of Cora was too much divided between the ten-
derest solicitude in her behalf, and in listening to the cries
which were still too audible on the plain, to note the direc-
tion in which they journeyed. When, however, they gained
the flattened surface of the mountain-top, and approached
the eastern precipice, she recognized the spot to which she
had once before been led under the more friendly auspices
of the scout. Here Magua suffered them to dismount ;
and, notwithstanding their own captivity, the curiosity
which seems inseparable from horror, induced them to gaze
at the sickening sight below.

The cruel work was still unchecked. On every side
the captured were flying before their relentless persecutors,
while the armed columns of the Christian king stood fast
m an apathy which has never been explained, and which
has left an immovable blot on the otherwise fair escutcheon
of their leader. Nor was the sword of death stayed until
cupidity got the mastery of revenge. Then, indeed, the
shrieks o^ the wounded and the yells of their murderers
grew lesK frequent, until, finally, the cries of horror were
lost to their ear, or were drowned in the loud, long, and
piercing whoops of the triumnhaut savages.

fHE LAST OF rH£ MOHICAN& 2\

CHAPTER XVm.

Why, anything:
An honorable murderer, if you will ;
For nought I did in hate, but all in honor.

OTHKLUk

The bloody and inhuman scene rather incidentally men-
tioned than described in the preceding chapter, is conspic-
uous in the pages of colonial history, by the merited title
of " The Massacre of William Henry." It so far deepened
the stain which a previous and very similar event had left
upon the reputation of the French commander, that it was
not entirely erased by his early and glorious death. It is
now becoming obscured by time ; and thousands, who
know that Montcalm died like a hero on the plains of
Abraham, have yet to learn how much he was deficient in
that moral courage without which no man can be truly
great. Pages might be written to prove, from this illus-
trious example, the defects of human excellence ; to show
how easy it is for generous sentiments, high courtesy, and
chivalrous courage, to lose their influence beneath the chill-
ing blight of selfishness, and to exhibit to the world a man
who was great in all the minor attributes. of character, but
who was found wanting when it became necessary to prove
how much principle is superior to policy. But the task
would exceed our prerogatives ; and, as history, like love,
is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of
imaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint
V^ran will be viewed by posterity only as the gallant de-
fender of his country, while his cruel apathy on the shores
of the Oswego and of the Horican will be forgotten.
Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister
muse, we shall at once retire from her sacred preciniHa.
within the proper limits of our own humble vocation.

^12 THE LAST OP THE MOHICAN?..

The third day from the capture of the fort was drawing
to a close, but the business of the narrative must still detain
the reader on the shores of the " holy lake." When last
seen, the environs of the works were filled with violence and
uproar. They were now possessed by stillness and death.
The blood-stained conquerors had departed ; and their
camp, which had so lately rung with the merry rejoicings
of a victorious army, lay a silent and deserted city of huts.
The fortress was a smouldering ruin ; charred rafters, frag
ments of exploded artillery, and rent mason-work, covering
its earthen mounds in confused disorder.

A frightful change had also occurred in the season. The
sun had hid its warmth behind an impenetrable mass of
vapor, and hundreds of human forms, which had blackened
beneath the fierce heats of August, were stiffening in their
deformity, before the blasts of a premature November. The
curling and spotless mists, which had been seen sailing above
the liills towards the north, were now returning in an inter-
minable dusky sheet, that was urged along by the fury of a
tempest. The crowded mirror of the Horican was gone ;
and, in its place, the green and angry waters lashed the
shores, as if indignantly casting back its impurities to the
polluted strand. Still the clear fountain retained a portion
of its charmed influence, but it reflected only the sombre
gloom that fell from the impending heavens. That humid
and congenial atmosphere which commonly adorned the
new, veiling its harshness, and softening its asperities, had
disappeared, and the northern air poured across the waste
)f water so harsh and unmingled, that nothing was left to
je conjectured by the eye, or fashioned by the fancy.

The fiercer element had cropped the verdure of the plain,
which looked as thougn it were scathed by the consuming
lightning. But, here and there, a dark green tuft rose in
the midst of the desolation ; the earliest fruits of a soil that
had been fattened with human blood. The whole land-
scape, which, seen by a favoring light, and in a genial tem-
perature, had been found so lovely, appeared now like some
pictured allegory of life, in which objects were arrayed in
their harshest but truest colors, and without the relief ot
fffiy ehadowing.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 213

The solitary and arid blades of grass arose from the pasa-
mg gusts fearfully perceptible ; the bold and rocky moun-
tains were too distinct in their barrenness, and the eye even
sought relief, in vain, by attempting to pierce the illimitable
void of heaven, which was shut to its gaze by the dusky
sheet of ragged and driving vapor.

The wind blew unequally ; sometimes sweeping heavily
along the ground, seeming to whisper its moanings in the
cold ears of the dtid, then rising in a shrill and mournful
whistling, it entered the forest with a rush that filled the air
with the leaves and branches it scattered in its path. Amid
the unnatural shower, a few hungry ravens struggled with
the gale ; but no sooner was the green ocean of woods,
which stretched beneath them, passed, than they gladly
stopped, at random, to their hideous banquet.

In short, it was a scene of wildness and desolation ; and
it appeared as if all who had profanely entered it had been
stricken, at a blow, by the relentless arm of death. But the
prohibition had ceased; and for the first time since the
perpetrators of those foul deeds which had assisted to dis-
figure the scene were gone, living human beings had now
presumed to approach the place.

About an hour before the setting of the sun, on the day
already mentioned, the forms of five men might have been
seen issuing from the narrow vista of trees, where the path
to the Hudson entered the forest, and advancing in the
direction of the ruined works. At first their progress was
slow and guarded, as though they entered with reluctance
amid the horrors of the spot, or dreaded fhe renewal of its
frightful incidents. A light figure preceded the rest of the
party, with the caution and activity of a native ; ascending
every hillock to reconnoitre, and indicating, by gestures, to
his companions, the route he deemed it most prudent to
pursue. Nor were those in the rear wanting in every cau-
tion and foresight known to forest warfare. One among
them, he also was an Indian, moved a little on one flank,
and watched the margin of the woods, with eyes long accus-
tomed to read the smallest sign of danger. The remaining
thieo were white, though clad in vestments adapted, both

214 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

in quality and color, to their present hazardous pursuit, —
that of hanging on the skirts of a retiring army in the
wilderness.

The effects produced by the appalling sights that con-
stantly arose in their path to the lake shore, were as differ-
ent as the characters of the respective individuals who com-
posed the party. The youth in front threw serious but
furtive glances at the mangled victims, as he stepped lightly
across the plain, afraid to exhibit his feelings, and yet too
inexperienced to quell entirely their sudden and powerful
influence. His red associate, however, was superior to such
a weakness. He passed the groups of dead with a steadi-
ness of purpose, and an eye so calm, that nothing but long
and inveterate practice could enable him to maintain. The
sensations produced in the minds of even the white men
were different, though uniformly sorrowful. One, whose
gray locks and furrowed lineaments, blending with a martial
air and tread, betrayed, in spite of the disguise of a woods-
man's dress, a man long experienced in scenes of war, was
not ashamed to groan aloud, whenever a spectacle of more
than usual horror came under his view. The young man
at his elbow shuddered, but seemed to suppress his feelings
in tenderness to his companion. Of them all, the straggler
who brought up the rear appeared alone to betray his real
thoughts, without fear of observation or dread of conse-
quences. He gazed at the most appalling sight with eyes
and muscles that knew not how to waver, but with exe-
crations so bitter and deep as to denote how much he
denounced the crime of his enemies.

The reader will perceive at once, in these respective
characters, the Mohicans, and their white friend, the scout ;
together with Munro and Heyward. It was, in truth, the
father in quest of his children, attended by the youth who
felt so deep a stake in their happiness, and those brave and
trusty foresters, who had already proved their skill and
fidelity through the trying scenes related.

When Uncas, who moved in front, had reached the
centre of the plain, he raised a cry that drew his compan
ioQi m a body to the spot. The yo-xng warrior had halted

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 21f

over a group of females who lay in a cluster, a confuser
mass of dead. Notwithstanding the revolting horror of the
exhibition, Munro and Heyward flew towards the festering
heap, endeavoring, with a love that no unseemliness could
extinguish, to discover whether any vestiges of those they
sought were to be seen among the tattered and many-colored
garments. The father and the lover found instant relief in
the search ; though each was condemned again to experi-
ence the misery of an uncertainty that was hardly less
insupportable than the most revolting truth. They were
standing, silent and thoughtful, around the melancholy pile,
when the scout approached. Eying the sad spectacle with
an angry countenance, the sturdy woodsman, for the first
time shice his entering the plain, si)oke intelligibly and
aloud : —

*' I have been on many a shocking field, and have
followed a trail of blood for weary miles," he said, " but
never have I found the hand of the devil so plain as it is
here to be seen ! Revenge is an Indian feeling, and all
who know me know that there is no cross in my veins ; but
this much will I say — here, in the face of heaven, and with
the power of the Lord so manifest in this howling wilder-
ness, — that should these Frenchers ever trust themselves
again within the range of a ragged bullet, there is one rifle
shall play its part, so long as flint will fire or powder bum !
I leave the tomahawk and knife to such as have a natural
gift to use them. What say you, Chingachgook," he added
in Delaware , " shall the Hurons boast of this to their
women when the deep snows come ? " •

A gleam of resentment flashed across the dark lineaments
of the Mohican chief : he loosened his knife in his sheath ,•
%ad then turning calmly from the sight, his countenance
settled into a repose as deep as if he never knew the insti-
gation of passion.

"Montcalm! Montcalm!" continued the deeply resent-
fiil and less self-restrained scout ; " they say a time must
come, when all the deeds done in the flesh will be seen at a
single look ; and that by eyes cleared from mortal infirmi-
ties. Woe betide the wretch who is born to behold this

216 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

plain, with the judgment hanging about his soul ! Ha— -as
I am a man of white blood, yonder lies a red-skin, without
the hair of his head where nature rooted it ! Look to him,
Delaware ; it may be one of your missing people ; and he
hould have burial like a stout warrior. I see it in your
dye, Sagamore ; a Huron pays for this, afore the fall winds
have blown away the scent of the blood ! "

Chingachgook approached the mutilated form, and turn-
ing it over, he found the distinguishing marks of one of
those six allied tribes, or nations, as they were called, who,
while they fought in the English ranks, were so deadly hos-
tile to his own people. Spurning the loathsome object with
his foot, he turned from it with the same indifference he
would have quitted a brute carcase. The scout compre-
hended the action, and very deliberately pursued his own
way, continuing, however, his d;- lunciations agamst the
French commander in the same resentful strain.

*' Nothing but vast wisdom and onlimited power should
dare to sweep off men in multitudes," he added ; for it is
only the one that can know the necessity of the judgment;
and what is there, short of the other, that can replace the
creatures of the Lord ? I hold it a sin to kill the second
buck afore the first is eaten, miless a march in the front, or
an ambushment, be contemplated. It is a different matter
with a few warriors in open and rugged fight, for 'tis their
gift to die with the rifle or the tomahawk in hand ; accord-
ing as their natures may happen to be, white or red.
Uncas, come this way, lad, and let the ravens settle upon
the Mingo. I know, from often seeing it, that they have a
craving for the flesh of an Oneida ; and it is as well to let
the bird follow the gift of its natural appetite."

" Hugh ! " exclaimed the young Mohican, rising on the
extremities of his feet, and gazing intently in his front,
frightening the raven to some other prey, by the sound and
the action.

*' What is it, boy ? " whispered the scout, lowering his
tall form into a crouching attitude, like a panther about to
take his leap ; '* God send it ])e a tardy Frencher, skulking
for plunder. I do believe * Killdeer ' would take an on*
common range to-day ! "

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 217

tineas, without making any reply, bounded away from
the spot, and in the next instant he was seen tearing froiD
a bush, and waving in triumph, a fragment of the green
riding-veil of Cora. The movement, the exhibition, and
the cry, which again burst from the lips of the yoimg Mo-
hican, instantly drew the whole party about him.

" My child ! " said Munro, speaking quick and wildly
'* give me my child ! "

" Uncas will try," was the short and touching answer.
The simple but meaning assurance was lost on the father,
veho seized the piece of gauze, and crushed it in his hand,
while his eyes roamed fearfully among the bushes, as if he
equally dreaded and hoped for the secrets they might
reveal.

" Here are no dead," said Heyward ; " the storm seems
not to have passed this way."

" That's manifest ; and clearer than the heavens above
our heads," returned the undisturbed scout ; " but either
she, or they that have robbed her, have passed the bush ;
for I remember the rag she wore to hide a face that all
did love to look upon. Uncas, you are right ; the dark-
hair has been here, and she has fled like a frightened fawn,
to the wood ; none who could fly would remain to be mur-
dered. Let us search for the marks she left ; for to Indian
eyes, I sometimes think even a humming-bird leave" his
trail in the air."

The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and
the scout had hardly done speaking, before the forme?
raised a cry of success from the margin of the forest. On
reaching the spot, the anxious party perceived another por-
tion of the veil fluttering on the lower branch of a beech.

" Softly, softly," said the scout, extending his long rifle
in front of the eager Heyward ; " we now know our work,
but the beauty of the trail must not be deformed. A step
too soon may give us hours of trouble. We have them
though ; that much is beyond denial."

" Bless ye, bless ye, worthy man ! " exclaimed Munro

* whither, then, have they fled, and where are my babes ? "

" The path they have taken depends on many chancea

218 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

If they have gone alone, they are quite as likely to move ia
a circle as straight, and they may be within a dozen milet
of us ; but if the Hurons, or any of the French Indians,
have laid hands on them, 'tis probable they are now near
the borders of the Canadas. But what matters that ? "
continued the deliberate scout, observing the powerful anx-
iety and disappointment the listeners exhibited ; " herp are
the Mohicans and I on one end of the trail, and, rely on it,
we find the other, though they should be a hundred leagues
asunder ! Gently, gently, Uncas, you are as impatient as a
man in the settlements ; you forget that light feet leave bu*
faint marks ! "

" Hugh ! " exclaimed Chingachgook, who had been occu
pied in examining an opening that had been evidently made
through the low underbush, which skirted the forest ; and
who now stood erect, as he pointed downwards, in the atti-
tude and with the air of a man who beheld a disgusting
serpent.

" Here is the palpable impression of tlie footstep of a
man," cried Heyward, bending over the indicated spot ; " he
has trod in the margin of this pool, and the mark cannot be
mistaken. They are captives."

" Better so than left to starve in the wilderness," returned
the scout ; " and they will leave a wider trail. I would
wager fifty beaver skins against as many flints, that the
Mohicans and I enter their wigwams within the month!
Stoop to it, Uncas, and try what you can make of the moc-
casin ; for moccasin it plainly is, and no shoe."

The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing
the scattered leaves from around the place, he examined it
with much of that sort of scrutiny, that a money-dealer, in
these days of pecuniary doubts, would bestow on a suspected
due-bill. At length he arose from his knees, satisfied with
the result of the examination.

" Well, boy," demanded the attentive scout, " what does it
gay ? can you make anything of the tell-tale ? "

** Le Renard Subtil ! "

" Ha ! that rampaging devil again ! there never will be
an end of his loping, till ' Killdeer ' has said a friendly
word to hiiD."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 219

Hey ward reluctantly admitted the truth of this intelli-
gence, and now expressed rather his hopes than his doubts
by saying, —

" One moccasin is so much like another, it is probable
there is some mistake."

" One moccasin like another ! you may as well say that
one foot is like another ; though we all know that some are
long, and others short ; some broad, and others narrow ;
some with high, and some with low insteps ; some in-toed,
and some out. One moccasin is no more like another than
one book is like another ; though they who can read in one
are seldom able to tell the marks of the other. Which is
all ordered for the best, giving to every man his natural
advantages. Let me get down to it, Uncas ; neither book
nor moccasin is the worse for having two opinions, instead
of one." The scout stooped to the task, and instantly
added, " You are right, boy ; here is the patch we saw so
often in the other chase. And the fellow will drink when
he can get an opportunity: your drinking Indian always
learns to walk with a wider toe than the natural savage, it
being the gift of a drimkard to straddle, whether of white
or red skin. 'Tis just the length and breadth too ! look at
it. Sagamore: you measured the prints more than once,
when we hunted the varments from Glenn's to the health-
springs."

Chiugachgook complied ; and after finishing his short
examination, he arose, and with a quiet demeanor, he merely
pronounced the word —

"Magna!" •

" Aye, 'tis a settled thing ; here then have passed the
dark-hair and Magna."

" And not Alice ? " demanded Heyward.

" Of her we have not yet seen the signs," returned the
scout, looking closely around at the trees, the bushes, and
the ground. " What have we there ? Uncas, bring hither
the thing you see dangling from yonder thorn-bush."

When the Indian had complied, the scout received the
prize, and holding it on high, he laughed in his silent but
heartfelt manner

220 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

** 'Tis the tooting we'pon of the singer ! now we shall
have a trail a priest might travel," he said. " Uncas, loos
for the marks of a shoe that is long enough to uphold six
feet two of tottering human flesh. I begin to have some
hopes of the fellow, since he has given up squalling to fol-
low some better trade."

" At least, he has been faithful to his trust," said Hey-
ward ; " and Cora and Alice are not without a friend."

" Yes," said Hawkeye, dropping his rifle, and leaning on
it with an air of visible contempt, " he will do their singing !
Can he slay a buck for their dinner ; journey by the moss
on the beeches, or cut the throat of a Huron ? If not, the
first cat-bird ^ he meets is the cleverest of the two. Well,
boy, any signs of such a foundation ? "

" Here is something like the footstep of one who has
worn a shoe ; can it be that of our friend ? "

" Touch the leaves lightly, or you'll disconsart the forma-
tion. That ! that is the print of a foot, but 'tis the dark-
hair's ; and small it is, too, for one of such a noble height
and grand appearance. The singer would cover it with his
heel."

" Where ! let me look on the footsteps of my child," said
Munro, shoving the bushes aside, and bending fondly over
the nearly obliterated impression. Though the tread,
which had left the mark, had been light and rapid, it was
still plainly visible. The aged soldier examined it with
eyes that grew dim as he gazed ; nor did he rise from his
stooping posture until Heyward saw that he had watered
the trace of his daughter's passage with a scalding tear.
Willing to divert a distress which threatened each moment
to break through the restraint of appearances, by giving the
veteran something to do, the young man said to the scout, —

" As we now possess these infallible signs, let us commence
our march. A moment, at such a ti % will appear an ag*
to the captives."

1 The powers of the American mocking-bird are generally known. But the
true mocking-bird is not fbund so far nortn as the State of New York, wbera
it has, however, two substitutes of inferior excellence; the cat-bird, so oftec
named by the scout, and the bird vulgarly called ground-thresher. Either ol
these two last birds is superior to the nightingale, or the lark, though, in gen
tral, the Amedcan birds axe less musbal than those of Europe.

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 321

• It is not the swiftest leaping deer that gives the longest
chase," returned Hawkeye, without moving his eyes from
the different marks that had come under his view ; " we
know that the rampaging Huron has passed, — and the
dark hair, — and the singer, — but where is she of the yel-
low locks and blue eyes ? Though little, and far from being
as bold as her sister, she is fair to the view, and pleasant in
discourse. Has she no friend, that none care for her ? "

" God forbid she should ever want hundreds ! Are we
not now in her pursuit ? for one. I will never cease the
search till she be found."

" In that case we may have to journey by different paths ;
for here she has not passed, light and little as her footstep
would be."

Heyward drew back, all his ardor to proceed seeming to
vanish on the instant. Without attending to this sudden
change in the other's humor, the scout, after musing a mo-
ment, continued, —

" There is no woman in this wilderness could leave such
a print as that, but the dark-hair or her sister. We know
th:4,t the first has been here, but where are the signs of the
other ? Let us push deeper on the trail, and if nothing
offers, we must go back to the plain and strike another
scent. Move on, Uncas, and keep your eyes on the dried
leaves. I will watch the bushes, while your father shall
run with a low nose to the ground. Move on, friends ; the
sun is getting behind the hills."

" Is there nothing that I can do ? " demand^ the anxious
Heyward.

" You ! " repeated the scout, who, with his red friends,
was already advancing in the order he had prescribed;
**ye8, you can keep in our rear, and be careftd not to cross
the trail."

Before they had proceeded many rods, the Indians
Itopped, and appeared to gaze at some signs on the earth,
with more than their usual keenness. Both father ai\d son
spoke quick and loud, now looking at the object of their
mutual admiration, and now regarding each other with the
most unequivocal pleasure.

222 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" They have found the little foot ! " exclaimed the scout,
moving forward, without attending further to his own por,
tion of the duty. " What have we here ? An ambush,
ment has been planted in the spot ! No, by the truest rifle
on the frontiers, here have been them one-sided horses
again ! Now the whole secret is out, and all is plain as
the north star at midnight. Yes, here they have mounted.
There the beasts have been bound to a sapling, in waiting ;
and yonder runs the broad path away to the north, in full
sweep for the Canadas."

" But still there are no signs of Alice, — of the younger
Miss Munro," — said Duncan.

" Unless the shining bauble Uncas has just lifted from
the ground should prove one. Pass it this way, lad, tha*
we may look at it."

Heyward instantly knew it for a trinket that Alice was
fond of wearing, and which he recollected, with the tena*
cious memory of a lover, to have seen, on the fatal morning
of the massacre, dangling from the fair neck of his mistress.
He seized the highly prized jewel -, and as he proclaimed
the fact, it vanished from the eyes of the wondering scout,
who in vain looked for it on the ground, long after it was »
warmly pressed against the beating heart of Duncan. f

" Pshaw ! " said the disappointed Hawkeye, ceasing to '
rake the leaves with the breech of his rifle ; " 'tis a certain
sign of age, when the sight begins to weaken. Such a
glittering gewgaw, and not to be seen ! "Well, well, I can
squint along a clouded barrel yet, and that is enough to set-
tle all disputes between me and the Mingoes. I should like
to find the thing too, if it were only to carry it to the right
owner, and that would be bringing the two ends of what I
call a long trail together, — for by this time the broad St.
Lawrence, or, perhaps, the Great Lakes themselves, are
atwixt us."

" So much the more reason why we should not delay cm
march," returned Heyward ; " let us proceed."

" Young blood and hot blood, they say, are much the
same thing. We are not about to start on a squirrel hunt,
or to drive a deer into the Horican, but to outlie for days

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 228

and nights, and to stretch across a wilderness where the feet
of men seldom go, and where no bookish knowledge would
carry you through harmless. An Indian never starts on
such an expedition without smoking over his council fire ;
and though a man of white blood, I honor their customs in
this particular, seeing that they are deliberate and wise.
We will, therefore, go back, and light our fire to-night in
the ruins of the old fort, and in the morning we shall be
fresh, and ready to undertake our work like men, and not
like babbling women or eager boys."

Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that alterca-
tion would be useless. Munro had again sunk into that
sort of apathy which had beset him since his late over
whelming misfortunes, and from which he was apparently
to be roused only by some new and powerful excitement.
Making a merit of necessity, the young man took the
veteran by the arm, and followed in the footsteps of th«
Indians and the scout who had already begun to retrace
the path which conducte( them to the plaip-

224 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

CHAPTER XIX.

Satar. — Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his fletih; whnt'c
that good for?

Shy. — To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my r»-
venge. Merchant op Venice.

The shades of evening had come /o increase the dreari-
ness of the place, when the party entered the ruins of Wil-
liam Henry. The scout and his companions immediately
made their preparations to pass the night there ; but with
an earnestness and sobriety of demeanor, that betrayed
how much the imusual horrors they had just witnessed
worked on even their practiced feelings. A few fragments
of rafters were reared against a blackened wall ; and when
Uncas had covered them slightly with brush, the temporary
acconmiodations were deemed sufficient. The young Indian
pointed towards his rude hut, when his labor was ended ;
and Heyward, who understood the meaning of the silent
gesture, gently urged Munro to enter. Leaving the bereaved
old man alone with his sorrows, Duncan immediately re-
turned into the open air, too much excited himself to seek
the repose he had recommended to his veteran friend.

While Hawkeye and the Indians lighted their fire, and
took their evening's repast, a frugal meal of dried bear's
meat, the young man paid a visit to that curtain of the di-
lapidated fort which looked out on the sheet of the Horican
The wind had fallen, and the waves were already rolling on
the sandy beach beneath him, in a more regular and tem-
pered succession. The clouds, as if tired of their furioua
chase, were breaking asunder ; the heavier volumes, gath-
ering in black masses about the horizon, while the lighter
scud still hurried above the water, or eddied among the tops
of the mountains, like broken flights of birds, hovering
•round their rooste. Here and there, a red and fiery star

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. *i25

Jlruggled through the drifting vapor, furnishing a lurid gleam
of brightness to the dull aspect of the heavens. Within the
bosom of the encircling hills^. an impenetrable darkness had
already settled ; and the plain lay like a vast and deserted
charnel-house, without omen or whisper to disturb the slum-
bers of its numerous and hapless tenants.

Of this scene, so chillingly in accordance with the past,
Duncan stood for many minutes a rapt observer. His eyes
wandered from the bosom of the mound, where the foresters
were seated around their glimmering fire, to the fainter
light which still lingered in the skies, and then rested long
and anxiously on the embodied gloom, which lay like a
dreary void on that side of him where the dead reposed.
He soon fancied that inexplicable sounds arose from the
place, though so indistinct and stolen, as to render not only
their nature but even their existence uncertain. Ashamed
of his apprehensions, the young man turned towards the
water, and strove to divert his attention to the mimic stars
that dimly glimmered on its moving surface. Still, his too
conscious ears performed their ungrateful duty, as if to warn
him of some lurking danger. At length a swifl trampling
seemed, quite audibly, to rush athwart the darkness. Un-
able any longer to quiet his uneasiness, Duncan spoke in a
low voice to the scout, requesting him to ascend the mound
to the place where he stood. Hawkeye threw his rifle
across an arm, and complied, but with an air so unmoved
and calm, as to prove how much he counted on the security
of their position.

" Listen ! " said Duncan, when the other placed himself
deliberately at his elbow : " there are suppressed noises on
the plain which may show that Montcalm has not yet en-
tirely deserted his conquest."

" Then ears are better than eyes," said the undisturbed
scout, who, having just deposited a portion of a bear be-
tween his grinders, spoke thick and slow, like one whose
mouth was doubly occupied. " I, myself, saw him caged in
Ty, with c.U his host ; for your Frenchers, when they have
done r. olever thing, like to get back, and have a dance, or
a mejTy-making, with the womea over their success."
15

2120 THE LAST OF THE M0HICATT3.

"I know not. An Indian seldom sleeps in war, and
plunder may keep a Huron here after his tribe has departed
It would be well to extinguish the fire, and have a watch
—listen ! you hear the noise I mean !"

" An Indian more rarely lurks about the graves. Though
ready to slay, and not over regardful of the means, he is
conmionly content with the scalp, unless when blood is hot,
and temper up ; but after the spirit is once fairly gone, he
forgets his enmity, and is willing to let the dead find their
natural rest. Speaking of spirits. Major, are you of opinion
that the heaven of a red-skin and of us whites will be one
and the same ? "

" No doubt ^ no doubt. I thought I heard it again ! or
was it the rustling of the leaves in the top of the beech ? "

" For my own part," continued Hawkeye, turning his
face, for a moment, in the direction indicated by Hey ward,
but with a vacant and careless manner, " I believe that par-
adise is ordained for happiness ; and that men will be in-
dulged 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.

" Aye, aye ; 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."

Duncan, who was now made to understand the nature of
the noises he had heard, answered, with more attention to
the subject which the humor of the scout had chosen for di»'
cussion, by saying,-^

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 227

*» It is difficult to account for the feelings tha' may attend
the last great change."

" It would be a change, indeed, for a iidu who has passed
his days in the open air," returned the sDgle-minded scout ;
" and who has so often broken his fast on the head waters
of the Hudson, to sleep within sound of the roaring Mohawk.
But it is a comfort to know we serve a merciful Master,
though we do it each after his fashion, and with great tracts
of wilderness atween us — what goes there ? "

"Is it not the rushing of the wolves you have men
tioned?"

Hawkeye slowly shook his head, and beckoned for Dun-
can to follow him to a spot, to which the glare from the fire
did not extend. When he had taken this precaution, the
scout placed himself in an attitude of intense attention, and
listened long and keenly for a repetition of the low sound
that had so unexpectedly startled him. His vigilance, how-
ever, seemed exercised in vain ; for, after a fruitless pause,
he whispered to Duncan, —

"We must give a call to Uncas. The boy has Indian
senses, and may hear what is hid from us ; for being a
white-skin, I will not deny my nature."

The young Mohican, who was conversing in a iow voice
with his father, started as he heard the moaning of an owl,
and springing on his feet he looked towards vhe black
mounds, as if seeking the place whence the sounds pro-
ceeded. The scout repeated the call, and m a few mo-
ments, Duncan saw the figure of Uncas stealing cautiously
along the rampart, to the spot where they itood.

Hawkeye explained his wishes in a very few words,
which were spoken in the Delaware tongue. So soon as
Uncas was in possession of the reason why he was sum-
moned, he threw himself flat on the turf; where, to the
eyes of Duncan, he appeared to lie quiet and motionless.
Surprised at the immovable attitude of the young warrior,
and curious to observe the manner in which he employed
his faculties to obtain the desired information. Hey ward ad-
vanced a few steps, and bent over the dark object, on which
be had keot hjs eyes riveted. Then it was he discovered

228 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

that the form of Uncas had vanished, and that he beheld
only the dark outline of an inequality in the embankment

" What has become of the Mohican ? " he demanded of
the scout, stepping back in amazement ; " it was here that I
saw him fall, and I could have sworn that here he yet
remained."

" Hist ! speak lower ; for we know not what ears are
open, and the Mingoes are a quick-witted breed. As for
Uncas, ho is out on the plain, and the Maquas, if any such
are about us, will find their equal."

" You think that Montcalm has not called oflf all his
Indians ? Let us give the alarm to our companions, that
we may stand to our arms. Here are five of us, who are
not unused to meet an enemy."

" Not a word to either, as you value life. Look at the
Sagamore, how like a grand Indian chief he sits by the fire.
If there are any skulkers out in the darkness, they will
never discover, by his countenance, that we suspect danger
at hand."

" But they may discover him, and it will prove his death.
His person can be too plainly seen by the light of that fire,
and he will become the first and most certain victim "

" It is undeniable that now you speak the truth," returned
the scout, betraying more anxiety than was usual ; " yet
what can be done ? A single suspicious look might bring
on an attack before we are ready to receive it. He knows,
by the call I gave to Uncas, that we have struck a scent :
I will tell him that we are on the trail of the Mingoes ;
his Indian nature will teach him how to act."

The scout applied his fingers to his mouth, and raised a
low hissing sound, that caused Duncan, at first, to start
aside, believing that he heard a serpent. The head of
Chingachgook was resting on a hand, as he sat musing by
himself; but the moment he heard the warning of the ani-
mal whose name he bore, it arose to an upright position,
and his dark eyes glanced swiftly and keenly on every side
of him. With this sudden and perhaps involuntary move-
ment, every appearance of surprise or alarm ended. His
rifle lay untouclasd, and apparently unnoticed, within reacii

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS 229

of his hand. The tomahawk that he had loosened in hij
belt for the sake of ease, was even suffered to fall from ita
usual situation to the ground, and his form seemed to sink,
like that of a man whose nerves and sinews were suffered
to relax for the purpose of rest. Cunningly resuming his
former position, though with a change of hands, as if the
movement had been made merely to relieve the limb, the
native awaited the result with a calmness and fortitude that
none but an Indian warrior would have known how to
exercise.

But Heyward saw that while to a less instructed eye
the Mohican chief appeared to slumber, his nostrils were
expanded, his head was turned a little to one side, as if to
assist the organs of hearing, and that his quick and rapid
glances ran incessantly over every object, within the power
of his vision.

" See the noble fellow ! " whispered Hawkeye, pressing
the arm of Heyward ; " he knows that a look or a motion
might disconsart our schemes, and put us at the mercy of
them imps " —

He was interrupted by the flash and report of a rifle.
The air was filled with sparks of fire, around that spot
where the eyes of Heyward were still fastened, with admira-
tion and wonder. A second look told him that Chingach-
gook had disappeared in the confusion. In the mean time,
the scout had thrown forward his rifle, like one prepared
for service, and awaited impatiently the moment when an
enemy might rise to view. But with the solitary and fruit-
less attempt made on the life of Chiugackgook, the attack
appeared to have terminated. Once or twice the listeners
thought they could distinguish the distant rustling of bushes,
as bodies of some unknown description rushed through
them ; nor was it long before Hawkeye pointed out the
" scampering of the wolves," as they fled precipitately before
the passage of some intruder on their proper domains.
After an impatient and breathless pause, a plunge was heard
in the water, and it was immediately followed by the report
ot' another rifle.

** There goes Uncas I said the scout : " the boy bears ji

280 THE LAST 01- THE MOHJCANg.

gmart piece ! I know its crack, as well as a father knowk
the language of his child, for I canied the gun myself until
a better offered."

" What can this mean ? " demanded Duncan : " we are
watched, and, as it would seem, marked for destruction." ^*

" Yonder scattered brand can witness that no good was
intended, and this Indian will testify that no harm has been
done," returned the scout, dropping his rifle across his arm
again, and following Chingachgook, who just then reap-
peared within the circle of light, into the bosom of the
works. " How is it, Sagamore ? Are the Mingoes upon
us in earnest, or is it only one of those reptiles who hang
upon the skirts of a war party, to scalp the dead, go in, and
make their boast among the squaws of the valiant deeds
done on the pale-faces ? "

Chingachgook very quietly resumed his seat ; nor did he
make any reply, until after he had examined the firebrand
which had been struck by the bullet, that had nearly proved
fatal to himself. After which, he was content to reply,
holding a single finger up to view, with the English mono-
syllable, —

« One."

" I thought as much," returned Hawkeye, seating him-
self ; " and as he had got the cover of the lake afore Uncas
pulled upon him, it is more than probable the knave will
sing his lies about some great ambushment, in which he was
outlying on the trail of two Mohicans and a white hunter -^
for the officers can be considered as little better than idlers
in such a skrimmage. Well, let him — let him. There
are always some honest men in every nation, though heaven
knows, too, that they are scarce among the Maquas, to look
down an upstart when he brags ag'in the face of reason,
The varlet sent his lead within whistle of your ears, Saga-
more."

Chiugachgook turned a calm and incurious eye towards
the place wl^eve the ball had struck, and then resumed his
former attitude, with a composure that could not be dis-
turbed by so trifling an incident. Just then Uncas glided
mto the circle, and seated himself at the fire, with the S'im«
anpearance of indifference as was maintained by his father

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANb. 231

Of these several movements Heyward was a -eeply inter-
ested and wondering observer. It appeared to him as
though the foresters had some secret means of intelligence,
which had escaped the vigilance of his own faculties. In
place of that eager and garrulous narration with which a
white youth would have endeavored to communicate, and
perhaps exaggerate, that which had passed out in the dark-
ness of the plain, the young warrior was seemingly content
to let his deeds speak for themselves. It was, in fact,
neither the moment nor the occasion for an Indian to boast
of his exploits ; and it is probable, that had Heyward neg-
lected to inquire, not another syllable would, just then,
have been uttered on the subject.

" What has become of our enemy, Uncas ? " demanded
Duncan : " we heard your rifle, and hoped you had not fired
in vain."

The young chief removed a fold of his hunting shirt, and
quietly exposed the fatal tuft of hair, which he bore as the
symbol of victory. Chingachgook laid his hand on the
scalp, and considered it for a moment with deep attention.
Then dropping it, with disgust depicted in his strong fea-
tures, he ejaculated, —

« Oneida ! "

" Oneida ! " repeated the scout, who was fast losing his
interest in the scene, in an apathy nearly assimilated to
that of his red associates, but who now advanced with
uncommon earnestness to regard the bloody badge. " By
the Lord, if the Oneidas are outlying upon the trail, we
shall be flanked by devils on every side t)f us ! Now, to
white eyes there is no difference between this bit of skin
and that of any other Indian, and yet the Sagamore declares
it came from the poll of a INIingo ; nay, he even names the
tribe of the poor devil with as much ease as if the scalp was
the leaf of a book, and each hair a letter. What right have
Christian whites to boast of their learning, when a savage
(an read a language that would prove too much for the
wisest of them all ! What say you^ lad ; of whai, people
was the knave ? "

Uncas raised his eyes to the fe-ce of the scoutj and answered,
in his soft voice, —

282 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

« Oneida."

" Oneida, again ! when one Indian makes a declaration U
is commonly true ; but when he is supported by his people,
set it down as gospel ! "

"The poor fellow has mistaken us for French," said
Heyward ; " or he would not have attempted the life of a
friend."

" He mistake a Mohican in his paint for a Huron ! You
would be as likely to mistake the white-coated grenadiers of
Montcalm for the scarlet jackets of the ' Royal Americans,' '*
returned the scout. " No, no, the sarpent knew his errand ;
nor was there any great mistake in the matter, for there is
but little love atween a Delaware and a Mingo, let their
tribes go out to fight for whom they may, in a white quarrel.
For that matter, though the Oneidas do serve his sacred
Majesty, who is my own sovereign lord and master, I should
not have deliberated long about letting off ' Killdeer ' at the
imp myself, had luck thrown him in my way."

" That would have been an abuse of our treaties, and un^
worthy of your character."

" When a man consorts much with a people," continued
Hawkeye, " if they are honest and he no knave, love will
grow up atwixt them. It is true that white cunnmg has
managed to throw the tribes into great confusion, as respects
fiends and enemies ; so that the Hurons and the Oneidas,
''/ho speak the same tongue, or what may be called the same,
cake each other's scalps, and the Delawares are divided
»mong themselves ; a few hanging about their great council
tire on their own river, and fighting on the same side with
the Mingoes, while the greater part are in the Canadas, out
of natural enmity to the Maquas — thus throwing everythmg
into disorder, and destroying all the harmony of warfare.
Vet a red natur' is not likely to alter with every shift of
policy ; so that the love atwixt a Mohican and a Mingo is
much like the regard between a white man and a sarpent."

" I regret to hear it ; for I had believed those natives who
dwelt within our boundaries had found us too just and liberal,
not to identify themselves fully with our quarrels."

** Why, I believe it is natur' to give a preference to one'tt

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 233

ftVR quarrels before those of strangers. Now, for myself, J
do love justice ; and therefore I will not say I hate a INIingo,
for that may be unsuitable to my color and my religion;
though I will just repeat, it may have been owing to the
night that * Killdeer ' had no hand in the death of this skulk-
ing Oneida."

Then, as if satisfied with the force of his own reasons,
whatever might be their effect on the opinions of the other
disputant, the honest but implacable woodsman turned from
the fire, content to let the controversy slumber. Hey ward
withdrew to the rampart, too uneasy and too little accus-
tomed to the warfare of the woods to remain at ease under
the possibility of such insidious attacks. Not so, however,
with the scout and the Mohicans. Those acute and long
practiced senses, whose powers so often exceed the limits of
all ordinary credulity, after having detected the danger, had
enabled them to ascertain its magnitude and duration. Not
one of the three appeared in the least to doubt their perfect
security, as was indicated by the preparations that were soon
made to sit in council over their future proceedings.

The confusion of nations, and even of tribes, to which
Hawkeye alluded, existed at that period in the fullest force.
The great tie of language,^ and, of course, of a common
origin, was severed in many places ; and it was one of ite
consequences, that the Delaware and the Mingo (as the
people of the Six Nations were Ciilled) were found fighting
in the same ranks, while the latter sought the scalp of the
Huron, though believed to be the root of his own stock.
The Delawares were even divided among themselves.
Though love for the soil which had belonged to his ancestors
kept the Sagamore of the Mohicans with a small band of
followers who were serving at Edward, under the banneis
of the English king, by far the largest portion of his nation
were known to be in the field as allies of Montcalm. The
reader probably knows, if enough has not already been
gleaned from this narrative, that the Delaware, or Lenape,
claimed to be the progenitors of that numerous people, who
once were masters of most of the Eastern and Northern States
of America, of whom the community of the Mohicans wti
an ancient and highly honored member

284 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

It was, of course, with a perfect understanding of tH
minute and intricate interests which had armed friend agaiiA^t
friend, and brought natural enemies to combat by each other's
side, that the scout and his companions now disposed them-
selves to deliberate on the measures that were to govern
their future movements, amid so many jarring and savage
races of men. Duncan knew enough of Indian customs to
anderstand the reason that the fire was replenished, and why
the warriors, not excepting Hawkeye, took their seats
within the curl of its smoke with so much gravity and deco-
rum. Placing himself at an angle of the works, where he
might be a spectator of the scene within, while he kept a
watchful eye against any danger from without, he awaited
the result with as much patience as he could summon.

After a short and impressive pause, Chingachgook lighted
a pipe whose bowl was curiously carved in one of the soft
stones of the country, and whose stem was a tube of wood,
and commenced smoking. When he had inhaled enough of
the fragrance of the soothing weed, he passed the instru-
ment into the hands of the scout. In this manner the pipe
had made its rounds three several times, amid the most pro-
found silence, before either of the party opened his lips.
Then the Sagamore, as the oldest and highest in rank, in a
few calm and dignified words, proposed the subject for
deliberation. He was answered by the scout ; and Chin-
gachgook rejoined, when the other objected to his opinions.
But the youthful Uncas continued a silent and respectful
listener, until Hawkeye, in complaisance, demanded his
opinion. Heyward gathered from the manners of the
different speakers, that the father and son espoused one side
of a disputed question, while the white man maintained the
other. The contest gradually grew warmer, until it was
quite evident the feelings of the speakers began to be some-
what enlisted in the debate.

Notwithstanding the increasing warmth of the amicable
contest, the most decorous Christian assembly, not even
excepting those in which its reverend ministers are collecte<i,
might have learned a wholesome lesson of mod'^ration from
the forbearance and courtesy of the disputants. The words ^

.J

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 236

of Uncas were received with the same deep attention af
those which fell from the maturer wisdom of his father ; and
80 far from manifesting any impatience, neither spoke in
reply, until a few moments of silent meditation were, seem-
ingly, bestowed in deliberating on what had already been
said.

The language of the Mohicans was accompanied by ges-
tures so direct and natural, that Heyward hud but litcle dif-
ficulty in following the thread of their argument. On the
other hand, the scout was obscure ; because, from the lin-
gering pride of color, he rather affected the cold and artifi-
cial manner which characterizes all classes of Anglo-Amer-
icans, when unexcited. By the frequency with which the
Indians described the marks of a forest trail, it was evident
they urged a pursuit by land, while the repeated sweep of
Hawkeye's arm towards the Horican denoted that he was
for a passage across its waters.

The latter was, to every appearance, fcist losing ground,
and the point was about to be decided against him, when he
arose to his feet, and shaking off his apathy, he suddenly
assumed the manner of an Indian, and adopted all the arts
of native eloquence. Elevating an arm, he pointed out the
track of the sun, repeating the gesture for every day that
was necessary to accomplish their object. Then he deline-
ated a long and painful path, amid rocks and water-courses.
The age and weakness of the slumbering and unconscious
Munro were indicated by signs too palpable to be mistaken.
Duncan perceived that even his own powerif were spoken
lightly of, as the scout extended his palm, and mentioned
him by the appellation of the " Open Hand," — a name his
liberality had purchased of all the friendly tribes. Then
tame a representation of the light and graceful movements
of a canoe, set in forcible contrast to the tottering steps of
one enfeebled and tired. He concluded by pointing to the
Bcalp of the Oneida, and apparently urging the necessity of
their departing speedily, and in a manner that should leave
no trail.

The Mohicans listened gravely, and with countenances
iltot reflected the sentiments of the speaker. Conviction

286 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

gi-adually wrought its influence, and towards the close of
Hawkey e's speech, his sentences were accompanied by the
customary exclamation of commendation. In short, Uncaa
and his father became converts to his way of thinking,
abandoning their own previously expressed opinions with a
liberality and candor that, had they been the representatives
of some great and civilized people, would have infallibly
worked their political ruin, by destroying, forever, their
reputation for consistency.

The instant the matter in discussion was decided, the
debate, and everything connected with it, except the result,
appeared to be forgotten. Hawkeye, without looking round
to read his triumph in applauding eyes, very composedly
stretched his tall frame before the dying embers, and closed
his own organs in sleep.

Left now in a measure to themselves, the Mohicans,
whose time had been so much devoted to the interests of
others, seized the moment to devote some attention to them-
selves. Casting off, at once, the grave and austere demeanor
of an Indian chief, Chingachgook commenced speaking to
his son in the soft and playful tones of affection. Uncas
gladly met the familiar air of his father ; and before the hard
breathing of the scout announced that he slept, a complete
change was effected in the manner of his two associates.

It is impossible to describe the music of their language,
while thus engaged in laughter and endearments, in such a
way as to render it intelligible to those whose ears have
never listened to its melody. The compass of their voices,
particularly that of the youth, was wonderful, — extending
from the deepest bass to tones that were even feminine in
softness. The eyes of the father followed the plastic and
ingenious movements of the son with open delight, and he
never failed to smile in reply to the other's contagious, but
low laughter. While under the influence of these gentle
and natural feelings, no trace of ferocity was to be seen in
the softened features of the Sagamore. His figured panoply
of death looked more like a disguise assumed in mockery,
than a fierce annunciation of a deske to carry destruction ii)
his footsteps.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 23T

After An hour passed in the indulgence of their better
feelings, Chingachgook abruptly announced his desire to
sleep, by wrapping his head in his blanket, and stretching
his form on the naked earth. The merriment of Uncas in-
stantly ceased ; and carefully raking the coals in such a
maimer that they should impart their warmth to his father's
feet, the youth sought his own pillow among the ruins of
the place.

Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these
experienced foresters, Heyward soon imitated their example ;
and long before the night had turned, they who lay in the
bosom of the ruined work, seemed to slumber as heavilv ae
the unconscious multitude whose bones were already ndgiD'
hing to bleach on the surrounding plain.

388 THE LAST OF IB]^ MOHICANS.

CHAPTER XX.

Luid of Albania ! let me bend mine sye9
On thee, thou rugged nurse of savage men !

Childe Hakcmld.

The heavens were still studded with stars, when Hawk
eye came to arouse the sleepers. Casting aside their cloaks
Munro and Heyward were on their feet while the woods-
man was still making his low calls, at the entrance of the
rude shelter where they had passed the night. When they
issued from beneath its concealment, they found the scout
awaiting their appearance nigh by, and the only salutation
between them was the significant gesture for silence, made
by their sagacious leader.

"Think over your prayers," he whispered, as they ap-
proached him ; " for He, to whom you make them, knows all
tongues ; that of the heart, as well as those of the mouth.
But speak not a syllable ; it is rare for a white voice to
pitch itself properly in the woods, as we have seen by the
example of that miserable devil, the singer. Come," he
continued, turning towards a curtain of the works ; " let us
get into the ditch on this side, and be regardful to step on
the stones and fragments of wood as you go."

His companions complied, though to two of them the rea-
Bons of this extraordinary precaution were yet a mystery.
When they were in the low cavity that surrounded the
earthen fort on three sides, they found the passage nearly
choked by the ruins. With care and patience, however
they succeeded in clambering after the scout, until they
reached the sandy shore of the Horican.

" That's a trail that nothing but a nose can follow," said
ihe satisfied scout, looking back along their difficult way;
" grass is a treacheous carpet for a flying party to tread on,

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 289

Swt wood and stone take no print from a moccasin. Had
you worn your armed boots, there might, indeed, have been
something to fear ; but with the deer-skin suitably prepaied,
a man may trust himself, generally, on rocks with safety.
Shove in the canoe nigher to the land, Uncas ; this sand
will take a stamp as easily as the butter of the Jarmans on
the Mohawk. Softly, lad, softly; it must not touch the
beach, or the knaves will know by what road we have left
the place."

The young man observed the precaution ; and the scout,
laying a board from the ruins to the canoe, made a sign for
the two officers to enter. When this was done, everything
was studiously restored to its former disorder; and then
Hawkeye succeeded in reaching his little birchen vessel,
without leaving behind him any of those marks which he
appeared so much to dread. Heyward was silent, until the
Indians had cautiously paddled the canoe some distance from
the fort, and within the broad and dark shadow that fell
from the eastern mountain on the glassy surface of the lake ;
then he demanded, —

" What need have we for this stolen and hurried depar-
ture ? "

" If the blood of an Oneida could stain such a sheet of
pure water as this we float on," returned the scout, " your
two eyes would answer your own question. Have you for-
gotten the skulking reptyle that Uncas slew ? '*

" By no means. But he was said to be alone, and dead
men give no cause for fear." »

'* Aye, he was alone in his deviltry I but an Indian whose
tribe counts so many warriors, need seldom fear his blood
will run, without the death-shriek coming speedily from some
of his enemies."

" But our presence — the authority of Colonel Munro —
would prove a sufficient protection against the anger of our
allies, especially in a case where the wretch so well merited
his fate. I trust in Heaven you have not deviated a single
foot from the direct line of our course, with so slight a rea-
son!"

" Do you tliink the bullet of that varlet's rifle would havo

240 THE LAST OF THE M0H10AN8.

turned aside, though his sacred Majesty the King had stooc.
in its path ? " returned the stubborn scout. " Why did no*
the grand Frencher, he who is captain-general of the Can
adas, bury the tomahawks of the Hurons, if a word from a
white can work so strongly on the natur' of an Indian ? ''

The reply of Heyward was interrupted by a groan from
Munro ; but after he had paused a moment, in deference
to the sorrow of his aged friend, he resumed the subject.

" The Marquis of Montcalm can only settle that error
with his God," said the young man solemnly.

" Aye, aye ; now there is reason in your words, for they
are bottomed on religion and honesty. There is a vast
difference between throwing a regiment of white coats
atwixt the tribes and the prisoners, and coaxing an angry
savage to forget he carries a knife and a rifle, with words
that must begin with calling him your son. No, no," con-
tinued the scout, looking back at the dim shore of "William
Henry, which was now fast receding, and laughing in his
own silent but heartfelt manner ; " I have put a trail of
water atween us ; and unless the imps can make friends
with the fishes, and hear who has paddled across their basin,
this fine morning, we shall throw the length of the Hori-
can behind us, before they have made up their minds which
path to take."

" With foes in front, and foes in our rear, our journey is
like to be one of danger."

" Danger ! " repeated Hawkeye, calmly ; " no, not abso-
lutely of danger ; for, with vigilant ears and quick eyes, we
can manage to keep a few hours ahead of the knaves ; or,
if we must try the rifle, there are three of us who under-
stand its gifts as well as any you can name on the borders
No, not of danger ; but that we shaU have what you may
call a brisk push of it, is probable ; and it may happen, a
brush, a skrimmage, or some such divarsion, but always
where covers are good, and ammunition abundant."

It is possible that Heyward's estimate of danger differed
in some degree from that of the scout, for, instead of reply-
ing, he now sat in silence, while the canoe glided over sev-
eral tuiles of water. Just as the day dawned, they entered

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 241

kbe narrows of the lake,i and stole swiftly and cautiously
among their numberless httle islands. It wa^ by this road
that Montcalm had retired with his army, and the adven-
turers knew not but he had left some of his Indians in am-
bush, to protect the rear of his forces, and collect the strag-
glers. They, therefore, approached the passage with the
customary silence of their guarded habits.

Chingachgook laid aside his paddle; while Uncas and
the scout urged the light vessel through crooked and intricate
channels, where every foot that they advanced exposed
them to the danger of some sudden rising on their progress.
The eyes of the Sagamore moved wai-ily from islet to islet,
and copse to copse, as the canoe proceeded ; and when a
clearer sheet of water permitted, his keen vision was bent
along the bald rocks and impending forests, that frowned
upon the narrow strait

Heyward, who was a doubly interested spectator, as well
from the beauties of the place as from the apprehension
natural to bis situation, was just believing that he had per-
mitted the latter to be excited without sufficient reason,
when the paddle ceased moving, in obedience to a signal
from Chingachgook.

** Hugh ! " exclaimed Uncas, nearly at the moment that
the light tap his father had made on the side of the canoe
notified them of the vicinity of danger.

" What now ? " asked the scout ; " the lake is as smooth
as if the winds had never blown, and I can see along its

1 The beauties of Lake George are well known to every American tourist.
In the height of the mountains which surround it, and in artificial accesao-
ries, it is inferior to the finest of the Swiss and Italian lakes, while in outline
and purity of water it is fully their equal ; and in the number and disposition
of ita isles and islets much superior to them all together. There are said to
be some hundreds of islands in a sheet of water less than thirty miles long.
The narrows which connect what may be called, in truth, two lakes, are
crowded with islands to such a degree as to leave passages between them fre-
quently of only a few feet in width. The lake itself varies in breadth fiom
one to three miles.

The State of New York is remarkable for the number and beauty of iti
iakea. One of its frontiers lies on the vast sheet of Ontario, while Cham-
plain stretches nearly a hundred miles ak)ng another. Oneida, Cayaga, Can-
andaigua, Seneca, and George, are all lakes of thirty miles in length, whik i,ho«:t
of a size smaller are without number. On most of these lakes there are no\3
WutifuJ villages, and on many of them steaniboats-
16

242 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

neet for miles ; there is not so much as the bliick bead of a
loon dotting the water."

The Indian gravely raised his paddle, and pointed m the
direction in which his own steady look was riveted. Dun-
can's eyes followed the motion. A few rods m their front
lay another of the low wooded islets, but it appeared as
calm and peaceful as if its solitude had never been disturbed
by the foot of man.

" I see nothing," he said, " but land and water ; and .'j
lovely scene it is."

" Hist ! " interrupted the scout. " Aye, Sagamore, there
is always a reason for what you do. Tis but a shade, and
yet it is not natural. You see the mist. Major, that is ris-
mg above the island ; you can't call it a fog, for it is more
like a streak of thin cloud " —

" It IS vapor from the water."

" That a child could tell. But what is the edging of
blacker smoke that hangs along its lower side, and which
you may trace down into the thicket of hazel? 'Tis
from a fire : but one that, in my judgment, has been suf-
fered to burn low."

" Let us then push for the place, and relieve our doubts,"
said the impatient Duncan ; " the party must be small that
can lie on such a bit of land."

" If you judge of Indian cunning by the rules you find
in books, or by white sagacity, they will lead you astray, if
not to your death," returned Hawkeye, examining the signs
of the place with that acuteness which distinguished him.
" K I may be permitted to speak in this matter, it wiD be
to say, that we have but two things to choose between : the
one is, to return, and give up all thoughts of following the
Hurons " —

" Never ! " exclaimed Heyward, in a voice fer too loud
for their circumstances.

" Well, well," continued Hawkeye, making a hasty sign
to repress his impatience ; " I am much of your mind my-
self; though I thought it becoming my experience to tell
the whole. We must then make a push, and if the Indians
or Frenchers are in the narrows, run the gauntlet through

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 248

these toppling mountains. Is there reason in my words,

Sagamore ? "

The Indian made no other answer than by droppmg hia
paddle into the water, and urging forward the canoe. As
he held the office of directing its course, his resolution was
sufficiently indicated by the movement. The whole party
now plied their paddles vigorously, and in a very few mo
naents they had reached a pomt whence they might com-
mand an entire view of tlie northern shore of the island,
the side that had hitherto been concealed.

" There they are, by all the truth of signs," whispered
the scout ; " two canoes and a smoke. The knaves haven't
yet got their eyes out of the mist, or we should hear the
accursed whoop. Together, friends ! we are leaving them,
and are already nearly out of whistle of a bullet."

The well known crack of a rifle, whose ball came skip-
ping along the placid surface of the strait, and a shrill yell
from the island, interrupted his speech, and announced that
their passage was discovered. In another instant several
savages were seen rushing into the canoes, which were soon
dancing over the water, in pursuit. These fearful precur-
sors of a coming struggle produced no change in the coun-
tenances and movements of his three guides, so far as Dun-
can could discover, except that the strokes of their paddles
were longer and more in unison, and caused the little bark
to spring forward like a creature possessing life and voli-
tion.

" Hold them there, Sagamore," said Hawkeye, looking
coolly backward over his left shoulder, while he still plied
his paddle ; " keep them just there. Them Hurous have
aever a piece in their nation that will execute at this dis-
tance ; but ' Killdeer ' has a barrel on which a man may
calculate."

The scout having ascertained that the Mohicans werf
sufficient of themselves to maintain the requisite distance
ieliberately laid aside his paddle, and raised the fatal rifle
Three several times he brought the piece to his shoulder
and when his companions were expecting its report, he aj
oiteu lowered it to request the Indians would permit thai*

244 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

siiemies to approach a little nigher. At length his accurate

and fastidious eye seemed satisfied, and throwing out his
left arm on the barrel, he was slowly elevating the muzzle,
when an exclamation from Uncas, who sat in the bow, once
more caused him to suspend the shot.

" What now, lad ? " demanded Hawkeye ; " you saved a
Huron from the death-shriek by that word ; have you rea-
son for what you do ? "

Uncas pointed towards the rocky shore a little in their
front, whence another war canoo was darting directly across
their course. It was too obvious now that their situation
was imminently perilous, to need the aid of language to
confirm it. The scout laid aside his rifle, and resumed the
paddle, while Chingachgook inclined the bows of the canoe
a little towards the western shore, in order to increase the
distance between them and this new enemy. In the mean
time they were reminded of the presence of those who
pressed upon their rear, by wild and exulting shouts. The
stirring scene awakened even Munro from his apathy.

" Let us make for the rocks on the main," he said, with
the mien of a tired soldier, " and give battle to the savages.
God forbid that I, or those attached to me and mine,
should ever trust again to the faith of any servant of the
Louis's ! *'

" He who wishes to prosper in Indian warfare," returned
the scout, " must not be too proud to learn from the wit of
a native. Lay her more along the land, Sagamore ; we are
doubling on the varlets, and perhaps they may try to strike
our trail on the long calculation."

Hawkeye was not mistaken ; for when the Hurons found
their course was likely to throw them behind their chase,
they rendered it less direct, until, by gradually bearing
more and more obliquely, the two canoes were, ere long,
gliding on parallel lines, within two hundred yards of each
other. It now became entirely a trial of speed. So raf\id
was the progress of the light vessels, that the lake curled
in their front, in miniature waves, and their motion became
undulating by its own velocity. It was, perhaps, owing to
dus circumstance, in addition to the necessity of keeping

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 245

every hand employed at the paddles, that the Hurons hao
flot immediate recourse to their fire-arms. The exertions
of the fugitives were too severe to continue long, and the
pursuers had the advantage of numbers. Duncan observed,
with uneasiness, that the scout began to look anxiously
about him, as if searching for some further means of assist-
*ng their flight.

" Edge her a little more from the smi. Sagamore," said
the stubborn woodsman ; " I see the knaves are sparing a
man to the rifle. A single broken bone might lose us our
Bcalps. Edge more from the sun and we will put the island
between us."

The expedient was not without its use. A long, low
island lay at a little distance before them, and as they
closed with it, the chasing canoe was compelled to take a
side opposite to that on which the pursued passed. The
scout and his companions did not neglect this advantage,
but the instant they were hid from observation by the
bushes, they redoubled efforts that before had seemed pro-
digious. The two canoes came round the last low point
like two coursers at the top of their speed, the fugitives
taking the lead. This change had brought them nigher to
each other, however, while it altered their relative posi-
tions.

" You showed knowledge in the shaping of birchen bark,
Uncas, when you chose this from among the Huron canoes,"
said the scout, smiling, apparently more in satisfaction at
their superiority in the race, than from ^at prospect of
final escape which now began to open a little upon them.
" The imps have put all their strength again at the paddles,
and we are to struggle for our scalps with bits of flattened
wood, instead of clouded barrels and true eyes. A long
stroke, and together, friends."

" They are preparing for a shot," said Heyward ; " and
as we are in a line with them, it can scarcely fail."

" Get you then into the bottom of the canoe," returned
the scout ; " you and the colonel , it will be so much taken
from the size of the mark."

Heyward smiled, as he answered,—

246 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

** It would be but an ill example for the highest in rank
to dodge, while the warriors were under fire ! "

" Lord ! Lord ! That is now a white man's courage ! **
exclaimed the scout ; " and like too many of his notions,
not to be maintained by reason. Do you think the Saga-
more, or Uncas, or even I, who am a man without a cross,
would deliberate about finding a cover in the skrimmage,
when an open body would do no good ? For what have
the Frenchers reared up their Quebec, if fighting is always
to be done in the clearings ? "

" All that you say is very true, my friend," replied Hey-
ward ; " still, our customs must prevent us from doing as
you wish."

A volley from the Hurons interrupted the discourse, and
as the bullets whistled about them, Duncan saw the head
of Uncas turned, looking back at himself and Munro.
Notwithstanding the nearness of the enemy, and his own
great personal danger, the countenance of the young war-
rior expressed no other emotion, as the former was com-
pelled to think, than amazement at finding men willing to
encounter so useless an exposure. Chingachgook was
probably better acquainted with the notions of white men,
for he did not even cast a glance aside from the riveted look
his eye maintained on the object by which he governed their
course. A ball soon struck the light and polished paddle
from the hands of the chief, and drove it through the air,
far in the advance. A shout arose from the Hurons, who
seized the opportunity to fire another volley. Uncas de-
scribed an arc in the water with his own blade, and as the
canoe passed swiftly on, Chingachgook recovered his paddle,
and flourishing it on high, he gave the war-whoop of the
Mohicans, and then lent his strength and skill again to the
important task.

The clamorous sounds of " Le Gros Serpent ! " " La
Longue Carabine ! " " Le Cerf Agile ! " burst at once from
the canoes behind, and seemed to give new zeal to the pur-
suers. The scout seized " Killdeer" in his left hand, and
elevating it above his head, he shook it in triumph at his
enemies. The savages answered the insult with a yell, and

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 24T

immedidtely another volley succeeded. The bullets pat-
tered along the lake, and one even pierced the bark of their
little vessel. No perceptible emotion could be discov-
ered in the Mohicans during this critical moment, their rigid
features expressing neither hope nor alarm ; but the scout
again turned his head, and laughing in his own silent man-
ner, he said to Heyward, —

" The knaves love to hear the sounds of their pieces ;
but the eye is not to be found among the Mingoes that can
calculate a true range in a dancing canoe ! You see the
dumb devils have taken off a man to charge, and by the
smallest measurement that can be allowed, we move three
feet to their two ! "

Duncan, who was not altogether as easy under this nice
estimate of distances as his companions, was glad to find,
however, that owing to their superior dexterity, and the
diversion among their enemies, they were very sensibly ob
taining the advantage. The Hurons soon fired again, and
a bullet struck the blade of Hawkeye's paddle without in-
jury.

"That will do," said the scout, examining the slight
indentation with a curious eye ; " it would not have cut the
skin of an infant, much less of men, who, like us, have
been blown upon by the heavens in their anger. Now,
Major, if you will try to use this piece of flattened wood,
I'll let * Killdeer ' take a part in the conversation."

Heyward seized the paddle, and applied himself to the
work with an eagerness that supplied the place of skill,
while Hawkeye was engaged in inspectii^ the priming ol
his rifle. The latter then took a swift aim, and fired. The
Huron in the bows of the leading canoe had risen with a
similar object, and he now fell backward, suffering his gun
to escape from his hands into the water. In an instant,
however, he recovered his feet, though his gestures were
wild and bewildered. At the same moment his compan-
ions suspended their efforts, and the chasing canoes clustered
together, and became stationary. Chingachgook and Uncaa
profited by the interval to regain their wind, though Dun-
can continued to work with tha most persevering indusliy,

248 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

1 he fatlier and son now cast calm but inquiring glances at.
each other, to learn if either had sustained any injury by
the fire ; for both well knew that no cry or exclamation
would, in such a moment of necessity, have been permitted
to betray the accident. A few large drops of blood were
trickling down the shoulder of the Sagamore, who, when
he perceived that the eyes of Uncas dwelt too long on the
sight, raised some water in the hollow of his hand, and
washing off the stain, was content to manifest, in this sim-
ple manner, the slightness of the injury.

" Softly, softly. Major," said the scout, who by this time
had reloaded his rifle ; " we are a little too far already for a
rifle to put forth its beauties, and you see yonder imps are
holding a council. Let them come up within striking dis-
tance— my eye may well be trusted in such a matter — and
I will trail the varlets the length ot the Horican, guaran-
teeing that not a shot of theirs shall, at the worst, more
than break the skin, while * Killdeer ' shall touch the life
twice in three times."

" We forget our errand," returned the diligent Duncan.
" For God's sake let us profit by this advantage, and in-
crease our distance from the enemy."

" Give me my children," said Munro hoarsely ; " trifle no
longer with a father's agony, but restore me my babes."

Long and habitual deference to the mandates of his supe
riors had taught the scout the virtue of obedience. Throw-
ing a last and lingering glance at the distant canoes, he laid
aside his rifle, and relieving the wearied Duncan, resumed
the paddle, which he wielded with sinews that never tired.
His efforts were seconded by those of the Mohicans, and a
very few minutes served to place such a sheet of water
between them and their enemies, that Heyward once more
breathed freely.

The lake now began to expand, and their route lay along
a wide reach, that was lined, as before, by high and ragged
mountains. But the islands were few, and easily avoided.
The strokes of the paddles grew more measured and regu-
lar, while they who plied them continued their labor, after
the dose and deadly chase from which they had just re»

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 249

Jieved themselves, with as much coolness as though their
speed had been tried in sport, rather than under such press-
ing, nay, almost desperate circumstances. .

Instead of following the western shore, whither their
errand led them, the wary Mohican inclined his course
more towards those hills behind which Montcalm waa
known to have led his army into the formidable fortress of
Ticonderoga. As the Hurons, to every appearance, had
abandoned the pursuit, there was no apparent reason for
this excess of caution. It was, however, maintained for
hours, until they had reached a bay, nigh the northern ter-
mination of the lake. Here the canoe was driven upon the
beach, and the whole party landed. Hawkeye and Hey-
ward ascended an adjacent bluff, where the former, after
considering the expanse of water beneath him, pointed out
to the latter a small black object, hovering under a head-
land, at the distance of several miles.

" Do you see it ? " demanded the scout. " Now, what
would you account that spot, were you left alone to white
experience to find your way through this wilderness? "

" But for its distance and its magnitude, I should suppose
it a bird. Can it be a living object ? "

" 'Tis a canoe of good birchen bark, and paddled by fierce
and crafty Mingoes. Though Providence has lent to those
who inhabit the woods eyes that would be needless to men
In the settlements, where there are inventions to assist the
sight, yet no human organs can see all the dangers which
at this moment circumvent us. These varjets pretend to
be bent chiefly on their sun-down meal, but the moment it
is dark they will be on our trail, as true as hounds on th«
scent. "We must throw them off, or our pursuit of Le
Renard Subtil may be given up. These lakes are useful a:
times, especially when the game takes the water," continuea
the scout, gazing about him with a countenance of concern -,
" but they give no cover, except it be to the fishes. God
knows what the country would be, if the settlements should
«ver spread far from the two rivers. Both hunting and
war would lose their beauty."

^< Let us not delay a moment, without some good and
obvious cau&a."

250 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" I little like that smoke, which you may see worming
ip along the rock above the canoe," interrupted the ab-
-'tracted scout. " My life on it, other eyes than ours see it,
ind know its meaning. Well, words will not mend the
natter, and it is time that we were doing."

Hawkeye moved away from the look-out, and descended,
musing profoundly, to the shore. He communicated the
result of his observations to his companions, in Delaware,
and a short and earnest consultation succeeded. When it
terminated, the three instantly set about executing their
new resolutions.

The canoe was lifted from the water, and borne on the
shoulders of the party. They proceeded into the wood,
making as broad and obvious a trail as possible. They
soon reached a water-course, which they crossed, and con-
tinued onward, until they came to an extensive and naked
rock. At this point, where their footsteps might be ex-
pected to be no longer visible, they retraced their route to
the brook, walking backwards, with the utmost care. They
now followed the bed of the little stream to the lake, into
which they immediately launched their canoe again. A
low point concealed them from the headland, and the mar-
gin of the lake was fringed for some distance with dense
and overhanging bushes. Under the cover of these nat-
ural advantages, they toiled their way, with patient indus-
try, until the scout pronounced that he believed it would be
safe once more to land.

The halt continued until evening rendered objects indis-
tinct and uncertain to the eye. Then they resumed their
route, and, favored by the darkness, pushed silently and
vigorously towards the western shore. Although the rug-
ged outline of mountain, to which they were steering, pre*
sented no distinctive marks to the eyes of Duncan, the
Mohican entered the little haven he had selected with the
confidence and accuracy of an experienced pilot.

The boat was again lifted and borne into the woods,
where it was carefully concealed under a pile of brush.
The adventurers assumed their arms and packs, and the
Bcout announced to Munro and Heyward that he and the
Ixidiaas were at last in readiness to proceed.

THE LAST OP THE M0HICAN8.

261

CHAPTER XXI.

U you find a man there, he shall die a flea's death.

Merry Wives of Wiitomib.

The party had landed on the border of a region that is,
even to this day, less known to the inhabitants of the
States, than the deserts of Arabia, or the steppes of Tartary.
It was the sterile and rugged district which separates the
tributaries of Champlain from those of the Hudson, the
Mohawk, and the St. Lawrence. Since the period of our
tale, the active spirit of the country has surrounded it with
a belt of rich and thriving settlements, though none but the
hunter or the savage is ever known, even now, to penetrate
its wild recesses.

As Hawkeye and the Mohicans had, however, often
traversed the mountains and valleys of this vast wilderness,
they did not hesitate to plunge into its depths, with the
freedom of men accustomed to its privations and diflficulties.
For many hours the travellers toiled on their laborious way,
guided by a star, or following the direction of some water*
course, until the scout called a halt, and holding a short
consultation with the Indians, they lighted their fire, and
made the usual preparations to pass the remainder of the
night where they then were.

Imitating the example, and emulating the confidence, of
their more experienced associates, Munro and Duncan slept
without fear, if not without uneasiness. The dews were
suffered to exhale, and the sun had dispersed the mists, and
was shedding a strong and clear light in the forest, when
the travellers resumed their journey.

After proceeding a few miles, the progress of Hawkeyt.,
who led the advance, became more deliberate and watchful.
He oft«n stopped to examine the trees ; nor did he cross s

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

rivulet, without attentively considering the quantity, the
velocity, and the color of its waters. Distrusting his own
judgment, his appeals to the opinion of Chingachgook were
frequent and earnest. During one of these conferences,
Heyward observed that Uncas stood a patient and silent,
tJiough, as he imagined, an interested listener. He was
strongly tempted to address the young chief, and demand
his opinion of their progress ; but the calm and dignified
demeanor of the native induced him to believe that, like
himself, the other \^as wholly dependent on the sagacity and
intelligence of the seniors of the party. At last, the scout
spoke in English, and at once explained the embarrassment
of their situation.

" When I found that the home path of the Hurons run
north," he said, " it did not need the judgment of many
long years to tell that they would follow the valleys, and
keep atween the waters of the Hudson and the Horican,
until they might strike the springs of the Canada streams,
which would lead them into the heart of the country of the
Frenchers. Yet here are we, within a short range of the
Scaroon,^ and not a sign of a trail have we crossed ! Human
natur' is weak, and it is possible we may not have taken
the proper scent."

" Heaven protect us from such an error ! " exclaimed
Duncan. " Let us retrace our steps, and examine as we
go, with keener eyes. Has Uncas no counsel to offer in
such a strait ? "

The young Mohicaa cast a glance at his father, but
maintaining his quiet and reserved mien, he continued
silent. Chingachgook had caught the look, and motioning
with his hand, he bade him speak. The moment this per-
mission was accorded, the countenance of Uncas changed
from its grave composure to a gleam of intelligence and joy.
Bounding forward like a deer, he sprang up the side of a
little acclivity, a few rods in advance, and stood, exultingly,
over a spot of fresh earth, that looked as though it had
been recently upturned by the passage of some heavy ani-
mal. The eyes of the whole party followed the unexpect^
movement, and read their success in the air of triumph that
th« youth assumed.

i beo Atffi«&aix, Note iL

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 258

*• *Ti8 the trail I " exclaimed the scout, advancing to the
spot : " the lad is quick of sight and keen of wit for hia
years."

" 'Tis extraordinary that he should have withheld his
knowledge so long," muttered Duncan, at his elbow.

" It would have been more wonderful had he spoken
without a bidding.^ No, no ; your young white, who gathers
his learning from books and can measure what he knows
by the page, may conceit that his knowledge, like his legs,
outruns that of his father ; but where experience is the
master, the scholar is made to know the value of years, and
respects them accordingly."

" See ! " said Uncas, pointing north and south, at the
evident marks of the broad trail on either side of him :
" the dark-hair has gone towards tlie frost."

" Hound never ran on a more beautiful scent," responded
the scout, dashing forward, at once, on the indicated route j
" we are favored, greatly favored, and can follow with high
noses. Aye, here are both your waddling beasts : this
Huron travels like a white general. The fellow is stricken
with a judgment, and is mad! Look sharp for wheels.
Sagamore," he continued, looking back, and laughing in his
newly awakened satisfaction ; " we shall soon have the fool
journeying in a coach, and that with three of the best pair
of eyes on the borders, in his rear."

The spirits of the scout, and the astonishing success of
the chase, in which a circuitous distance of more than forty
miles had been passed, did not fail to impart a portion of
hope to the whole party. Their advance Vas rapid ; and
made with as much confidence as a traveller would proceed
along a wide highway. If a rock, or a rivulet, or a bit of
earth harder than common, severed the links of the clue
they followed, the true eye of the scout recovered them at
a distance, and seldom rendered the delay of a single
moment necessary. Their progress was much facilitated bj
the certainty that Magna had found it necessary to journey
thi'ough the valleys ; a circumstance which rendered the
general direction of the route sure. Nor ha<i the Huron
entirely neglected the arts uniformly practiced by the

1 See Appendix. lS>te 4*.

254 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

natives when retiring in front of an enemy. False tral!:,
and sudden turnings, were frequent, wherever a brook, or
the formation of the ground, rendered them feasible ; but
his pursuers were rarely deceived, and never failed to detect
their error, before they had lost either time or distance on
the deceptive track. »

By the middle of the afternoon they had passed the
Scaroon, and were following the route of the declining sun.
After descending an eminence to a low bottom, through
which a swift stream glided, they suddenly came to a place
where the party of Le Renard had made a halt. Extin-
guished brands were lying around a spring, the offals of g
deer were scattered about the place, and the trees bore
evident marks of having been browsed by the horses. At
a little distance, Heyward discovered, and contemplated
with tender emotion, the small bower under which he was
fain to believe that Cora and Alice had reposed. But
while the earth was trodden, and the footsteps of both men
md beasts were so plainly visible around the place, the
trail appeared to have suddenly ended.

It was easy to follow the tracks of the Narragansets, but
they seemed only to have wandered without guides, or any
other object than the pursuit of food. At length Uncas,
who, with his father, had endeavored to trace the route of
the horses, came upon a sign of their presence that was
quite recent. Before following the clue, he communicated
his success to his companions ; and while the latter were
consulting on the circumstance, the youth reappeared, lead-
ing the two fillies, with their saddles broken, and the
housings soiled, as though they had been permitted to run
at will for several days.

" What should this prove ? " said Duncan, turning pale
and glancing his eyes around him, as if he feared the brush
and leaves were about to give up some horrid secret.

" That our march is come to a quick end, and that we
are in an enemy's country," returned the scout. " Had the
knave been pressed, and the gentle ones wanted horses ti>
keep up with the party, he might have taken their scalps ;
but without an enemy at. his heels, and with such rugged

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. JW

beasts as these, he would not hurt a hair of their heads. '1
know your thoughts, and shame be it to our color that you
have reason for them ; but he who thinks that even a
Mingo would ill-treat a woman, unless it be to tomahawk
her, knows nothing of Indian natur', or the laws of the
woods. No, no ; I have heard that the French Indians
had come into these hills, to hunt the moose, and we are
getting within scent of their camp. Why should they not ?
the morning and evening guns of Ty may be heard any day
among these mountains ; for the Frenchers are running a
new line atween the provinces of the King and the Cana-
das. It is true that the horses are here, but the Hurons
are gone ; let us then hunt for the path by which they
departed."

Hawkeye and the Mohicans now applied themselveb
to their task in good earnest. A circle of a few hundred
feet in circumference was drawn, and each of the party
took a segment for his portion. The examination, how-
ever, resulted in no discovery. The impressions of foot-
steps were numerous, but they all appeared like those of
men who had wandered about the spot, without any design
to quit it. Again the scout and his companions made the
circuit of the halting-place, each slowly following the other,
until they assembled in the centre once more, no wiser thai.'
when they started.

" Such cunning is not without its deviltry," exclaimec
Hawksye, when he met the disappointed looks of his assist-
ants.

" We must get down to it. Sagamore, beginning at thu
spring, and going over the ground by inches. The Huroi
shall never brag in his tribe that he has a foot which leavei
no print."

Setting the example himself, the scout engaged in th«
scrutiny with renewed zeal. Not a leaf was left unturned
The sticks were removed, and the stones lifted ; for Indiai
tunning was known frequently to adopt these objects a
covers, laboring with the utmost patience and industry, U
conceal each footstep as they proceeded. Still no discovery
was made. At length Uncas, whose activity had enable^

256 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

him to achieve his portion of the task the soonest, raked
the earth across the turbid little rill which ran from the
spring, and diverted its course into another channel. So
soon as its narrow bed below the dam was dry, he stooped
over it with keen and curious eyes. A cry of exultation
immediately announced the success of the young warrior.
The whole party crowded to the spot where Uncas pomted
out the impression of a moccasin in the moist alluvion. »

" The lad will be an honor to his people," said Hawkeye,
regarding the trail with as much admiration as a naturalist
would expend on the tusk of a mammoth or the rib of a
mastodon ; " aye, and a thorn in the sides of the Hurons.
Yet that is not the footstep of an Indian ! the weight is too
much on the heel, and the toes are squared, as though one
of the French dancers had been in, pigeon-winging his
tribe! Run back, Uncas, and bring me the size of the
dinger's foot. You will find a beautiful print of it just op-
posite yon rock, agin the hill-side."

While the youth was engaged in this commission, the
scout and Chingachgook were attentively considering the
impressions. The measurements agreed, and the former
unhesitatingly pronounced that the footstep was that of
David, who had, once more, been made to exchange his
shoes for moccasins.

" I can now read the whole of it, as plainly as if I had
seen the arts of Le Subtil," he added ; " the singer being a
man whose gifts lay chiefly in his throat and feet, was
made to go first, and the others have trod in his steps, imi
fating their formation."

"But," cried Duncan, "I see no signs of" —

" The gentle ones," interrupted the scout ; " the varlet
has found a way to carry them, until he supposed he had
thrown any followers off the scent. My life on it, we see
their pretty little feet again, before many rods go by."

The whole party now proceeded, following the course of
the rill, keeping anxious eyes on the regular impressions.
The water soon flowed into its bed again, but watching
the ground on either side, the foresters pursued their way,
coutent with knowing that the trail lay beneath. More

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. ttl

riian half a mile was passed, before the rill rippled close
wound the base of an extensive and dry rock. Here thej
paused to make sure that the Hurons bad not quitted the
water.

It was fortunate they did so. For the quick and active
Uncas soon found the impression of a foot on a bunch of
moss, where it would seem an Indian had inadvertently
trodden. Pursuing the direction given oy this discovery,
he entered the neighboring thicket, and struck the trail, as
fresh and obvious as it had been before they reached the
spring. Another shout announced the good fortune of the
youth to his companions, and at once terminated the search.

" Aye, it has been planned with Indian judgment," said
the scout, when the party was assembled around the place ;
" and would have blinded white eyes."

" Shall we proceed ? " demanded Heyward.

" Softly, softly : we know our path ; but it is good to
examine the formation of things. This is my schooling,
Major ; and if one neglects the book, there is little chance
of learning from the open hand of Providence. All is
plain but one thing, which is the manner that the knave
contrived to get the gentle ones along the blind trail.
Even a Huron would be too proud to let their tender feet
touch the water."

" Will this assist in explaining the difficulty ? " said Hey-
irard, pointing towards the fragments of a sort of handbar-
tow, that had been rudely constructed of boughs, and bound
together with withes, and which now seemed carelessly cast
aside as useless.

" 'Tis explained ! " cried the delighted Hawkeye. " If
them varlets have passed a minute, they have spent hours
in striving to fabricate a lying end to their trail ! Well,
I've known them waste a day in the same manner, to
fis little purpose. Here we have three pair of moccasins,
and two of little feet. It is amazing that any mortal beings
ean journey on limbs so small ! Pass me the thong of
buckskin, Uncas, and let me take the length of this foot.
By the Lord, it is no longer than a child's, and yet the
maidens are tall and comely. That Providence is partial
17

258 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

in its gifts, for its own wise reasons, the best and most ooui
tented of us must allow."

" The tender limbs of my daughters are unequal to these
hardships," said Munro, looking at the light footsteps of his
children, with a parent's love : " we shall find their fainting
forms in this desert."

" Of that there is little cause of fear," returned the scout,
slowly shaking his head : " this is a firm and straight,
though a light step, and not over long. See, the heel has
hardly touched the ground; and there the dark hair has
made a little jump, from root to root. No, no ; my knowl-
edge for it, neither of them was nigh fainting, here-away.
Now, the singer was beginning to be foot-sore and leg-
weary, as is plain by his trail. There, you see, he slipped ;
here he has travelled wide, and tottered ; and there, again,
it looks as though he journeyed on snow-shoes. Aye, aye,
a man who uses his throat altogether, can hardly give his
legs a proper training."

From such undeniable testimony did the practiced
woodsman arrive at the truth, with nearly as much certainty
and precision as if he had been a witness of all those
events which his ingenuity so easily elucidated. Cheered
by these assurances, and satisfied by a reasoning that was
so obvious, while if was so simple, the party resumed its
course, after making a short halt, to take a hurried repast.

When the meal was ended, the scout cast a glance up-
wards at the setting sun, and pushed forward with a rapid-
ity which compelled Heyward and the still vigorous Munro
to exert all their muscles to equal. Their route, now, lay
along the bottom which has already been mentioned. As
the Hurons had made no further efforts to conceal their
footsteps, the progress of the pursuers was no longer de-
layed by uncertainty. Before an hour had elapsed, how-
ever, the speed of Hawkeye sensibly abated, and his head,
instead of maintaining its former direct and forward look,
began to turn suspiciously from side to side, as if he were
Bonscious of approaching danger. He soon stopped again,
and waited for the whole party to come up.

*< I scent tlie Hurons," he said, speaking to the MohicaiMi i

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 259

* yonder is open sky, through the tree-tops, and we are get-
ting too nigh their encampment. Sagamore, you will take
the hill-side, to the right ; Uncas will bend along the brook
to the left, while I will try the trail. K anything should
happen, the call will be three croaks of a crow. I saw one
of the birds fanning himself in the air, just beyond the dead
oak — another sign that we are touching an encampment."

The Indians departed their several ways without reply,
while Hawkeye cautiously proceeded with the two gentle-
men. Heyward soon pressed to the side of their guide,
eager to catch an early glimpse of those enemies he had
pursued with so much toil and anxiety. His companion
told him to steal to the edge of the wood, which, as usual,
was fringed with a thicket, and wait his coming, for he
wished to examine certain suspicious signs a little on one
side. Duncan obeyed, and soon found himself in a situa-
tion to command a view which he found as extraordinary as
it was novel.

The trees of many acres had been felled, and the glow of
a mild summer's evening had fallen on the clearing, in
beautiful contrast to the gray light of the forest. A short
distance from the place where Duncan stood, the stream
had seemingly expanded into a little lake, covering most of
the low land, from mountain to mountain. The water fell
out of this wide basin, in a cataract so regular and gentle,
that it appeared rather to be the work of human hands,
than fashioned by nature. A hundred earthen dwellings
stood on the margin of the lake, and even in its water, as
though the latter had overflowed its usual banks. Their
rounded roofs, admirably moulded for defense against the
weather, denoted more of industry and foresight than the
natives were wont to bestow on their regular habitations,
much less on those they occupied for the temporary pur-
poses of hunting and war. In short, the whole village or
town, whichever it might be termed, possessed more of
method and neatness of execution, than the white men had
been accustomed to believe belonged, ordinarily, to the
Indian habits. It appeared, however, to be deserted. At
least, so thought Duncan for many minutes ; but, at length;

260 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

he fancied he discovered several human forms advancing
towards him on all fours, and apparently dragging in their
train some heavy, and as he was quick to apprehend, some
formidable engine. Just then a few dark looking heads
gleamed out of the dwellings, and the place seemed suddenly
alive with beings, which, however, glided from cover to
cover so swiftly, as to allow no opportunity of examining
their humors or pursuits. Alarmed at these suspicious and
inexplicable movements, he was about to attempt the signal
of the crows, when the rustling of leaves at hand drew his
eyes in another direction.

The young man started, and recoiled a few paces instinc-
tively, when he found himself within a hundred yards of a
stranger Indian. Recovering his recollection on the instant,
instead of sounding an alarm, which might prove fatal to
himself, he remained stationary, an attentive observer of the
other's motions.

An instant of calm observation served to assure Duncan
chat he was undiscovered. The native, like himself, seemed
occupied in considering the low dwellings of the village, and
the stolen movements of its inhabitants. It was impossible to
discover the expression of his features, through the grotesque
mask of paint under which they were concealed; though
Duncan fancied it was rather melancholy than savage. His
head was shaved, as usual, with the exception of the crown,
from whose tuft three or four faded feathers from a hawk's
wing were loosely dangling. A ragged calico mantle half
encircled his body, while his nether garment was composed
of an ordinary shirt, the sleeves of which were made to per-
form the office that is usually executed by a much more
commodious arrangement. His legs were bare, and sadly
cut and torn by briers. The feet were, however, covered
with a pair of good deer-skin moccasins. Altogether, the
appearance of the individual was forlorn and miserable.

Duncan was still curiously observing the person of his
neighbor, when the scout stole silently and cautiously to hia
side.

" You see we have reached their settlement or encamp*
ment." whispered the young man ; " and he -e is one of tli*

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 26?

savages himself, in a very embarrassing position for om
further movements."

Hawkeye started, and dropped his rifle, when, directed
by the finger of his companion, the stranger came under his
view. Then lowering the dangerous muzzle, he stretched
forward his long neck, as if to assist a scrutiny that was
already intensely keen.

" The imp is not a Huron," he said, •• nor of any of the
Canada tribes ; and yet you see, by his clothes, the knave
has been plundering a white. Aye, Montcalm has raked
the woods for his inroad, and a whooping, murdering set of
varlets has he gathered together. Can you see where he
has put his rifle or his bow ? "

" He appears to have no arms ; nor does he seem to be
viciously inclined. Unless he communicate the alarm to his
fellows, who, as you see, are dodging about the water, we
have but little to fear from him."

The scout turned to Heyward, and regarded him a
moment with unconcealed amazement. Then opening wide
his mouth, he indulged in unrestrained and heartfelt
laughter, though in that silent and peculiar manner which
danger had so long taught him to practice.

Repeating the words, " Fellows who are dodging about
the water ! " he added, " so much for schooling and passing
a boyhood in the settlements ! The knave has long legs,
though, and shall not be trusted. Do you keep him under
your rifle while I creep in behind, through the bush, and
take him alive. Fire on no account."

Heyward had already permitted his companion to bury
part of his person in the thicket, when, stretching forth an
arm, he arrested him, in order to ask, —

" If I see you in danger, may I not risk a shot ? "

Hawkeye regarded him a moment, like one who kaew
not how to take the question ; then nodding his head, he
answered, still laughing, though inaudibly, —

" Fire a whole platoon, Major."

In the next moment he was concealed by the leaves.
Duncan waited several minutes in feverish impatience,
before he caught another glimpse of the scout. Then he

262 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

reappeared, creeping along the earth, from which his dresi
was hardly distinguishable, directly in the rear of his
intended captive. Having reached within a few yards of
the latter, he arose to his feet, silently and slowly. At that
instant, several loud blows were struck on the water, and
Duncan turned his eyes just in time to perceive that a
hundred dark forms were plunging, in a body, into the
troubled little sheet. Grasping his rifle, his looks were
again bent on the Indian near him. Instead of taking the
alarm, the unconscious savage stretched forward his neck,
as if he also watched the movements about the gloomy lake,
with a sort of silly curiosity. In the mean time, the uplifted
hand of Hawkeye was above him. But, without any
apparent reason, it was withdrawn, and its owner indulged
in another long, though still silent, fit of merriment. When
the peculiar and hearty laughter of Hawkeye was ended,
instead of grasping his victim by the throat, he tapped him
lightly on the shoulder, and exclaimed aloud, —

" How now, friend ! have you a mind to teach the
beavers to sing ? "

" Even so," was the ready answer. " It would seem that
the Being that gave them power to improve his gifts ao
well, would not deny them voices to proclaim Lis praise." -4

ITHE LAST OF THE M0H1CAN& SBil

CHAPTER XXn.

Bot. — Are we all met ?
Qui. — Pat — pat ; and here's a marrdotlt
Convenient place for our rebearsaL

Midsummer Night's Dream.

The reader may better imagine, than we describe, the
surprise of Heyward. His lurking Indians were suddenly
converted into four-footed beasts; his lake into a beaver
pond ; his cataract into a dam, constructed by those indus-
trious and ingenious quadrupeds ; and a suspected enemy
into his tried friend, David Gamut, the master of psalmody.
The presence of the latter created so many unexpected
hopes relative to the sisters that, without a moment's hesi-
tation, the young man broke out of his ambush, and sprang
forward to join the two principal actors in the scene.

The merriment of Hawkeye was not easily appeased.
Without ceremony, and with a rough hand, he twirled the
supple Gamut around on his heel, and more than once
affirmed that the Hurons had done themselves great credit
in the fashion of his costume. Then seizing the hand of
the other, he squeezed it with a gripe that brought the tears
into the eyes of the placid David, and wished him joy of
his new condition. ♦

" You were about opening your throat-practy sings among
the beavers, were ye ? " he said. " The cunning devils
know half the trade already, for they beat the time with
their tails, as you heard just now ; and in good time it was
too, or * Killdeer ' might have sounded the first note among
them. I have known greater fools, who could read and
write, than an experienced old beaver: but as for squalling,
the animals are born dumb ! What think you of such a
song as this ? "

David shut his sensitive ears, and even Heyward, ai>

264 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

pnsed as he was of the nature of the cry, looked upwartU
in quest of the bird, as the cawing of a crow rang in the
air about them.

" See ! " continued the laughing scout, as he pointed to-
wards the remainder of the party, who, in obedience to the
signal, were already approaching : " this is music which has
its natural virtues ; it brings two good rifles to my elbow,
to say nothing of the knives and tomahawks. But we see
that you are safe ; now tell us what has become of the
maidens."

" They are captives to the heathen," said David ; " and
though greatly troubled in spirit, enjoying comfort and
safety in the body."

" Both ? " demanded the breathless Heyward.

" Even so. Though our wayfaring has been sore and
our sustenance scanty, we have had little other cause for
complaint, except the violence done our feelings, by being
thus led in captivity into a far land."

" Bless ye for these very words ! " exclaimed the trem-
bling Munro ; " 1 shall then receive my babes, spotless and
angel-like, as I lost them ! "

" I know not that their delivery is at hand," returned the
doubting David ; " the leader of these savages is possessed
of an evil spirit that no power short of Omnipotence can
tame. I have tried him sleeping and waking, but neither
sounds nor language seem to touch his soul."

" Where is the knave ? " bluntly interrupted the scout.

" He hunts the moose to-day, with his young men ; and
to-morrow, as I hear, they pass further into these forests,
and nigher to the borders of Canada. The elder maiden is
conveyed to a neighboring people, whose lodges are situate
beyond yonder black pinnacle of rock ; while the younger
is detained among the women of the Hurons, whose dwell
ings are but two short miles hence, on a table land, whena
the fire has done the office of the axe, and urepared the
place for their reception."

" Alice, my gentle Alice ! " murmured Heyward ; " she
Uas lost the consolation of her sister's presence ! "

' Even so. But so far as praise and thanksgiving ifi

THE LAST or THE MOHICANS. 265

psalmody can temper the spirit in aflliction, she has not su^
fered."

" Has she then a heart for music ? "

" Of the graver and more solenm character ; though it
must be acknowledged that, in spite of all my eL\deavors,
the maiden weeps oftener than she smiles. At such mo-
ments I forbear to press the holy songs ; but there are many
sweet and comfortable periods of satisfactory communicji
tion, when the ears of the savages are astounded with the
upliftings of our voices.*'

" And why are you permitted to go at large, un-
watched ? "

David composed his features into what he intended
should express an air of modest humility, before he meekly
replied, —

" Little be the praise to such a worm as I. But, though
the power of psalmody was suspended in the terrible busi-
ness of that field of blood through which we passed, it has
recovered its influence even over the souls of the heathen,
and I am suffered to go and come at will."

The scout laughed, and tapping his own forehead signifi-
cantly, he perhaps explained the singular indulgence more
satisfactorily when he said, —

" The Indians never harm a non-composser. But why,
when the path lay open before yoiir eyes, did you not strike
back on your own trail (it is not so blind as that which
a squirrel would make), and bring in the tidings to Ed-
ward?"

The scout, remembering only his own sturdy and iron
nature, had probably exacted a task that David, under no
circumstances, could have performed. But, without entirely
losing the meekness of ]^ air, the latter was content to
answer, —

" Though my soul WOTild rejoice to visit the habitations
of Christendom once ii:o:.ej my feet would rather follow the
tender spirits intrusted to my keeping, even into the idola-
trous province of the Jesuits, than take one step back
ivard, while they pined i*> ^<aj)tivity and sorrow."

Though the fig>iro*?>- language of David was not very

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

intelligible, the sincere and steady expression of his ey«,
and the glow on his honest countenance, were not easily mis-
taken. Uncas pressed closer to his side, and regarded the
speaker with a look of commendation, while his father ex-
pressed his satisfaction by the ordinary pithy exclamation
of approbation. The scout shook his head as he re-
joined, —

" The Lord never intended that the man should place all
his endeavors in his throat, to the neglect of other and bet-
ter gifts ! But he has fallen into the hands of some silly
woman, when he should have been gathering his education
under a blue sky, among the beauties of the forest. Here,
friend ; I did intend to kindle a fire with this tooting whis-
tle of thine ; but as you value the thing, take it, and blow
your best on it ! "

Gamut received his pitch-pipe with as strong an expres-
sion of pleasure as he believed compatible with the gravi
functions he exercised. After essaying its virtues repeat-
edly, in contrast with his own voice, and satisfying himself
that none of its melody was lost, he made a very serious
demonstration towards achieving a few stanzas of one of
the longest effusions in the little volume so often men-
tioned.

Heyward, however, nastily mterrupted his pious purpose,
by continuing questions concerning the past and present
condition of his fellow-captives, and in a manner more
methodical than had been permitted by his feelings in the
opening of their interview. David, though he regarded his
treasure with longing eyes, was constrained to answer:
especially as the venerable father took a part in the inter-
rogatories, with an interest too imposing to be denied.
Nor did the scout fail to throw in a pertinent inquiry,
whenever a fitting occasion presented. In this manner,!
though with frequent interruptions, which were filled with *
certain threatening sounds from the recovered instrument,
the pursuers were put in possession of such leading circum-
stances as were likely to prove usfjful in accomplishing
their great and engrossing object — the recovery of the
sisters. The narrative of David was simple, and the facts
bat few

tSE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. ^67

M agua had waited on the moantain until a safe moment
io retire presented itself, when he had descended, and taken
the route along the western side of the Horican, in the
direction of the Canadas. As the subtle Huron was famil-
iar with the paths, and well knew there was no immediate
danger of pursuit, their progress had been moderate, and
far from fatiguing. It appeared from the unembellished
statement of David, that his own presence had been rather
endured than desired; though even Magna had not been
entirely exempt from that veneration with which the In-
dians regard those whom the Great Spirit has visited in
their intellects. At night, the utmost care had been taken
of the captives, both to prevent injury from the damps of
the woods, and to guard against an escape. At the spring,
the horses were turned loose, as has been seen ; and not-
withstanding the remoteness and length of their trail, the
artifices already named were resorted to, in order to cut off
every clue to their place of retreat On their arrival at
the encampment of his people, Magna, in obedience to a
policy seldom departed from, separated his prisoners. Cora
had been sent to a tribe that temporarily occupied an adja-
cent valley, though David was far too ignorant of the cus-
toms and history of the natives, to be able to declare any-
thing satisfactory concerning their name or character. Ho
only knew that they had not engaged in the late expedition
against William Henry ; that, like the Hurons themselves,
they were allies of Montcalm ; and that they maintained
an amicable, though a watchful intercourse .with the war-
like and savage people, whom chance had, for a time,
brought in such close and disagreeable contact with them-
selves.

The Mohicans and the scout listened to bis interrupted
and imperfect narrative, with an interest that obviously in-
creased as he proceeded ; and it was while attempting to
explain the pursuits of the community in which Cora wai
detained, that the latter abruptly demanded, —

" Did you see the fashion of their knives ? were they (tf
English or French formation ? "

" My thoughts were bent on no such vanities, but rati)<»»
singled m consolatiot vith thosd of the maidens."

268 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" The time may come when you will not consider the kni^
of a savage such a despisable vanity," returned the scout,
with a strong expression of contempt for the other's dull
ness. " Had they held their corn-feast — or can you say
anything of the totems of the tribe ? "

"Of corn, we had many and plentiful feasts; for the
grain, being in the milk, is both sweet to the mouth and
comfortable to the stomach. Of totem, I know not the
meaning ; but if it appertaineth in any wise to the art of
Indian music, it need not be inquired after at their hands.
They never join their voices in praise, and it would seem
that they are among the profanest of the idolatrous."

" Therein you belie the nature of an Indian. Even the
ISIingo adores but the true and living God. 'Tis a wicked
fabrication of the whites, and I say it to the shame of my
color, that would make the warrior bow down before im-
ages of his own creation. It is true, they endeavor to
make truces with the wicked one — as who would not with
an enemy he cannot conquer ! — but they look up for favor
and assistance to the Great and Good Spirit only."

" It may be so," said David ; " but I have seen strange
and fantastic images drawn in their paint, of which their
admiration and care savored of spiritual pride ; especially
one, and that, too, a foul and loathsome object."

" Was it a sarpent ? " quickly demanded the scout.

" Much the same. It was in the likeness of an abject and
creeping tortoise."

" Hugh ! " exclaimed both the attentive Mohicans in a
breath ; while the scout shook his head with the air of one
who had made an important, but by no means a pleasing
discovery. Then the father spoke, in the language of the
Delawares, and with a calmness and dignity that instantly
arrested the attention even of those to whom his words
were unintelligible. His gestures were impressive, and at
times energetic. Once he lifted his arm on high ; and as
it descended, the action threw aside the folds of his light
mantle, a finger resting on his breast, as if he would en-
force his meaning by the attitude. Duncan's eyes followed
the oiovement, and he Derceived that the animal just men'

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 289

doned was beautifully, though faintly, worked in a blue tint,
on the swarthy breast of the chief. All that he had ever
heard of the violent separation of the vast tribes of the
Delawares rushed across his mind, and he awaited the
proper moment to speak, with a suspense that was rendered
nearly intolerable, by his interest in the stake. His wish,
however, was anticipated by the scout, who turned from liis
red friend, saying, —

" We have found that which may be good or evil to us,
as Heaven disposes. The Sagamore is of the high blood
of the Delawares, and is the great chief of their Tortoises ! '
That some of this stock are among the people of whom the
singer tells us, is plain, by his words ; and had he but spent
half the breath in prudent questions, that he has blown
away in making a trumpet of his throat, we might have
known how many warriors they numbered. It is, alto-
gether, a dangerous path we move in ; for a friend whose
face is turned from you often bears a bloodier mind than
the enemy who seeks your scalp.*'

" Explain," said Duncan.

"'Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and one I little
like to think of; for it is not to be denied, that the evil has
been mainly done by men with white skins. But it has
ended in turning the tomahawk of brother against brother,
and brought the Mingo and the Delaware to travel in the
same path."

" You then suspect it is a portion of that people among
whom Cora resides ? "

The scout nodded his head in assent, though he seemed
anxious to waive the further discussion of a subject that
appeared painful. The impatient Duncan now made several
hasty and desperate propositions to attempt the release of the
sisters. Munro seemed to shake off his apathy, and listened
to the wild schemes of the young man with a deference that
his gray hairs and reverend years should have denied.
But the scout after suffering the ardor of the lover to ex-
pend itself a little, found means to convince him of the
folly of precipitation, in a matter that would require their
foolest judgment and utmost fortitude.

1 See Appendix, Note M.

270 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" It would be well," he added, " to let this man go in
again, as usual, and for him to tarry in the lodges, giving
notice to the gentle ones of our approach, until we call him
out, by signal, to consult. You know the cry of a crow,
friend, from the whistle of the whip-poor-will ? "

" 'Tis a pleasing bird," returned David, " and has a soft
and melancholy note ! though the time is rather quick and
ill-measured.'

" He speaks of the wish-ton-wish," said the scout : " well,
since you like his whistle, it shall be your signal. Remem-
ber, then, when you hear the whip-poor-will's call three
times repeated, you are to come into the bushes where the
bird might be supposed "-

" Stop," interrupted Heyward : " I will accompany him."

** You ! " exclaimed the astonished Hawkeye ; " are you
tired of seeing the sun rise and set ? "

" David is a living proof that the Hurons can be merci-
ful."

" Aye, but David can use his throat, as no man in his
senses would pervart the gift."

" I too can play the madman, the fool, the hero ; in short,
any or everything to rescue her I love. Name your objec-
tions no longer : I am resolved."

Hawkeye regarded the young man a moment in speech-
less amazement* But Duncan, who, in deference to the
other's skill and services, had hitherto submitted somewhat
implicitly to his dictation, now assumed the superior, with a
manner that was not easijy resisted. He waved his hand,
in sign of his dislike to all remonstrance, and then, in more
tempered language, he continued, —

" You have the means of disguise ; change me ; paint
me too, if you will ; in short, alter me to anything — a
fool."

" It is not for one like me to say that he who is already
formed by so powerful a hand as Providence, stands in need
of a change," muttered the discontented scout. " When
you send your parties abroad in war, you find it prudent,
at least, to arrange the marks and places of encampment,
in order that they who fight on your side may know when
and where to expect a friend."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 271

•Listen," interniptxjd Duncan; "you have heard frora
this faithful Collower of the captives, that the Indians are
of two tribes, if not of different nations. With one, whom
you think to be a branch of the Delawares, is she you call
the ^ dark hair ; ' the other, and younger of the ladies, is
undeniably with our declared enemies, the Hurons. It be-
comes my youth and rank to attempt the latter adventure.
While you, therefore, are negotiating with your friends for
the release of one of the sisters, I will effect that of the
other, or die."

The awakened spirit of the young soldier gleamed in hin
eyes, and his form became imposing imder its influence.
Hawkeye, though too much accustomed to Indian artifices
not to foresee the danger of the experiment, knew not well
how to combat this sudden resolution.

Perhaps there was something in the proposal that suited
his own hardy nature, and that secret love of desperate
adventure, which had increased with his experience, until
hazard and danger had become, in some measure, necessary
to the enjoyment of his existence. Instead of continuing to
oppose the scheme of Duncan, his humor suddenly altered,
and he lent himself to its execution.

" Come," he said, with a good-humored smile ; " the buck
that will take to the water must be headed, and not fol-
lowed. Chingachgook has as many different paints as the
engineer officer's wife, who takes down natur' on scraps of
paper, making the mountains look like cocks of rusty hay,
and placing the blue sky in reach of your hand. The Sag-
amore can use them too. Seat yourself on the log ; and
my life on it, he can soon make a natural fool of you, and
that well to your liking."

Duncan complied ; and the Mohican, who had been an
attentive listener to the discourse, readily undertook the
office. Long practiced in all the subtle arts of his race, he
drew with great dexterity and quickness, the fantastic
shadow that the natives were accustomed to consider as the
evidence of a friendly and jocular disposition. Every line
that could possibly be interpreted into a secret inclination
for war, was carefully avoided ; while, on the other hand, he
studied those conceits that might be construed into anity.

272 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

In short, he entirely sacrificed every appearance of tht
warrior to the masquerade of a buffoon. Such exhibitiona
were not uncommon among the Indians ; and as Duncan
was already sufficiently disguised in his dress, there certainly
did exist some reason for believing that, with his knowledge
of French, he might pass for a juggler from Ticonderoga,
straggling among the allied and friendly tribes.

When he was thought to be sufficiently painted, the
scout gave liim much friendly advice; concerted signals,
and appointed the place where they should meet, in the
event of mutual success. The parting between Munro and
his young friend was more melancholy ; still, the former
submitted to the separation with an indifference that his
warm and honest nature would never have permitted in a
more healthful state of mind. The scout led Heyward
aside, and acquainted him with his intention to leave the
veteran in some safe encampment, in charge of Chingach-
gook, while he and Uncas pursued their inquiries among the
yeople they had reason to believe were Delawares. Then
renewing his cautions and advice, he concluded, by saying,
with a solemnity and warmth of feeling, with which Duncan
was deeply touched, —

"And now God bless you! You have shown a spirit
that I like ; for it is the gift of youth, more especially one
of warm blood and a stout heart. But believe the warning
cf a man who has reason to know all he says to be true.
You T. ill have occasion for your best manhood, and for a
riiarper wit than what is to be gathered in books, afore you
outdo the cunning, or get the better of the courage of a
Mingo. God bless you ! if the Hurons master your scalp,
rely on the promise of one who has two stout warriors to
back him. They shall pay for their victory, with a life for
every hair it holds. I say, young gentleman, may Provi-
dence bless your undertaking, which is altogether for good ;
and remember, that to outwit the knaves it is lawftil to
practice things that may not be naturally the gift of a white
tin."

Duncan shook his worthy and reluctant associate warmly
bj the hand, once more recommended his aged friend to bia

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. ^8

and returuing his good wishes, he motioned to David
to proceed. Havvkeye gazed after the high-spirited and
adventurous young man for several moments, in open admi-
ration ; then shaking his head doubtingly, he turned, and
led his own division of the party into the concealment of the
forest.

The route taken by Duncan and David lay directly
across the clearing of the beavers, and along the margin o*
their pond.

When the former found himself alone with one so simple,
and so little qualified to render any assistance in desperate
emergencies, he first began to be sensible of the difficulties
of the task he had undertaken. The fading light increased
the gloominitjn of the bleak and savage wilderness that
stretched so far on every side of him ; and there was even
a fearful character in the stillness of those little huts, that
he knew were so abundantly peopled. It struck him, as he
gazed at the admirable structures and the wonderful precau-
tions of their sagacious inmates, that even the brutes of
these vast wilds were possessed of an instinct nearly com-
mensurate with his own reason ; and he could not reflect,
without anxiety, on the unequal contest that he had so
rashly courted. Then came the glowing image of Alice;
her distress ; her actual danger ; and all the peril of his
situation was forgotten. Cheering David, he moved on
with the light and vigorous step of youth and enterprise.

After making nearly a semicircle around the pond, they
diverged from the water-course, and began to ascend to the
level of a slight elevation in that bottom land, over which
they journeyed. Within half an hour they gained the
margin of another opening that bore all the signs of having
been also made by the beavers, and which those sagacious
animals had probably been induced, by some accident, to
abandon, for the more eligible position they now occupied.
A very natural sensation caused Duncan to hesitate a mo-
ment, unwilling to leave the cover of their bushy path, as a
man pauses to collect his energies before he essays any
hazardous experiment, in which he is secretly conscious
they will all be needed. lie profited by the halt, to gather
18

274 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

fuch information as might be obtained from his short and

hasty glances.

On the opposite side of the clearing, and near the point
where the brook tumbled over some rocks, from a still
higher level, some fifty or sixty lodges, rudely fabricated of
logs, brush, and earth intermingled, were to be discovered.
They were arranged without any order, and seemed to be
constructed with very little attention to neatness or beauty.
Indeed, so very inferior were they in the two latter partic-
ulars to the village Duncan had just seen, that he began to
<?xpect a second surprise, no less astonishing than the
former. This expectation was in no degree diminished,
when, by the doubtful twilight, he beheld twenty or thirty
forms rising alternately from the cover of the tall, coarse
grass, in front of the lodges, and then sinking again from
the sight, as it were to burrow in the earth. By the sudden
and hasty glimpses that he caught of these figures, they
seemed more like dark glancing spectres, or some other un-
earthly beings, than creatures fashioned with the ordinary
and vulgar materials of flesh and blood. A gaunt, naked
form was seen, for a single instant, tossing its arms wildly
in the air, and then the spot it had filled was vacant ; the
figure appearing suddenly in some other and distant place,
or being succeeded by another, possessing the same mysteri-
ous character. David, observing that his companion lin-
gered, pursued the direction of his gaze, and in some meas-
ure recalled the recollection of Hey ward, by speaking.

" There is much fruitful soil uncultivated here," he said ;
^* and I may add, without the sinful leaven of self-commen-
dation, that since my short sojourn in these heathenish
abodes, much good seed has been scattered by the wayside."

" The tribes are fonder of the chase than of the arts of
men of labor," returned the unconscious Duncan, still gaz-
ing at the objects of his wonder.

" It is rather joy than labor to the spirit, to lift up the
voice in praise ; but sadly do these boys abuse their gifts.
Rarely have I found any of their age, on whom nature has
60 freely bestowed the elements of psalmody ; and surely,
iurely, there are none who T>eflrlect them more. Thref

THE IJ\.ST OF THE MOHICANS. 276

nights have I now tarried here, and three several times have
I assembled the urchins to join in sacred song ; and as of-
ten have they responded to my efforts with whoopings and
howlings that have chilled my soul ! "

" Of whom speak you ? "

" Of those children of the devil, who waste the precious
moments in yonder idle antics. Ah! the wholesome re-
straint of discipline is but little known among this self-
abandoned people. In a comitry of birches, a rod is never
seen ; and it ought not to appear a marvel in my eyes, that
the choicest blessings of Providence are wasted in such
cries as these."

David closed his ears against the juvenile pack, whose
yell just then rang shrilly through the forest ; and Duncan,
suffering his lip to curl, as in mockery of his own supersti
tion, said firmly, —

" We will proceed."

Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the mas-
ter of song complied, and together they pursued their way
towards what David was sometimes wont to call - the tents
»f tlie Philistines."

2T6 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

CHAPTER XXIIL

But though the beast of gam«
The privilege of chase may clahn ;
Though space and law the stag we lend
Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend ;
Who ever recked, where, how, or when
The prowling fox was trapped or slain i

Lady of the Lakb.

It is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like
those of the more instructed whites, guarded by the pres-
ence of armed men. Well informed of the approach of
every danger, while it is yet at a distance, the Indian gen-
erally rests secure under his knowledge of the signs of the
forest, and the long and difficult paths that separate him
from those he has most reason to dread. But the enemy
who, by any lucky concurrence of accidents, has found means
to elude the vigilance of the scouts, will seldom meet with
sentinels nearer home to sound the alarm. In addition to
this general usage, the tribes friendly to the French knew
too well the weight of the blow that had just been struck,
to apprehend any immediate danger from the hostile nations
that were tributary to the crown of Britain.

When Duncan and David, therefore, found themselves in
the centre of the children, who played the antics already
mentioned, it was without the least previous intimation of
their approach. But so soon as they were observed, the
whole of the juvenile pack raised, by common consent, a
shrill and warning whoop ; and then sank, as it were, by
magic, from before the sight of their visitors. The naked,
tawny bodies of the crouching urchins blended so nicely, at
that hour, with the withered herbage, that at first it seemed
as if the earth had, in truth, swallowed up their fo:ms;
though when surprise permitted Duncan to bend his look

THE LAST O** THE MOHHANS. 277

more curiously ahout the spot, he found it everywhere met
by dark, quick, and rolling eye-balls.

Gathering no encouragement from this startling presage
of the nature of the scrutiny he was likely to undergo from
the more mature judgments of the men, there was an instant
when the young soldier would have retreated. It was,
however, too late to appear to hesitate. The cry of the
children had drawn a dozen warriors to the door of the
nearest lodge, where they stood clustered in a dark and sav-
age group, gravely awaitiug the nearer approach of those
who had unexpectedly come among them.

David, in some measure familiarized to the scene, led the
way with a steadiness that no slight obstacle was likely to
disconcert, into this very building. It was the principal
edifice of the village, though roughly constructed of the bark
and branches of trees ; being the lodge in which the tribe
held its councils and public meetings during their temporary
residence on the borders of the English province. Duncan
found it difficult to assume the necessary appearance of un-
concern, as he brushed the dark and powerful frames of the
savages who thronged its threshold ; but, conscious that his
existence depended on his presence of mind, he trusted to
the discretion of his companion, whose footsteps he closely
followed, endeavoring, as he proceeded, to rally his thoughts
for the occasion. His blood curdled when he found himself
in absolute contact with such fierce and implacable enemies ;
but he so far mastered liis feelings as to pursue his way into
the centre of the lodge, with an exterior that did not betray
the weakness. Imitating the example of the deliberate
Gamut, he drew a bundle of fragrant brush from beneath a
pile that filled a corner of the hut, and seated himself in
silence.

So soon as their visitor had passed, the obsei-vant war-
riors fell back from the entrance, and arranging themselves
about him, they seemed pati^mtly to await the moment when
it might comport with the dignity of the stranger to speak.
By far the greater number stood leaning, in lazy, lounging
attitudes, against the upriglit posts that supported the crazj
building, while three or four of the oldest and most distin

278 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

guished of the chiefs placed themselves on the earth a little
more in advance. '

A flaring torch was burning in the place, and sent its red
glare from face to face and figure to figure, as it waved in the
currents of air. Duncan profited by its light to read the prob-
able character of his reception, in the countenances of his
hosts. But his ingenuity availed him little, against the cold
artifices of the people he had encountered. The chiefs in
front scarce cast a glance at his person, keeping their eyes
on the ground, with an air that might have been intended
for respect, but which it was quite easy to construe into dis-
trust. The men in shadow were less reserved. Duncan
soon detected their searching, but stolen looks, which, in
truth, scanned his person and attire inch by inch ; leaving no
emotion of the countenance, no gesture, no line of the paint,
nor even the fashion of a garment, unheeded, and without
comment.

At length one whose hair was beginning to be sprinkled
with gray, but whose sinewy limbs and firm tread announced
that he was still equal to the duties of manhood, advanced
out of the gloom of a corner, whither he had probably
posted himself to make his observations unseen, and spoke.
He used the language of the Wyandots, or Hurons;^ his
words were, consequently, unintelligible to Heyward, though
they seemed, by the gestures that accompanied them, to be
uttered more in courtesy than anger. The latter shook
his head, and made a gesture indicative of his inability to
reply.

"Do none of my brothers speak the French or the
English ? " he said, in the former language, looking about
him from countenance to countenance, in hopes of finding a
nod of assent.

Though moie than one had turned, as if to catch the
meaning of his words, they remained unanswered.

" I should be grieved to think," continued Duncan, speak-
ing slowly, and using the simplest French of which he was
the master, " to believe that none of this wise and brave na-
tion imderstand the language that the * Grand IMonarque
0868 when he talks to his children. His heart would ba

1 S«« Appendix, Note N.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 279

heavy did he believe his red warriors paid him so littla re-
spect ! "

A long and grave pause succeeded, during which no
movement of a limb, nor any expression of an eye, betrayed
the impression produced by his remark. Duncan, who
knew that silence was a virtue amongst his hosts, gladly had
recourse to the custom, in order to arrange his ideas. Ai
length the same warrior who had before addressed him
replied, by dryly demanding, in the language of the Can»
das, —

" When our Great Father speaks to his people, is it with
the tongue of a Huron ? "

" He knows no difference in his children, whether the
color of the skin be red, or black, or white," returned Dun-
3an, evasively; "though chiefly is he satisfied with the
brave Hurons."

"In what manner will he speak," demanded the wary
chief, " when the runners count to him the scalps which five
nights ago grew on the heads of the Yengeese ? "

" They were his enemies," said Duncan, shuddering in-
voluntarily ; " and, doubtless, he will say, It is good ; my
Hurons are very gallant."

" Our Canada father does not think it Instead of look-
nig forward to reward his Indians, his eyes are turned back-
ward. He sees the dead Yengeese, but no Huron. What
can this mean ? "

" A great chief, like him, has more thoughts than tongues.
He looks to see that no enemies are on his trail."

" The canoe of a dead warrior will fiot float on the
Horican," returned the savage, gloomily. " His ears am
open to the Delawares, who are not our friends, and they fill
them with lies."

" It cannot be. See ; he has bid me, who am a man that
knows the art of healing, to go to his children, the red Ka-
rons of the great lakes, and ask if any are sick ! "

Another silence succeeded this annunciation of the char-
acter Duncan had assumed. Every eye was simultaneously
bent on his person, as if to inquire into the truth or false-
hood of the declaration) with an intelligence and keennesa

280 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

that caused the subject of their scrutiny to tremble for tha
result. He was, however, relieved again by the former
speaker.

" Do the cunning men of the Canadas paint their skins ? "
the Huron coldly continued ; '' we have heard them boast
that their faces were pale."

" When an Indian chief comes among his white fathers,**
returned Duncan, with great steadiness, " he lays aside his
buffalo robe, to carry the shirt that is offered him. My
brothers have given me paint, and I wear it."

A low murmur of applause announced that the compliment
to the tribe was favorably received. The elderly chief
made a gesture of commendation, which was answered by
most of his companions, who each threw forth a hand, and
uttered a brief exclamation of pleasure. Duncan began to
breathe more freely, believing that the weight of his exam-
ination was past ; and as he had already prepared a simple
and probable tale to support his pretended occupation, his
hopes of ultimate success grew brighter.

After a silence of a few moments, as if adjusting his
thoughts, in order to make a suitable answer to the declara-
tion their guest had just given, another warrior arose, and
placed himself in an attitude to speak. While his lips were
yet in the act of parting, a low but fearful sound arose from
the forest, and was immediately succeeded by a high, shrill
yell, that was drawn out, until it equaled the longest and
most plaintive howl of the wolf. The sudden and terrible
.interruption caused Duncan to start from his seat, uncon-
scious of everything but the effect produced by so frightftil
a cry. At the same moment, the warriors glided in a body
from the lodge, and the outer air was filled with loud shouts,
that nearly drowned those awful sounds, which were stilJ
ringing beneath the arches of the woods. Unable to com-
mand himself any longer, the youth broke from the place,
and presently stood in the centre of a disorderly throng,
that included nearly everything having life, within the limits
of the encampment. Men, women, and children : the aged,
ihe infirm, the active, and the strong, were alike abroad
tome exclaiming aloud, others clapping thtJir hands with a joj

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 281

ihat seemed frantic, and all expressing their savage pleasure
in some unexpected event. Though astounded, at first, by
the uproar, Heyward was soon enabled to find its solution
by the scene that followed.

There yet lingered sufficient light in the heavens to ex-
hibit those bright openings among the tree-tops, where dif-
ferent paths left the clearing to enter the depths of the
wilderness. Beneath one of them, a line of warriors issued
from the woods, and advanced slowly towards the dwellings.
One in front bore a short pole, on which, as it afterwards
appeared, were suspended several human scalps. The start-
hng sounds that Duncan had heard, were what the whites
have not inappropriately called the " death-halloo ; " and
each repetition of the cry was intended to announce to the
tribe the fate of an enemy. Thus far the knowledge of Hey-
ward assisted him in the explanation; and as he now knew
that the interruption was caused by the unlooked-for return
of a successful war-party, every disagreeable sensation was
quieted in inward congratulation, for the opportune relief
and insignificance it conferred on himself

When at the distance of a few hundred feet from the
lodges, the newly arrived warriors halted. Their plaintive
and terrific cry, which was intended to represent equally the
wailings of the dead and the triumph of the victors, had
entirely ceased. One of their number now called aloud, in
words that were far from appallmg, through not more intel-
ligible to those for whose ears they were intended, than
their expressive yells. It would be difficult to convey a
suitable idea of the savage ecstasy with which the news thus
imparted was received. The whole encampment, in a mo-
ment, became a scene of the most violent bustle and com-
motion. The warriors drew their knives, and flourishing
them, they arranged themselves in two lines, forming a lane
that extended from the war-party to the lodges. The
squaws seized clubs, axes, or whatever weapon of offense first
offered itself to their hands, and rushed eagerly to act their
part in the cruel game that was at hand. Even the childrea
would not be excluded ; but boys, little aoxVi to wield the
mstruments, tore the tomahawks from the belts of theii

282 THE LAST OF THE MOIUCANS.

fathers, and stole into the ranks, apt imitators of the savage
traits exhibited by their parents.

Large piles of brush lay scattered about the clearing, and
a wary and aged squaw was occupied in firing as many as
might serve to light the coming exhibition. As the flame
arose, its power exceeded that of the parting day, and assist-
ed to render objects at the same time more distinct and
more hideous. The whole scene formed a striking picture,
whose frame was composed of the dark and tall border of
pines. The warriors just arrived were the most distant
figures. A little in advance stood two men, who were ap-
parently selected from the rest, as the principal actors in
what was to follow. The light was not strong enough to
render their features distinct, though it was quite evident
that they were governed by very different emotions. While
one stood erect and firm, prepared to meet his fate like a
hero, the other bowed his head, as if palsied by terror or
stricken with shame. The high-spirited Duncan felt a pow-
erftd impulse of admiration and pity towards the former,
though no opportunity could offer to exhibit his generous
emotions. He watched his slightest movement, however,
with eager eyes; and as he traced the fine outline of his
admirably proportioned and active frame, he endeavored to
persuade himself, that if the powers of man, seconded by
such noble resolution, could bear one harmless through so
severe a trial, the youthful captive before him might hope
for success in the hazardous race he was about to run. In-
sensibly the young man drew nigher to the swarthy lines of
the Hurons, and scarcely breathed, so intense became his
interest in the spectacle. Just then the signal yell was
given, and the momentary quiet which had preceded it was
broken by a burst of cries, that far exceeded any before
heard. The most abject of the two victims continued mo-
tionless ; but the other bounded from the place at the cry,
with the activity and swiftness of a deer. Instead of rush-
ing through the hostile lines, as had been expected, he just
entered the dangerous defile, and before time was given for
H single blow, turned short, and leaping the heads of a row
«f childi en, he gained at once the exterior and safer side of

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 28S

Ibe formidable array. The artifice was answered by a hun-
dred voices raised in imprecations ; and the whole of the
excited multitude broke from their order, and spread them-
selves about the place in wild confusion.

A dozen blazing piles now shed their lurid brightness on
the place, which resembled some unhallowed and supernat-
ural arena, in which malicious demons had assembled to act
their bloody and lawless rites. The forms in the back-
ground looked like unearthly beings, gliding before the eye,
and cleaving the air with frantic and unmeaning gestures ;
while the savage passions of such as passed the flames,
were rendered fearfully distinct by the gleams that shot
athwart their inflamed visages.

It will easily be understood, that amid such a concourse
of vindictive enemies, no breathing time was allowed the
fugitive. There was a single moment when it seemed as if
he would have reached the forest, but the whole body of
his captors threw themselves before him, and drove him
back into the centre of his relentless persecutors. Turning
like a headed deer, he shot, with the swiftness of an arrow,
through a pillar of forked flame, and passing the whole
multitude harmless, he appeared on the opposite side of the
clearing. Here too he was met and turned by a few of the
older and more subtle of the Hurons. Once more he tried
the throng, as if seeking safety in its blindness, and then
several moments succeeded, during which Duncan believed
tjie active and courageous young stranger was lost.

Nothing could be distinguished but a dark mass of human
forms tossed and involved in inexplicable confusion. Arms,
gleaming knives, and formidable clubs, appeared above
them, but the blows were evidently given at random. The
ftwful effect was heightened by the piercing shrieks of the
77t>men and the fierce yells of the warriors. Now and then
Duncan caught a glimpse of a light form cleaving the air
in some desperate bound, and he rather hoped than believed
that the captive yet retained the command of his astonish-
ing powers of activity. Suddenly the multitude rolled
backward, and approached the spot where he himself stood.
Tba heavv body in the rear pressed upon the women and

£84 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

children in front, and bore them to the earth. The strangei
reappeared in the conftision. Human power could not,
however, much longer endure so severe a trial. Of this
the captive seemed conscious. Profiting by the momentary
opening, he darted from among the warriors, and made a
desperate, and, what seemed to Duncan, a final effort to gain
the wood. As if aware that no danger was to be apprehended
from the young soldier, the fugitive nearly brushed his
person in his flight. A tall and powerful Huron, who had
husbanded his forces, pressed close upon his heels, and with
an uplifted arm menaced a fatal blow. Duncan thrust forth
a foot, and the shock precipitated the eager savage head-
long, many feet in advance of his mtended victim. Thought
itself is not quicker than was the motion with which the
latter profited by the advantage ; he turned, gleamed like a
meteor again before the eyes of Duncan, and at the next
moment, when the latter recovered his recollection, and
gazed around in quest of the captive, he saw him quietly
leaning against a small painted post, which stood before the
door of the principal lodge.

Apprehensive that the part he had taken in the escape
might prove fatal to himself, Duncan left the place without
delay. He followed the crowd, which drew nigh the lodges,
gloomy and sullen, like any other multitude that had been
disappointed in an execution. Curiosity, or perhaps a
better feeling, induced him to approach the stranger. He
found him, standing with one arm cast about the protecting
post, and breathing thick and hard, after his exertions, but
disdaining to permit a single sign of suffering to escape.
His person was now protected by immemorial and sacred
usage, until the tribe in council had deliberated and deter-
.nined on his fate. It was not difficult, however, to foretell
the result, if any presage could be drawn from the feelings
of those who crowded the place.

There was no term of abuse known to the Huron vocab-
ulary that the disappointed women did not lavishly expend
»n the successful stranger. They flouted at his efforts, and
told him, with bitter scoffs, that his feet were better tliau
bifl hands ; and that he merited wings, while he knew nol

THE LAST OP THE ftTOHICAlfS. t8?i

thfo ^ee of an arrow or a knife. To all this the captive
made no reply ; but was content to preserve an attitude ii
which dignity was singularly blended with disdain. Exas.
perated as much by his composure as by his good-fortune,
their words became unintelligible, and were succeeded by
shrill, piercing yells. Just then the crafty squaw, who had
taken the necessary precaution to fire the piles, made her
way through the throng, and cleared a place for herself in
front of the captive. The squalid and withered person of
this hag might well have obtained for her the character of
possessing more than human cunning. Throwing back her
light vestment, she stretched forth her long skinny arm, in
derision, and using the language of the Lenape, as more
intelligible to the subject of her gibes, she commenced
aloud, —

" Look yon, Delaware ! " she said, snapping her fingers
in his face ; " your nation is a race of women, and tlie hoe
's better fitted to your hands than the gun. Your squaws
are the mothers of deer ; but if a bear, or a wild cat, or a
serpent were born among you, ye would flee. The Huron
girls shall make you petticoats, and we will find you a hus-
band."

A burst of savage laughter succeeded this attack, during
which the soft and musical merriment of the younger
females strangely chimed with the cracked voice of their
older and more malignant companion. But the stranger
was superior to all their efforts. His head was immovable ;
nor did he betray the slightest consciousness that any were
present, except when his haughty eye rolled towards the
dusky forms of the warriors, who stalked in the background,
silent and sullen observers of the scene.

Infuriated at the self-command of the captive, the woman
placed her arms akimbo ; and throwing herself into a pos-
ture of defiance, she broke out anew, in a torrent of words
that no art of ours could commit successfully to paper.
Her breath was, however, expended in vain ; for, although
distinguished in her nation as a proficient in the art of
abuse, she was permitted to work herself into such a fury
as actually to foam at the mouth, without causing a musde

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

to vibrate in the motionless figure of the stranger. The
effect of his indifference began to extend itself to the other
spectators ; and a youngster, who was just quitting the con-
dition of a boy, to enter the state of manhood, attempted
to assist the termagant, by flourishing his tomahawk before
their victim, and adding his empty boasts to the taunts of
the woman. Then, indeed, the captive turned his face to-
wards the light, and looked down on the stripling with an
expression that was superior to contempt. At the next
moment he resumed his quiet and reclining attitude against
the post. But the change of posture had permitted Duncan
to exchange glances with the firm and piercing eyes of
Uncas.

Breathless with amazement, and heavily oppressed with
the critical situation of his friend, Heyward recoiled before
the look, trembling lest its meaning might, in some imknown
manner, hasten the prisoner's fate. There was not, however,
any instant cause for such an apprehension. Just then a
warrior forced his way into the exasperated crowd. Mo-
tioning the women and children aside with a stern gesture,
he took Uncas by the arm, and led him towards the door
of the council lodge. Thither all the chiefs, and most of
the distinguished warriors, followed -, among whom the
anxious Heyward found means to enter without attracting
any dangerous attention to himself.

A few minutes were consumed in disposing of those
present in a manner suitable to their rank and influence in
the tribe. An order very similar to that adopted in the
preceding interview was observed ; the aged and superior
chiefs occupying the area of the spacious apartment, within
the powerful light of a glaring torch, while their juniors
and inferiors were arranged in the background, presenting
a dark outline of swarthy and marked visages. In the
very centre of the lodge, immediately under an opening
that admitted the twinkling light of one or two stars,
Btood Uncas, calm, elevated, and collected. His high and
haughty carriage was not lost on his captors, who often
bent their looks on his person, with eyes which, while they
lost none of their inflexibility of purpose, plainlv betrayed
their admiration of the stranger's daring.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 28t

The case was different with the individual whom Duncan
had observed to stand forth with his friend, previously to
the desperate trial of speed ; and who, instead of joining in
the chase, had remained, throughout its turbulent uproar,
like a cringing statue, expressive of shame and disgrace
Though not a hand had been extended to greet him, nor
yet an eye had condescended to watch his movements, ho
had also entered the lodge, as though impelled by a fate to
whose decrees he submitted, seemingly, without a struggle.
Heyward profited by the first opportunity to gaze in his
face, secretly apprehensive he might find the features of
another acquaintance ; but they proved to be those of a
stranger, and, what was still more inexplicable, of one who
bore all the distinctive marks of a Huron warrior. Instead
of mingling with his tribe, however, he sat apart, a solitary
being in a multitude, his form shrinking into a crouching
and abject attitude, as if anxious to fill as httle space as
possible. When each individual had taken his proper sta-
tion, and silence reigned in the place, the gray-haired chief
already introduced to the reader, spoke aloud, in the lan-
guage of the Lenni Lenape.

" Delaware," he said, " though one of a nation of women,
you have proved yourself a man. I would give you food ;
but he who eats with a Huron should become his friend.
Rest in peace till the morning sun, when our last words
shall be spoken."

" Seven nights, and as many summer days, have I fasted
on the trail of the Hurons," Uncas coldly replied ; " the
children of the Lenape know how to travel the path of the
just without lingering to eat."

" Two of my young men are in pursuit of your compan-
ion," resumed the other, without appearing to regard the
boast of his captive ; " when they get back, then will our
wise men say to you ' live * or * die.' "

" Has a Huron no ears ? " scornftilly exclaimed Uncas ;
** twice, since he has been your prisoner, has the Delaware
heard a gun that he knows. Your young men will never
eome back ! "

A short and smlen pause succeeded this bold asscrtioB.

288 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Duncan, who understood the Mohican to allude to the fatal
rifle of the scout, bent forward in earnest observation of
the effect it might produce on the conquerors ; but the
chief was content with simply retorting, —

" If the Lenape are so skillful, why is one of their brav-
est warriors here ? "

" He followed in the steps of a flying coward, and fell
into a snare. The cunning beaver may be caught."

As Uncas thus replied, he pointed with his finger to-
wards the solitary Huron, but without deigning to bestow
any other notice on so unworthy an object. The words of
the answer and the air of the speaker produced a strong
sensation among his auditors. Every eye rolled sullenly
towards the individual indicated by the simple gesture, and
a low, threatening murmur passed through the crowd. The
ominous sounds reached the outer door, and the women and
children pressing into the throng, no gap had been left, be-
tween shoulder and shoulder, that was not now filled with
the dark lineaments of some eager and curious human
countenance.

In the mean time, the more aged chiefs, in the centre,
communed with each other in short and broken sentences.
Not a word was uttered taat did not convey the meaning
of the speaker, in the simplest and most energetic form.
Again, a long and deeply solemn pause took place. It was
known, by all present, to be the grave precursor of a
weighty and important judgment. They who composed
the outer circle of faces were on tiptoe to gaze ; and even
the culprit for an instant forgot his shame ia a deeper emo-
tion, and exposed his abject features, in order to cast an
anxious and troubled glance at the dark assemblage of
chiefs. The silence was finally broken by the aged warrior
so often named. He arose from the earth, and moving
past the immovable form of Uncas, placed himself in a dig-
nified attitude before the offender. At that moment, the
withered squaw already mentioned moved into the circle,
in a slow, sideling sort of a dance, holding the torch, and
muttering the indistinct words of what might have been a
epecies of incantation. Though her presence was alto-
gether an intrusion, it was unheeded.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 289

Approaching Uncas, she held the blazing brand in such
A manner as to cast its red glare on his person, and to ex-
pose the slightest emotion of his countenance. The Mohi-
can maintained his firm and haughty attitude ; and his eje,
80 far from deigning to meet her inquisitive look, dwelt
steadily on the distance, as though it penetrated the obsUi-
cles which impeded the view, and looked into futurity.
Satisfied with her examination, she left him, with a slight
expression of pleasure, and proceeded to practice the same
trying experiment on her delinquent countryman.

The young Huron was in his war paint, and very little
of a finely moulded form was concealed by his attire. The
light rendered every limb and joint discernible, and Duncan
turned away in horror when he saw they were writhing in
irrepressible agony. The woman was commencing a low
and plaintive howl at the sad and shameful spectacle, when
the chief put forth his hand and gently pushed her aside.

" Reed-that-bends," he said, addressing the young culprit
by name, and in his proper language, " though the Great
Spirit has made you pleasant to the eyes, it would have
been better that you had not been born. Your tongue is
loud in the village, but in battle it is still. None of my
young men strike the tomahawk deeper into the war-post —
none of them so lightly on the Yengeese. The enemy
know the shape of your back, but they have never seen the
color of your eyes. Three times have they called on you
to come, and as often did you forget to answer. Your
name will never be mentioned again in your tribe — it is
already forgotten."

As the chief slowly uttered these words, pausing impres
sively between each sentence, the culprit raised his face, in
deference to the other's rank and years. Shame, horror,
and pride struggled in its lineaments. His eye, which was
contracted with inward anguish, gleamed on the persons of
those whose breath was his fame ; and the latter emotion
for an instant predominated. He arose to his feet, and
baring his bosom, looked steadily on the keen, glittering
knife, that was already upheld by his inexorable judge. As
the weapon passed slowly into his heart he even smiled, as
19

290 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

if in joy at having found death less dreadful than he had
anticipated, and fell heavily on his face, at the feet of the
rigid and unyielding form of Uncas.

The squaw gave a loud and plaintive yell, dashed the
torch to the earthy and buried everything in darkness. The
whole shuddering group of spectators glided from the lodge,
like troubled sprites ; and Duncan thought that he and the
yet throbbing body of the victim of an Indian judgment
had uow become its only tenants.

THK LAST OF THE MOmCAMS. 29.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Thug spoke the sage : the kings without delay
Dissolve the council, and their chief obey.

Pope's Iuadw

A SINGLE moment served to convince the youth that he
jras mistaken. A hand was laid, with a powerful pressure,
on his arm, and the low voice of Uncas muttered in hia
ears, —

" The Hurons are dogs. The sight of a coward's blood
can never make a warrior tremble. The * Gray Head ' and
the Sagamore are safe, and the rifle of Hawkeye is not
asleep. Go, — Uncas and the * Open Hand * are now
strangers. It is enough."

Heyward would gladly have heard more, but a gentle
push from liis friend urged him towards the door, and
admonished him of the danger that might attend the dis-
covery of their intercourse. Slowly and reluctantly yield-
ing to the necessity, he quitted the place, and mingled with
the throng that hovered nigh. The dying fires in the clear-
ing cast a dim and uncertain light on the dusky figures that
were silently stalking to and fro ; and occasionally a
brighter gleam than common glanced into the lodge, and
exhibited the figure of Uncas still maintaining its upright
attitude near the dead body of the Huron.

A knot of warriors soon entered the place again, and
reissuing, they bore the senseless remains into the adjacent
woods. After this termination of the scene, Duncan wan-
dered among the lodges, imquestioned and unnoticed,
endeavoring to find some trace of her in whose behalf he
incurred the risk he ran. In the present temper of the
tribe, it would have been easy to have fled and rejoined his
oompauions, had such a wish crossed his mind. But, in

292 THE LAST OF THE MOHTCAIIB.

addition to the never-ceasing anxiety on account of Alice, a
fresher, though feebler interest in the fate of Uncas assisted
to chain him to the spot. He continued, therefore, to stray
from hut to hut, looking into each only to encounter addi-
tional disappointment, until he had made the entire circuit
of the village Abandoning a species of inquiry that proved
so fruitless, he retraced his steps to the council lodge, re-
solved to seek and question David, in order to put an end
to his doubts.

On reaching the building which had proved alike the seat
of judgment and the place of execution, the young man
found that the excitement had already subsided. The war-
riors had reassembled, and were now calmly smoking, while
they conversed gravely on the chief incidents of their recent
expedition to the head of the Horican. Though the return
of Duncan was likely to remind them of his character, and
the suspicious circumstances of his visit, it produced no
visible sensation. So far, the terrible scene that had just
occurred proved favorable to his views, and he required no
other prompter than his own feelings to convince him of the
expediency of profiting by so unexpected an advantage.

Without seeming to hesitate, he walked into the lodge,
and took his seat with a gravity that accorded admirably
with the deportment of his hosts. A hasty but searching
glance sufficed to tell him that, though Uncas still remained
where he had left him, David had not reappeared. No
other restraint was imposed on the former than the watch-
ful looks of a young Huron, who had placed himself at
hand ; though an armed warrior leaned against the post
that formed one side of the narrow door-way. In every
other respect, the captive seemed at liberty; still he was
excluded from all participation in the discourse, and pos-
sessed much more of the air of some finely moulded statue
than a man having life and volition.

Heyward had too recently witnessed a frightful instance
of the prompt punishments of the people into whose hands
he had fallen, to hazard an exposure by any officious bold-
ness. He would greatly have preferred silence and medita-
tion to speech, when a discovery of his real condition might

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 298

prove so instantly fatal. Unfortunately for this prudent
resolution, his entertainers appeared otherwise disposed.
He had not long occupied the seat wisely taken a little in
the shade, when another of the elder warriors, who spokp
the French language, addressed him : —

" My Canada father does not forget his children," said
the chief ; " I thank him. An evil spirit lives in the wife
of one of my young men. Can the cunning stranger
frighten him away ? "

Heyward possessed some knowledge of the mummery
practiced among the Indians, in the cases of such supposed
visitations. He saw, at a glance, that the circumstimcA
might possibly be improved to further his own ends. It
would, therefore, have been difficult, just then, to have
uttered a proposal that would have given him more satis-
faction. Aware of the necessity of preserving the dignity
of his imaginary character, however, he repressed his feel-
ings, and answered with suitable mystery, —

" Spirits differ ; some yield to the power of wisdom,
while others are too strong."

"My brother is a great medicine," said the cunning
savage ; " he will try ? "

A gesture of assent was the answer. The Huron was
content with the assurance, and resuming his pipe, ho
awaited the proper moment to move. The impatient Hey-
ward, inwardly execratmg the cold customs of the savages,
which required such sacrifices to appearance, was fain to
assume an air of indifference, equal to that maintained by
the chief, who was, in truth, a near relative of the afflicted
woman. The minutes lingered, and the delay had seemed
an hour to the adventurer in empiricism, when the Huron
Idd aside his pipe, and drew his robe across his breast, as
If about to lead the way to the lodge of the invahd. Just
tbeu, a warrior of powerful frame darkened the door, and
stalking silently among the attentive group, he seated him-
self on one end of the low pile of brush wliich sustained
Duncan. The latter cast an impatient look at his neighbor,
and felt his flesh creep wilh uncontrollable horror wheu he
found himself in actual contact with Magua.

294 THE LASt OP THE MOHtOANS.

The sudden return of this artful and dreaded chief caused
a delay in the departure of the Huron. Several pipes, that
had been extinguished, were lighted again ; while the new
comer, without speaking a word, drew his tomahawk from
his girdle, and filling the bowl on its head, began to inhale
the vapors of the weed through the hollow handle, with as
much indifference as if he had not been absent two weary
days on a long and toilsome hunt. Ten minutes, which
appeared so many ages to Duncan, might have passed in
this manner ; and the warriors were fairly enveloped in a
cloud of white smoke before any of them spoke.

" Welcome ! " one at length uttered ; " has my friend
found the moose ? "

" The young men stagger under their burdens," returned
Magna. " Let * Reed-that-bends ' go on the hunting path -,
he will meet them."

A deep and awful silence succeeded the utterance of the
forbidden name. Each pipe dropped from the lips of its
owner as though all had inhaled an impurity at the same
instant. The smoke wreathed above their heads in little
eddies, and curling in a spiral form, it ascended swiftly
through the opening in the roof of the lodge, leaving the
place beneath clear of its fumes, and each dark visage dis-
tinctly visible. The looks of most of the warriors were
riveted on the earth ; though a few of the younger and less
gifted of the party suffered their wild and glaring eye-balls
to roll in the direction of a white-headed savage, who sat
between two of the most venerated chiefs of the tribe.
There was nothing in the air or attire of this Indian that
would seem to entitle him to such a distinction. The
former was rather depressed, than remarkable for the bear-
ing of the natives ; and the latter was such as was commonly
worn by the ordinary men of the nation. Like most around
him, for more than a minute his look too was on the
ground ; but, trusting his eyes at length to steal a glance
aside, he perceived that he was becoming an object of
general attention. Then he arose and lifted his voice in the
general silence.

^ It was a liej" he said « ^^ I had no son. He who wai

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 2%

called by that name is forgotten ; his blood was pale, and it
came not from the veins of a Huron ; the wicked Chippewas
cheated my squaw. The Great Spirit has said, that the
family of Wiss-entush should end ; he is happy who knows
that the evil of his race dies with himself. I have done."

The speaker, who was the father of the recreant young
Indian, looked round and about him, as if seeking commen-
dation of his stoicism in the eyes of his auditors. But the
Btern customs of his people had made too severe an exac-
tion of the feeble old man. The expression of his eye con-
tradicted his figurative and boastful language, while every
muscle in his wrinkled visage was working with anguish.
Standing a single minute to enjoy his bitter triumph, he
turned away, as if sickening at the gaze of men, and veiling
his face in his blanket, he walked from the lodge with the
noiseless step of an Indian, seeking, in the privacy of his
own abode, the sympathy of one like himself, aged, forlorn,
and childless.

The Indians, who believe in the hereditary transmission
of virtues and defects in character, suffered him to depart in
silence. Then, with an elevation of breeding that many in
a more cultivated state of society might profitably emulate,
one of the chiefs drew the attention of the young men from
the weakness they had just witnessed, by saying, in a cheer-
ful voice, addressing himself in courtesy to Magna, as the
newest comer, —

" The Delawares have been like bears after the honey-
pots, prowling around my village. But who has ever found
a Huron asleep ? "

The darkness of the impending cloud which precedes a
burst of thunder was not blacker than the brow of Magua
as he exclaimed, —

'' The Delawares of the Lakes ! "

" Not so. They who wear the petticoats of squaws, on
their own river One of them has been passing the tribe."

" Did my young men take his scalp ? "

" His legs were good, though his arm is better for the
hoe than the tomahawk," returned the other, pointing to the
immovable form of Uncas.

296 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

-1

Instead of manifesting any womanish curiosity to feast his
eyes with the sight of a captive from a people he was known
to have so much reason to hate, Magna continued to smoke,
with the meditative air that he usually maintained, when
there was no immediate call on his cunning or his eloquence
Although secretly amazed at the facts communicated by the
speech of the aged father, he permitted himself to ask no
questions, reserving his inquiries for a more suitable moment.
It was only after a sufficient interval that he shook the ashes
from his pipe, replaced the tomahawk, tightened his girdle,
and arose, casting for the first time a glance in the direction
of the prisoner, who stood a little behind him. The wary,
though seemingly abstracted Uncas, caught a glimpse of the
movement, and turning suddenly to the hght, their looks
met. Near a minute these two bold and untamed spirits
stood regarding one another steadily in the eye, neither quail-
ing in the least before the fierce gaze he encountered. The
form of Uncas dilated, and his nostrils opened like those of
a tiger at bay ; but so rigid and unyielding was his posture,
that he might easily have been converted by the imagination
into an exquisite and faultless representation of the warlike
deity of his tribe. The lineaments of the quivering features
of Magna proved more ductile ; his countenance gradually
lost its character of defiance in an expression of ferocious
joy, and heaving a breath from the very bottom of his chest,
he pronounced aloud the formidable name of —

"LeCerf Agile!"

Each warrior sprang upon his feet at the utterance of the
well known appellation, and there was a short period during
which the stoical constancy of the natives was completely
conquered by surprise. The hated and yet respected name
was repeated as by one voice, carrying the sound even
beyond the limits of the lodge. The women and children,
who lingered around the entrance, took up the words hi an
echo, which was succeeded by another shrill and plaintive
/lowl. The latter was not yet ended, when the sensation
among the men had entirely abated. Each one in presence
seated himself, as though ashamed of his precipitation ; but
it was many minutes before their meaning eyes ceased to

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 297

roll towards their captive, in curious examination of a war-
rior who had so often proved his prowess on the best and
proudest of their nation. Uncas enjoyed his victory, but
was content with merely exliibiting his triumph by a quiet
smile — an emblem of scorn which belongs to all time and
every nation.

Magua caught the expression, and raising his arm, he
shook it at the captive, the light silver ornaments attached
to his bracelet rattling with the trembling agitation of the
limb, as, in a tone of vengeance, he exclaimed, in English, —

" Mohican, you die ! "

" The healing waters will never bring the dead Hurous to
life," returned Uncas, in the music of the Delawares ; " tlic
tumbling river washes their bones ; their men are squaws ;
their women owls. Go ! call together the Huron dogs,
that they may look upon a warrior. My nostrils are
offended ; they scent the blood of a coward."

The latter allusion struck deep, and the injury rankled.
Many of the Hurons understood the strange tongue in which
the captive spoke, among which number was Magna. This
cunning savage beheld, and instantly profited by his advan-
tage. Dropping the light robe of skin from his shoulder,
he stretched forth his arm, and commenced a burst of his
dangerous and artful eloquence. However much his influ-
ence among his people had been impaired by his occasional
and besetting weakness, as well as by his desertion of the
tribe, his courage and his fame as an orator were undeniable.
He never spoke without auditors, and rarely without mak-
ing converts to his opinions. On the present occasion, his
native powers were stimulated by the thirst of revenge.

He again recounted the events of the attack on the island
at Glenn's, the death of his associates, and the escape of
their most formidable enemies. Then he described the
nature and position of the mount whither he had led such
captives as had fallen into their hands. Of his own bloody
intentions towards the maidens, and of his baffled malice he
made no m&ntion, but passed rapidly on to thf» surprise of
the party by " La Longuo Carabine," and its fatal termina-
tion. Here he paused, and looked about him, in affected

298 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

veneration for the departed, but, in truth, to note the effect
of his opening narrative. As usual, every eye was riveted
on his face. Each dusky figure seemed a breathing statue,
80 motionless was the posture, so intense the attention of the
individual.

Then Magua dropped his voice, which had hitherto been
clear, strong, and elevated, and touched upon the merits of
the dead. No quality that was likely to command the sym-
pathy of an Indian escaped his notice. One had never been
known to follow the chase in vain ; another had been inde-
fatigable on the trail of their enemies. This was brave,
that generous. In short, he so managed his allusions, that
in a nation which was composed of so few families, he con-
trived to strike every chord that might find, in its turn, some
breast in which to vibrate.

" Are the bones of my young men," he concluded, " in the
burial-place of the Hurons ? You know they are not. Their
spirits are gone towards the setting sun, and are already
crossing the great waters, to the happy hunting-grounds.
But they departed without food, without guns or knives,
without moccasins, naked and poor as they were born.
Shall this be ? Are their souls to enter the land of the just
like hungry Iroquois or unmanly Delawares ; or shall they
meet their friends with arms in their hands and robes on
their backs ? What will our fathers think the tribes of th<L
Wyandots have become ? They will look on their children
with a dark eye, and say. Go ! a Chippewa has come hither
with the name of a Huron. Brothers, we must not forget
the dead ; a red-skin never ceases to remember. We will
load the back of this Mohican until he staggers under our
bounty, and dispatch him after my young men. They call
to us for aid, though our ears are not open ; they say For-
get us not. When they see the spirit of this Mohican toil-
ing after them with his burden, they will know we are of
that mind. Then will they go on happy ; and our children
m\\ say, ' So did our fathers to their friends, so must we
do to them.' What is a Ycngee ? we have slain many, but
the earth is still pale. A stain on the name of a Huron
can only be hid by blood that comes firom the veins of od
ludiAn. Let this Delaware die."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 299

The effect of such an harangue, delivered in the nervona

language and with tlie emphatic manner of a Huron orator,
could scarcely be mistaken. Magna had so artfully blended
the natural sympathies with the religious superstition of his
auditors, that their minds, already prepared by custom to
sacrifice a victim to the manes of their countrymen, lost
every vestige of humanity in a wish for revenge. One war-
rior in particular, a man of wild and ferocious mien, had
been conspicuous for the attention ho had given to the
words of the speaker. His countenance had changed with
each passing emotion, until it settled into a look of dea<lly
malice. As Magua ended he arose, and uttering the yell of
a demon, his polished little axe was seen glancing in the
torch-light as he whirled it above his head. The motion
and the cry were too sudden for words to interrupt his
bloody intention. It appeared as if a bright gleam shot
from his hand, which was crossed at the same moment by a
dark and powerful line. The former was the tomahawk in
its passage ; the latter the arm that Magua darted forward
to divert its aim. The quick and ready motion of the chief
was not entirely too late. The keen weapon cut the war-
plume from the scalping tuft of Uncas, and passed through
the frail wall of the lodge as though it were hurled from
some formidable engine.

Duncan had seen the threatening action, and sprang upon
his feet, with a heart, which, while it leaped into his throat,
swelled with the most generous resolution in behalf of his
friend. A glance told him that the blow ^ad failed, and
terror changed to admiration. Uncas stood still, looking
his enemy in the eye with features that seemed superior to
emotion. Marble could not be colder, calmer, or steadier
than the countenance he put upon this sudden and vindic-
tive attack. Then, as if pitying a want of skill which had
proved so fortunate to himself, he smiled, and muttered a
few words of contempt in his own tongue.

" No ! " said Magua, after satisfying himself of the safety
of the captive ; " the sun must shine on his thame ; the
•quaws must see his flesh tremble, or our revenge will
ha like the nlav of bova. Go I take him where Ckaf e il

300 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

silence ; let us see if a Delaware can sleep at night, and is
the morning die."

The young men whose duty it was to guard the prisoner
instantly passed their ligaments of bark across his arms, and
led him from the lodge, amid a profound and ominous
silence. It was only as the figure of Uncas stood in the
opening of the door that his firm step hesitated. There he
turned, and, in the sweeping and haughty glance that he
threw around the circle of his enemies, Duncan caught a
look, which he was glad to construe into an expression that
he was not entirely deserted by hope.

Magna was content with his success, or too much occu-
pied with his secret purposes to push his inquiries any
further. Shaking his mantle, and folding it on his bosom,
he also quitted the place, without pursuing a subject which
might have proved so fatal to the individual at his elbow
Notwithstanding his rising resentment, his natural firmness,
and his anxiety in behalf of Uncas, Heyward felt sensibly
relieved by the absence of so dangerous and so subtle a
foe. The excitement produced by the speech gradually
subsided. The warriors resumed their seats, and clouds of
smoke once more filled the lodge. For near half an hour,
not a syllable was uttered, or scarcely a look cast aside ;
a grave and meditative silence being the ordinary succes-
sion to every scene of violence and commotion amongst
those beings, who were alike so impetuous and yet so self-
restrained.

When the chief who had solicited the aid of Duncan
finished his pipe, he made a final and successful movement
towards departing. A motion of a finger was the intima-
tion he gave the supposed physician to follow ; and passmg
through the clouds of smoke, Duncan was glad, on more
accounts than one, to be able, at last, to breathe the pure
air of a cool and refreshing summer evening.

Instead of pursuing his way among those lodges where
Heyward had already made his unsuccessful search, hia
companion turned aoide, and proceeded directly towards the
base of an adjacent mountain, which overhung the teropo-
larY villagfe. A thicket of brush skirted its foot, and it

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 801

became necessary to proceed through a crooked and narrow
, ath. The boys had resumed their sports in the clearing,
and were enacting a mimic chase to the post among them-
selves. In order to render their games as like the reality
as possible, one of the boldest of their number had conveyed
a few brands into some piles of tree-tops that had hitherto
escaped the burning. The blaze of one of these fires
lighted the way of the chief and Duncan, and gave a char-
acter of additional wildness to the rude scenery. At a little
distance from a bald rock, and directly in its front, they
entered a grassy opening, which they prepared to cross.
Just then fresh fuel was added to the fire, and a powerM
light penetrated even to that distant spot. It fell upon the
white surface of the mountain, and was reflected downwards
upon a dark and mysterious-looking being that arose, unex-
pectedly, in their path.

The Indian paused, as if doubtful whether to proceed,
and permitted his companion to approach his side. A large
black ball, which at first seemed stationary, now began to
move in a manner that to the latter was inexplicable.
Again the fire brightened, and its glare fell more distinctly
on the object. Then even Duncan knew it, by its restless
and sideling attitudes, which kept the upper part of its form
in constant motion, while the animal itself appeared seated,
to be a bear. Though it growled loudly and fiercely, and
there were instants when its glistening eye-balls might be
seen, it gave no other indications of hostility. The Huron,
at least, seemed assured that the intention^ of this singular
intruder were peaceable, for after giving it an attentive
examination, he quietly pursued his course.

Duncan, who knew that the animal was often domesti-
cated among the Indians, followed the example of his com-
panion, believing that some favorite of the tribe had found
its way into the thicket, in search of food. They passed it
unmolested. Though obliged to come nearly in contact
with the monster, the Huron, who had at first so warily
determined the character of his strange visitor, was now
content with proceeding without wasting a moment in
%irther examination ; but Hey ward was unable to prevenl

802 THE lAST OF THE MOHICANS.

his eyes from looking backward, in salutary watchfiilnest
against attacks in the rear. His uneasiness was in no de-
gree diminished when he perceived the beast rolling along
their path, and following their footsteps. He would have
spoken, but the Indian at that moment shoved aside a door
of bark, and entered a cavern in the bosom of the mountain.

Profiting by so easy a method of retreat, Duncan stepped
after him, and was gladly closing the slight cover to the
opening, when he felt it drawn from his hand by the beast,
whose shaggy form immediately darkened the passage.
They were now in a straight and long gallery, in a chasm
of the rocks, where retreat without encountering the animal
was impossible. Making the best of the circumstances, the
young man pressed forward, keeping as close as possible to
his conductor. The bear growled frequently at his heels,
and once or twice its enormous paws were laid on his
person, as if disposed to prevent his further passage inio
the den.

How long the nerves of Heyward would have sustained
him in this extraordinary situation, it might be difficult to
decide ; for, happily, he soon found relief. A glimmer of
light had constantly been in their front, and they now
arrived at the place whence it proceeded.

A large cavity in the rock had been rudely fitted to
answer the purposes of many apartments. The subdivisions
were simple but ingenious, being composed of stone, sticks,
and bark, intermingled. Openings above admitted the light
by day, and at night fires and torches supplied the place of
the sun. Hither the Hurons had brought most of their
valuables, especially those which more particularly per-
tained to the nation ; and hither, as it now appeared, the
eick woman, who was believed to be the victim of super-
natural power, had been transported also, under an impres-
sion that her tormentor would find more difficulty in making
his assaults through walls of stone than through the leafy
coverings of the lodges. The apartment into which Duncan
and his guide first entered, had been exclusively devoted to
her accommodation. The latter approached her bedside,
which was surrounded by females, in the centre of whom
He V ward was surprised to find his missing frieijd Davids

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. .fiO«

A single look was sufficient to apprise the pretended
leech that the invalid was far beyond his powers of healing.
She lay in a sort of paralysis, indifferent to the objects
which crowded before her sight, and happily unconscious of
Buffering. Heyward was far from regretting that his mum-
meries were to be performed on one who was much too ill
to take an interest in their failure or success. The slight
qualm of conscience which had been excited by the intended
deception was instantly appeased, and he began to collect
his thoughts, in order to enact his part with suitable spirit,
when he found he was about to be anticipated in his akUl bj
an attempt to prove the power of music.

Gamut, who had stood prepared to pour forth his spirit
in song when the visitors entered, afler delaying a moment,
drew a strain from his pipe, and commenced a hymn that
might have worked a miracle, had faith in its efficacy been
of much avail. He was allowed to proceed to the close,
the Indians respecting his imaginary infirmity, and Duncan
too glad of the delay to hazard the slightest interruption.
As the dying cadence of his strains was falling on the ears
of the latter, he started aside at hearing them repeated be-
hind him, in a voice half human and half sepulchral. Look-
ing around, he beheld the shaggy monster seated on end
in a shadow of the cavern, where, while his restless body
swung in the uneasy manner of the animal, it repeated, in
a sort of low growl, sounds, if not words, which bore some
Blight resemblance to the melody of the singer.

The effect of so strange an echo on David may better be
imagined than described. His eyes opened as if he doubted
their truth; and his voice became instantly mute in excess
of wonder. A deep-laid scheme, of communicating some
important intelligence to Heyward, was driven from his
recollection by an emotion which very nearly resembled fear,
but which he was fain to believe was admiration. Under
its influence, he exclaimed aloud — " She expects you, him
is at hand •, " and precipitately left the cavera.

d04 THE LAST OF THE MOHrCAKS

CHAPTER XXV.

Snug. — ■ Have you the lion's part written ? Pray you, if it be, give it mt
hr I am slow of study.

Quince. — You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roaring.

Midsummer Night's Dream.

There was a strange blending of the ridiculous with
that which was solemn in this scene. The beast still con-
tinued its rolling, and apparently untiring movements,
though its ludicrous attempt to imitate the melody of David
ceased the instant the latter abandoned the field. The
words of Gamut were, as has been seen, m his native tongue ;
and to Duncan they seemed pregnant with some hidden
meaning, though nothing present assisted him in discovering
the object of their allusion. A speedy end was, however,
put to every conjecture on the subject, by the manner of
the chief, who advanced to the bedside of the invalid, and
beckoned away the whole group of female attendants that
had clustered there to witness the skill of the stranger. He
was implicitly, though reluctantly, obeyed ; and when the
low echo which rang along the hollow, natural gallery, from
the distant closing door, had ceased, pointing towards his
insensible daughter, he said, —

" Now let my brother show his power."

Thus unequivocally called on to exercise the functions of
his assumed character, Heyward was apprehensive that the
smallest delay might prove dangerous. Endeavoring then
to collect his ideas, he prepared to perform that species of
incantation, and those uncouth rites, under which the Indian
conjurers are accustomed to conceal their ignorance and im-
potency. It is more than probable that, in the disordered
state of his thoughts, he would soon have fallen into some
suspicious, if not fatal error, had not his incipient attempts
beon interrupted by a fierce giowl from the quadruped

THE i^AST OP THE MOHICANS. 805

"niree several times did he renew his efforts to proceed, and
as often was he met by the same unaccountable opposition,
each interruption seeming more savage and threatening than
the preceding.

'* The cunning ones are jealous," said the Huron ; " I go.
Brother, the woman is the wife of one of my bravest young
men ; deal justly by her. Peace ! " he added, beckoning to
the discontented beast to be quiet ; " I go."

The chief was as good as his word, and Duncan now
found himself alone in that wild and desolate abode, with
the helpless invalid, and the fierce and dangerous brute.
The latter listened to the movements of the Indian with
that air of sagacity that a bear is known to possess, until
another echo announced that he had also left the cavern,
when it turned and came waddling up to Duncan, before
whom it seated itself, in its natural attitude, erect like a man.
The youth looked anxiously about him for some weapon,
with which he might make a resistance against the attack
he now seriously expected.

It seemed, however, as if the humor of the animal had
suddenly changed. Instead of continuing its discontented
growls, or manifesting any further signs of anger, the whole
of its shaggy body shook violently, as if agitated by some
strange internal convulsion. The huge and unwieldy talons
pawed stupidly about the grinning muzzle, and while Hey-
ward kept his eyes riveted on its movements with jealous
watchfulness, the grim head fell on one side, and in its place
appeared the honest, sturdy countenance o^ the scout, who
was indulging, from the bottom of his soul, in his own
peculiar expression of merriment.

" Hist ! " said the wary woodsman, interrupting Hey-
ward's exclamation of surprise ; " the varlets are about the
place, and any sounds that are not natural to witchcraft
would bring them back upon us in a body."

" Tell me the meaning of this masquerade ; and why you
have attempted so desperate an adventure ? "

" Ah ! reason and calculation are often outdone by ac-
cident," returned the scout. " But as a story should always
ivmmence at the beginning, I will tell you the whole ia

806 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

order. After we parted I placed the commandant and the
Sagamore in an old beaver lodge, where they are safer from
the Hurons than they would be in the garrison of Edward ;
for your high northwest Indians, not having as yet got the
traders among them, continue to venerate the beaver.
After which Uncas and I pushed for the other encampment,
as was agreed ; have you seen the lad ? "

"To my great grief! he is captive, and condemned to
die at the vising of the sun."

" I had misgivings that such would be his fate," resumed
the scout, in a less confident and joyous tone. But soon
regaining his naturally firm voice, he continued : " His bad
fortune is the true reason of my being here, for it would
never do to abandon such a boy to the Hurons. A rare
time the knaves would have of it, could they tie * The
Bounding Elk ' and ' The Long Carabine,' as they call me,
to the same stake ! Though why they have given me such
a name I never knew, there being as little likeness between
the gifts of * Killdeer ' and the performance of one of your
real Canada carabynes, as there is between the natur' of a
pipe-stone and a flint ! "

" Keep to your tale," said the impatient Hey ward ; " we
know not at what moment the Hurons may return."

" No fear of them. A conjurer must have his time, like
a straggling priest in the settlements. We are as safe from
interruption as a missionary would be at the beginning of a
two hours* discourse. Well, Uncas and I fell in with a
return party of the varlets ; the lad was much too forward
for a scout ; nay, for that matter, being of hot blood, he
was not so much to blame; and, after all, one of the
Hurons proved a coward, and m fleeing led him mto an
ambushment."

" And dearly has he paid for the weakness ! "

The scout significantly passed his hand across his own
throat, and nodded, as if he said, " I comprehend your
meaning." After which he continued, in a more audible
though scarcely more intelligible language, —

" After the loss of the boy I turned upon the Hurons, as
you may judge. There have been skrimmages atween one

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 807

or two of their outlyers and myself ; but that is neither here
nor there. So, after I had shot the imps, I got in pretty
uigh to the lodges without further commotion. Then wliat
should luck do in my favor, but lead me to the very spot
where one of the most famous conjurers of the tribe was
dressing himself, as I well knew, for some great battle with
Satan — though why should I call that luck, which it now
seems was an especial ordering of Providence 1 So a
judgmatical rap over the head stitfenod the lying impostor
for a time, and leaving him a bit of walnut for hi » supper,
to prevent an uproar, and stringing him up atweec two sap-
lings, I made free with his finery, and took the p xt of the
%ear on myself, in order that the operations might proceed."

" And admirably did you enact the character ; the animal
:self might have been shamed by the representation."

"Lord, Major," returned the flattered woodsman, "I
should be but a poor scholar for one who has studied so
long in the wilderness, did I not know how to set forth the
movements and natur' of such a beast. Had it been now
a catamount, or even a full-sized panther, I would have
embr'' shed a performance for you worth regarding. But
it is L such marvelous feat to exhibit the feats of so dull a
beast ; i.iough, for that matter too, a bear may be over
acted. Yes, yes ; it is not every imitator that knows natur'
may be outdone easier than she is equaled. But all our
\Vork IS yet before us . where is the gentle one ? "

" Heaven knows ; I have examined every lodge in the
village, without discovering the slightest trace of her pres-
ence in the tribe.'

" You heard what the singer said, as he left us, — * She
la at hand, and expects you ' ? "

" I have been compelled to believe he alluded to this
unhappy woman.'*

" The simpleton was frightened, and blundered through
his message ; but he had a deeper meaning. Here are
walls enough to separate the whole settlement. A bear
ought to climb ; therefore will I take a look above them.
There may be honey-pots hid in these rocks, and I am Sk
beast, you know, that has a hankering for the sweets."

308 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

The scout looked behind him, laughing at his own con*

"Seit, while he clambered up the partition, imitating, as he
went, the clumsy motions of the beast he represented ; but
the instant the summit was gained he made a gesture for
fiilence, and slid down with the utmost precipitation.

" She is here," he whispered, " and by that door you will
find her. I would have spoken a word of comfort to the
afflicted soul ; but the sight of such a monster might upset
her reason. Though for that matter. Major, you are none
of the most inviting yourself in your paint."

Duncan, who had already sprung eagerly forward, drew
instantly back on hearing these discouraging words.

" Am I, then, so very revolting ? " he demanded, with an
air of chagrin.

" You might not startle a wolf, or turn the Royal Amer-
icans from a charge ; but I have seen the time when you
had a better-favored look ; your streaked countenances are
not ill-judged of by the squaws, but young women of white
blood give the preference to their own color. See," he
added, pointing to a place where the water trickled from a
rock, forming a little crystal spring before it found 9 issue
through the adjacent crevices ; " you may easily g rid of
the Sagamore's daub, and when you come back I will try
my hand at a new embellishment. It's as common for a
conjurer to alter his paint as for a buck in the settlements
to change his finery."

The deliberate woodsman had little occasion to hunt for
arguments to enforce his advice. He was yet speaking
when Duncan availed himself of the water. In a moment
every frightful or offensive mark was obliterated, and the
youth appeared again in the lineaments with which he had
been gifted by nature. Thus prepared for an interview
with his mistress, he took a hasty leave of his companion,
and disappeared through the indicated passage. The scout
witnessed his departure with complacency, nodding his head
after him, and muttering his good wishes ; after which he
very coolly set about an examination of the state of the
larder, among the Hurons — the cavern, among other pur-
poses, being used as a receptacle for the fruits of their

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 309

Duncan had no other guide than a distant glimmering
light, which served, however, the office of a polar star to
the lover. By its aid he was enabled to enter the haven
of his hopes, which was merely another apartment of the
cavern, that had been solely appropriated to the safe-keeping
of so important a prisoner as a daughter of the commandant
of William Henry. It was profusely strewed with the
plunder of that unlucky fortress. In the midst of this con-
fusion he found her he sought, pale, anxious, and terrified,
but lovely. David had prepared her for such a visit.

" Duncan ! " she exclaimed, in a voice that seemed to
tremble at the sounds created by itself.

" Alice " he answered, leaping carelessly among trunks,
boxes, arms, and furniture, until he stood at her side.

" I knew that you would never desert me," she said,
looking up with a momentary glow on her otherwise
dejected countenance. " But you are alone ! grateful as it
is to be thus remembered, I could wish to think you are
not entirely alone."

Duncan observing that she trembled in a manner which
betrayed her inability to stand, gently induced her to be
seated, while he recounted those leading iLcidents which it
has been our task to record. Alice listened with breathless
interest ; and though the young man touched lightly on the
sorrows of the stricken father, taking care, however, not to
wound the self-love of his auditor, the t^ars ran as freely
down the cheeks of the daughter as though she had never
wept before. The soothing tenderness o'^ Duncan, however,
soon quieted the first burst of her emotit>?is, and she then
heard him to the close with undivided attention, if not with
composure.

" And now, Alice," he added, " you will see how much is
still expected of you. By the assistance of our experienced
and invaluable friend, the scout, we may find our way ftom
this savage people, but you will have to exert your utmost
fortitude. Remember that you fly to the arms of your
venerable parent, and how much his happiness, as well as
your own, depends on those exertions."

<^ Can I do otherwise for a father who has done ,u> muck
for m«^*

810 THE LAST OF THE MCfflCANS.

** And for me too," continued the youth, gently prewing
the hand he held in both his own.

The look of innocence and surprise which he received in
return convinced Duncan of the necessity of being more
explicit.

" This is neither the place nor the occasion to detain you
with selfish wishes," he added ; " but what heart loaded like
mine would not wish to cast its burden ? They say misery
is the closest of all ties; our common suffering m your
behalf left but little to be explained between your father
and myself."

" And dearest Cora, Duncan ; surely Cora was not for-
gotten ? "

"Not forgotten! no; regetted, as woman was seldom
mourned before. Your venerable father knew no difference
between his children ; but I — Alice, you will not be of-
fended when I say, that to me her worth was in a degree
obscured " —

" Then you knew not the merit of my sister," said Alice,
withdrawing her hand ; " of you she ever speaks as of one
who is her dearest friend."

" I would gladly believe her such," returned Duncan,
hastily ; " I could wish her to be even more ; but with you,
Alice, I have the permission of your father to aspire to a
Btill nearer and dearer tie."

Alice trembled violently, and there was an instant during
which she bent her face aside, yielding to the emotions
common to her sex ; but they quickly passed away, leaving
her mistress of her deportment, if not of her affections.

" Hey ward," she said, looking him full in the face with a
touching expression of innocence and dependency, " give me
the sacred presence and the holy sanction of that parent
before you urge me further."

" Though more I should not, less I could not say," the
youth was about to answer, when he was interrupted by a
light tap on his shoulder. Starting to his feet, he turned,
and, confronting the intruder, his looks fell on the dark
form and i^alig^'unt visage of Magua. The deep guttural
Uiugh of the savage sounded, at such a moment, to Duncan

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 811

like the hellish taunt of a demon. Had he pursued the
sudden and fierce impulse of the instant, he would have
cast himself on the Huron, and committed their fortunes to
the issue of a deadly struggle. But, without arms of anj
description, ignorant of what succor his subtle enemy could
command, and charged with the safety of one who was just
then dearer than ever to his heart, he no sooner entertained
*han he abandoned the desperate intention.

" What is your purpose ? " said Alice, meekly folding her
arms on her bosom, and struggling to conceal an agony of
apprehension in behalf of Heyward, in the usual cold and
distant manner with which she received the visits of her
captor.

The exulting Indian had resumed his austere counte-
nance, though he drew warily back before the menacing
glance of the young man's fiery eye. He regarded both
his captives for a moment with a steady look, and then
stepphig aside, he dropped a log of wood across a door
difl^ereut from that by which Duncan had entered. The
latter now comprehended the manner of his surprise, and
believing himself irretrievably lost, he drew Alice to his
bosom, and stood prepared to meet a fate which he hardly
regretted, since it was to be suffered in such company. But
Magna meditated no immediate violence. His first meas-
ures were very evidently taken to secure his new captive ;
nor tiid he even bestow a second glance at the motionless
forms in the centre of the cavern, until he had completely
cut off every hope of retreat through the private outlet he
had himself used. He was watched in «11 his movements
by Heyward, who, however, remained firm, still folding the
fragile form of Alice to his heart, at once too proud and
too hopeless to ask favor of an enemy so often foiled
When Magna had effected his object he approached hia
prisoners, and said in English, —

" The pale-faces trap the cunning beavers ; but the red*
skins know how to take the Yeugeese/'

" Huron, do your worst ! '* exclaimed the excited Hey-
ward, forgetful that a double stake was involved m his Jile;
•you and your vengeance are alike despised."

812 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Will the white man speak these words at the stake ?"
asked Magua ; manifesting, at the same time, how little faitli
he had in the other's resolution by the sneer that accom^
panied his words.

" Here ; singly to your face, or in the presence of your
nation."

"Le Renard Subtil is a great chief!" returned the In-
dian: "he will go and bring his young men, to see how
bravely a pale-face can laugh at the tortures."

He turned away while speaking, and was about to leave
the place through the avenue by which Duncan had ap-
proached, when a growl caught his ear, and caused him to
hesitate. The figure of the bear appeared in the door,
where it sat, rolling from side to side in its customary rest-
lessness. Magua, like the father of the sick woman, eyed
it keenly for a moment, as if to ascertain its character. He
was far above the more vulgar superstitions of his tribe,
and so soon as he recognized the well-known attire of the
conjurer, he prepared to pass it in cool contempt. But a
louder and more threatening growl caused him again to
pause. Then he seemed as if suddenly resolved to trifle
no longer, and moved resolutely forward. The mimic ani-
mal, which had advanced a little, retired slowly in his front,
until it arrived again at the pass, when rearing on its hinder
legs it beat the air with its paws, in the manner practiced
by its brutal prototype.

" Fool ! " exclaimed the chief, in Huron, " go play with
the children and squaws ; leave men to their wisdom."

He once more endeavored to pass the supposed empiric,
scorning even the parade of threatening to use the knife,
or tomahawk, that was pendent from his belt. Suddenly
the beast extended its arms, or rather legs, and inclosed him
in a grasp that might have vied with the far-famed power
of the " bear's hug " itself. Hey ward had watched the
whole procedure, on the part of Hawkeye, with breathless
interest. At first he relinquished his hold of Alice ; then
Ue caught up a thong of buckskin, which had been used
wound some bundle, and when he beheld his enemy with
bis two arms pinned to his side by the iron muscles of the

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 818

Bcout, he rushed upon him, and effectually secured them
there. Arms, legs, and feet were encircled in twenty folds
of the thong, in less time than we have taken to record the
circumstance. When the formidable Huron was completely
pinioned, the scout released his hold, and Duncan laid his
enemy on his back, utterly helpless.

Throughout the whole of this sudden and extraordinary
operation. Magna, though he had struggled violently, until
assured he was in the hands of one whose nerves were far
better strung than his own, had not uttered the slightest
exclamation. But when Hawkey e, by way of making a
summary explanation of his conduct, removed the shaggy
jaws of the beast, and exposed his own rugged and earnest
countenance to the gaze of the Huron, the philosophy of
the latter was so far mastered as to permit him to utter th^
never-failing, —

"Hugh!"

" Aye ! you've found your tongue," said his undisturbed
conqueror ; " now, in order that you shall not use it to our
ruin, I must make free to stop your mouth."

As there was no time to be lost, the scout immediately
set about effecting so necessary a precaution ; and when he
had gagged the Indian, his enemy might safely have been
considered as "hors de combat."

" By what place did the imp enter ? " asked the industn-
ous scon:, when his work was ended. "Not a soul has passed
my wny since you left me."

I>ancan pointed out the door by which MagOa had come,
and which now presented too many obstacles to a quick
retreat.

"Bring on the gentle one then," contmued his friend;
•* we must make a push for the woods by the other outlet.''

" 'Tis impossible ! " said Duncan ; " fear has overcome
her, and she is helpless. Alice ! my sweet, my own Alice,
arouse yourself; now is the moment to fly. 'Tis in vain !
she hears.; but is unable to follow. Go, noble and worthy
friend ; save yourself, and leave me to my fate ! "

" Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its
teSfiOii]" returned the scout. "There, wrap her in thea?

314 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Indian cloths. Conceal all of her little form. Nay, that
foot has no fellow in the wilderness ; it will betray her.
All, every part. Now take her in your arms, and follow
Leave the rest to me."

Duncan, as may be gathered from the words of his com-
panion, was eagerly obeying; and as the other finished
speaking, he took the light person of Alice in his arms, and
followed on the footsteps of the scout. They found the
sick woman as they had left her, still alone, and passed
swiftly on, by the natural gallery, to the place of entrance.
As they approached the httle door of bark, a murmur of
voices without announced that the friends and relatives of
the invalid were gathered about the place, patiently await-
ing a summons to reenter.

" If I open my lips to speak," Hawkeye whispered, " my
English, which is the genuine tongue of a white-skin, will
tell the varlets that an enemy is among them. You must
give 'em your jargon, Major ; and say that we have shut
the evil spirit in the cave, and are taking the woman to the
woods in order to find strengthening roots. Practyse all
your cimning, for it is a lawful undertaking."

The door opened a little, as if one without was listening
to the proceedings within, and compelled the scout to cease
his directions. A fierce growl repelled the eavesdropper,
and then the scout boldly threw open the covering of bark,
and left the place, enacting the character of the bear as he
proceeded. Duncan kept close at his heels, and soon found
himself in the centre of a cluster of twenty anxious rela-
tives and friends.

The crowd fell back a little, and permitted the father,
and one who appeared to be the husband of the woman, to
approach.

"lias ray brother driven away the evil spirit?" de-
manded the former. " What has he in his arms ? "

" Thy child," returned Duncan, gravely ; " the disease has
gone out of her ; it is shut up in the rocks. I take the
woman to a distance, where I will strengthen her again sf
any further attacks. She shall be in the wigwam of the
young man when the sun comes again."

THE LAST OF TfllE MOHICANS. 315

When the tather had translated the meaning of the
stranger's words into the Huron language, a suppressed
murmur announced the satisfaction with which this intelli-
gence was received. The chief himself waved his hand for
Duncan to proceed, saying aloud, in a firm voice, and with
a lofty manner, —

'* Go ; I am a man, and I will enter the rock and fight
the wicked one."

Heyward had gladly obeyed, and was already past the
little group, when these startling words arrested him.

" Is my brother mad ? " he exclaimed ; " is he cruel !
He will meet the disease, and it will enter him ; or he will
drive out the disease, and it will chase his daughter into
the woods. No ; let my children wait without, and if the
spirit appears beat him down with clubs. He is cunning,
and will bury himself in the mountain, when he sees how
many are ready to fight him."

This singular warning had the desired effect. Instead of
entering the cavern, the father and husband drew their tom-
ahawks, and posted themselves in readiness to deal their
vengeance on the imaginary tormentor of their sick relative,
while the women and children broke branches from the
bushes, or seized fragments of the rock, with a similar inten-
tion. At this favorable moment the counterfeit conjurers
disappeared.

Hawkeye, at the same time that he had presumed so far
on the nature of the Indian superstitions, was not ignorant
that they were rather tolerated than relied on*by the wisest
of the chiefs. He well knew the value of time in the
present emergency. Whatever might be the extent of the
self-delusion of his enemies, and however it had tended to
assist his schemes, the slightest cause of suspicion, acting on
the subtle nature of an Indian, would be likely to prove
fatal. Taking the path, therefore, that was most likely to
avoid observation, he rather skirted than entered the village.
The warriors were still to be seen in the distance, by the
fading light of the fires, stalking from lodge to lodge. But
the children had abandoned their sports for their beds of
•kins, and the quiet of night was already beginning to pre

816 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

vail over the turbulence and excitement of so busy and im-
portant an evening.

Alice revived under the renovating influence of the open
air, and as her physical rather than her mental powers had
been the subject of w^eakness, she stood in no need of any
explanation of that which had occurred.

" Now let me make an effort to walk," she said, when
they had entered the forest, blushing, though unseen, that
she had not been sooner able to quit the arms of Duncan ;
•' I am indeed restored."

" Nay, Alice, you are yet too weak."

The maiden struggled gently to release herself, and Hey-
ward was compelled to part with his precious burden. The
representative of the bear had certainly been an entire
Btranger to the delicious emotions of the lover while his arms
encircled liis mistress ; and he was, perhaps, a stranger also
to the nature of that feeling of ingenuous shame that op-
pressed the trembling Alice. But when he found himself
at a suitable distance from the lodges he made a halt, and
spoke on a subject of which he was thoroughly the master.

" This path will lead you to the brook," he said ; " follow
its northern bank until you come to a fall ; mount the hill
on your right, and you will see the fires of the other people.
There you must go and demand protection ; if they are
true Delawares, you will be safe. A distant flight with
that gentle one, just now, is impossible. The Hurons would
follow up our trail, and master our scalps, before we had got
a dozen miles. Go, and Providence be with you."

" And you ! " demanded Heyward, in surprise ; " surely
ire part not here ? "

" The Hurons hold the pride of the Delawares ; the last
of the high blood of the Mohicans is in their power," re-
turned the scout ; " I go to see what can be done in his
favor. Had they mastered your ecalp, Major, a knave
should have fallen for every hair it held, as I promised ; but
if the young Sagamore is to be led to the stake, the Indians
shall see also how a man without a cross can die."

Not in the least offended with the decided preference
Ibat the sturdy woodsman gave to one who might, in sooif

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 317

degree, be called tiie child of his adoption, Duncan still
continued to urge such reasons against so desperate an effort
as presented themselves. He was aided by Alice, who
mingled her entreaties with those of Hey ward that he would
abandon a resolution that promised so much danger, with
so little hope of success. Their eloquence and ingenuity
were expended in vain. The scout heard them attentively,
but impatiently, and finally closed the discussion, by an-
swering, in a tone that instantly silenced Alice, while it
told Heyward how fruitless any further remonstrances
wouh i be, —

" I have heard," he said, " that there is a feeling in youth
which binds man to woman closer than the father is tied to
the son. It may be so. I have seldom been where women
of my color dwell ; but such may be the gifts of nature
in the settlements. You have risked life, and all that is
dear to you, to bring off this gentle one, and I suppose that
some such disposition is at the bottom of it all. As for me,
1 taught the lad the real character of a rifle ; and well has
he paid me for it. I have fou't at his side in many a bloody
ekrimmage; and so long as I could hear the crack of his
piece in one ear, and that of the Sagamore in the other, I
knew no enemy was on my back. Winters and summers,
nights and days, have we roved the wilderness in company,
eating of the same dish, one sleeping while the other
watched ; and afore it shall be said that Uncas was taken
to the torment, and I at hand — There is but a single
ruler of us all, whatever may be the color of the skin ; and
Him I call to witness, that before the Mohican boy shall
perish for the want of a friend, good faith shall depart the
'arth, and ' Killdeer ' become as harmless as the tooting
Kre'pon of the singer ! "

Duncan released his hold on the arm of the scout, who
turned, and steadily retraced his steps towards the lodges.
After pausing a moment to gaze at his retiring form, the
successful and yet sorrowful Heyward, and Alice, took theif
way together towards the distant village of the Delawarea

818 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

CHAPTER XXVL

Bot. — Let me play the lion too.

Midsummer Night's Drit iM.

Notwithstanding the high resolution of Hawkeye, he
folly comprehended all the difficulties and dangers he was
about to incur. In his return to the camp, his acute and
practiced intellects were intently engaged in devising means
to counteract a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of
his enemies, that he knew were, in no degree, inferior to his
own. Nothing but the color of his skin had saved the lives
of Magua and the conjurer, who would have been the first
victims sacrificed to his own security, had not the scout
believed such an act, however congenial it might be to the
nature of an Indian, utterly unworthy of one who boasted a
descent from men that knew no cross of blood. Accord-
ingly, he trusted to the withes and ligaments with which he
had bound his captives, and pursued his way directly
towards the centre of the lodges.

As he approached the buildings, his steps became more
deliberate, and his vigilant eye suiFered no sign, whetlier
friendly or hostile, to escape him. A neglected hut was a
little in advance of the others, and appeared as if it hati
been deserted when half completed — most probably on
account of failing in some of the more important requisites ;
such as wood or water. A faint light glimmered throng)^
its cracks, however, and announced that, notwithstanding it^'
imperfect structure, it was not without a tenant Thithei
then, the scout proceeded, like a prudent general, who wa^
about to feel the advanced positions of his enemy, before he
hazarded the main attack.

Throwing himself into a suitable posture for the beast m
represented, Hawkeye crawled to a little opening, where he

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 819

might command a view of the interior. It proved to be the
abiding-place of David Gamut. Hither the faithful singing-
master had now brought himself, together with all his
sorrows, his apprehensions, and his meek dependence on the
protection of Providence. At the precise moment when
his ungainly person came under the observation of the
scout, in the manner just mentioned, the woodsman himself,
though in his assumed character, was the subject of the
solitary being's profoundest reflections.

However implicit the faith of David was in the perform-
ance of ancient miracles, he eschewed the belief of any di-
rect supernatural agency in the management of modern mo-
rality. In other words, while he had implicit faith in the
ability of Balaam's ass to speak, he was somewhat skeptical
on the sulrject of a bear's singing; and yet he had been
assured of the latter, on the testimony of his own exquisite
orsrans. There was somethinfj in his air and manner that
betrayed to the scout the utter confusion of the state of
his mind. He was seated on a pile of brush, a few twigs
from which occasionally fed his low fire, with his head lean-
ing on liis arm, in a posture of melancholy musing. The
costume of the votary of music had undergone no other
alteration from that so lately described, except that he had
covered his bald head with the triangular beaver, which had
not proved sufficiently alluring to excite the cupidity of any
of his captors.

The ingenious Hawkeye, who recalled the hasty manner
in which the other had abandoned his post at^ the bedside
of the sick woman, was not without his suspicions concern-
ing the subject of so much solemn deliberation. First
making the circuit of the hut, and ascertaining that it stood
quite alone, and that the character of its inmate was likely
to protect it from visitors, he ventured through its low door,
into the very presence of Gamut. The position of the
latter brought the fire between them ; and when Hawkeye
had seated himself on end, near a minute elapsed, during
which the two remained regarding each other without
speaking. The suddenness and the nature of the surprise
had nearly proved too much for — we will not say the phi'

820 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

losophy — but for the faith and resolution of David. H<
fumbled for his pitch-pipe, and arose with a confused inten*
tion of attempting a musical exorcism.

" Dark and mysterious monster ! " he exclaimed, while
with trembling hands he disposed of his auxiliary eyes, and
Bought his never-failing resource in trouble, the gifted ver-
sion of the Psalms ; " I know not your nature nor intents ;
but if aught you meditate against the person and rights of
one of the humblest servants of the temple, listen to the
inspired language of the youth of Israel, and repent."

The bear shook his shaggy sides, and then a well-known
^oice replied, —

" Put up the tooting we'pon, and teach your throat mod-
esty. Five words of plain and comprehendible English
are worth, just now, an hour of squalling."

" What art thou ! " demanded David, utterly disqualified
to pursue his original intention, and nearly gasping for
breath.

" A man like yourself; and one whose blood is as little
tainted by the cross of a bear, or an Indian, as your own.
Have you so soon forgotten from whom you received the
foolish instrument you hold in your hand ? "

" Can these things be ? " returned David, breathing more
freely, as the truth began to dawn upon him. "I have
found many marvels during my sojourn with the heathen,
but surely nothing to excel this ! "

*' Come, come," returned Hawkeye, uncasing his honest
countenance, the better to assure the wavering confidence
of his companion ; " you may see a skin, which, if it be not
as white as one of the gentle ones, has no tinge of rod to it
that the winds of the heaven and the sun have not bestowed.
Now let us to business."

" First tell me of the maiden, and of the youth who so
bravely sought her," interrupted David.

" Aye, they are happily freed from the tomahawks of these
varlets. But can you put me on the scent of Uncas ? "

"The young man is in bondage, and much I fear his
death is decreed. I greatly mourn that one so well dis-
posed should die in his ignorance, and I have sought a
goodly hymn " —

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 821

** Can you lead me to him r "

" The task will not be difficult," returned David, hesitate
Ing; "though I greatly fear your presence would rather
increase than mitigate his unhappy fortunes."

" No more words, but lead on," returned Hawkeye, con-
cealing his face again, and setting the example in his owt^
person, by instantly quitting the lodge.

As they proceeded, the scout ascertained that his com-
panion found access to Uncas, under privilege of his imag-
inary infirmity, aided by the favor he had acquired with one
of the guards, who, in consequence of speaking a little
English, had been selected by David as the subject of a
religious conversion. How far the Huron comprehended
the intentions of his new friend, may well be doubted ; but
as exclusive attention is as flattering to a savage as to a
more civilized individual, it had produced the effect we have
mentioned. It is unnecessary to repeat the shrewd manner
with which the scout extracted these particulars from the
simple David ; neither shall we dwell in this place on the
nature of the instructions he delivered, when completely
master of all the necessary facts; as the whole will be
sufficiently explained to the reader in the course of the
narrative.

The lodge in which Uncas was confined was in the very
centre of the village, and in a situation, perhaps, more diffi-
cult than any other to approach, or leave, without observa-
tion. But it was not the poUcy of Hawkeye to affect the
least concealment. Presuming on his disguise, and his
abiUty to sustain the character he had assumed, he took the
most plain and direct route to the place. The hour, how-
ever, afforded him some little of that protection which he
appeared so much to despise. The boys were already
buried in sleep, and all the women, and most of the war-
riors, had retired to their lodges for the night. Four or
five of the latter only lingered about the door of the prison
of Uncas, wary but close observers of the manner of their
captive.

At the sight of Gamut, accompanied by one in the well-
known masquerade of their most distinguished conjurer
21

822 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

they readily made way for them both. Still they betrayed
no intention to depart. On the other hand, they were evi-
dently disposed to remain bound to the place by an addi-
tional interest in the mysterious mummeries that they of
course expected from such a visit.

From the total inability of the scout to address the
Hurons in their own language, he was compelled to trust
the conversation entirely to David. Notwithstanding the
simplicity of the latter, he did ample justice to the instruc-
tions he had received, more than fulfilling the strongest
hopes of his teacher.

" The Delawares are women ! " he exclaimed, addressing
himself to the savage who had a slight understanding of the
language in which he spoke; "the Yengeese, my foolish
countrymen, have told them to take up the tomahawk, and
strike their fathers in the Canadas, and they have forgotten
their sex. Does my brother wish to hear ^ Le Cerf Agile *
ask for his petticoats, and see him weep before the Hurons,
at the stake ? "

The exclamation " Hugh ! *' delivered in a strong tone of
assent, announced the gratification the savage would receive
in witnessing such an exhibition of weakness in an enemy
BO long hated and so much feared.

" Then let him step aside, and the cunning man will blow
upon the dog ! Tell it to my brothers."

The Huron explained the meaning of David to his fel-
lows, who, in their turn, listened to the project with that
sort of satisfaction that their untamed spirits might be
expected to find in such a refinement in cruelty. They
drew back a little from the entrance, and motioned to the
supposed conjurer to enter. But the bear, instead of obey-
ing, maintained the seat it had taken, and growled.

" The cunning man is afraid that his breath will blow
upon his brothers, and take away their courage too," con-
tinued David, improving the hint he received ; " they must
gtand further off."

The Hurons, who would have deemed such a misfortune
the heaviest calamity that could befall them, fell back in a
body, taking a position where they were out of earshot,

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 823

though at the same time they could command a view of the
entrance to the lodge. Then, as if satisfied of their safety,
the scout left his position, and slowly entered the place. It
was silent and gloomy, being tenanted solely by the captive,
and lighted by the dying embers of a fire, which had been
used for the purposes of cookery.

Uncas occupied a distant corner, in a reclining attitude,
being rigidly bound, both hands and feet, by strong and
painful withes. When the frightful object first presented
itself to the young Mohican, he did not deign to bestow a
single glance on the animal. The scout, who had left
David at the door, to ascertain they were not observed,
thought it prudent to preserve his disguise until assured of
their privacy. Instead of speaking, therefore, he exerted
himself to enact one of the antics of the animal he repre-
sented. The young Mohican, who at first believed his
enemies had sent in a real beast to torment him, and try
his nerves, detected, in those performances that to Heyward
had appeared so accurate, certain blemishes, that at once
betrayed the counterfeit. Had Hawkeye been aware of
the low estimation in which the more skillful Uncas held his
representations, he would probably have prolonged the en-
tertainment a little in pique. But the scornful expression
of the young man's eye admitted of so many constructions,
that the worthy scout was spared the mortification of such
a discovery. As soon, therefore, as David gave the precon-
certed signal, a low hissing sound was heard in the lodge, in
place of the fierce growlings of the bear.

Uncas had cast his body back against the wall of the hut,
and closed his eyes, as if willing to exclude so contemptible
and disagreeable an object from his sight. But the moment
the noise of the serpent was heard, he arose, and cast his
looks on each side of him, bending his head low, and turn-
ing it inquiringly in every dii-ection, until his keen eye rested
on the shaggy monster, where it remained riveted, as though
fixed by the power of a charm. Again the same sounds
were repeated, evidently proceeding from the mouth of the
beast. Once more the eyes of the youth roamed over the
interior of the lodge, and returning to their former resting
place, he uttered, in a deep, suppressed voice, —

824 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

« Hawkeye ! "

" Cut his bands/' said Hawkeye to David, who jmt thefv
Approached them.

The singer did as he was ordered, and Uncas found his
limbs released. At the same moment the dried skin of the
animal rattled, and presently the scout arose to his feet, in
proper person. The Mohican appeared to comprehend the
nature of the attempt his friend had made, intuitively ;
neither tongue nor feature betraying another symptom of
surprise. When Hawkeye had cast his shaggy vestment,
which was done by simply loosing certain thongs of skin, he
drew a long glittering knife, and put it in the hands of
Uncas.

"The red Hurons are without," he said; "let us be
ready."

At the same time he laid his finger significantly on an-
other similar weapon, both being the fruits of his prowess
among their enemies during the evening.

" We will go," said Uncas.

"Whither?"

" To the Tortoises ; they are the children of my grand-
fathers."

" Aye, lad," said the scout in English — a language he
was apt to use when a little abstracted in mind ; " the same
Wood runs in your veins, I believe ; but time and distance
has a little changed its color. What shall we do with the
Mingoes at the door ? They count six, and this singer is
as good as nothing."

" The Hurons are boasters," said Uncas scornfully ;
" their * totem * is a moose, and they run like snails. The
Delawares are children of the tortoise, and they outstrip
the deer."

" Aye, lad, there is truth in what you say ; and I doubt
not, on a rush, you would pass the whole nation ; and, in a
straight race of two miles, would be in, and get your breath
again, afore a knave of them all was within hearing of the
other village. But the gift of a white man lies more in his
arms than in his legs. As for myself, I can brain a Huron
as well as a better man ; but when it comes to a race, the
knav«8 would prove too much for m©.**

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

Uncas, who had already approached the door, in readiness
to lead the way, now recoiled; and placed himself, once
more, in the bottom of the lodge. But Hawkey e, who was
too much occupied with his own thoughts to note the move*
ment, continued speaking more to himself than to his com-
panion.

" After all," he said, " it is unreasonable to keep one man
in bondage to the gifts of another. So, Uncas, you had
better take the leap, while I will put on the skin again, and
trust to cunning for want of speed."

The young Mohican made no reply, but quietly folded
his arms, and leaned his body against one of the upright
posts that supported the wall of the hut.

" Well," said the scout, looking up at him, " why do you
tarry ? There will be time enough for me, as the knave*
will give chase to you at first"

" Uncas will stay," was the calm reply.

"For what?"

" To fight with his father's brother, and die with the
friend of the Delawares."

"Aye, lad," returned Ilawkeye, squeezing the hand of
Uncas between his own iron fingers ; " 'twould have been
more like a Mingo than a Mohican had you left me. But
I thought I would make the offer, seeing that youth com-
monly loves life. Well, what can't be done by main cour-
age, in war, must be done by circumvention. Put on the
skin ; I doubt not you can play the bear nearly as well as
myself."

Whatever might have been the private ©pinion of Uncas
of their respective abilities in this particular, his grave
countenance manifested no opinion of his own superiority.
He silently and expeditiously encased himself in the cover-
ing of the beast, and then awaited such other movements
as his more aged companion saw fit to dictate.

"Now, friend," said Hawkeye, addressing David, "aii
exchange of garments will be a great convenience to yoo,
inasmuch as you are but little accustomed to the make-
shifts of the wilderness. Here, take my hunting shin and
cap, and give me your blanket and hat. You must trust

826 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

me witli the book and spectacles, as well as the tooter, too;
if we ever meet again, in better times, you shall have aK
back again, with many thanks into the bargain."

David parted with the several articles named with a
readiness that would have done great credit to his liberality,
had he not certainly profited, in many particulars, by the
exchange. Hawkeye was not long in assuming his bor-
rowed garments ; and when his restless eyes were hid behind
the glasses, and his head was surmounted by the triangular
beaver, as their statures were not dissimilar, he might
readily have passed for the singer by star-light. As soon
as these dispositions were made, the scout turned to David,
and gave him his parting instructions.

" Are you much given to cowardice ? " he bluntly asked,
by way of obtaining a suitable understanding of the whole
case before he ventured a prescription.

" My pursuits are peaceful, and my temper, I humbly trust,
is greatly given to mercy and love," returned David, a little
nettled at so direct an attack on his manhood ; " but there
are none who can say that I have ever forgotten my faith
in the Lord, even in the greatest straits."

" Your chiefest danger will be at the moment when the
savages find out that they have been deceived. If you are
not then knocked in the head, your being a non-composser
will protect you ; and you'll then have good reason to ex-
pect to die in your bed. If you stay, it must be to sit
down here in the shadow, and take the part of Uncas, until
such times as the cunning of the Indians discover the cheat,
when, as I have already said, your time of trial will come.
So choose for yourself, — to make a rush or tarry here."

" Even so," said David, firmly ; " I will abide in the place
of the Delaware. Bravely and generously has he battled
in my behalf; and this, and more, will I dare in his service."

" You have spoken as a man, and like one who, under
wiser schooling, would have been brought to better things.
Hold your head down, and draw in your legs ; their forma-
tion might tell the truth too early. Keep silent as long aa
may be ; and it would be wise, when you do speak, to break
ou^ suddenly in one of your shoutings, which will serve to

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 8^7

remind the Indians that you are not altogether as respon-
sible as men should be. If, however, they take your scalp,
as I trust and believe they will not, depend on it, Uncas
and I will not forget the deed, but revenge it as becomes
true warriors and trusty friends."

" Hold ! " said David, perceiving that with this assurance
they were about to leave him ; " I am an unworthy and
humble follower of One who taught not the damnable prin-
ciple of revenge. Should I fall, therefore, seek no victims
to my manes, but rather forgive my destroyers ; and if you
remember them at all, let it be in prayers for the enlight-
ening of their minds, and for their eternal welfare."

The scout hesitated, and appeared to muse.

" There is a principle in that," he said, " different from
the law of the woods ; and yet it is fair and noble to reflect
upon." Then, heaving a heavy sigh, probably among the
last he ever drew in pining for a condition he had so long
abandoned, he added, " It is what I would v/ish to practice
myself, as one without a cross of blood, though it is not
always easy to deal with an Indian as you would with a
fellow Christian. God bless you, friend ; I do believe your
scent is not gi-eatly wrong, when the matter is duly consid-
ered, and keeping eternity before the eyes, though much
depends on the natural gifts, and the force of temptation."

So saying, the scout returned and shook David cordially
by the hand ; after which act of friendship he immediately
left the lodge, attended by the new representative of the
beast

The instant Hawkeye found himself under the observa-
ion of the Hurons, he drew up his tall form in the rigid
manner of David, threw out his arm in the act of keeping
time, and commenced what he intended for an imitation of
his psalmody. Happily for the success of this delicate
adventure, he had to deal with ears but little practiced in
the concord of sweet sounds, or the miserable effort would
infallibly have been detected. It was necessary to pass
within a dangerous proximity of the dark group of the
Bavages, and the voice of the scout grew louder as they
firew nigher. When at the nearest point, the Huron who

828 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Bpoko the English thrust out an arm, and stopped the sup*
posed singing-master.

" The Delaware dog ! " he said, leaning forward, and
peering through the dim light to catch the expression of
the other's features ; " is he afraid ? will the Hurons hear
his groans ? "

A growl so exceedingly fierce and natural proceeded from
the beast, that the young Indian released his hold and
started aside, as if to assure himself that it was not a ver-
itable bear, and no counterfeit, that was rolling before him.
Hawkeye, who feared his voice would betray him to his
subtle enemies, gladly profited by the interruption, to break
out anew in such a burst of musical expression as would,
probably, in a more refined state of society have been
termed " a grand crash." Among his actual auditors, how-
ever, it merely gave him an additional claim to that respect
which they never withold from such as are believed to be
the subjects of mental alienation. The little knot of In-
dians drew back in a body, and suffered, as they thought,
the conjurer and his inspired assistant to proceed.

It required no common exercise of fortitude in Uncas
and the scout, to continue the dignified and deliberate pace
they had assumed in passing the lodges ; especially as they
immediately perceived that curiosity had so far mastered
fear, as to induce the watchers to approach the hut, in order
to witness the effect of the incantations. The least injudi-
cious or impatient movement on the part of David might
betray them, and time was absolutely necessary to insure
the safety of the scout. The loud noise the latter con-
ceived it politic to continue, drew many curious gazers to
the doors of the different huts as they passed ; and once or
twice a dark-looking warrior stepped across their path, led
10 the act by superstition or watchfulness. They were not,
however, interrupted; the darkness of the hour, and the
ibolduess of the attempt, proving their principal friends.

The adventurers had got clear of the village, and were
now swiftly approaching the shelter of the woods, when a
loud and long cry arose from the lodge where Uncas had
been confined. The Mohican started on his feet, and shook

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 889

hi9 shaggy covering, as though the animal he counterfeited
was about to make some desperate effort.

" Hold ! " said the scout, grasping his friend by the
shoulder, " let them yell again ! 'Twas nothing but woo-
derment."

He had no occasion to delay, for at the next instant a
burst of cries filled the outer air, and ran along the whole
extent of the village. Uncas cast his skin, and stepped
forth in his own beautiful proportions. Hawkeye tapped
him lightly on the shoulder, and glided ahead.

" Now let the devils strike our scent ! " said the scout,
tearing two rifles, with all their attendant accoutrements,
from beneath a bush, and flourishing " Killdeer " as he
handed Uncas his weapon ; " two, at least, will find it to
their deaths."

Then throwing their pieces to a low trail, like sportsmen
in readinoss for their game, they dashed forward, and wu^
•ooD Hi^iritid in the aombre darkness of the foreai.

i50 TUii; LAST OF TH£ MOHICA£Uk

CHAPTER XXVn.

Ant. I shall remember :

When Caesar says, Do this^ it is performed.

Julius C^bsae.

The impatience of the savages who lingered about the
prison of Uncas, as has been seen, had overcome their dread
of the conjurer's breath. They stole cautiously, and with
beating hearts, to a crevice, through which the faint light
of the fire was glimmering. For several minutes they
mistook the form of David for that of their prisoner ; but
the very accident which Hawkeye had foreseen occurred.
Tired of keeping the extremities of his long person so near
together, the singer gradually suffered the lower limbs to
extend themselves, until one of his misshapen feet actually
came in contact with and shoved aside the embers of the
fire. At first the Hurons believed the Delaware had been
thus deformed by witchcraft. But when David, uncon-
Bcious of being observed, turned his head, and exposed his
simple, mild countenance, in place of the haughty linea-
ments of their prisoner, it would have exceeded the credu-
lity of even a native to have doubted any longer. They
rushed together into the lodge, and laying their hands, with
but little ceremony, on their captive, immediately detected
the imposition. Then arose the cry first heard by the
fugitives. It was succeeded by the most frantic and angry
demonstrations of vengeance. David, however firm in his
determination to cover the retreat of his friends, was com-
pelled to believe that his own final hour had come. De-
prived of his book and his pipe, he was fain to trust to a
memory that rarely failed him on such subjects ; and break-
ing forth in a loud and impassioned strain, he endeavored
to soothe his passage into the other world, by singing the

THE LAST OP THE MOHIUAW*. 331

Opening verse of a funeral anthem. The Indians were sea-
sonably reminded of his infirmity, and rushing into the open
air, they aroused the village in the manner described.

A native warrior fights as he sleeps, without the protec-
tion of anything defensive. The sounds of the alarm were,
therefore, hardly uttered, before two hundred men were
afoot, and ready for the battle or the chase, as either might
be required. The escape was soon known ; and the whole
tribe crowded, in a body, around the council lodge, impa-
tiently awaiting the instruction of their chiefs. In such a
sudden demand on their wisdom, the presence of the cun-
ning Magna could scarcely fail of being needed. His name
was mentioned, and all looked round in wonder that he did
not appear. Messengers were then despatched to his lodge,
requiring his presence.

In the mean time, some of the swiftest and most discreet
of the young men were ordered to make the circuit of the
clearing, under cover of the woods, in order to ascertain
that their suspected neighbors, the Delawares, designed no
mischief. Women and children ran to and fro ; and, in
short, the whole encampment exhibited another scene of
wild and savage confusion. Gradually, however, these
symptoms of disorder diminished ; and in a few minutes
the oldest and most distinguished chie& were assembled in
the lodge, in grave consultation.

The clamor of many voices soon announced that a party
approached, who might be expected to communicate some
intelligence that would explain the mystei^ of the novel
surprise. The crowd without gave way, and several war-
riors entered the place, bringing with them the hapless con-
jurer, who had been left so long by the scout in duresse.

Notwithstanding this man was held in very unequal esti-
mation among the Huron s, some believing implicitly in his
power, and others deeming him an impostor, he was now
listened to by all with the deepest attention. When hia
brief story was ended, the father of the sick woman stepped
forth, and, in a few pithy expressions, related, in his turn,
what he knew. These two narratives gave a proper direc-
tion to the subsequent inquiries, which were now made with
the characteristic cunning of fiaY4«^«%___

882 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

Instead of rushing in a confused and disordeiiy throng
to the cavern, ten of the wisest and firmest among the chiefs
were selected to prosecute the investigation. As no time
was to be lost, the instant the choice was made the individ-
uals appointed rose in a body, and left the place without
speaking. On reaching the entrance, the younger men in
advance made way for their seniors; and the whole pro-
ceeded along the low, dark gallery, with the firmness of
warriors ready to devote themselves to the public good,
though, at the same time, secretly doubting the nature of
the power with which they were about to contend.

The outer apartment of the cavern was silent and gloomy.
The woman lay in her usual place and posture, though
there were those present who affirmed they had seen her
borne to the woods, by the supposed " medicine of the white
men." Such a direct and palpable contradiction of the
tale related by the father, caused all eyes to be turned
on him. Chafed by the silent imputation, and inwardly
troubled by so unaccountable a circumstance, the chief
advanced to the side of the bed, and stooping, cast an
incredulous look at the features, as if distrusting their re-
ality. His daughter was dead.

The unerring feeling of nature for a moment prevailed,
and the old warrior hid his eyes in sorrow. Then recover-
ing his self-possession, he fiiced his companions, and point-
ing towards the corpse, he said, in the language of his peo-
ple,--

"The wife of my young man has left us! the Great
Spirit is angry with his children."

The mournful intelligence was received in solemn silence.
After a short pause, one of the elder Indians was about to
speak, when a dark-looking object was seen rolling out of
an adjoining apartment, into the very centre of the room
where they stood. Ignorant of the nature of the beings
they had to deal with, the whole party drew back a little,
and gazed in admiration, until the object fronted the liHit,
and rising on end, exhibited the distorted, but still fierce
and sullen features of Magna. The discovery was suo>
oaeded by a general exclamation of amazement.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICAi^S. J88

As soon, however, as the true situation of the chief was
understood, several ready knives appeared, and his limbs
and tongue were quickly released. The Huron arose, and
shook himself like a lion quitting his lair. Not a word
escaped him, though his hand played convulsively with the
handle of his knife, while his lowering eyes scanned the
whole party, as if they sought an object suited to the first
burst of his vengeance.

It was happy for Uncas and the scout, and even David,
that they were all beyond the reach of his arm at such a
moment ; for, assuredly, no refinement in cruelty would
then have deferred their deaths, in opposition to the prompt-
ings of the fierce temper that nearly choked him. Meet-
ing everywhere faces that he knew as friends, the savage
grated his teeth together like rasps of iron, and swallowed
his passion for want of a victim on whom to vent it. This
exhibition of anger was noted by all present; and, from
an apprehension of exasperating a temper that was al-
ready chafed nearly to madness, several minutes were
suffered to pass before another word was uttered. When,
however, suitable time had elapsed, the oldest of the party
spoke.

" My friend has found an enemy," he said. ^ Is he
nigh, that the Hurons may take revenge ? "

" Let the Delaware die ! '* exclaimed Magna, in a voioe
of thunder.

Another long and expressive silence was observed, and
was broken, as before, with due precaution^ by the same
mdividual.

" The Mohican is swift of foot, and leaps far," he said ;
** but my young men are on his trail."

" Is he gone ? " demanded Magua, in tones so deep and
guttural, that they seemed to proceed from his inmost
chest.

"An evil spirit has been among us, and the Delaware
has blinded our eyes."

" An evil spirit ! " repeated the other, mockingly ; " 'tis
the spirit that has taken the lives of so many Hurons : the
spirit that slew my young men at 'the tumbling river;

834 THE LAST OF THE MQHICANS.

that took their scalps at the ^ healing spring ; ' and who hga^
now, bound the arms of Le Renard Subtil ! "

" Of whom does my friend speak ? "

" Of the dog who carries the heart and cuiming of a
Huron under a pale skin — La Longue Carabine."

The pronunciation of so terrible a name produced the
usual effect among his auditors. But when time was given
for reflection, and the warriors remembered that their for-
midable and daring enemy had even been in the bosom of
their encampment, working injury, fearful rage took the
place of wonder, and all those fierce passions with which
the bosom of Magna had just been struggling were suddenly
transferred to his companions. Some among them gnashed
their teeth in anger, others vented their feelings in yells,
and some, again, beat the air as frantically as if the object
of their resentment were suffering under their blows. But
this sudden outbreaking of temper as quickly subsided in
the still and sullen restraint they most affected, in their
moments of inaction.

Magna who had in his turn found leisure for reflection,
now changed his manner, and assumed the air of one who
knew how to think and act with a dignity worthy of so
grave a subject.

" Let us go to my people," he said ; " they wait for us."

His companions consented in silence, and the whole of
the savage party left the cavern and returned to the coun-
cil lodge. When they were seated, all eyes turned on
Magna, who understood, from such an indication, that, by
common consent, they had devolved the duty of relating
what had passed on him. He arose, and told his tale
without duplicity or reservation. The whole deception
practiced by both Duncan and Hawkeye was, of course,
laid naked ; and no room was found, even for the most
superstitious of the tribe, any longer to affix a doubt on the
character of the occurrences. It was but too apparent that
they had been insultingly, shamefully, disgracefully de-
ceived. When he had ended, and resumed his seat, the
collected tribe — for his auditors, in substance, included all
^Jie jQghting men of the party — pat regarding each othet

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 885

like men astonished equally at the audacity and the succeu
of their enemies. The next consideration, however, was
the means and opportunities for revenge.

Additional pursuers were sent on the trail of the fugi-
tives ; and then the chiefs applied themselves, in earnest,
to the business of consultation. Many different expedients
were proposed by the elder warriors, in succession, to all
of which Magna was a silent and respectful listener. That
subtle savage had recovered his artifice and self-command,
and now proceeded towards his object with his customary
caution and skill. It was only when each one disposed
to speak had uttered his sentiments, that he prepared to
advance his own opinions. They were given with addi
tional weight from the circumstance that some of the run
ners had already returned, and reported that their enemies
had been traced so far as to leave no doubt of their having
sought safety in the neighboring camp of their suspected
allies, the Delawares. With the advantage of possessing
this important intelligence, the chief wai'ily laid his plans
before his fellows, and, as might have been anticipated from
his eloquence and cunning, they were adopted without a
dissenting voice. They were, briefly, as follows, both in
opinions and in motives.

It has been already stated that, in obedience to a policy
rarely departed from, the sisters were separated so soon as
they reached the Huron village. Magna had early discov-
ered that in retaining the person of Alice, he possessed the
most effectual check on Cora. When they parted, there-
fore, he kept the former within reach of his liand, consign-
ing the one he most valued to the keeping of their allies.
The arrangement was imderstood to be merely temporary,
and was made as much with a view to flatter his neighbors
as in obedience to the invariable rule of Indian policy.

While goaded incessantly by those revengeful impulses
that in a savage seldom slumber, the chief was still atten-
tive to his more permanent personal interests. The follies
and disloyalty committed in his youth were to be expiated
by a long and painful penance, ere he could be restored to
the full enjoyment of the confidence of his ancient people;

336 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

and Tvithout confidence there could be no authority in an
Indian tribe. In this delicate and arduous situation, th«
crafty native had neglected no means of increasing his in-
fluence ; and one of the happiest of his expedients had
been the success with which he had cultivated the favor of
their powerful and dangerous neighbors. The result of his
experiment had answered all the expectations of his pol-
icy ; for the Hurons were in no degree exempt from that
governing principle of nature, which induces man to value
his gifts precisely in the degree that they are appreciated
by others.

But, while he was making this ostensible sacrifice to gen-
eral considerations, Magna never lost sight of his individual
motives. The latter had been frustrated by the unlooked-
for events which had placed all his prisoners beyond his
control ; and he now found himself reduced to the neces-
sity of suing for favors to those whom it had so lately been
his policy to oblige.

Several of the chiefs had proposed deep and treacherous
schemes to surprise the Delawares, and, by gaining posses*
sion of their camp, to recover their prisoners by the same
blow ; for all agreed that their honor, their interests, and
I iie peace and happiness of their dead countrymen, imperi-
ously required them speedily to immolate some victims to
their revenge. But plans so dangerous to attempt, and
of such doubtful issue, Magna found little difl&culty in de-
feating. He exposed their risk and fallacy with his usual
skill ; and it was only after he had removed every impedi-
ment, in the shape of opposing advice, that he ventured to
propose his own projects.

He commenced by flattering the self-love of his auditors ;
a never-failing method of commanding attention. When
he had enumerated the many different occasions on which
the Hurons had exhibited their courage and prowess, in
the punishment of insults, he digressed in a high encomiums
on the virtue of wisdom. He painted the quality, as form-
jig the great point of difference between the beaver and
other brutes ; between brutes and men ; and, finally, be-
tween the Hurons, in particular, and the rest of the human

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. di^l

race. After he had sufficiently extolled the property of
discretion, he undertook to exhibit in what manner its use
was applicable to the present situation of their tribe. On
the one hand, he said, was their great pale father, the gov-
ernor of the Canadas, who had looked upon his children
with a hard eye since their tomahawks had been so red ;
on the other, a people as numerous as themselves, who
spoke a different language, possessed different interests
and loved them not, and who would be glad of any pre-
tense to bring them in disgrace with the great white chief.
Then he spoke of their necessities ; of the gifts they had a
fight to expect for their past services ; of their distance
from their proper hunting-grounds and native villages ; and
of the necessity of consulting prudence more, and inclina-
tion less, in so critical circumstances. When he perceived
that, while the old men applauded his moderation, many
of the fiercest and most distinguished of the warriors lis-
tened to these politic plans with lowering looks, he cun-
ningly led them back to the subject which they most loved.
He spoke openly of the ft-uits of their wisdom, which he
boldly pronounced would be a complete and final triumph
over their enemies. He even darkly hinted that their suc-
cess might be extended, with proper caution, in such a man-
ner as to include the destruction of all whom they had
reason to hate. In short, he so blended the warlike with
the artftil, the obvious with the obscure, as to flatter the
propensities of both parties, and to leave to each subject
of hope, while neither could say it clearly comprehended
his intentions.

The orator, or the politician, who can produce such a
state of things, is commonly popular with his contempora-
ries, however he may be treated by posterity. All per-
ceived that more was meant than was uttered, and each
one believed that the hidden meanmg was precisely such
as his own faculties enabled him to understand, or hJ5 own
wishes led him to anticipate.

In this happy state of things, it is not surprising that the
Sianagement of Magna prevailed. The tribe consented to
iiqt with deliberation, and with one voice they conunitted tht

888 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

direction of the whole affair to the government of the chief
who had suggested such wise and intelligible expedients.

Magua had now attained one great object of all his cun-
ning and enterprise. The ground he had lost in the favor
of his people was completely regained, and he found himself
even placed at the head of affairs. He was, in truth, their
ruler ; and, so long as he could maintain his popularity, no
monarch could be more despotic, especially while the tribe
continued in a hostile country. Throwing off, therefore, the
appearance of consultation, he assumed the grave air of au-
thority necessary to support the dignity of his office.

Runners were despatched for intelligence in different
directions ; spies were ordered to approach and feel the
encampment of the Delawares ; the warriors were dismissed
to their lodges, with an intimation that their services would
soon be needed ; and the women and children were ordered
to retire, with a warning that it was their province to be
silent. When these several arrangements were made, Magua
passed through the village, stopping here and there to pay
a visit where he thought his presence might be flattering to
the individual. He confirmed his friends in their confi-
dence, fixed the wavering, and gratified all. Then he sought
his own lodge. The wife the Huron chief had abandoned,
when he was chased from among his people, was dead.
Children he had none ; and he now occupied a hut, without
companion of any sort. It was, in fact, the dilapidated and
solitary structure in which David had been discovered, and
whom he had tolerated in his presence, on those few occa-
sions when they met, with the contemptuous indifference of
a haughty superiority.

Hither, then, Magua retired, when his labors of policy
were ended. While others slept, however, he neither knew
nor sought repose. Had there been one sufficiently curious
to have watched the movements of the newly elected chief,
he would have seen him seated in a corner of his lodge,
musing on the subject of his future plans, from the hour of
his retirement to the time he had appointed for the warriors
to assemble again. Occasionally the air breathed through
*k© crevices of the hut, and the low flame that fluttered

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 889

ibont the embers of the fire threw their wavering light on
the person of the sullen recluse. At such moments it would
not have been difficult to have fancied the dusky savage the
Prince of Darkness, brooding on his own fancied wrongs,
and plotting evil.

Long before the day dawned, however, warrior after war-
rior entered the solitary hut of Magna, until they had col-
lected to the number of twenty. Each bore his rifle, and
all the other accoutrements of war, though the paint was
uniformly peaceful. The entrance of these fierce-looking
beings was unnoticed ; some seating themselves in the shad-
ows of the place, and others standing like motionless statues,
until the whole of the designated band was collected.

Then Magna arose and gave the signal to proceed, march-
ing himself in advance. They followed their leader singly,
and in that well-known order which has obtained the dis-
tinguishing appellation of " Indian file.'* Unlike other meu
engaged in the spirit-stirring business of war, they stole from
their camp unostentatiously and unobserved, resembling a
band of gliding spectres, more than warriors seeking the
bubble reputation by deeds of desperate daring.

Instead of taking the path which led directly towards the
camp of the Delavvares, Magna led his party for some dis-
tance down the windings of the stream, and along the little
artificial lake of the beavers. The day began to dawn as
they entered the clearmg which had been formed by those
sagacious and industrious animals. Though Magna, who
had resumed his ancient garb, bore the outline of a fox on
the dressed skin which formed his robe, there was one chief
of his party who carried the beaver as his peculiar symbol,
or " totem." There would have been a species of profanity
in the omission, had this man passed so powerful a commu-
nity of his fancied kindred, without bestowing some evidence
of his regard. Accordingly, he paused, and spoke in words
as kind and friendly as if he were addressing more intelli-
gent beings. He called the animals his cousins, and reminded
them that his protecting influence was the reason they re-
mained unharmed, while so many avaricious traders were
prompting the Indi^»s to tuktJ tUeir lives. He promised a

840 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

eontmuiince of his favors, and admonished them to be grato*
ful. After which, he spoke of the expedition in which he was
himself engaged, and intimated, though with sufficient deli-
cacy and circumlocution, the expediency of bestowing on
their relative a portion of that wisdom for which they were
80 renowned.^

During the utterance of this extraordinary address, the
companions of the speaker were as grave and as attentive
to his language as though they were all equally impressed
with its propriety. Once or twice black objects were seen
rising to the surface of the water, and the Huron expressed
pleasure, conceiving that his words were not bestowed in
vain. Just as he had ended his address, the head of a large
beaver was thrust from the door of a lodge, whose earthen
walls had been much injured, and which the party had be-
lieved, from its situation, to be uninhabited. Such an ex-
traordinary sign of confidence was received by the orator as
a highly favorable omen ; and though the animal retreated a
little precipitately, he was lavish of his thanks and com-
mendations.

When Magna thought sufficient time had been lost in
gratifying the family affection of the warrior, he again made
the signal to proceed. As the Indians moved away in a
body, and with a step that would have been inaudible to the
ears of any common man, the same venerable-looking beaver
once more ventured his head from its cover. Had any of
the Hurons turned to look behind them, they would have
seen the animal watching their movements with an interest
and sagacity that might easily have been mistaken for reason.
Indeed, so very distinct and intelligible were the devices of
the quadruped, that even the most experienced observer
would have been at a loss to account for its actions, until the
moment when the party entered the forest, when the whole
would have been explained, by seeing the entire animal issue
from the lodge, uncasing, by the act, the grave features of
Chingachgook from his mask of fur.

1 These harangues of the beasts are frequent among the Indians. They often
address their victims in this way, reproaching them for cowardice, or commeHd-
ing their ressilutioD, sA they may hajtpen to exhib;.t fortitude, or the reverse Jui
waSefiug.

TH£ LAST OF TH£ MOIUCAKS. S41

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Brief, I pray jou ; for tou lee, 'tii a buaj time with me.

Much Ado about Noihiho.

The tribe, or rather half tribe, of Delawares, which haa
been so often mentioned, and whose present place of en-
campment was so nigh the temporary village of the Hurons,
could assemble about an equal number of warriors with the
latter people. Like their neighbors, thef had followed
Montcalm into the territories of the English crown, and
were making heavy and serious inroads on the hunting
grounds of the Mohawks ; though they had seen fit, with
the mysterious reserve so common among the natives, to
withhold their assistance at the moment when it was most
required. The French had accounted for this unexpected
defection on the part of their ally m various ways. It was
the prevalent opinion, however, that they had been influ-
enced by veneration for the ancient treaty, that had once
made them dependent on the Six Nations for military pro-
tection, and now rendered them reluctant to encounter their
former masters. As for the tribe itself, it had been content
to announce to Montcalm, through his^ emissaries, with
Indian brevity, that their hatchets were dull, and time was
necessary to sharpen them. The politic captain of the
Canadas had deemed it wiser to submit to entertain a pas-
sive friend, than by any acts of ill-judged severity to convert
him into an open enemy.

On that morning when Magua led his silent party from
the settlement of the beavers into the forest, in the manner
described, the sun rose upon the Delaware encampment as
if it had suddenly burst upon a busy people, actively em-
ployed in all the customary avocations of high noon. The
women ran from lodge to lodge, some engaged in preparing

342 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

their morning's meal, a few earnestly bent on seeking tlie
comforts necessary to their habits, but more pausing to
exchange hasty and whispered sentences with their friends,
The warri<>rs were lounging in groups, musing more than
they conversed ; and when a few words were uttered, speak-
ing like men who deeply weighed their opinions. The
instruments of the chase were to be seen in abundance
among the lodges ; but none departed. Here and there a
warrior was examining his arms, with an attention that is
rarely bestowed on the implements, when no other enemy
than the beasts of the forest is expected to be encountered.
A-nd, occasionally, the eyes of a whole group were turned
simultaneously towards a large and silent lodge in the centre
of the village, as if it contained the subject of their com-
mon thoughts.

During the existence of this scene, a man suddenly ap-
peared at the furthest extremity of a platform of rock which
formed the level of the village. He was without arms, and
his paint tended rather to soften than increase the natural
sternness of his austere countenance. When in full view
of the Delawares he stopped, and made a gesture of amity,
by throwing his arm upward towards heaven, and then
letting it fall impressively on his breast. The inhabitants
of the village answered his salute by a low murmur of wel-
come, and encouraged him to advance by similar indications
of friendship. Fortified by these assurances, the dark figure
left the brow of the natural rocky terrace, where it had
stood a moment, drawn in a strong outline against the
blushing morning sky, and moved with dignity into the
very centre of the huts. As he approached, nothing waa
audible but the rattling of the light silver ornaments that
loaded his arms and neck, and the tinkling of the little bells
that fringed his deer-skin moccasins. He made, as he ad-
vanced, many courteous signs of greeting to the men he
passed, neglecting to notice the women, however, like one
who deemed their favor, in the present enterprise, of no
Importance. When he had reached the group in which it
was evident, by the haughtiness of their common mien, that
the principal chiefs were collected, the stranger paused, and

. THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 848

then the Delawares saw that the active and erect form that
stood before them was that of the well-known Huron chief,
Le Renard Subtil.

His reception was grave, silent, and wary. The warriore
m front stepped aside, opening the way to their most ap-
proved orator by the action ; one who spoke all those lan-
guages that were cultivated among the northern aborigines.

" The wise Huron is welcome," said the Delaware, in the
language of the Maquas; "he is come to eat his 'succo-
tash,' ^ with his brothers of the lakes."

" He is come," repeated Magna, bending his head with
the dignity of an Eastern prince.

The chief extended his arm, and taking the other by the
wrist, they once more exchanged friendly salutations. Then
the Delaware invited his guest to enter his own lodge, and
share his morning meal. The invitation was accepted ; and
the two warriors, attended by three or four of the old men,
walked calmly away, leaving the rest of the tribe devoured
by a desire to understand the reasons of so unusual a visit,
and yet not betraying the least impatience by sign or word.

During the short and frugal repast that followed, the
conversation was extremely circumspect, and related en-
tirely to the events of the hunt, in which Magua had so
lately been engaged. It would have been impossible for
the most finished breeding to wear more of the appeai-ance
of considering the visit as a thing of course, than did his
hosts, notwithstanding every individual present was perfectly
aware that it must be connected with some secret object,
and that probably of importance to themselves. When the
appetites of the whole were appeased, the squaws removed
the trenchers and gourds, and the two parties began to pre-
pare themselves for a subtle trial of their wits.

"Is the face of my great Canada father turned again
towards his Huron children ? ' demanded the orator of the
Delawares.

" When was it ever otherwise ? " returned Magua. " He
calls my people ' most beloved.' "

1 A dish composed of cracked corn and beans. It is much used alao bf
4be vhites. By corn is meaut uiaize.

844 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

The Delaware gravely bowed his acquiescence to what
he knew to be false, and continued, —

"The tomahawks of your young men have been very
red."

"It is so; but they are now bright and dull; for the
Yengeese are dead, and the Delawares are our neighbors."

The other acknowledged the pacific compliment by a
gesture of the hand, and remained silent. Then Magna, as
if recalled to such a recollection, by the allusion to the
massacre, demanded, —

" Does my prisoner give trouble to my brothers ? **

" She is welcome."

" The path between the Hurons and the Delawares is
short, and it is open ; let her be sent to my squaws, if she
gives trouble to my brother."

" She is welcome," returned the chief of the latter nation,
still more emphatically.

The baffled Magna continued silent several minutes, ap-
parently indifferent, however, to the repulse he had received
in this his opening effort to regain possession of Cora.

" Do my young men leave the Delawares room on the
mountains for their hunts ? " he at length continued.

"The Lenape are rulers of their own hills," returned the
other, a little haughtily.

" It is well. Justice is the master of a red-skin ! Why
should they brighten their tomahawks, and sharpen their
knives against each other ? Are not the pale-faces thicker
than the swallows in the season of flowers ? "

" Good ! " exclaimed two or three of his auditors at the
same time.

Magna waited a little, to permit his words to soften the
feelings of the Delawares, before he added, —

" Have there not been strange moccasins in the woods r
Have not my brothers scented the feet of white men ? "

** Let my Canada father come," returned the other eva-
iively ; " his children are ready to see him."

" When the great chief comes, it is to smoke with the
Indians in their wigwams. The Hurons say, too, he is wel-
OOme. But the Yengeese have long arms, and legs tliat

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 345

never tire ! My young men dreamed they had seen tho
trail of the Yengeese nigh the village of the Delawarea I **

** They will not find the Lenape asleep."

" It is well. The warrior whose eye is open can see his
enemy," said Magna, once more shifting his ground, when he
found himself unable to penetrate the caution of his com-
panion. " I have brought gifts to my brother. Ilis nation
would not go on the war-path, because they did not think it
well ; but their friends have remembered where they lived."

When he had thus announced his liberal intention, the
crafty chief arose, and gravely spread his presents before
the dazzled eyes of his hosts. They consisted principally
of trinkets of little value, plundered from the slaughtered
females of William Henry. In the division of the baubles
the cunning Huron discovered no less art than in their se-
lection. While he bestowed those of greater value on the
two most distinguished warriors, one of whom was his host,
he seasoned his offerings to their inferiors with such well-
timed and apposite compliments, as left them no grounds of
complaint. In short, the whole ceremony contained such a
happy blending of the profitable with the flattering, that it
was not difficult for the donor immediately to read the effect
of a generosity so aptly mingled with praise, in the eyes of
those he addressed.

This well-judged and politic stroke on the part of Magua
was not without instantaneous results. The Delawares lost
their gravity in a much more cordial expression ; and the
host, in particular, after contemplating his own liberal share
of the spoil for some moments with peculiar gratification,
repeated with strong emphasis, the words, —

" My brother is a wise chief. He is welcome."

" The Hurons love their friends the Delawares," returned
Magua. " Why should they not ? they are colored by the
same sun, and their just men will hunt in the same grounds
after death. The red-skins should be friends, and look with
open eyes on the white men. Has not my brother scented
ipies in the woods ? "

The Delaware whose name in English signified " Hard
Heart," an appellation that, ^hf^ French had translated into

846 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Le Coeur-dur," forgot that obduracy of purpose, which had
probably obtained him so significant a title. His counte*
nance grew very sensibly less stern, and he now deigned to
answer more directly.

"There have been strange moccasins about my camp.
They have been tracked into my lodges."

" Did my brother beat out the dogs ? " asked Magna,
without adverting in any manner to the former equivocation
of the chief.

" It would not do. The stranger is always welcome to
the children of the Lenape."

" The stranger, but not the spy."

" Would the Yengeese send their women as spies ? Did
not the Huron chief say he took women in the battle ? "

" He told no lie. The Yengeese have sent out their
scouts. They have been in my wigwams, but they found
there no one to say welcome. Then they fled to the Dela-
wares — for, say they, the Delawares are our friends ; their
minds are turned from their Canada father ! "

This insinuation was a home thrust, and one that in a
more advanced state of society, would have entitled Magua
to the reputation of a skillftil diplomatist. The recent de-
fection of the tribe had, as they well knew themselves, sub-
jected the Delawares to much reproach among their French
allies ; and they were now made to feel that their future
actions were to be regarded with jealousy and distrust. There
was no deep insight into causes and effects necessary to fore-
see that such a situation of things was likely to prove highly
prejudicial to their future movements. Their distant vil-
lages, their hunting-grounds, and hundreds of their women
and children, together with a material part of their physical
force, were actually within the limits of the French territory.
Accordingly, this alarming annunciation was received, as
Magua intended, with manifest disapprobation, if not with
alarm.

" Let my father look in my face," said Le Coeur-dur ; " he
(rill see no change. It is true, my young men did not go
out on the war-path; they had dreams for not doing so.
But they love and venerate the great white chief."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 847

^ Will he think so when he hears that his greatest enemy
is fed in the camp of his children? When he is told a
bloody Yengee smokes at your fire? That the pale-face
who has slain so many of his friends goes in and out among
the Delawares? Go! my great Canada father is not a
fool ! "

" Where is the Yengee that the Delawares fear ? " returned
the other; " who has. slain my young men? who is the mor-
tal enemy of my Great Father ! "

" La Longue Carabine."

The Delaware warriors started at the well known name,
betraying, by their amazement, that they now learnt, for the
first time, one so famous among the Indian allies of France
was within their power.

" What does my brother mean ? " demanded Le Coeur-
dur, in a tone that, by its wonder, far exceeded the usual
apathy of his race.

" A Huron never lies ! " returned Magna coldly, leaning
his head against the side of the lodge, and drawing his slight
robe across his tawny breast. " Let the Delawares count
their prisoners ; they will find one whose skin is neither red
nor pale."

A long and musing pause succeeded. The chief consulted
apart with his companions, and messengers were despatched
to collect certain others of the most distinguished men of
the tribe.

As warrior after warrior dropped in, they were each made
acquainted, in turn, with the important intelligence that
Magua had just communicated. The air of surprise, and the
usual low, deep, guttural exclamation, were common to then
all. The news spread from mouth to mouth, until the whole
encampment became powerfully agitated. The women sus-
pended their labors, to catch such syllables as unguardedly
fell from the lips of the consulting warriors. The boys de-
serted their sports, and walking fearlessly among their fathers,
looked up in curious admiration, as they heard the brief ex-
clamations of wonder they so freely expressed at the temerity
of their hated foe. In short, every occupation was aban-
doned for the time, and all other ]}Tirsnita seemed discaided,

848 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

in order that the tribe might freely indulge, after their oVfQ
peculiar manner, in an open expression of feeling.

When the excitement had a little abated, the old men
disposed themselves seriously to consider that which it be*
came the honor and safety of their tribe to perform, under
circumstances of so much delicacy and embarrassment
During all these movements, and in the midst of the general
commotion, Magna had not only maintained his seat, but
the very attitude he had originally taken, against the side
of the lodge, where he continued as immovable, and, ap-
parently, as unconcerned, as if he had no interest in the re-
sult Not a single indication of the future intentions of his
hosts, however, escaped his vigilant eyes. With his consum-
mate knowledge of the nature of the people with whom he
had to deal, he anticipated every measure on which they
decided ; and it might almost be said, that, in many in-
stances, he knew their intentions, even before they became
known to themselves.

The council of the Delawares was short. When it was
ended, a general bustle announced that it was to be imme-
diately succeeded by a solemn and formal assemblage of the
nation. As such meetings were rare, and only called on
occasions of the last importance, the subtle Huron, who tAill
3at apart, a wily and dark observer of the proceedings, now
knew that all his projects must be brought to their final
issue. He, therefore, left the lodge, and walked silently
forth to the place, in front of the encampment, whither the
warriors were already beginning to collect.

It might have been half an hour before each individual,
including even the women and children, was in his place.
The delay had been created by the grave preparations that
were deemed necessary to so solemn and unusual a confer,
ence. But when the sun was seen climbing above the tops
of that mountain, against whose bosom the Delawares had
constructed their encampment, most were seated ; and as
his bright rays darted from behind the outline of trees that
fringed the eminence, they fell upon as grave, as attentive,
and as deeply interested a multitude, as was probably ever
before lighted by his morning beams. Its number somi>
wnsLt exceeded a thousand souls.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 849

In a collection of so serious savages, there is never to b^
found any impatient aspirant after premature distinction,
standing ready to move his auditors to some hasty, and,
perhaps, injudicious discussion, in order that his own repu-
tation may be the gainer. An act of so much precipitancy
and presumption would seal the downfall of precocious
intellect forever. It rested solely with the oldest and most
experienced of the men to lay the subject of the conference
before the people. Until such a one chose to make some
movement, no deeds in arras, no natural gifts, nor any re-
nown as an orator, would have justified the slightest inter-
ruption. On the present occasion, the aged warrior whose
privilege it was to speak, was silent, seemingly oppressed
with the magnitude of his subject. The delay had already
continued long beyond the usual deliberative pause that
always precedes a conference ; but no sign of impatience or
surprise escaped even the youngest boy. Occasionally, an
eye was raised from the eai-th, where the looks of most were
riveted, and strayed towards a particular lodge, that was,
however, in no manner distinguished from those around it,
v^xcept in the peculiar care that had been taken to protect
it against the assaults of the weather.

At length, one of those low murmurs that are so apt to
disturb a multitude, was heard, and the whole nation arose
to their feet by a common impulse. At that instant the
door of the lodge in question opened, and three men, issuing
from it, slowly approached the place of consultation. They
were all aged, even beyond that period to wjuch the oldest
present had reached ; but one in the centre, who leaned on
his companions for support, had numbered an amount of
years to which the human race is seldom permitted to attain.
His frame, which had once been tall and erect, like the
cedar, was now bending under the pressure of more than a
rentury. The elastic, light step of an Indian was gone, and
in its place he was compelled to toil his tardy way over the
ground, inch by inch. His dark, wrinkled countenance wan
in singular and wild contrast with the long white locks
which floated on his shoulders, in such thicknesa, as to
announce that generations had probably passed away bIdo^
ih^j had last been shorn*

850 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

The dress of this patriarch — for such, considering hb
vast age, in conjunction with his affinity and infkience with
his people, he might very properly be termed — was rich
and imposing, though strictly after the simple fashions of
the tribe. His robe was of the finest skins, which had been
deprived of their fur, in order to admit of a hieroglyphical
representation of various deeds in arms, done in former
ages. His bosom was loaded with medals, some in massive
silver, and one or two even in gold, the gifts of various
Christian potentates during the long period of his life. He
llso wore armlets, and cinctures above the ankles, of the
latter precious metal. His head, on the whole of which the
flair had been permitted to grow, the pursuits of war having
so long been abandoned, was encircled by a sort of plated
diadem, which, in its turn, bore lesser and more glittering
oi'naments, that sparkled amid the glossy hues of three
drooping ostrich feathers, dyed a deep black, in touching
contrast to the color of his snow-white locks. His toma-
hawk was nearly hid in silver, and the handle of his knife
ehone like a horn of solid gold.

So soon as the first hum of emotion and pleasure, which
the sudden appearance of this venerated individual created,
had a little subsided, the name of " Tamenund " was whis-
pered from mouth to mouth. Magna had often heard the
fame of this wise and just Delaware ; a reputation that even
proceeded so far as to bestow on him the rare gift of hold-
ing secret communion with the Great Spirit, and which has
since transmitted his name, with some slight alteration, to
the white usurpers of his ancient territory, as the imaginary
tutelar saint ^ of a vast empire. The Huron chief, there-
fore, stepped eagerly out a little from the throng, to a spot
whence he might catch a nearer glimpse of the features of
the man, whose decision was likely to produce so deep an
iflfluence on his own fortunes.

The eyes of the old man were closed, as though the
organs were wearied with having so long witnessed the self-

1 The Americans sometimes call their tutelar saint Tamenay, a corruption ol
the name of the renowned chief here introduced. There are many tradition!
Vbich sjjteak of the character and power of Tameuund. See Appendix, Note U

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 351

ith workings of the human passions. The color of his skin
differed from that of most around him, being richer and
darker, the latter hue having been produced by certain deli-
cate and mazy lines of complicated and yet beautiful figures,
which had been traced over most of his person by the
operation of tattooing. Notwithstanding the position of the
Huron, he passed the observant and silent Magna without
notice, and leaning on his two venerable supporters pro-
ceeded to the high place of the multitude, where he seated
himself in the centre of his nation, with the dignity of a
monarch and the air of a father.

Nothing could surpass the reverence and affection with
which this unexpected visit from one who belonged rather
to another world than to this, was received by his people.
After a suitable and decent pause, the principal chiefs arose ;
and approaching the patriarch, they placed his hands rev-
erently on their heads, seeming to entreat a blessing. The
younger men were content with touching his robe, or even
drawing nigh his person, in order to breathe in the atmos-
phere of one so aged, so just, and so valiant. None but
the most distinguished among the youthftd warriors even
presumed so far as to perform the latter ceremony ; the
great mass of the multitude deeming it a sufficient happi-
ness to look upon a form so deeply venerated, and so well
beloved. When these acts of affection and respect were
performed, the chiefs drew back again to their several
places, and silence reigned in the whole encampment.

After a short delay, a few of the young nien, to whom
instructions had been whispered by one of the aged attend-
ants of Tamenund, arose, left the crowd, and entered the
lodge which has already been noted as the object of so much
attention throughout that morning. In a few minutes they
reappeared, escorting the individuals who had caused all
these solemn preparations towards the seat of judgment
The crowd opened in a lane ; and when the party had re-
entered, it closed in again, forming a large and dense bell
of hamAn bodies, arranged in an open circle.

862 THE LAST OF THE MOHIG

CHAPTER XXIX.

The assembly seated, rising o'er the rest,
Achillos thus the king of men addressed.

Pope's Iliad.

Cora stood foremost among the prisoners, entwining her
arms in those of Alice, in the tenderness of sisterly love.
Notwithstanding the fearful and menacing array of savages
on every side of her, no apprehension on her own account
could prevent the noble-minded maiden from keeping her
eyes fastened on the pale and anxious features of the trem-
bliog Alice. Close at their side stood Hey ward, with an
interest in both, that, at such a moment of intense uncer-
tainty, scarcely knew a preponderance in favor of her whom
he most loved. Hawkeye had placed himself a little in the
rear, with a deference to the superior rank of his compan-
ions, that no similarity in the state of their present fortunes
could induce him to forget. Uncas was not there.

When perfect silence was again restored, and after the
usual long, impressive pause, one of the two aged chiefe
who sat at the side of the patriarch arose, and demanded
aloud, in very intelligible English, —

" Which of my prisoners is La Longue Carabine ? "

Neither Duncan nor the scout answered. The former,
however, glanced his eyes around the dark and silent assem-
bly, and recoiled a pace, when they fell on the malignant
visage of Magna. He saw, at once, that this wily savage
had some secret agency in their present arraignment before
the nation, and determined to throw every possible impedi-
ment in the way of the execution of his sinister plans. He
had witnessed one instance of the summary punishments of
the Indians, and now dreaded that his companion was to be
Sf^ected for a secojid. In this dilemma, with little or m

tHE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 858

dme for reflection, he suddenly determined to cloak his in-
valuable friend, at any or every hazard to himself. Before
he had time, however, to speak, the question was repeated
in a louder voice, and with a clearer utterance.

" Give us arms," the young man haughtily replied, " and
place us in yonder woods. Our deeds shall speak for us ! "

" This is the warrior whose name has filled our ears ! "
returned the chief, regarding Heyward with that sort of
curious interest which seems inseparable from man, when
first beholding one of his fellows to whom merit or accident,
virtue or crime, has given notoriety. " What has brought
the white man into the camp of the Delawares ? "

" My necessities. I come for food, shelter, and friends."

" It cannot be. The woods are full of game. The head
of a warrior needs no other shelter than a sky without
clouds; and the Delawares are the enemies, and not the
friends, of the Yengeese. Go ! the mouth has spoken,
while the heart said nothing."

Duncan, a little at a loss in what manner to proceed,
remained silent ; but the scout, who had listened attentively
to all that passed, now advanced steadily to the front.

" That I did not answer to the call for La Longue Cara-
bine, was not owing either to shame or fear," he said , " for
neither one nor the other is the gift of an honest man.
But I do not admit the right of the Mingoes to bestow a
name on one whose friends have been mindful of his gifts,
m this particular ; especially as their title is a lie, ' Killdeer *
being a grooved barrel and no carabyne. I am the man,
however, that got the name of Nathaniel from my kin ; the
compliment of Hawkeye from the Delawares, who live on
their own river ; and whom the Iroquois have presumed to
style the ' Long Rifle,' without any warranty from him who
is most concerned in the matter."

The eyes of all present, which had hitherto been gravely
scanning the person of Duncan, were now turned, on the
instant, towards the upright iron frame of this new pre-
tender to the distinguished appellation. It was in no degree
remarkable that there should be found two who were willing
to claim so great an honor, for imuostors, though rare, wero
23

354 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

not unknown amongst the natives ; but it was altogether
material to the just and severe intentions of the Delawares,
that there should be no mistake in the matter. Some of
their old men consulted together in private, and then, as it
would seem, they determined to interrogate their visitor on
the subject.

" My brother has said that a snake crept into my camp,**
said the chief to Magna ; " which is he ? "

The Huron pointed to the scout.

"Will a wise Delaware believe the barking of a wolf?*
exclaimed Duncan, still more confirmed in the evil inten-
tions of his ancient enemy : " a dog never lies, but when
was a wolf known to speak the truth ? "

The eyes of Magna flashed fire ; but, suddenly recollect-
ing the necessity of maintaining his presence of mind, he
turned away in silent disdain, well assured that the sagacity
of the Indians would not fail to extract the real merits of
the point m controversy. He was not deceived ; for, after
another short consultation, the wary Delaware turned to
him again, and expressed the determination of the chiefs,
though in the most considerate language.

" My brother has been called a liar," he said, " and his
friends are angry. They will show that he has spoken the
truth. Give my prisoners guns, and let them prove which
is the man."

Magua affected to consider the expedient, which he well
knew proceeded from distrust of himself, as a compliment^
and made a gesture of acquiescence, well content that his
veracity should be supported by so skillful a marksman as
the scout. The weapons were instantly placed in the hands
of the ft-iendly opponents, and they were bid to fire, over tha
heads of the seated multitude, at an earthen vessel, which
lay, by accident, on a stump, some fifty yards from the place
where they stood.

Heyward smiled to himself at the idea of a competition
with the scout, though he determined to persevere in the
deception, until apprised of the real designs of Mag^ia.
Raising his rifle with the utmost care, and renewing his aim
three several times, he fired. The bullet cut the wood

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. SM

tnthin a few inches of the vessel ; and a general exclama-
tion of satisfaction announced that the shot was considered
a proof of great skill in the use of the weapon. Even
Hawkeye nodded his head, as if he would say, it was better
than he had expected. But, instead of manifesting an
intention to contend with the successful marksman, he stood
leaning on his rifle for more than a minute, like a man who
was completely buried in thought. From this reverie he
was, however, awakened by one of the young Indians who
had furnished the arms, and who now touched his shoulder,
Baying, in exceedingly broken English, —

" Can the pale-face beat it ? "

"Yes, Huron!" exclaimed the 8Cout, raising the short
rifle in his right hand, and shaking it at Magna, with as
much apparent ease as if it were a reed ; " yes, Huron, I
could strike you now, and no power of earth could prevent
the deed ! The soaring hawk is not more certain of the
dove than I am this moment of you, did I choose to send
a bullet to your heart ! Why should I not ? Why ! —
because the gifts of my color forbid it, and I might draw
down evil on tender and innocent heads. If you know
Buch a being as God, thank Him, therefore, in your inward
Boul ; for you have reason ! "

The flushed countenance, angry eye, and swelling figure
of the scout, produced a sensation of secret awe in all that
heard him. The Delawares held their breath in expecta-
tion ; but Magna himself, even while he distrusted the for-
bearance of his enemy, remained immovable and calm,
where he stood wedged in by the crowd, as one who grew
to the spot.

" Beat it," repeated the young Delaware at the elbow of
the scout.

" Beat what, fool ! — what ! " exclaimed Hawkeye, still
flourishing the weapon angrily above his head, though his
eye no longer sought the person of Magua.

" K the white man is the warrior he pretends," said the
iiged chief, " let him strike nigher to the mark."

The scout laughed aloud — a noise that produced the start-
ling effect of an unnatural sound on Heyward ; then drop-

a56 THE LAST OF THE MOHTCANS.

ping the piece, heavily, into his extended left hand, it wse
discharged, apparently by the shock, driving the fragments
of the vessel into the air, and scattering them on every side.
Almost at the same instant, the rattling sound of the rifle
was heard, as he suffered it to fall, contemptuously, to the
earth.

The first impression of so strange a scene was engrossing
admiration. Then a low, but increasing murmur, ran through
the multitude, and finally swelled into sounds that denoted
a lively opposition in the sentiments of the spectators.
While some openly testified their satisfaction at so unex-
ampled dexterity, by far the larger portion of the tribe were
inclined to believe the success of the shot was the result of
accident. Hey ward was not slow to confirm an opinion that
was so favorable to his own pretensions.

" It was chance ! " he exclaimed ; " none can shoot with-
out an aim ! "

" Chance ! " echoed the excited woodsman, who was now
stubbornly bent on maintaining his identity at every hazard,
and on whom the secret hints of Hey ward to acquiesce in the
deception were entirely lost. " Does yonder lying Huron,
too, think it chance ? Give him another gun, and place us
face to face, without cover or dodge, and let Providence,
and our own eyes, decide the matter atween us ! I do not
make the offer to you, Major ; for our blood is of a color,
and we serve the same master."

" That the Huron is a liar, is very evident," returned
Heyward, coolly ; " you have yourself heard him assert you
to be La Longue Carabine."

It were impossible to say what violent assertion the stub-
born Hawkeye would have next made, in his headlong wish
to vindicate his identity, had not the aged Delaware once
more interposed.

" The hawk which comes from the clouds can return when
he will," he said ; " give them the guns."

This time the scout seized the rifle with avidity ; nor had
Magua, though he watched the movement of the marksman
with jealous eyes, any further cause for apprehension.

** Now let it be proved, in the face of this tribe of De]»

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 857

wares, which is the better man," cried the scout, tapping the
butt of his piece with that finger which had pulled so many
fatal triggers. " You see the gourd hanging against yonder
'a-ee, Major ; if you are a marksman fit for the borders, let
4ae see you break its shell ! "

Duncan noted the object, and prepared himself to renew
the trial. The gourd was one of the usual little vessels used
by the Indians, and it was suspended from a dead branch of
a small pine, by a thong of deer-skin, at the full distance of
a hundred yards. So strangely compounded is the feeling
of self-love, that the young soldier, while he knew the utter
worthlessness of the suffrages of his savage umpires, forgot
the sudden motives of the contest in a wish to excel. It has
been seen, already, that his skill was far from being contemp-
tible, and he now resolved to put forth its nicest qualities.
Had his life depended on the issue, the aim of Duncan could
not have been more deliberate or guarded. He fired ; and
three or four young Indians, who sprang forward at the re-
port, announced ^vith a shout, that the ball was in the tree,
a very little on one side of the proper object. The warriors
uttered a common ejaculation of pleasure, and then turned
their eyes, inquiringly, on the movements of his rival.

" It may do for the Royal Americans ! " said Hawkeye,
laughing once more in his own silent, heartfelt manner ; " but
had my gun often turned so much from the true line, many
a marten, whose skiu is now in a lady's muff, would still be
in the woods ; aye, and many a bloody Mingo, who has de-
parted to his final account, would be acting his deviltries at
this very day, atween the provinces. I hope the squaw who
owns the gourd has more of them in her wigwam, for thia
will never hold water again ! "

The scout had shook his priming, and cocked his piece,
while speaking ; and, as he ended, he threw back a foot, and
slowly raised the muzzle from the earth : the motion was
steady, imiform, and in one direction. Wlien on a perfect
level, it remained for a single moment, without tremor or
variation, as though both man and rifle were carved in stone.
During that stationary instant, it poured forth its contents,
in a bright, glancing sheet of flame- Again the young In

858 THE LAST OP THE MOHrCANS.

dians bounded forward ; but their hurried search .md disap-
pointed looks announced that no traces of the bullet were to
be seen.

" Go ! " said the old chief to the scout, in a tone of strong
disgust ; " thou art a wolf in the skin of a dog. I will talk
to the ' Long Rifle ' of the Yengeese."

" Ah ! had I that piece which furnished the name you
use, I would obligate myself to cut the thong, and drop the
gourd without breaking it ! " returned Hawkeye, perfectly
undisturbed by the other's manner. " Fools, if you would
find the bullet of a sharpshooter of these woods, you must
look in the object and not around it ! "

The Indian youths instantly comprehended his meaning
—for this time he spoke in the Delaware tongue — and tear-
ing the gourd from the tree, they held it on high with an
exulting shout, displaying a hole in its bottom, which had
been cut by the bullet, after passing through the usual orifice
in the centre of its upper side. At this unexpected exhibi-
tion, a loud and vehement expression of pleasure burst from
the mouth of every warrior present. It decided the ques-
tion, and effectually established Hawkeye in the possession
of his dangerous reputation. Those curious and admiring
eyes which had been turned again on Hey ward, were finally
directed to the weather-beaten form of the scout, who im-
mediately became the principal object of attention to the
simple and unsophisticated beings by whom he was sur-
rounded. When the sudden and noisy commotion had a
little subsided, the aged chief resumed his examination.

" Why did you wish to stop my ears ? " he said, address-
ing Duncan ; " are the Delawares fools, that they could not
know the young panther from the cat ? "

" They will yet find the Huron a singing-bird," said Dun
can, endeavoring to adopt the figurative language of the
natives.

" It is good. We will know who can shut the ears of
men. Brother," added the chief, turning his eyes on Magua,
** the Delawares listen."

Thus singled, and directly called on to declare his object.
the Huron arose -, and advancing with great deliberation uiU

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 8fi9

dignity into the very centre of the circle, where he Btood
confronted to the prisoners, he placed himself in an attitude
to speak. Before opening his mouth, however, he bent his
eyes slowly along the whole living boundary of earnest faces,
as if to temper his expressions to the capacities of his audience.
On Hawkeye he cast a glance of respectful enmity ; on
Duncan, a look of inextinguishable hatred; the shrinking
figure of Alice he scarcely deigned to notice ; but when his
glance met the firm, commanding, and yet lovely form of
Cora, his eye lingered a moment, with an expression that it
might have been difficult to define. Then, filled with his
own dark intentions, he spoke in the language of the Cana-
das, a tongue that he well knew was comprehended by most
of his auditors.

"The Spirit that made men colored them differently,"
commenced the subtle Huron. " Some are blacker than
the sluggish bear. These He said should be slaves ; and He
ordered them to work forever, like the beaver. You may
hear them groan, when the south wind blows, louder than
the lowing buffaloes, along the shores of the great salt lake,
where the big canoes come and go with them in droves.
Some He made with faces paler than the ermine of the for-
ests : and these He ordered to be traders ; dogs to their
women, and wolves to their slaves. He gave this people
the nature of the pigeon : wings that never tire ; young,
more plentiful than the leaves on the trees, and appetites to
devour the earth. He gave them tongues like the false call
of the wild-cat ; hearts like rabbits ; the cunning of the hog
(but none of the fox), and arms longer tban the legs of the
moose. With his tongue, he stops the ears of the Indians ;
his heart teaches him to pay warriors to fight his battles ;
his cunning tells him how to get together the goods of
the earth ; and his arms inclose the land from the shores of
the salt-water to the islands of the great lake. His gluttony
makes him sick. God gave him enough, and yet he wants
all. Such are the pale-faces.

" Some the Great Spirit made with skins brighter and
redder than yonder sun," continued Magna, pointing im-
presgively upwards to the lurid luminary, which was strug-

860 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

^ling though the misty atmosphere of the horizon ; " and theM
did He fashion to his own mind. He gave them this island
as He had made it, covered with trees, and filled with game.
The wind made their clearings ; the sun and rains ripened
their fruits ; and the snows came to tell them to be thankful.
What need had they of roads to journey by ! They saw
through the hills ! When the beavers worked, they lay in
the shade, and looked on. The winds cooled them in sum-
mer; in winter, skins kept them warm. K they fought
among themselves, it was to prove that they were men.
They were brave ; they were just ; they were happy."

Here the speaker paused, and again looked around him,
to discover if his legend had touched the sympathies of his
listeners. He met everywhere with eyes riveted on his
own, heads erect, and nostrils expanded, as if each indi-
vidual present felt himself able and willing, singly, to redress
the wrongs of his race.

"K the Great Spirit gave different tongues to his red
children," he continued, in a low, still melancholy voice,
" it was that all animals might understand them. Some He
placed among the snows, with their cousin the bear. Some
he placed near the setting sun, on the road to the happy
hunting-grounds. Some on the lands around the great fresh
waters ; but to his greatest, and most beloved. He gave the
sands of the salt lake. Do my brothers know the name of
this favored people ? "

" It was the Lenape ! " exclaimed twenty eager voices, is
a breath.

"It was the Lenni Lenape," returned Magna, affecting
to bend his head in reverence to their former greatness.
" It was the tribes of the Lenape ! The sun rose from water
that was salt, and set in water that was sweet, and never
hid himself from their eyes. But why should I, a Huron
of the woods, tell a wise people their own traditions ? Why
remind them of their injuries ; their ancient greatness ; their
deeds ; their glory ; their happiness, — their losses ; their de-
feats ; their misery ? Is there not one among them who has
seen it all, and who knows it to be true ? I have done
My tongue is stillj for my heart is of lead. I listen."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 861

As the voice of the speaker suddenly ceased, every face
and all eyes turned, by a common movement, towards the
venerable Tamenimd. From the moment that he took
his seat, until the present instant, the lips of the patriarch
had not severed, and scarcely a sign of life had escaped him.
He sat bent in feebleness, and apparently unconscious of the
presence he was in, during the whole of that opening scene,
in which the skill of the scout had been so clearly established.
At the nicely graduated sound of Magua's voice, however,
he betrayed some evidence of consciousness, and once or
twice he even raised his head, as if to listen. But when the
crafty Huron spoke of his nation by name, the eyehds of
the old man raised themselves, and he looked out upon the
multitude with that sort of dull unmeaning expression which
might be supposed to belong to the countenance of a spectre.
Then he made an effort to rise, and being upheld by his
supporters, he gained his feet, in a posture commanding by
its dignity, while he tottered with weakness.

" Who calls upon the children of the Lenape ! " he said,
in a deep, guttural voice, that was rendered awfully audible
by the breathless silence of the multitude : " who speaks of
things gone ! Does not the egg become a worm — the
worm a fly, and perish ? Why tell the Delawares of good
that is past? Better thank the Manitou for that which
remains."

" It is a Wyandot," said Magna, stepping nigher to the
rude platform on which the other stood ; " a friend of Tam-
enund."

" A friend ! " repeated the sage, on whose brow a dark
frown settled, imparting a portion of that severity which had
rendered his eye so terrible in middle age. " Are the Min-
goes rulers of the earth ? What brings a Huron here ? "

"Justice. His prisoners are with his brothers, and he
comes for his own."

Tamenund turned his head towards one of his supporters,
and listened to the short explanation the man gave. Then
feeing the applicant, he regarded him a moment with deep
attention; after which he said, in a low and reluctant
voice, —

862 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

" Justice is the law of the great Manitou. My children,
give the stranger food. Then, Huron, take thine own and
depart."

On the delivery of this solemn judgment, the patriarch
seated himself, and closed his eyes again, as if better pleased
with the images of his own ripened experience than with
the visible objects of the world. Against such a decree
there was no Delaware sufficiently hardy to murmur, much
less oppose himself. The words were barely uttered when
four or five of the younger warriors, stepping behind Hey-
ward and the scout, passed thongs so dexterously and rapidly
around their arms, as to hold them both in instant bondage.
The former was too much engrossed with his precious and
nearly insensible burden, to be aware of their intentions
before they were executed ; and the latter, who considered
even the hostile tribes of the Delawares a superior race of
beings, submitted without resistance. Perhaps, however,
the manner of the scout would not have been so passive,
had he fully comprehended the language in which the pre-
ceding dialogue had been conducted.

Magna cast a look of triumph around the whole assembly
before he proceeded to the execution of his purpose. Per-
ceiving that the men were unable to offer any resistance, he
turned his looks on her he valued most. Cora met his gaze
with an eye so calm and firm, that his resolution wavered.
Then recollecting his former artifice, he raised Alice from
the arms of the warrior against whom she leaned, and beck-
oning Heyward to follow, he motioned for the encircling
crowd to open. But Cora, instead of obeying the impulse
he had expected, rushed to the feet of the patriarch, and
raising her voice, exclaimed aloud, —

" Just and venerable Delaware, on thy wisdom and power
we lean for mercy ! Be deaf to yonder artful and remorse*
less monster, who poisons thy ears with falsehoods to feed
his thirst for blood. Thou that hast lived long, and that
hast seen the evil of the world, should know how to temper
Its calamities to the miserable."

Tlie eyes of the old man opened hea\i]y, and he once
more looked upwards at the multitude. As the piercing

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. S6i*

tones ol the supplicant swelictl on his ears, they moved
slowly in the direction of her person, and finally settled
there in a steady gaze. Cora had cast herself to her knees ;
and, with hands clenched in each other and pressed upon
her bosom, she remained like a beauteous and breathing
model of her sex, looking up in liis faded, but majestic coun-
tenance, with a species of holy reverence. Gradually the
expression of Taraenund's features changed, and losing their
vacancy in admiration, they lighted witli a portion of that
intelligence which a century before had been wont to com-
municate his youthful fire to the extensive bands of the
Delawares. Rising without assistance, and seemingly with-
out an effort, he demanded, in a voice that startled its auditors
by its firmness, —

"What art thou?"

" A woman. One of a hated race, if thou wilt — a Yen-
gee. But one who has never harmed thee, and who cannot
harm thy people, if she would ; who asks for succor."

" Tell me, my children," continued the patriarch, hoarsely,
motioning to those around him, though his eyes still dwelt
upon the kneeling form of Cora, " where have the Delawares
'camped ? "

"In the mountains of the Iroquois, beyond the clear
springs of the Horican."

" Many parching summers are come and gone," continued
the sage, " since I drank of the water of my own rivers. The
children of Minquon ^ are the justest white men ; but they
were thirsty, and they took it to themselves. Do they
follow us so far ? "

" We follow none ; we covet nothing," answered Cora.
** Captives against our wills, have we been brought amongst
you ; and we ask but permission to depart to our own m
peace. Art thou not Tamenund — the father, the judge,
I had almost said, the prophet — of this people ? "

1 William Peun was termed Minquon by the Delawares, and, as Ve never
oajd violence or injustice in his dealings with them, his reputation foi probity
passed into a proverb. The American is justly proud of the origin of his na-
tion, which is perhaps unequaled m the history of the world ; but the Penn-
■ylvanian and Jerseyman have more reason to value themselves in their ar oe«-
tors than the natives of any other State, since uo wrong was done the origiaal
of the soiL

364 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

** I am Tamenund of many days."

" 'Tis now some seven years that one of thy people was
at the mercy of a white chief on the borders of this province
He claimed to be of the blood of the good and just Tame*
nund. * Go,' said the white man, ' for thy parent's sake thou
art free.' Dost thou remember the name of that English

warrior

?»

" I remember, that when a laughing boy," returned the
patriarch, with the peculiar recollection of vast age, "I
stood upon the sands of the sea-shore, and saw a big canoe,
with wings whiter than the swan's, and wider than many
eagles, come from the rising sun."

" Nay, nay ; I speak not of a time so very distant, but of
favor shown to thy kindred by one of mine, within the
memory of thy youngest warrior."

" Was it when the Yengeese and the Dutchmanne fought
for the hunting-grounds of the Delawares ? Then Tame-
nund was a chief, and first laid aside the bow for the light-
ning of the pale-faces " —

" Nor yet then," interrupted Cora, "by many ages ; I speak
of a thing of yesterday. Surely, surely, you forget it not."

" It was but yesterday," rejoined the aged man, with
touching pathos, "that the children of the Lenape were
masters of the world. The fishes of the salt lake, the birds,
the beasts, and the Mengwe of the woods, owned them for
Sagamores."

Cora bowed her head in disappointment, and, for a bitter
moment, struggled with her chagrin. Then elevating her
rich features and beaming eyes, she continued, in tones
scarcely less penetrating than the unearthly voice of the
patriarch himself, —

« Tell me, is Tamenund a father ? "

The old man looked down upon her from his elevated
stand, with a benignant smile on his wasted countenance,
and then casting his eyes slowly over the whole assemblage,
he answered, —

"Of a nation."

" For myself I ask nothing. Like thee and thine, ven«
erable chief," she continued, pressing her hands convulsively
on her heart, and fiui£ering her head tn droop until hex

THK LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 966

burning cheeks were nearly concealed in the maze of dark
glossy tresses that fell in disorder upon her shoulders, " the
curse of my ancestors has fallen heavily on their child.
But yonrs is one who has never known the weight of
Heaven's displeasure until now. She is the daughter of an
old and failing man, whose days are near their close. She
has many, very many, to love her, and delight in her ; and
she is too good, much too precious, to become the victim of
that villain."

" I know that the pale-faces are a proud and hungry race.
I know that they claim not only to have the earth, but that
the meanest of their color is better than the Sachems of
the red-man. The dogs and crows of their tribes," contin-
ued the earnest old chieftain, without heeding the wounded
spirit of his listener, whose head was nearly crushed to the
earth in shame, as he proceeded, " would bark and caw be-
fore they would take a woman to their wigwams whose
blood was not of the color of snow. But let them not
boast before the face of the Manitou too loud. They en-
tered the land at the rising, and may yet go off at the set-
ting sun. I have often seen the locusts strip the leaves
from the trees, but the season of blossoms has always come
again."

" It is so," said Cora, drawing a long breath, as if reviving
from a trance, raising her face, and shaking back her shin-
ing veil, with a kindling eye, that contradicted the death-
like paleness of her countenance ; " but why — it is not
permitted us to inquire. There is yet oi\e of thine own
people who has not been brought before thee ; before thou
lettest the Huron depart in triumph, hear him speak."

Observing Tamenund to look about him doubtingly, one
of his companions said, —

" It is a snake — a red-skin in the pay of the Yengeese.
"We keep him for the torture."

" Let him come," returned the sage.

Then Tamenund once more sank into his seat, and a
silence so deep prevailed, while the young men prepared to
obey his simple mandate, that the leaves, which fluttered in
the draught of the light morning air, were distinctly heard
rustling in the surrounding forest.

866 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

CHAPTER XXX

If you deny me, fie upon your law !
There is no force in the decrees of Venice :
I stand for judgment; answer, shall I have it?

Merchant of Vbnicb.

The silence continued unbroken by human sounds foi
many anxious minutes. Then the waving multitude
opened and shut again, and Uncas stood in the living circle.
All those eyes, which had been curiously studying the lin-
eaments of the sage, as the source of their own intelligence,
turned on the instant, and were now bent in secret admira-
tion on the erect, agile, and faultless person of the captive.
But neither the presence in which he found himself, nor the
exclusive attention that he attracted, in any manner dis-
turbed the self-possession of the young Mohican. He cast
a deliberate and observing look on every side of him, meet-
ing the settled expression of hostility that lowered in the
visages of the chiefs, with the same calmness as the curious
gaze of the attentive children. But when, last in his
haughty scrutiny, the person of Tamenund came under his
glance, his eye became fixed, as though all other objects
were already forgotten. Then advancing with a slow and
noiseless step up the area, he placed himself immediately
before the footstool of the sage. Here he stood unnoted,
though keenly observant himself, until one of the chiefs
apprised the latter of his presence.

" With what tongue does the prisoner speak to the
Manitou ? " demanded the patriarch, without unclosing his
eyes.

" Like his fathers," Uncas replied ; " with the tongue of
p. Delaware."

At thia sudden and unexpected annunciation, a low, fierce
yell ran through the multitude, that might not inaptly b«

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 8^

compared to the growl of the lion, as his choler is first
awakened — a fearful omen of the weight of his future an<
ger. The effect was equally strong on the sage, though dif-
ferently exhibited. He passed a hand before his eyes, as
if to exclude the least evidence of so shameful a spectacle,
while he repeated, in his low, guttural tones, the words he
had just heard.

"A Delawai*e! I have lived to see the tribes of the
Lenape driven from their council fires, and scattered, like
broken herds of deer, among the hills of the Iroquois ! I
have seen the hatchets of a strange people sweep woods
from the valleys, that the winds of heaven had spared !
The beasts that run on the mountains, and the birds that
fly above the trees, have I seen living in the wigwams of
men ; but never before have I found a Delaware so base as
to creep, like a poisonous serpent, into the camps of hia
nation."

"The singing-birds have opened their bills,*' returned
Uncas, in the softest notes of Ms own musical voice ; " and
Tamenund has heard their song."

The sage started, and bent his head aside, as if to catch
the fleeting sounds of some passing melody.

" Does Tamenund dream ! " he exclaimed. " What voice
is at his ear ! Have the winters gone backward ! Will
summer come again to the children of the Lenape ! "

A solemn and respectful silence succeeded this incoherent
burst from the lips of the Delaware prophet. His people
readily construed his unintelligible language iato one of those
mysterious conferences he was believed to hold so frequently
with a superior intelligence, and they awaited the issue of
the revelation in awe. After a patient pause, however, one
of the aged men, perceiving that the sage had lost the rec-
ollection of the subject before them, ventured to remind him
again of the presence of the prisoner.

" The false Delaware trembles lest he should hear the
words of Tamenund," he said. " 'Tis a hound that howls,
when the Yengeese show him a trail."

" And ye," returned Uncas, looking sternly around him,
" are dogs that whine, when the Frenchman casts ye th%
offals of his deer I"

868 THE LAST OF THE MOHTCANS.

Twenty knives gleamed in the air, and as many warriore
sprang to their feet, at this biting, and perhaps merited
retort ; but a motion from one of the chiefs suppressed the
outbreaking of their tempers, and restored the appearance of
quiet. The task might probably have been more difficult,
had not a movement made by Tamenund indicated that he
was again about to speak.

" Delaware ! " resumed the sage, " little art thou worthy
of thy name. My people have not seen a bright sun in
many winters ; and the warrior who deserts his tribe when
hid in clouds is doubly a traitor. The law of the Manitou
is just. It is so; while the rivers run and the mountains
stand, while the blossoms come and go on the trees, it must
be so. He is thine, my children ; deal justly by him."

Not a limb was moved, nor was a breath drawn louder
and longer than common, until the closing syllable of this
final decree had passed the lips of Tamenund. Then a cry
of vengeance burst at once, as it might be, from the united
lips of the nation ; a frightful augury of their ruthless inten-
tions. In the midst of these prolonged and savage yells, a
chief proclaimed, in a high voice, that the captive was con-
demned to endure the dreadful trial of torture by fire. The
circle broke its order, and screams of delight mingled with
the bustle and tumult of preparation. Heyward struggled
madly with his captors ; the anxious eyes of Hawkeye began
to look around him, with an expression of peculiar earnest-
ness ; and Cora again threw herself at the feet of the patri-
arch, once more a suppliant for mercy.

Throughout the whole of these trying moments, Uncas
had alone preserved his serenity. He looked on the prep-
arations with a steady eye, and when the tormentors came
to seize him, he met them with a firm and upright attitude.
One among them, if possible, more fierce and savage than
his fellows, seized the hunting-shirt of the young warrior,
and at a single effort tore it from his body. Then, with a
yell of frantic pleasure, he leaped towards his unresisting
victim, and prepared to lead him to the stake. But, at that
moment, when he appeared most a stranger to the feelings
of humanity, the purpose of the savage was arrested as sudr

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 869

denly as if a supernatural agency had interposed in the
behalf of Uncas. The eye-balls of the Delaware seemed to
start from their sockets ; his mouth opened, and his whole
form became frozen in an attitude of amazement. Raising
his hand with a slow and regulated motion, he pointed with
a finger to the bosom of the captive. His companions
crowded about him in wonder, and every eye was, like his
own, fastened intently on the figure of a small tortoise,
beautifully tattooed on the breast of the prisoner, in a bright
blue tint.

For a single instant Uncas enjoyed his triumph, smiling
calmly on the scene. Then motioning the crowd away with
a high and haughty sweep of his arm, he advanced in front
of the nation with the air of a king, and spoke in a voice
louder than the murmur of admiration that ran through the
multitude.

" Men of the Lenni Lenape ! " he said, " my race upholds
the earth ! Your feeble tribe stands on my shell ! What
fire that a Delaware can light would burn the child of my
fathers," he added, pointing proudly to the simple blazonry
on his skin ; " the blood that came from such a stock would
smother your flames ! My race is the grandfather of
nations ! "

* Who art thou ? " demanded Tamenund, rising at the
startling tones he heard, more than at any meaning conveyed
by the language of the prisoner.

" Uncas, the son of Chingachgook," answered the captive
modestly, turning from the nation, and bending his head in
reverence to the other's character and year^; " a son of the
^eat Unamis." ^

" The hour of Tamenund is nigh ! " exclauned the sage ;
" the day is come, at last, to the night ! I thank the Man-
itou, that one is here to fill my place at the council-fire
Uncas, the child of Uncas, is found ! Let the eyes of a
dying eagle gaze on the rising sun."

The youth stepped lightly, but proudly, on the platform,
where h-^ became visible to the whole agitated and wonder-
ing multitude. Tamenund held him long at the length o<

I Turtle.
U

wo THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

his arm, and read every turn in the fine lineaments of h\a
comitenance, with the mitiring gaze of one who recalled
days of happiness.

" Is Tamenund a boy ? " at length the bewildered prophet
exclaimed. " Have I dreamt of so many snows — that my
people were scattered like floating sands — of Yengeese,
more plenty than the leaves on the trees! The arrow of
Tamenund would not frighten the fawn ; his arm is withered
like the branch of a dead oak ; the snail would be swifter in
the race ; yet is Uncas before him as they went to battle
against the pale-faces ! Uncas, the panther of his tribe, the
eldest son of the Lenape, the wisest Sagamore of the Mohi-
cans ! Tell me, ye Delawares, has Tamenimd been a sleepei
for a hundred winters ? "

The calm and deep silence which succeeded these words,
sufficiently announced the awful reverence with which hia
people received the communication of the patriarch. None
dared to answer, though all listened in breathless expectation
of what might follow. Uncas, however, looking in his face
with the fondness and veneration of a favored child, pre-
sumed on his own high and acknowledged rank, to reply.

" Four warriors of his race have lived, and died," he said,
*' since the friend of Tamenund led his people in battle.
The blood of the turtle has been in many chiefs, but all
have gone back into the earth from whence they came
except Chingachgook and his son."

" It is true — it is true," returned the sage ; a flash of
recollection destroying all his pleasing fancies, and restoring
him at once to a consciousness of the true history of his
nation. " Our wise men have often said that two warriors
of the unchanged race were in the hills of the Yengeese ;
why have their seats at the council fires of the Delawarea
been so long empty ? "

At these words the young man raised his head, which he
had still kept bowed a little, in reverence ; and lifting his
Voice so as to be heard by the multitude, as if to explain at
once and forever the policy of his family, he said aloud, —

" Once we slept where we could hear the salt lake speak
in its anger. Then we were rulers and Sagamores over th«

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 871

land. But when a pale-face was seen on every brook, we
followed the deer back to the river of our nation. The
Delawares were gone. Few warriors of them all stayed to
drink of the stream they loved. Then said my fathers,
' Here will we hunt. The waters of the river go into the
salt lake. If we go towards the setting sun, we shall find
streams that run into the great lakes of sweet water ; there
would a Mohican die, like fishes of the sea, in tlie clear
springs. When the Manitou is ready, and shall say " Come,"
we will follow the river to the sea, and take our own again.'
Such, Delawares, is the belief of the children of the Turtle.
Our eyes are on the rising, and not towards the setting sun.
We know whence he comes, but we know not whither he
goes. It is enough."

The men of the Lenape listened to his words with all
the respect that superstition could lend, finding a secret
Aarm even in the figurative language with which the young
Sagamore imparted his ideas. Uncas himself watched the
effect of his brief explanation with intelligent eyes, and
gradually dropped the air of authority he had assumed, as
he perceived that his auditors were content Then permit-
ting his looks to wander over the silent throng that crowded
around the elevated seat of Tamenund, he first perceived
Hawkeye in his bonds. Stepping eagerly from his stand,
he made way for himself to tb^. side of his friend; and
cutting his thongs with a quick and angry stroke of his own
knife, he motioned to the crowd to divide. The Indians
silently obeyed, and once more they stood, ranged in their
circle, as before his appearance among them. Uncas took
the scout by the hand, an ^ led him to the feet of the oatri-
arch.

" Father," he said, " look at tnis pale-face ; a just man,
and the friend of the Delawares."

" Is he a son of Miquon ? "

" Not so ; a warrior known to the Yengeese, and feared
by the Maquas."

" What name has he gained by his deeds ? "

'* We call him Hawkeye," Uncas replied, using the Dela-
ware phrase, ''for his sight never fails. The Mingoeo

872 THE LAST OP THE JIOHICANS.

know liim better by the death he gives their warrioio . VTith
them he is < The Long Rifle.' "

" La Longue Carabine ! " exclaimed Tamenund, opening
his eyes, and regarding the scout sternl" "My son has
not done well to call him friend."

" I call him so who proves himself such," returned the
young chief, with great calmness, but with a steady mien
" If Uncas is welcome among the Delawares, then is Hawk*
eye with his friends."

"The pale-face has slain my young men; ^8 name is
great for the blows he has struck the Lenape."

" K a Mingo has whispered that much in the ear of the
Delaware, he has only shown that he is a singing-bird,"
said the scout, who now believed that it was time to vindi-
cate himself from such offensive charges, and who spoke in
the tongue of the man he addressed, modifying his Indian
figures, however, with his own peculiar notions. " That I
have slain the Maquas I am not the man to deny, even at
their own council fires ; but that, knowingly, my hand has
ever harmed a Delaware, is opposed to the reason of my
^ifts, which is friendly to them, and all that belongs to their
nation."

A low exclamation of applause passed among the war-
riors, who exchanged looks with each other like men that
first began to perceive their error.

" Where is the Huron ? " demanded Tamenund. " Has
he stopped my ears ? "

Magna, whose feelings during that scene in which Uncas
had triumphed may be much better imagined than described,
answered to the call by stepping boldly in front of the
patriarch.

" The just Tamenund," he said, " will not keep what a
Huron has lent."

" Tell me, son of my brother," returned the sage, avoid-
ing the dark countenance of Le Subtil, and turning gladly
to the more ingenuous features of Uncas, " has the stranger
a conqueror's right over you ? "

" He has none. The panther may get into snares set by
the women; but he is strong, and knows how to leap
through them."

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 378

* La Longue Carabine ? "

" Laughs at the Mingoes. Go, Huron, ask your squawi
the color of a bear."

" The stranger and the white maiden that came into my
camp together ? "

" Should journey on an open path."

" And the woman that Huron left with my warriors ? *

Uncas made no reply.

"And the woman that the Mingo has brought into my
camp," repeated Tamenund, gravely.

" She is mine," cried Magna, shaking his hand in triumph
at Uncas. " Mohican, you know that she is mine."

" My son is silent," said Tamenund, endeavoring to read
the expression of the face that the youth turned from him
in sorrow.

" It is so," was the low answer.

A short and impressive pause succeeded, during which it
was very apparent with what reluctance the multitude ad-
mitted the justice of the Mngo's claim. At length the
sage, on whom alone the decision depended, said, in a firm
voice, —

" Huron, depart."

" As he came, just Tamenund," demanded the wily
Magna : " or with hands filled with the faith of the Dela-
wares ? The wigwam of Le Renard Subtil is empty.
Make him strong with his own."

The aged man mused with himself for a time; and then
bending his head towards one of his venerable companions,
he asked, —

" Are my ears open ? **

" It is true."

"Is this Mingo a chief?"

" The first in his nation."

" Girl, what wouldst thou ? A great warrior take^ thee
to wife. Go! thy race will not end."

" Better, a thousand times, it should," exclaimed the
horror-struck Cora, " than meet with such a degradation ! "

" Huron, her mind is in the tents of her fathers. An
unwilling maiden makes an unhappy wigwam."

irr4 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

* She speaks with the tongue of her people,** returned
Magua, regarding his victim with a look of bitter irony
** She is of a race of traders, and will bargain for a bright
look. Let Tamenund speak the words."

" Take you the wampum, and our love."

" Nothing hence but what Magua brought hither.*'

"Then depart with thine own. The Great Manitou
forbids that a Delaware should be unjust.**

Magua advanced, and seized his captive strongly by the
arm; the Delawares fell back, in silence; and Cora, as if
conscious that remonstrance would be useless, prepared to
submit to her fate without resistance.

" Hold, hold ! *' cried Duncan, springing forward ;
" Huron, have mercy ! her ransom shall make thee richer
than any of thy people were ever yet known to be."

'' Magua is a red-skin ; he wants not the beads of the
pale-faces."

" Gold, silver, powder, lead — all that a warrior needs
shall be in thy wigwam ; all that becomes the greatest
chief."

" Le Subtil is very strong," cried Magua, violently shak-
ing the hand which grasped the unresisting arm of Cora j
" he has his revenge ! "

" Mighty ruler of providence ! " exclaimed Heyward,
clasping his hands together in agony, "can this be suffered!
To you, just Tamenund, I appeal for mercy."

"The words of the Delaware are said," returned the
sage, closing his eyes, and dropping back mto his seat, alike
wearied with his mental and his bodily exertion. " Men
speak not twice."

" That a chief should not misspend his time in unsaying
what has once been spoken, is wise and reasonable,*' said
Hawkeye, motioning to Duncan to be silent ; " but it is also
prudent in every warrior to consider well before he strikes
his tomahawk into the head of his prisoner. Huron, I love
you not ; nor can I say that any Mingo has ever received
much favor at my hands. It is fair to conclude that, if this
war does not soon end, many more of your warriors will
meet me in the woods. Put it to your judgment, iheu,

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 876

whetber you would prefer taking such a prisoner as that into
your encampment, or one like myself, who am a man that it
would greatly rejoice your nation to see with naked hands."

" Will ' The Long Rifle ' give his life for the woman ? "
demanded Magua, hesitatingly ; for he had already made a
motion towards quittmg the place with his victim.

" No, no ; I have not said so much as that," returned
Hawkeye, drawing back with suitable discretion, when he
noted the eagerness with which Magua listened to his pro«
posal. " It would be an unequal exchange, to give a war-
rior, in the prime of his age and usefulness, for the best
woman on the frontiers. I might consent to go into winter
quarters, now — at least six weeks afore the leaves will turn
— on condition you will release the maiden."

Magua shook his head, and made an impatient sign for
the crowd to open.

" Well, then," added the scout, with the musing air of a
man who had not half made up his mind, " I will throw
' Killdeer ' into the bargain. Take the word of an experi-
enced hunter, the piece has not its equal atween the prov-
inces."

Magua still disdained to reply, continuing his efforts to
disperse the crowd.

" Perhaps," added the scout, losing his dissembled coolness,
exactly in proportion as the other manifested an indifference
to the exchange, " if I should condition to teach your young
men the real virtue of the we'pon, it would smooth the little
differences in our judgments."

Le Renard fiercely ordered the DelaVares, who still
lingered in an impenetrable belt around him, in hopes he
would listen to the amicable proposal, to open his path,
threatening, by the glance of his eye, another appeal to the
infallible justice of their " prophet."

*' What is ordered must sooner or later arrive," continued
Hawkeye, turning with a sad and humbled look to Uncas.
•* The varlet knows his advant<ige, and will keep it ! God
bless you, boy ; you have found friends among your natural
kin and I hope they will prove as true as some you have
met who had no Indian cross. As for me, sooner or laterj I

676 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

must die ; J is therefore fortunate there are but few to make
my death-howl. After all, it is likely the imps would have
managed to master my scalp, so a day or two will make no
great difference in the everlasting reckoning of time. God
bless you," added the rugged woodsman, bending his head
aside, and then instantly changing its direction again, with a
wistfid look towards the youth ; " I loved both you and your
father, Uncas, though our skins are not altogether of a color,
and our gifts are somewhat different. Tell the Sagamore
I never lost sight of him in my greatest trouble ; and, as for
you, think of me sometimes when on a lucky trail ; and de-
pend on it, boy, whether there be one heaven or two, there
is a path in the other world by which honest men may come
together again. You'll find the rifle in the place we hid it ;
take it, and keep it for my sake ; and harkee, lad, as your
natural gifts don't deny you the use of vengeance, use it a
little freely on the JMingoes ; it may unburden grief at my
loss, and ease your mind. Huron, I accept your offer ; re
lease the woman. I am your prisoner ! "

A suppressed, but still distinct murmur of approbation,
ran through the crowd at this generous proposition ; even
the fiercest among the Delaware warriors manifesting pleas-
ure at the manliness of the intended sacrifice. Magna paused,
and for an anxious moment, it might be said, he doubted ;
then casting his eyes on Cora, with an expression in which
ferocity and admiration were strangely mingled, his purpose
became fixed forever.

He intimated his contempt of the offer with a backward
motion of his head, and said, in a steady and settled voice, —

" Le Renard Subtil is a great chief ; he has but one mind.
Come," he added, laying his hand too familiarly on the
shoulder of his captive to urge her onward ; " a Huron is no
tattler; we will go."

The maiden drew back in lofty womanly reserve, and
her dark eye kindled, while the rich blood shot, like the
passing brightness of the sun, into her very temples, at the
indignity.

" I am your prisoner, and at a fitting time shall be ready
to foUow, even to mj death. But violence is unnecessarj,'

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 377

ihe coldly said ; and immediately turning to Hawkeye,
added, " Generous hunter ! from my soul I thank you.
Your offer is vain, neither could i*^. be accepted ; but still you
may serve me, even more than in your own noble intention*
Look at that drooping, humbled child ! Abandon her not
until you leave her in the habitations of civilized men. I
will not say," wringing the hard hand of the scout, " that her
father will reward you — for such as you are above the re-
wards of men — but he will thank you, and bless you. And,
believe me, the blessing of a just and aged man has virtue
in the sight of Heaven. Would to God, I could hear one
from his lips at this awful moment ! " Her voice became
choked, and, for an instant, she was silent ; then advancing
a step nigher to Duncan, who was supporting her unconscious
sister, she continued, in more subdued tones, but in which
feeling and the habits of her sex maintained a fearful strug-
gle, — "I need not tell you to cherish the treasure you will
possess. You love her, Heyward; that would conceal a
thousand faults, though she had them. She is kind, gentle,
sweet, good, as mortal may be. There is not a blemish in
mind or person at which the proudest of you all would sicken.
She is fair — 0 ! how surpassingly fair ! " laying her own
beautiful, but less brilliant hand, in melancholy affection on
the alabaster forehead of Alice, and parting the golden hair
which clustered about her brows ; " and yet her soul is pure
and spotless as her skin! I could say much — more, per-
haps, than cooler reason would approve ; but I will spare
you and myself" — Her voice became inaudible, and hei
face was bent over the form of her sister. After a long and
burning kiss, she arose, and with features of the hue of
death, but vsdthout even a tear in her feverish eye, she
turned away, and added, to the savage, with all her former
elevation of manner, — " Now, sir, if it be your pleasure, I
will foUow."

" Aye, go," cried Duncan, placing Alice in the arms of an
Indian girl ; " go, Magua, go. These Delawares have their
laws, which forbid them to detain you ; but I — I have no
such obligation. Go, malignant monster — why do you
^lay ? "

€78 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

It would be difficult to describe the expression with whi<li
Magua listened to this threat to follow. There was at first
a fierce and manifest display of joy, and then it was instantlj
subdued in a look of cunning coldness.

" The woods are open," he was content with answering,
" ' The Open Hand ' can come."

" Hold," cried Hawkeye, seizing Duncan by the arm, and
detaining him by violence ; " you know not the craft of the
imp. He would lead you to an ambushment, and youi
death" —

" Huron," interrupted Uncas, who, submissive to the stem
customs of his people, had been an attentive and grave lis-
tener to all that passed ; " Huron, the justice of the Delawares
comes from the Manitou. Look at the sun. He is now in
the upper branches of the hemlock. Your path is short and
open. When he is seen above the trees, there will be men
on your trail."

" I hear a crow ! " exclaimed Magua, with a taunting
laugh. " Go ! " he added, shaking his hand at the crowd,
which had slowly opened to admit his passage, — " Where
are the petticoats of the Delawares ! Let them send their
arrows and their guns to the Wyandots ; they shall have
venison to eat, and corn to hoe. Dogs, rabbits, thieves —
I spit on you ! "

His parting gibes were listened to in a dead, boding
silence, and, with these biting words in his mouth, the tri-
umphant Magua passed unmolested into the forest, followed
by his passive captive, and protected by the inviolable lawF
of Judiau hospitality.

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. B7U

CHAPTER XXXI.

Flue. — Kill the poys and the luggage! 'Tis expressly against the law o(
arms; 'tis as arrant a piece of knavery, mark you now, as can be ofTered in the
'orld. Kino Hebsy V.

So long as their enemy and his victim continued in
eight, the multitude remained motionless as beings charmed
to the place by some power that was friendly to the Hu-
ron ; but the instant he disappeared, it became tossed and
agitated by fierce and powerful passion. Uncas maintained
his elevated stand, keeping his eyes on the form of Cora,
until the colors of her dress were blended with the foliage
of the forest; when he descended, and moving silently
through the throng, he disappeared in that lodge from
which he had so recently issued. A few of the graver and
more attentive warriors, who caught the gleams of anger
that shot from the eyes of the young chief in passing, fol-
lowed him to the place he had selected for his meditations.
After which, Tamenund and Alice were removed, and the
women and children were ordered to disperse. During the
momentous hour that succeeded, the encampment resembled
a hive of troubled bees, who only awaited the appearance
and example of their leader to take some distant and
momentous flight.

A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Un-
cas ; and moving deliberately, with a sort of grave march,
towards a dwarf pine that grew in the crevices of the rocky
terrace, he tore the bark from its body, and then returned
whence he came without speaking. He was soon followed
by another, who stripped the sapling of its branches, leav-
ing it a naked and blazed ^ trunk. A third colored the

1 A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is said, la
the language of the country, to be " blazed." The term is strictly Engliak:
fin a horse is said to be biased when it has a white mark.

880 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

post with stripes of a dark red paint ; all which indications
of a hostile design in the leaders of the nation were re-
ceived by the men without in a gloomy and ominous silence.
Fmally, the Mohican himself reappeared, divested of all his
attire except his girdle and leggings, and with one half of
his fine features hid under a cloud of threatening black.

Uncas moved with a slow and dignified tread towards
the post, which he immediately commenced encircling with
a measured step, not unlike an ancient dance, raising his
voice, at the same time, in the wild and irregular chant of
his war-song. The notes were in the extremes of human
sounds ; being sometimes melancholy and exquisitely plain-
tive, even rivaling the melody of birds — and then, by sud-
den and startling transitions, causing the auditors to tremble
by their depth and energy. The words were few and often
repeated, proceeding gradually from a sort of invocation,
or hymn to the Deity, to an intimation of the warrior's
object, and terminating as they commenced with an ac-
knowledgment of his own dependence on the Great Spirit.
If it were possible to translate the comprehensive and me-
lodious language in which he spoke, the ode might read
something like the the following : —

"Manitou! Manitou! Manitou!
Thou art great, thou art good, thou art wise:
Manitou! Manitou!
Thou art just.

" In th? heavens, in the clouds, 0, I see
Many spots — many dark, many red:
In the heavens, O, I see
Many clouds.

« In the woods, in the air, 0, I hear
The whoop, the long yell, and the cry s
In the woods, 0, I hear
The loud whoop !

"Manitou! Manitou! Manitou!
I am weak — thou art strong ; I am slow;
Manitou! Manitou!
Give me aid."

At the end of what might be called each verse he made
A pause, by raising a note louder and longer than common.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 881

that \'.;is peculiarly suited to the sentiment just expressed.
The first close was solemn, and intended to convey the idea
of veneration ; the second descriptive, bordering on the
alarming ; and the third was the well known and terrific
war-whoop, which burst from the lips of the young warrior,
like a combination of all the frightful sounds of battle.
The last was like the first, humble and imploring. Three
times did he repeat this song, and as often did he encircle
the post in his dance.

At the close of the first turn, a grave and highly es-
teemed chief of the Lenape followed his example, singing
words of his own, however, to music of a similar character.
Warrior after warrior enlisted in the dance, until all of any
renown and authority were numbered in its mazes. The
spectacle now became wildly terrific ; the fierce-looking and
menacing visages of the chiefs receiving additional power
from the appalling strains in which they mingled their gut-
tural tones. Just then Uncas struck his tomahawk deep
into the post, and raised his voice in a shout, which might
be termed his own battle-cry. The act announced that he
had assumed the chief authority in the intended expedition.

It was a signal that awakened all the slumbering pas-
sions of the nation. A hundred youths, who had hitherto
been restrained by the difiidence of their years, rushed in a
frantic body on the fancied emblem of their enemy, and
severed it asunder, splmter by splmter, until nothing re-
mained of the trunk but its roots in the earth. During
this moment of tumult, the most ruthless deeds of war were
performed on the fragments of the tree, with as much ap-
parent ferocity as if they were the living victims of their
cruelty. Some were scalped ; some received the keen and
trembling axe j and others suffered by thrusts from the
feital knife. In short, the manifestations of zeal and fierce
delight were so great and unequivocal, that the expedition
was declared to be a war of the nation.

The instant Uncas had struck the blow, he moved out of
the circle, and cast his eyes up to the sun, which was just
gaining the point, when the truce with Magna was to end.
The fact was soon announced by a significaut gesture, ao

882 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

companied by a corresponding cry ; and the whole «f the

excited multitude abandoned their mimic warfare, with
shrill yells of pleasure, to prepare for the more hazardous
experiment of the reality.

The whole face of the encampment was instantly changed.
The warriors, who were already armed and painted, became
as still as if they were incapable of any uncommon burst of
emotion. On the other hand, the women broke out of the
lodges, with the songs of joy and those of lamentation, so
strangely mingled, that it might have been difficult to have
said which passion preponderated. None, however, were
idle. Some bore their choicest articles, others their young,
and some their aged and infirm, into the forest, which
spread itself like a verdant carpet of bright green against the
side of the mountain. Thither Tamenund also retired, with
calm composure, after a short and touching interview with
Uncas ; from whom the sage separated with the reluctance
that a parent would quit a long lost and just recovered
child. In the mean time, Duncan saw Alice to a place of
safety, and then sought the scout, with a countenance that
denoted how eagerly he also panted for the approaching
contest.

But Hawkeye was too much accustomed to the war song
and the enlistments of the natives, to betray any interest in
the passmg scene. He merely cast an occasional look at
the number and quality of the warriors, who, from time to
time, signified their readiness to accompany Uncas to the
field. In this particular he was soon satisfied ; for, as has
been already seen, the power of the young chief quickly
embraced every fighting man in the nation. After this ma-
terial point was so satisfactorily decided, he despatched an
Indian boy in quest of " Killdeer " and the rifle of Uncas, to
the place where they had deposited the weapons on ap-
proaching the camp of the Delawares ; a measure of double
policy, inasmuch as it protected the arms from their own
fate, if detained as prisoners, and gave them the advantage
of appearing among the strangers rather as sufferers than as
men provided with the means of defense and subsistence
In selecting another to perform the office of reclaiming \m

rHE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 388

^\j prized rifle, the scout had lost sight of none of his
habitual caution. He knew that Magna had not come un-
attended, and he also knew that Huron spies watched the
movements of their new enemies, along the whole boundary
of the woods. It would, therefore, have been fatal to him-
self to have attempted the experiment ; a warrior would
have fared no better ; but the danger of a boy would not
be likely to commence until after his object was discovered.
When Hey ward joined him, the scout was coolly awaiting
the result of this experiment

The boy, who had been well instructed, and was suffi-
ciently crafty, proceeded, with a bosom that was swelling
with the pride of such a confidence, and all the hopes of
young ambition, carelessly across the clearing to the wood,
which he entered at a point at some little distance from the
place where the guns were secreted. The instant, however,
he was concealed by the foliage of the bushes, his dusky
form was to be seen gliding, like that of a serpent, towards
the desired treasure. He was successful ; and in another
moment he appeared flying across the narrow opening that
skirted the base of the terrace on which the village stood,
with the velocity of an arrow, and bearing a prize in each
hand. He had actually gained the crags, and was leaping
up their sides with incredible activity, when a shot from
the woods showed how accurate had been the judgment of
the scout. The boy answered it with a feeble but contemp-
tuous shout; and immediately a second bullet was sent
after him from another part of the cover. At the next
instant he appeared on the level above, elevating his guni
in triumph, while he moved with the air of a conqueror
towards the renowned hunter who had honored him by
so glorious a commission.

Notwithstanding the lively interest Hawkeye had taken
in the fate of his messenger, he received " Killdeer " with a
satisfaction that, momentarily, drove all other recollections
from his mind. After examining the piece with an intelli-
gent eye, and opening and shutting the pan some ten or fif-
teen times, and trying sundry other equally important ex-
periments on Uie lock, he turned to the boy, nud demanded

884 THE LAST Of THE MOHICANS.

with great manifestations of kindness, if he was hurt. Ilia
urchin looked proudly up in his face, but made no reply.

" Ah ! I see, lad, the knaves have barked your arm ! **
added the scout, taking up the limb of the patient sufferer,
across which a deep flesh wound had been made by one of
the bullets ; " but a little bruised alder will act like a charm.
In the mean time I will wrap it in a badge of wampum !
You have commenced the business of a warrior early, my
brave boy, and are likely to bear a plenty of honorable scars
to your grave. I know many young men that have taken
scalps who cannot show such a mark as this. Go ! " having
bound up the arm; "you will be a chief! "

The lad departed, prouder of his flowing blood than the
vainest courtier could be of his blushing ribbon ; and stalked
among the fellows of his age, an object of general admiration
and envy.

But in a moment of so many serious and important duties,
this single act of juvenile fortitude did not attract the gen-
eral notice and commendation it would have received under
milder auspices. It had, however, served to apprise the
Delawares of the position and the intentions of their ene-
mies. Accordingly a party of adventurers, better suited to
the task than the weak though spirited boy, was ordered to
dislodge the skulkers. The duty was soon performed ; for
most of the Hurons retired of themselves when they found
they had been discovered. The Delawares followed to a
sufficient distance from their own encampment, and then
halted for orders, apprehensive of being led into an ambush.
As both parties secreted themselves, the woods were again
as still and quiet as a mild summer morning and deep soli
tude could render them.

The calm but still impatient Uncas now collected hi
chiefs, and divided his power. He presented Hawkeye as a
warrior, often tried, and always found deserving of confi-
dence. When he found his friend met with a favorable re-
ception, he bestowed on him the command of twenty men,
like himself, active, skillful, and resolute. He gave the Del-
awares to understand the rank of Heyward among the
tioops of the Yeogeese, and then tendered to Li m a trust ol

THE LAST OF THE MOHIO-ANS. 885

equal awthority. But Duncan declined the charge, profess-
ing his > eadiness to serve as a volunteer by the side of the
Bcout. JIfter this disposition, the young Mohican appointed
various n^dve chiefs to fill the different situations of respon-
sibility, and the time pressing, he gave forth the word to
march. He was cheerfully, but silently, obeyed by more
than two hundred men.

Their entrance into the forest was perfectly unmolested ;
nor did they encounter any living objects, that could either
give the alarm, or furnish the intelligence thej needed, un-
til they came upon the lairs of their own scouts. Here a
halt was ordered, and the chiefs were assembled to hold a
" whispering coimcil."

At this meeting divers plans of operation were suggested,
though none of a character to meet the wishes of their ar-
dent leader. Had Uncas foUowed the promptings of hia
own inclinations, he would have led his followers to th«
charge without a moment's delay, and put the conflict to the
hazard of an instant issue ; but such a course would have
been in opposition to all the received practices and opinions
of his countrymen. He was, therefore, fain to adopt a cau-
tion that in the present temper of his mind he execrated,
and to listen to advice at which his fiery spirit chafed, under
the vivid recollection of Cora's danger and Magua's inso-
lence.

After an unsatisfactory conference of many minutes, a
solitary individual was seen advancing from the side of the
enemy, with such apparent haste, as to induce the belief he
might be a messenger charged with pacific overtures. When
within a hundred yards, however, of the cover behind which
the Delaware council had assembled, the strajjger hesitated,
appeared uncertain what course to take, and finally halted.
All eyes were now turned on Uncas, as if seeking directions
how to proceed.

" Hawkeye," said the young chief, in a low voice, " h«
must never speak to the Hurons again."

" His time has come," said the laconic scout, thrusting the
long barrel of his rifle through the leaves, and taking hi«
deliberate and fatal aim- ^nt, instead of pulling the trigger
25

886 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

he lowered the muzzle again, and indulged himself in a fit
of his peculiar mirth. " I took the imp for a Mingo, as I'm
a miserable sinner ! " he said ; " but when my eye rangei!
along his ribs for a place to get the bullet in — would you
think it, Uncas — I saw the musicianer's blower; and so,
after all, it is the man they call Gamut, whose death can
profit no one, and whose life, if his tongue can do anything
but sing, may be made serviceable to our own ends. If
sounds have not lost their virtue, I'U soon have a discourse
with the honest fellow, and that in a voice he'll find more
agreeable than the speech of ' Killdeer.* "

So saying, Hawkeye laid aside his rifle ; and crawling
through the bushes until within hearing of David, he
attempted to repeat the musical effort, which had conducted
himself, with so much safety and eclat, through the Huron
encampment. The exquisite organs of Gamut could not
readily be deceived (and, to say the truth, it would have
been difficult for any other than Hawkeye to produce a sim-
ilar noise), and consequently, having once before heard the
Bounds, he now knew whence they proceeded. The pooi
fellow appeared relieved from a state of great embarrass-
ment ; for pursuing the direction of the voice — a task that
to him was not much less arduous thasi it would have bee!i
to have gone up in the face of a battery — he soon discov-
ered the hidden songster.

" I wonder what the Hurons will think of that ! " said
the scout, laughing, as lie took his companion by the arm,
and urged him towards the rear. " If the knaves lie within
ear-shot, they will say there are two non-compossers instead
of one ! But here we are safe," he added, pointing to Uncas
and his associates. " Now give us the history of the Mingo
inventions in natural English, and without any ups and
downs of voice<"

David gazed about him, at the fierce and wild-looking
chiefs, in mute wonder ; but assured by the presence of faces
that he knew, he soon rallied his Acuities so far as to make
an intelligent reply.

" The heathen are abroad in goodly numbers," said David;
•'and, I fear, with evil intent. There has been much howl»

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 387

iDg aud ungodly revelry, together with such sounds as it is
profanity to utter, in their habitations within the past hour ;
so much so, in truth, that I have fled to the Delawares in
search of peace."

" Your ears might not have profited much by the ex-
change, had you been quicker of foot," returned the scout a
little dryly. "But let that be as it may; where are the
Hurons ? "

" They lie hid in the forest, between this spot and their
village, in such force, that prudence would teach you in-
stantly to return."

Uncas cast a glance along the range of trees which con-
cealed his own band and mentioned the name of —

« Magna ? "

" Is among them. He brought in the maiden that had
sojourned with the Delawares, and leaving her in the cave,
has put himself, like a raging wolf, at the head of his sav-
ages. I know not what has troubled his spirit so greatly ! "

" He has left her, you say, in the cave I " interrupted
Heyward ; " 'tis well that we know its situation I May not
■omething be done for her instant relief? "

Uncas looked earnestly at the sooat, before he asked,—

« What sftys Hawfeeye ? "

" Give me my twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right,
along the stream ; and passing by the huts of the beaver,
will join the Sagamore and the colonel. You shall then
hear the whoop from that quarter ; with this wind one may
easily send it a mile. Then, Uncas, do yo\> drive in their
front ; when they come within range of our pieces, we will
give them a blow that, I pledge the good name of an old
frontiersman, shall make their line bend like an ashen bow.
After which, we will carry their village, and take the woman
from the cave ; when the affair may be finished with the
tribe, according to a white man's battle, by a blow and a
victory ; or, in the Indian fashion, with dodge and cover.
There may be no great learning, Major, in this plan, but
with couraga and patience it can all be done."

^ I like it much," cried Duncan, who saw that the release

JW8 fHE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

of Cora was the primary object in the mmd of the sconti

** I like it much. Let it be instantly attempted.'*

After a short conference, the plan was matured, and ren-
dered more intelligible to the several parties ; the different
signals were appointed, and the chiefs separated, each to his
Allotted station.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 8b9

CHAPTER XXXn.

But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires incr
Till the great king, without a ransom paid,
To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.

Pope.

During the time Uncas was making this dispositicii of
his forces, the woods were as still, and, with the exception
of those who had met in council, apparently as much unten-
anted, as when they came fresh from the hands of their
Almighty Creator, The eye could range, in every direction,
through the long and shadowed vistas of the trees ; but
nowhere was any object to be seen that did not properly
belong to the peaceful and slumbering scenery. Here and
there a bird was heard fluttering among the branches of the
beeches, and occasionally a squirrel dropped a nut, drawing
the startled looks of the party, for a moment, to the place ;
but the instant the casual interruption ceased, the passing
air was heard murmuring above their heads, along that ver-
dant and undulating surface of forest, which spread itself
unbroken, unless by stream or lake, over such a vast region
of country. Across the tract of wilderness, which lay
between the Delawares and the village of iheir enemies, it
seemed as if the foot of man had never trodden, so breath-
ing and deep was the silence in which it lay. But Hawk-
eye, whose duty led him foremost in the adventure, knew
the character of those with whom he was about to contend
too well to trust the treacherous quiet.

"When he saw his little band collected, the scout threw
** Killdeer " into the hollow of his arm, and making a silent
signal that he would be followed, he led them many roda
towards the rear, into the bed of a little brook which they
bad crossed in advancing. Here he halted, and after wait*

390 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANfl.

ing for the whole of his grave and attentive warriors to
dose about him, he spoke in Delaware, demanding —

" Do any of my young men know whither this run will
lead us?"

A Delaware stretched forth a hand, with the two fingers
separated, and indicating the manner in which they were
joined at the root, he answered, —

" Before the sun could go his own length, the little water
will be in the big." Then he added, pointing in the direc-
tion of the place he mentioned, " the two make enough for
the beavers."

"I thought as much," returned the scout, glancing his
eye upwards at the opening in the tree-tops, "from the
course it takes, and the bearings of the mountains. Men,
we will keep within the cover of its banks till we scent the
Hurons."

His companions gave the usual brief exclamation of
assent, but perceiving that their leader was about to lead
the way in person, one or two made signs that aU was not
as it should be. Hawkeye, who comprehended their mean-
ing glances, turned, and perceived that his party had been
followed thus far by the singing-master.

" Do you know, friend," asked the scout gravely, and
perhaps with a little of the pride of conscious deserving in
his manner, " that this is a band of rangers chosen for the
most desperate service, and put under the command of one
who, though another might say it with a better face, wUI
not be apt to leave them idle. It may not be five, it can-
not be thirty minutes before we tread on the body of a
Huron, living or dead."

" Though not admonished of your intentions in words,"
returned David, whose face was a little flushed, and whose
ordinarily quiet and unmeaning eyes glimmered with an
expression of unusual fire, "your men have reminded me of
the children of Jacob going out to battle against the She*
chemites, for wickedly aspiring to wedlock with a woman
of a race that was favored of the Lord. Now, I have jour-
neyed far, and sojourned much in good and evil with the
\iaiden ye seek ; and though not a man of war, with my loini

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 391

girded and my sword sharpened, yet would I gladly strike
a blow in her behalf."

The scout hesitated, as if weighing the chances of such
a strange enlistment in his mind before he answered, —

" You know not the use of any we'pon. You carry no
rifle ; and believe me, what the Mingoes take they will
freely give again."

" Though not a vaunting and bloodily disposed Goliath,"
returned David, drawing a sling from beneath his parti-col-
ored and uncouth attire, " I have not forgotten the example
of the Jewish boy. With this ancient instrument of war
have I practiced much in my youth, and peradventure the
skill has not entirely departed from me."

" Aye ! " said Hawkeye, considering the deer-skin thong
and apron, with a cold and discouraging eye ; " the thing
might do its work among arrows, or even knives ; but these
Mengwe have been furnished by the Frenchers with a good
grooved barrel a man. However, it seems to be your gift
to go unharmed amid fire ; and as you have hitherto been
favored — Major, you have left your rifle at a cock ; a single
shot before the time would be just twenty scalps lost to no
purpose — singer, you can follow ; we may find use for you
in the shoutings."

" I thank you, friend," returned David, supplying himself,
like his royal namesake, from among the pebbles of the
brook ; " though not given to the desire to kill, had you
sent me away my spirit would have been troubled."

" Remember," added the scout, tapping his own head
significantly on that spot where Gamut w^s yet sore, " we
come to fight, and not to musickate. Until the general
whoop IS given, nothing speaks but the rifle."

David nodded, as much as to signify his acquiescence with
the terms ; and then Hawkeye, casting another observant
glance over his followers, made the signal to proceed.

Their route lay, for the distance of a mile, along the bed
of the water-course. Though protected from any great
danger of observation by the precipitous banks, and the
thick shrubbery which skirted the stream, no precaution
known to an Indian attack was neglected A warrior

892 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

rather crawled than walked on each flank, so as to catch
occasional glimpses into the forest ; and every few minutes
the band came to a halt, and listened for hostile sounds,
with an acuteness of organs that would be scarcely con-
ceivable to a man in a less natural state. Their march was,
however, unmolested, and they reached the point where the
lesser stream was lost in the greater, without the smallest
evidence that their progress had been noted. Here the
scout again halted, to consult the signs of the forest.

" We are likely to have a good day for a fight," he said,
in English, addressing Heyward, and glancing his eye up-
wards at the clouds, which began to move in broad sheets
across the firmament ; " a bright sun and a glittering barrel
are no friends to true sight. Everything is favorable ; they
have the wind, which will bring down their noises and their
smoke too, no little matter in itself; whereas, with us it will
be first a shot, and then a clear view. But here is an end
of our cover ; the beavers have had the range of this stream
for hundreds of years, and what atween their food and their
dams, there is, as you see, many a girdled stub, but few liv-
ing trees."

Hawkeye had, in truth, in these few words, given no bad
description of the prospect that now lay in their front. The
brook was irregular in its width, sometimes shooting through
narrow fissures in the rocks, and at others spreading over
acres of bottom land, forming little areas that might be
termed ponds. Everywhere along its banks were the
mouldering relics of dead trees, in all the stages of decay,
from those that groaned on their tottering trunks to such as
had recently been robbed of those rugged coats that so
mysteriously contain their principle of hfe. A few long,
low, and moss-covered piles were scattered among them,
like the memorials of a former and long-departed genera-
tion.

All these minute particulars were noted by the scout,
with a gravity and interest that they probably had never
before attracted. He knew that the Huron encampment
lay a short half mile up the brook ; and, with the charac-
teristic anxiety of one who dreaded a hidden danger, b€

THE lAST OF THE MOHICANS. 398

was greatly troubled at not finding the smallest trace of the
presence of his enemy. Once or twice he felt induced to
give the order for a rush, and to attempt the village by
surprise ; but his experience quickly admonished him of the
danger of so useless an experiment. Then he listened
intently, and with painful uncertainty, for the sounds of
hostility in the quarter where Uncas was left ; but nothing
was audible except the sighing of the wind, that began to
sweep over the bosom of the forest in gusts which threat-
ened a tempest. At length, yielding rather to his unusual
impatience than taking counsel from his knowledge, he
determined to bring matters to an issue, by unmasking his
force, and proceeding cautiously, but steadily, up the stream.

The scout had stood, while making his observations,
sheltered by a brake, and his companions still lay in the
bed of the ravine, through which the smaller stream de-
bouched; but on hearing his low, though intelligible signal,
the whole party stole up the bank, like so many dark
spectres, and silently arranged themselves around him.
Pointing in the direction he wished to proceed, Hawkeye
advanced, the band breaking off in single files, and following
60 accurately in his footsteps, as to leave it, if we except
Heyward and David, the trail of but a single man.

The party was, however, scarcely uncovered before a
volley from a dozen rifles was heard in their rear ; and a
Delaware leaping high into the air, like a wounded deer,
fell at his whole length, perfectly dead.

" Ah ! I feared some deviltry like this ! \ exclaimed the
scout, in English ; adding, with the quickness of thought,
in his adopted tongue, " To cover, men, and charge ! "

The band dispersed at the word, and before Heyivard
had well recovered from his surprise, he found himself
standing alone with David. Luckily, the Hurons had
already fallen back, and he was safe from their fire. Bai
this state of things was evidently to be of short continu-
ance ; for the scout set the example of pressing on their
retreat, by discharging his rifle, and darting from tree to
tree as his enemy slowly yielded ground.

It would seem that the assault had been made by a verf

B94 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

small party of the Hurons, which, however, continued to
increase in numbers, as it retired on its friends, until the re-
turn fire was very nearly, if not quite, equal to that main*
tained by the advancing Delawares. Heyward threw him-
self among the combatants, and imitating the necessary
caution of his companions, he made quick discharges with
his own rifle. The contest now grew warm and stationary.
Few were injured, as both parties kept their bodies as much
protected as possible by the trees ; never, indeed, exposing
any part of their persons except in the act of taking aim.
But the chances were gradually growing unfavorable to
Hawkeye and his band. The quick-sighted scout perceived
his danger, without knowing how to remedy it. He saw it
was more dangerous to retreat than to maintain his ground ;
while he found his enemy throwing out men on his flank,
which rendered the task of keeping themselves covered so
very difficult to the Delawares, as nearly to silence their
fire. At this embarrassing moment, when they began to
think the whole of the hostile tribe was gradually encircling
them, they heard the yell of combatants, and the rattling of
arms, echoing under the arches of the wood, at the place
where Uncas was posted ; a bottom which, in a manner, lay
beneath the ground on which Hawkeye and his party were
contending.

The effects of this attack were instantaneous, and to the
scout and his friends greatly relieving. It would seem that,
while his own surprise had been anticipated, and had con-
sequently failed, the enemy, in their turn, having been de-
ceived in its object and in his numbers, had left too small a
force to resist the impetuous onset of the young Mohican.
This fact was doubly apparent, by the rapid manner in
which the battle in the forest rolled upwards towards the
village, and by an instant falling off* in the number of their
assailants, who rushed to assist in maintaining the front, and,
as it now proved to be, the principal point of defense.

Animating his followers by his voice, and his own ex-
ample, Hawkeye then gave the word to bear down upon
their foes. The charge, in that rude species of warfare,
eonsisted merely in pushing from cover to cover, nigher to

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 695

Jfce enemy ; and in this manoeuvre he was instantly and suc-
cessfully obeyed. The Hurons were compelled to withdraw,
and the scene of the contest rapidly changed from the more
open ground on which it had commenced, to a spot where
the assailed found a thicket to rest upon. Here the strug-
gle was protracted, arduous, and seemingly of doubtful issue ;
the Delawares, though none of them fell, beginning to bleed
freely, in consequence of the disadvantage at which they
were held.

In this crisis, Hawkeye found means to get behind the
same tree as that which served for a cover to Heyward ;
most of his own combatants being within call, a little on his
right, where they maintained rapid, though fruitless, dis-
charges on their sheltered enemies.

" You are a young man. Major," said the scout, dropping
the butt of " KUldeer " to the earth, and leaning on the bar-
rel, a little fatigued with his previous industry ; " and it may
be your gift to lead armies, at some future day, agin these
imps, the Mingoes. You may here see the philosophy of
an Indian fight. It consists, mainly, in a ready hand, a
quick eye, and a good cover. Now, if you had a company
of the Royal Americans here, in what manner would you set
them to work in this business ? "

" The bayonet would make a road."

" Aye, there is white reason in what you say ; but a man
must ask himself, in this wilderness, how many lives he can
spare. No — horse," ^ continued the scout, shaking his head,
like one who mused ; " horse, I am ashamed to say, must,
sooner or later, decide these skrimmages. The brutes are
better than men, and to horse must we come at last. Put
a shodden hoof on the moccasin of a red-skin ; and if hi*
rifle be once emptied, he will never stop to load it again."

1 The American forest admits of the passage of horse, there being littla
anderbrush, and few tangled brakes. The plan of Hawkeye is the one which
Aaii always proved the most successful in the battles between the whites and the
Indians. Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami, received the fir«
of his enemies in line; and then causing his dragoons to wheel round his flanks,
the Indians were driven from their covers before they had time to load. One
of the most conspicuous of the chiefs who fought in the battle of Miami assured
the writer, that the red-men could not fight the wan-iors with " long knives
■ud leathOT-Btockings;'* meaning the dragoons with their sabies and boots.

S96 THE LAST OF THE MOHIOANS.

** This is a subject that might be* terbe discussed at another
time," returned Hey ward ; " shall ye charge ? "

" 1 see no contradiction to the gifts of any man, in pass*
ing his breathing spells in useful reflections," the scout re-
plied. " As to a rush, I little relj sh such a measure ; for a
scalp or two must be thrown away in the attempt. And
yet," he added, bending his head aside, to catch the sounds
of the distant combat, " if we are to be of use to Uncas,
these knaves in our front must be got rid of ! "

Then turning, with a prompt and decided air, he called
aloud to his Indians, in their own language. His words
were answered by a shout ; and, at a given signal, each
warrior made a swift movement around his particular tree.
The sight of so many dark bodies, glancing before their
eyes at the same instant, drew a hasty, and consequently an
ineffectual fire from the Hurons. Without stopping to
breathe, the Delawares leaped, in long bounds, towards the
wood, like so many panthers springing upon their prey.
Hawkeye was in front, brandishing his terrible rifle, and an-
imating his followers by his example. A few of the older
and more cunnmg Hurons, who had not been deceived by
the artifice which had been practiced to draw their fire, now
made a close and deadly discharge of their pieces, and justi-
fied the apprehensions of the scout, by felling three of his
foremost warriors. But the shock was insufiicient to repel
the impetus of the charge. The Delawares broke into the
cover with the ferocity of their natures, and swept away
every trace of resistance by the fury of the onset.

The combat endured only for an instant, hand to hand,
and then the assailed yielded ground rapidly, until they
reached the opposite margin of the thicket, where they clung
to the cover, with the sort of obstinacy that is so often wit-
nessed in hunted brutes. At this critical moment, when
the success of the struggle was again becoming doubtful, the
crack of a rifle was heard behind the Hurons, and a bullet
came whizzing from among some beaver lodges, which were
eituated in the clearing, in their rear, and was followed by
the fierce and appalling yell of the war-whoop.

** There spe^ the Sagamore ' " shouted Hawkeye, an

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 897

■ifering the cry with his own stentorian voice ; * we have
them now in face and back ! "

The effect on the Hurons was instantaneous. Discouraged
by an assault from a quarter that left them no opportunity
for cover, their warriors uttered a common yell of disap-
pointment, and breaking off in a body, they spread them-
selves across the opening, heedless of every consideration but
flight. Many fell, in making the experiment, imder the
bullets and the blows of the pursuing Delawares.

We shall not pause to detail the meeting between the
Bcout and Chingachgook, or the more touching interview
that Duncan held with Munro. A few brief and hurried
words served to explain the state of things to both parties ;
and then Hawkeye pointing out the Sagamore to his band,
resigned the chief authority into the hands of the Mohican
ohisf. Chiagachgook assumed the station to which his h'lrib
and experience gave him so distinguished a claim, with the
grave dignity that always gives force to the mandates of a
native warrior. Following the footsteps of the scout, he led
the party back through the thicket, his men scalping the
fallen Hurons, and secreting the bodies of their own dead as
they proceeded, until they gained a point where the former
was content to make a halt.

The warriors, who had breathed themselves freely in the
preceding struggle, were now posted on a bit of level ground,
sprinkled with trees in sufficient numbers to conceal them.
The land fell away rather precipitately in front, and beneath
their eyes stretched, for several miles, a n^ow, dark, and
wooded vale. It was through this dense and dark forest
that Uncas was still contending with the main body of the
Hurons.

The Mohican and his friends advanced to the brow of
the hill, and listened, with practiced ears, to the sounds of
the combat. A few birds hovered over the leafy bosom of
Ae valley, frightened from their secluded nests ; and here
and there a light vapory cloud, which seemed already
blending with the atmosphere, arose above the trees, and
mdicated some spot where the struggle had been fierce and
^tionary.

S98 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

** The fight is coming up the ascent," said Duncan, point"
ing in the direction of a new explosion of fire-arms; " wq
are too much in the centre of their line to be effective."

" They will incline into the hollow, where the cover ia
thicker," said the scout, "and that will leave us well on
their flank. Go, Sagamore ; you will hardly be in time to
give the whoop, and lead on the young men. I will fight
this skrimmage with warriors of my own color. You know
me, Mohican ; not a Huron of them all shall cross the
swell, into your rear, without the notice of * Killdeer.' "

The Indian chief paused another moment to consider the
signs of the contest, wEch was now rolling rapidly up the
ascent, a certain evidence that the Delawares triumphed ;
nor did he actually quit the place until admonished of the
proximity of his friends, as well as enemies, by the bullets
of the former, which began to patter among the dried
leaves on the ground, like the bits of falling hail which pre-
cede the bursting of the tempest. Hawkeye and his three
companions withdrew a few paces to a shelter, and awaited
the issue with calmness, that nothing but great practice
could impart in such a scene.

It was not long before the reports of the rifles began to
leee the echoes ef the woodsy and to sound like weapons
discharged in the open air. Then a warrior appeared, here
and there, driven to the skirts of the forest, and rallying as
he entered the clearing, as at the place where the final
stand was to be made. These were soon joined by others,
until a long line of swarthy figures was to be seen clinging
to the cover with the obstinacy of desperation. Heyward
began to grow impatient, and turned his eyes anxiously in
the direction of Chingachgook. The chief was seated on a
^ock, with nothing visible but his calm visage, considering
the spectacle with an eye as deliberate as if he were posted
there merely to view the struggle.

"The time is come for the Delaware to strike!" said
Duncan.

" Not so, not so," returned the scout ; " when he scents
his friends, he will let them know that he is here. See,
lee ; the knaves are ijcettin^ in that clump of pines, lik^i

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 899

bees settling after their flight By the Lord, a aquaw might
put a bullet into the centre of such a knot of dark skins ! "

At that instant the whoop was given, and a dozen Hu-
rons fell by a discharge from Chingachgook and his band.
The shout that followed was answered by a single war-cry
from the forest, and a yell passed through the air that
sounded as if a thousand throats were united in a common
effort. The Hurons staggered, deserting the centre of their
line, and Uncas issued from the forest through the opening
they left, at the head of a hundred warriors.

Waving his hands right and left, the young chief pointed
out the enemy to his followers, who separated in pursuit
The war now divided, both wings of the broken H^irons
seeking protection in the woods again, hotly pressed by the
victorious warriors of the Lenape. A minute might have
passed, but the sounds were already receding in different
directions, and gradually losing their distinctness beneath
the echoing arches of the woods. One little knot of Hu-
rons, however, had disdained to seek a cover, and were re-
tiring, like lions at bay, slowly and sullenly up the acclivity
which Chingachgook and his band had just deserted, to
mingle more closely in the fray. Magua was conspicuous
in this party; both by his fierce and savage mien^ and by
the air of haughty authority he yet maintained.

In his eagerness to expedite the pursuit, Uncas had left
himself nearly alone ; but the moment his eye caught the
figure of Le Subtil, every other consideration was forgot-
ten. Raising his cry of battle, which recalled some six or
seven warriors, and reckless of the disparity of their num-
bers, he rushed upon his enemy, Le Renard, who watched
the movement, paused to receive him with secret joy. But
at the moment when he thought the rashness of his impet-
uous young assailant had left him at his mercy, another
shout was given, and La Longue Carabine was seen rushing
to the rescue, attended by all his white associates. The
Huron instantly turned, and conunenced a rapid retreat up
the ascent.

There was no time for greetings or congratulations ; for
Uncas, though unconscious of the presence of his friendfl,

100 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

continued the pursuit with the velocity of the wind. In
vain Hawkeye called to him to respect the covers; the
young Mohican braved the dangerous fire of his enemies,
and soon compelled them to a flight as swift as his own
headlong speed. It was fortunate that the race was of
short continuance, and that the white men were much fa-
vored by their position, or the Delaware would soon have
outstripped all his companions, and fallen a victim to his
own temerity. But ere such a calamity could happen, the
pursuers and pursued entered the Wyandot village, within
striking distance of each other.

Excited by the presence of their dwellings, and tired of
the chase, the Hurons now made a stand, and fought around
their council lodge with the fury of despair. The onset
and the issue were like the passage and destruction of a
whirlwind. The tomahawk of Uncas. the blows of Hawk-
eye, and even the still nervous arm of Munro, were all
busy for that passing moment, and the ground was quickly
strewed with their enemies. Still Magna, though daring
and much exposed, escaped from every effort against his
life, with that sort of fabled protection that was made to
overlook the fortunes of favored heroes in the legends of
ancient poetry. Raising a yell that spoke volumes of an-
ger and disappointment, the subtle chief, when he saw his
comrades fallen, darted away irom the place, attended by
his two only surviving friends, leaving the Delawares en-
gaged in stripping the dead of the bloody trophies of their
victory.

But Uncas, who had vainly sought him in the mel^e,
bounded forward in pursuit; Hawkeye, Hey ward, and
David still pressing on his footsteps. The utmost that the
Bcout could effect, was to keep the muzzle of his rifle a lit-
tle in advance of his friend, to whom, however, it answered
every purpose of a charmed shield. Once Magna appeared
disposed to make another and a final effort to revenge his
losses ; but, abandoning his intention as soon as demon-
strated, he leaped into a thicket of bushes, through which
he was followed by his enemies, and suddenly entered the
mouth of the cave already known to the reader. Hfiwk

THE LAST OP THE MOHTCA\'S. 401

eye. who had only forborne to fire in tenderness to TTncna
raised a shout of success, and proclaimed aloud, that now
they were certain of their game. The pursuers dashed into
the long and narrow entrance, in time to catch a glimpse of
the retreating forms of the Hurons. Their passage through
the natural galleries and subterraneous apartments of the
cavern was preceded by the shrieks and cries of hundreds
of women and children. The place, seen by its dim and
uncertain light, appeared like the shades of the infernal
regions, across which unhappy ghosts and savage demons
were flitting in multitudes.

Still Uncas kept his eye on Magna, as if life to him pos-
sessed but a single object Heyward and the scout still
pressed on his rear, actuated, though possibly m a less de-
gree, by a common feeling. But their way was becoming
intricate, in those dark and gloomy passages, and the
glimpses of the retiring warriors less distinct and frequent ;
and for a moment the trace was believed to be lost, when a
white robe was seen fluttering in the further extremity of a
passage that seemed to lead up the mountain.

" 'Tis Cora ! " exclaimed Heyward, in a voice in which
horror and delight were wildly mingled.

" Cora ! Cora ! " echoed Uncas, bending forward like a
deer.

" 'Tis the maiden ! " shouted the scout. " Courage, lady ;
we come ! — we come ! "

The chase was renewed with a diligence rendered tenfold
encouragmg by this glimpse of the captive. But the way
was rugged, broken, and in spots nearly impassable. Uncas
abandoned his rifle, and leaped forward with headlong pre-
cipitation. Heyward rashly imitated his example, though
both were, a moment afterwards, admonished of its madness,
by hearing the bellowing of a piece, that the Hurons found
time to discharge down the passage m the rocks, the bullet
from which even gave the young Mohican a slight wound.

" We must close ! " said the scout, passing his friends by
a desperate leap ; " the knaves will pick us all off at thi«
distance ; and see, they hold the maiden so as to shield
themselves ! "

26

402 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS.

Though his words were unheeded, or rather unheard
his example was followed by his companions, who, by in*
credible exertions, got near enough to the fugitives to per-
ceive that Cora was borne along between the two warriors,
while Magua prescribed the direction and manner of their
flight. At this moment the forms of all four were strongly
drawn against an opening in the sky, and they disappeared.
Nearly frantic with disappointment, Uncas and Hey ward
increased efforts that already seemed superhuman, and they
issued from the cavern on the side of the mountain, in time
to note the route of the pursued. The course lay up the
ascent, and still continued hazardous and laborious.

Encumbered by his rifle, and, perhaps, not sustained by
80 deep an interest in the captive as his companions, the
Bcout suffered the latter to precede him a little, Uncas, in
his turn, taking the lead of Heyward. In this manner,
rocks, precipices, and difficulties were surmounted in an in-
credibly short space, that at another time, and under other
circumstances, would have been deemed almost insuperable.
But the impetuous young men were rewarded, by fiading
that, encumbered with Cora, the Hurons were losing ground
in the race.

" Stay, dog of the "Wyandots ! " exclaimed Uncas, shak-
ing his bright tomahawk at Magua ; " a Delaware girl calls
stay ! "

" I will go no further," cried Cora, stopping unexpectedly
on a ledge of rocks, that overhung a deep precipice, at no
great distance from the summit of the mountain. " Kill me
if thou wilt, detestable Huron ; I will go no further."

The supporters of the maiden raised their ready toma-
hawks with the impious joy that fiends are thought to take
in mischief, but Magua stayed the uplifted arms. The Huron
chief, after casting the weapons he had wrested from hia
companions over the rock, drew his knife, and turned to hia
captive, with a look in which conflicting passions fiercely
contended.

" Woman," he said, " choose ; the wigwam or the knife
of Le Subtil ! "

Cora regarded him not but dropping on her knees, sho

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 40S

nised her eyes and stretched her arms towards heaven, say-
ing, in a meek and yet confiding voice, —

" I am thine ! do with me as thou seest best ! "

"Woman," repeated Magna, hoarsely, and endeavoring
in vain to catch a glance from her serene and beaming eye,
« choose!"

But Cora neither heard nor heeded his demand. The
form of the Huron trembled in every fibre, and he raised his
arm on high, but dropped it again with a bewildered air,
like one who doubted. Once more he struggled with him-
self and lifted the keen weapon again ; but just then a pierc-
ing cry was heard above them, and Uncas appeared, leaping
frantically, from a fearful height, upon the ledge. Magna
recoiled a step ; and one of his assistants, profiting by the
chance, sheathed his own knife in the bosom of Cora.

The Huron sprang like a tiger on his offending and
already retreating countryman, but the falling form of
Uncas separated the unnatural combatants. Diverted from
his object by this interruption, and maddened by the murder
he had just witnessed. Magna buried his weapon in the back
of the prostrate Delaware, uttering an unearthly shout as he
committed the dastardly deed. But Uncas arose from the
blow, as the wounded panther turns upon his foe, and struck
the murderer of Cora to his feet, by an effort in which the
last of his failing strength was expended. Then, with a
stern and steady look, he turned to Le Subtil, and indicated
by the expression of his eye, all that he would do, had not
the power deserted him. The latter seized the nerveless
arm of the unresisting Delaware, and passed his knife into
his bosom three several times, before his victim, still keep-
ing his gaze riveted on his enemy with a look of inextin-
guishable scorn, fell dead at his feet.

" Mercy ! mercy ! Huron," cried Hey ward, from above,
in tones nearly choked by horror ; " give mercy, and thou
shalt receive it ! "

Whirling the bloody knife up at the imploring youth, the
victorious Magna uttered a cry so fierce, so wild, and yet so
joyous, that it conveyed the sounds of savage triumph to
the ears of those who fought in the valley, a thousand feel

♦04 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

beiow. He was answered by a burst from the lips of the
scout, whose tall person was just then seen moving swiftly
towards him, along those dangerous crags, with steps as
bold and reckless as if he possessed the power to move in
air. But when the hunter reached the scene of the ruthless
massacre, the ledge was tenanted only by the dead.

His keen eye took a single look at the victims, and then
shot its glances over the difficulties of the ascent in his
front. A form stood at the brow of the mountain, on the
very edge of the giddy height, with uplifted arms, in an
awfol attitude of menace. Without stopping to consider
his person, the rifle of Hawkeye was raised ; but a rock,
which fell on the head of one of the fugitives below exposed
the indignant and glowing countenance of the honest Gamut.
Then Magna issued from a crevice, and stepping with calm
indifference over the body of the last of his associates, he
leaped a wide fissure, and ascended the rocks at a point
where the arm of David could not reach him. A single
bound would carry him to the brow of the precipice, and
assure his safety. Before taking the leap, however, the
Huron paused, and shaking his hand at the scout, he
shouted, —

" The pale-faces are dogs ! the Delawares women ! Magua
leaves them on the rocks, for the crows ! "

Laughing hoarsely, he made a desperate leap, and fell short
of his mark ; though his hands grasped.a shrub on the verge
of the height. The form of Hawkeye had crouched like a
beast about to take its spring, and his frame trembled so
violently with eagerness, that the muzzle of the half-raised
rifle played like a leaf fluttering in the wind. Without
exhausting himself with fruitless efforts, the cunning Magua
suffered his body to drop to the length of his arms, and
„bund a fragment for his feet to rest on. Then summoning
all his powers, he renewed the attempt, and so far succeeded,
as to draw his knees on the edge of the mountain. It was
now, when the body of his enemy was most collected to-
gether, that the agitated weapon of the scout was drawn to
his shoulder. The surrounding rocks themselves were not
steadier than the piece became, for the single instant th^ it

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 405

poured out its contents. The arms of the Huron relaxed,
and his body fell back a little, while his knees still kept
their position. Turning a relentless look on his enemy, he
shook a hand in grim defiance. But his hold loosened, and
his dark person was seen cutting the air with its head down-
wards, for a fleeting instant, until it glided past the fringe of
•hrubbery which clung to the mountain, in ita rapid flight
to destruction

'406 THE LAST OF TH£ MOUiOAlttii

CHAPTER XXXm.

iliey fought, like brave men, long and wdl,

They piled that ground with Moslem skuoHy
They conquered — but Bozzaris fell,

Bleeding at every vein.
His few surviving comrades saw
His smile when rang their proud hurrah,

And the red field was won ;
Then saw in death his eyelids close
Calmly, as to a night's repose,

Like flowers at set of sun.

Haijjsck.

The sun found the Lenape, on the succeeding day, fi
nation of mourners. The sounds of the battle were over^
and they had fed fat their ancient grudge, and had avenged
their recent quarrel with the Mengwe, by the destruction of
a whole community. The black and murky atmosphere
that floated around the spot where the Hurons had en-
camped, sufficiently announced, of itself, the fate of that
wandering tribe ; while hundreds of ravens, that struggled
above the bleak summits of the mountains, or swept, in
noisy flocks, across the wide ranges of the woods, furnished
a frightful direction to the scene of the combat. In short,
any eye, at all practiced in the signs of a frontier warfare,
might easily have traced all those unerring evidences of the
ruthless results which attend an Indian vengeance.

Still, the sun rose on the Lenape a nation of mourners.
No shouts of success, no songs of triumph, were heard, in
rejoicings for their victory. The latest straggler had re-
turned from his fell employment, only to strip himself of the
terrific emblems of his bloody calling, and to join in the
lamentations of his countrymen, as a stricken people. Pride
and exultation were supplanted by humility, and the fiercest
of human passions was already nucceeded by the moat pn>
found and unequivocal demonstrations of grief.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 107

The lodges were deserted ; but a broad belt of earnest
faces encircled a spot in their vicinity, whither everything
possessing life had repaired, and where all were now collected,
in deep and awful silence. Though beings of every rank
and age, of both sexes, and of all pursuits, had united to
form this breathing wall of bodies, they were influenced by
a single emotion. Each eye was riveted on the centre of
that ring, which contained the objects of so much, and of so
common, an interest.

Six Delaware girls, with their long, dark, flowing tresses
falling loosely across their bosoms, stood apart, and only
gave proofs of their existence as they occasionally strewed
sweet-scented herbs and forest flowers on a litter of fragrant
plants, that, under a pall of Indian robes, supported all that
now remained of the ardent, high-souled, and generous Cora.
Her form was concealed in many" wrappers of the same
simple manufacture, and her face was shut forever from the
gaze of men. At her feet was seated the desolate Munro.
His aged head was bowed nearly to the earth, in compelled
submission to the stroke of Providence; but a hidden
anguish struggled about his furrowed brow, that was only
partially concealed by the careless locks of gray that had
fallen, neglected, on his temples. Gamut stood at his side,
his meek head bared to the rays of the sun, while his eyes,
wandering and concerned, seemed to be equally divided be-
tween that little volume, which contained so many quaint
but holy maxims, and the being in whose behalf his soul
yearned to administer consolation. Heyward was also nigh,
supporting himself against a tree, and endeavoring to keep
down those sudden risings of sorrow that it required his
utmost ma'^hood to subdue.

But sad and melancholy as this group may easily be
imagined, it was far less touching than another, that occu-
pied the opposite space of the same area. Seated, as in life,
with his form and limbs arranged in grave and decent com-
posure, Uncas appeared, arrayed in the most gorgeous orna-
ments that the wealth of the tribe could furnish. Rich
plumes nodded above his head ; wampum, gorgets, bracelets,
and medals, adeemed his person in proftision ; though his

408 THE LAST OF Tiii<i MOHICAN*.

dull eye and vacant lineaments too strongly contradicted die
idle tale of pride they would convey.

Directly in front of the corpse Chingachgook was placed,
without arms, paint, or adornment of any sort, except the
bright blue blazonry of his race, that was indelibly impressed
on his naked bosom.^ During the long period that the tribe
had been thus collected, the Mohican warrior had kept a
steady, anxious look on the cold and senseless countenance
of his son. So riveted and intense had been that gaze, and
so changeless his attitude, that a stranger might not have
told the living from the dead, but for the occasional gloam-
ings of a troubled spirit, that shot athwart the dark visage
of one, and the death-like calm that had forever settled ob
the lineaments of the other.

The scout was hard by, leaning in a pensive posture on
his own fatal and avenging weapon ; while Tamenund, sup-
ported by the elders of his nation, occupied a high place at
hand, whence he might look down on the mute and sorrow-
ful assemblage of his people.

Just within the inner edge of the circle stood a soldier,
in the military attire of a btrange nation ; and without it
was his war-horse, in the centre of a collection of mounted
domestics, seemingly in readiness to undertake some distant
journey. The vestments of the stranger announced him to
be one who held a responsible situation near the person of
the captain of the Canadas ; and who, as it would now
seem, finding his errand of peace frustrated by the fierce
impetuosity of his allies, was content to become a silent and
bad spectator of the fi:uits of a contest that he had arrived
too late to anticipate.

The day was drawing to the close of its first quarter, and
yet had the multitude maintained its breathing stillness since
its dawn. No sound louder than a stifled sob had been
heard among them, nor had even a limb been moved through-
out that long and painful period, except to perform the
simple and touching offerings that were made, f: . . *oe *o
time, in commemoration of the dead. The patience --ad for-
bearance of Indian fortitude could alone support such nn
appearance of abstraction, as seemed now to have turoe^
each dark and motionless figure into stone.

THE LAST OF THE MOHICaNS. 409

At length, the sage of the Delawares stretched forth an
*np, and leaning on the shoulders of his attendants, he arose
With an air as feeble as if another age had already inter-
vened between the man who had met his nation the
preceding day, and him who now tottered on his elevated
etand.

" Men of the Lenape ! " he said, in hollow tones, that
sounded like a voice charged with some prophetic mission ;
"the face of the Manitou is behind a cloud! his eye Lb
turned from you ; his ears are shut ; his tongue gives no
answer. You see Him not ; yet his judgments are before
you. Let your hearts be open and your spirits tell no lie.
Men of the Lenape ! the face of the Manitou is behind a
cloud."

As this simple and yet terrible annunciation stole on the
ears of the multitude, a stillness as deep and awful succeeded
as if the venerated spirit they worshipped had uttered the
words without the aid of human organs ; and even the
inanimate Uncas appeared a being of life, compared with the
humbled and submissive throng by whom he was surrounded.
As the immediate effect, however, gradually passed away, a
low murmur of voices commenced a sort of chant in honor
of the dead. The sounds were those of females, and were
thrillingly soft and wailing. The words were connected by
no regular continuation, but as one ceased another took up
the eulogy, or lamentation, whichever it might be called,
and gave vent to her emotions in such language as was sug-
gested by her feelings and the occasion. At intervals the
speaker was interrupted by general and loud bursts of sor-
row, during which the girls around the bier of Cora plucked
the plants and flowers blindly from her body, as if bewil-
dered with grief. But, in the mildei moments of their
plaint, these emblems of purity and sweetness were cast back
to their places, with every sign of tenderness and regret.
Though rendered less connected by many and general inter-
ruptions and outbreak! ngs, a translation of their language
would have contained a regular descant, which, in substance,
might have proved to possess a train of consecutive ideas.

A girl, selected for the task by her rank and qualifica

410 T£i: LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

tions, commenced by modest allusions to the qualities bf tb«
deceased warrior, embellishing her expressions with thos^
oriental images that the Indians have probably brought
mth them from the extremes of the other continent, and
which form of themselves a link to connect the ancient
histories of the two worlds. She called him the " panther
of his tribe ; " and described him as one whose moccasin left
no trail on the dews ; whose bound was like the leap of
the young fawn ; whose eye was brighter than a star in the
dark night ; and whose voice, in battle, was loud as the
thunder of the Manitou. She reminded him of the mother
who bore him, and dwelt forcibly on the happiness she
must feel in possessing such a son. She bade him tell her,
when they met in the world of spirits, that the Delaware
girls had shed tears above the grave of her child, and had
called her blessed.

Then, they who succeeded, changing their tones to a
milder and still more tender strain, alluded, with tha deli-
cacy and sensitiveness of women, to the stranger maiden,
who had left the upper earth at a time so near his own de*
parture, as to render the will of the Great Spirit too mani-
fest to be disregarded. They admonished him to be kind
to her, and to have consideration for her ignorance of those
arts which were so necessary to the comfort of a warrior
like himself. They dwelt upon her matchless beauty, and
on her noble resolution, without the taint of envy, and as
angels may be thought to delight in a superior excellence ;
adding, that these endowments should prove more than
equivalent for any little imperfections in her education.

After which, others again, in due succession, spoke to the
maiden herself, in the low, soft language of tenderness and
love. They exhorted her to be of cheerful mind, and to
fear nothing for her future welfare. A hunter would be
hei companion, who knew how to provide for her smallest
wants ; and a warrior was at her side who was able to pro-
tect her against every danger. They promised that her
path should be pleasant, and her burden light. They cau-
tioned her against unavailing regrets for the friends of he
youth, and the scenes where her fathers had dwelt ; assui'-

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 411

ing her that the " blessed hunting-grounds of the Lenape

contained vales as pleasant, streams as pure, and flowers aa
sweet, as the "heaven of the pale-faces." They advised
her to be attentive to the wants of her companion, and
never to forget the distinction which the Manitou had so
wisely established between them. Then, in a wild burst of
their chant, they sang with united voices the temper of the
Mohican's mind. They pronounced him noble, manly, and
generous ; all that became a warrior, and all that a maid
might love. Clothing their ideas in the most remote and
subtle images, they betrayed, that, in the short period of
their intercourse, they had discovered, with the intuitive
perception of their sex, the truant disposition of his inclina-
tions. The Delaware girls had found no favor in his eyes !
He was of a race that had once been lords on the shores of
the salt lake, and his wishes had led him back to a people
who dwelt about the graves of his fathers. Why should
not such a predilection be encouraged ! That she was of a
blood purer and richer than the rest of her nation, any eye
might have seen ; that she was equal to the dangers and
daring of a life in the woods, her conduct had proved ; and
now, they added, the " wise one of the earth " had trans-
planted her to a place where she would find congenial spir-
its, and might be forever happy.

Then, with another transition in voice and subject, allu*
sions were made to the virgin who wept in the adjacent
lodge. They compared her to flakes of snow ; as pure, aa
white, as brilliant, and as liable to melt in tl^e fierce heats
of summer, or congeal in the frosts of winter. They
doubted not that she was lovely in the eyes of the young
chief, whose skin and whose sorrow seemed so like her
own ; but, though far from expressing such a preference, it
was evident they deemed her less excellent than the maid
they mourned. Still they denied her no meed her rare
diarms might properly claim. Her ringlets were compared
to the exuberant tendrils of the vine, her eye to the blue
rault of the heavens, and the most spotless cloud, with its
glowing flush of the sun, was admitted to be less attractive
than hei bloom.

412 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

During these and similar songs nothing was audible \m\
the murmurs of the music ; relieved, as it was, or rather
rendered terrible, by those occasional bursts of grief which
might be called its choruses. The Delawares themselves
listened like charmed men ; and it was very apparent, by
the variations of their speaking countenances, how deep
and true was their sympathy. Even David was not reluc-
tant to lend his ears to the tones of voices so sweet ; and
long ere the chant was ended, his gaze announced that his
Boul was enthralled.

The scout, to whom alone, of all the white men, the
words were intelligible, suffered himself to be a little
aroused from his meditative posture, and bent his face
aside, to catch their meaning, as the girls proceeded. But
when they spoke of the future prospects of Cora and Tin-
eas, he shook his head, like one who knew the error of
their simple creed, and resuming his reclining attitude, he
maintained it until the ceremony — if that might be called
a ceremony, in which feeling was so deeply imbued — was
finished. Happily for the self-command of both Heyward
and Munro, they knew not the meaning of the wild sounds
they heard.

Chingachgook was a solitary exception to the interest
manifested by the native part of the audience. His look
never changed throughout the whole of the scene, nor did
a muscle move in his rigid countenance, even at the wildest
or the most pathetic parts of the lamentation. The cold
and senseless remains of his son was all to him, and every
other sense but that of sight seemed frozen, in order that
his eyes might take their final gaze at those lineaments he
had so long loved, and which were now about to be closed
forever from his view.

In this stage of the funeral obsequies, a warrior much
renowned for deeds in arms, and more especially for ser-
vices in the recent combat, a man of stern and grave
demeanor, advanced slowly from the crowd, and placed
himself nigh the person of the dead.

" Why hast thou left us, pride of the Wapanachki ? " he
saidj addressing himself to the dull ears of Uncas, as if th«

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 418

•Bip*y clay retained the faculties of the animated man,
" thy lime has been like that of the sun when in the trees ;
thy glory brighter than his light at noonday. Thou art
gone, youthful warrior, but a hundred Wyandots are clear-
ing the briers from thy path to the world of spirits. Who
that saw thee in battle would believe that thou couldst die ?
Who before thee has ever shown Uttawa the way into the
fight ? Thy feet were like the wings of eagles ; thine arm
heavier than falling branches from the pine ; and thy voice
like the Manitou when he speaks in the clouds. The
tongue of Uttawa is weak," he added, looking about him
with a melancholy gaze, " and his heart exceeding heavy.
Pride of the Wapanachki, why hast thou left us ? *'

He was succeeded by others, in due order, until most of
the high and gifted men of the nation had sung or spoken
their tribute of praise over the manes of the deceased chief.
When each had ended, another deep and breathing silence
reigned in all the place.

Then a low, deep sound was heard, like the suppressed
accompaniment of distant music, rising just high enough on
the air to be audible, and yet so indistinctly, as to leave its
character, and the place whence it proceeded, alike matters
of conjecture. It was, however, succeeded by another and
another strain, each in a higher key, until they grew on the
ear, first in long drawn and often repeated interjections, and
finally in words. The lips of Chingachgook had so far
parted, as to announce that it was the monody of the father.
Though not an eye was turned towards him^ nor the small-
est sign of impatience exhibited, it was apparent, by the
manner in which the multitude elevated their heads to lis-
ten, that they drank in the sounds with an in tenseness of
attention, that none but Tameuund himself had ever before
commanded. But they listened in vain. The strains rose
just so loud as to become intelligible, and then grew fainte:
and more trembling, until they finally sank on the ear, a&
if borne away by a passing breath of wind. The lips of
the Sagamore closed, and he remained silent in his seat,
looking, with his riveted eye and motionless form, like some
creature that had been turned from the Almighty bAod

414 THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.

with the form but without the spirit of a man. The De}»
wares, who knew by these symptoms that the mind of their
friend was not prepared for so mighty an effort of fortitude,
relaxed in their attention ; and, with an innate delicacy,
seemed to bestow all their thoughts on the obsequies of the
stranger maiden.

A signal was given, by one of the elder chiefs, to the
women who crowded that part of the circle near which the
body of Cora lay. Obedient to the sign, the girls raised the
bier to the elevation of their heads, and advanced with slow
and regulated steps, chanting, as they proceeded, another
wailing song in praise of the deceased. Gamut, who had
been a close observer of rites he deemed so heathenish, now
bent his head over the shoulder of the unconscious father,
whispering, —

" They move with the remains of thy child ; shall we not
follow, and see them interred with Christian burial ? "

Munro started, as if the last trumpet had sounded in his
ear, and bestowing one anxious and hurried glance around
him, he arose and followed in the simple train, with the mien
of a soldier, but bearing the full burden of a parent's suffer-
ing. His friends pressed around him with a sorrow that
was too strong to be termed sympathy — even the young
Frenchman joining in the procession, with the air of a man
who was sensibly touched at the early and melancholy fate
of one so lovely. But when the last and humblest female
of the tribe had joined in the wild, and yet ordered array,
the men of the Lenape contracted their circle, and formed
again around the person of Uncas, as silent, as grave, and
as motionless as before.

The place which had been chosen for the grave of Cora
was a little knoll, where a cluster of young and healthful
pines had taken root, forming of themselves a melancholy
and appropriate shade over the spot. On reaching it the
girls deposited their burden, and continued for many minutes
waiting, with characteristic patience, and native timidity, for
gome evidence that they whose feelings were most concerned
were content with the arrangement. At length the scouti
who alone understood their habits, said, in their own Ian
guag©,-^

THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS. 415

•* My daughters have done well ; the white iiicn thank
them."

Satisfied with this testimony in their favor, the girls pro-
ceeded to deposit the body in a shell, ingeniously, and not
inelegantly, fabricated of the bark of the birch ; after which
they lowered it into its dark and final abode. The ceremony
of covering the remains, and concealing the marks of the
fresh earth, by leaves and other natural and customary ob-
jects, was conducted with the same simple and silent forms.
But when the labors of the kind beings who had performed
these sad and friendly offices were so far completed, they
tesitated, in a way to show that they knew not how much
further they might proceed. It was in this stage of the rites
that the scout again addressed them : —

" My young women have done enough," he said ; " the
spirit of a pale-face has no need of food or raiment, their
gifts being according to the heaven of their color. I see,"
he added, glancing an eye at David, who was preparing his
book in a manner that indicated an intention to lead the way
in sacred song, " that one who better knows the Christian
fashions is about to speak."

The females stood modestly aside, and, from having been
the principal actors in the scene, they now became the meek
and attentive observers of that which followed. During the
time David was occupie'd in pouring out the pious feelings
of his spirit in this manner, not a sign of surprise, nor a look
of impatience, escaped them. They listened like those who
knew the meaning of the strange words, and ^peared as if
they felt the mingled emotions of sorrow, hope, and resigna-
tion, they were intended to convey.

Excited by the scene he had just witnessed, and perhapa
influenced by his own secret emotions, the master of song
exceeded his usual efforts. His full, rich voice was not
found to suffer by a comparison with the soft tones of the
girls ; and his more modulated strains possessed, at least for
the ears of those to whom they wero peculiarly addressed,
the additional power of intelligence. He ended the anthem,
as he had commenced it, in the midst of a grave axvi solemn
stillness.

416 THE LAST OP THE MOHICANS

When, however, the closing cadence had fallen on the eart
of his auditors, the secret, timorous glances of the eyes, and
the general, and yet subdued movement of the assemblage,
betrayed that something was expected from the father of
the deceased. Munro seemed sensible that the time was
come for him to exert what is, perhaps, the greatest effort
of which human nature is capable. He bared his gray locks,
and looked around the timid and quiet throng by which he
was encircled with a firm and collected countenance. Then
motioning with his hand for the scout to listen, he said, —

" Say to these kind and gentle females, that a heartbroken
And failing man returns them his thanks. Tell them, that
the Being we all worship, under different names, will be
mindful of their charity ; and that the time shall not be dis-
tant when we may assemble around his throne without dis-
tinction of sex, or rank, or color."

The scout listened to the tremulous voice in which the
veteran delivered these words, and shook his head slowly
when they were ended, as one who doubted their efficacy.

" To tell them this," he said, " would be to tell them that
the snows come not in the winter, or that the sun shines
fiercest when the trees are stripped of their leaves."

Then turning to the women, he made such a communica-
tion of the other's gratitude as he deemed most suited to the
capacities of his listeners. The head of Munro had already
sunk upon his chest, and he was again fast relapsing into
melancholy, when the young Frenchman before named ven-
tured to touch him lightly on the elbow. As soon as he had
gained the attention of the mourning old man, he pointed
towards a group of young Indians, who approached with a
light but closely covered litter, and then pointed upwards
towards the sun.

" I understand you, sir," returned Munro, with a voice
of forced firmness ; " I understand you. It is the will of
Heavsn, and I submit Cora, my child ! if the prayers of a
heartbroken father could avail thee now, how blessed shouldst
thou be I Come, gentlemen," he added, looking about him
with an air of lofty composure, though the anguish that
quivered in his faded countenance was far too powerful to be
cowcoftled, " our duty here is eud«d ; let us depart."

THE LA.Aji-OF THE MOHICANS. 4lt

Heyward gladly obeyed a summons that took them from
% spot where, each instant, he felt his self-control was about
to desert him. While his companions were mounting, how-
ever, he found time to press the hand of the scout, and to
repeat the terms of an engagement they had made, to meet
again within the posts of the British army. Then gladly
'browing himself into the saddle, he spurred his charger to
Jie side of the litter, whence low and stifled sobs alone an-
nounced the presence of Alice. In this manner, the head
of Munro again dropping on his bosom, with Heyward and
David following in sorrowing silence, and attended by the
aide of Montcalm with his guard, all the white men, with
the exception of Hawkeye, passed from before the eyes of
the Delawares, and were soon buried in the vast forests of
that region.

But the tie which, through their common calamity, had
united the feelings of these simple dwellers in the woods
with the strangers who had thus transiently visited them,
was not so easily broken. Years passed away before the
traditionary tale of the white maiden, and of the young war-
rior of the Mohicans, ceased to beguile the long nights and
tedious marches, or to animate their youthful and brave with
a desire for vengeance. Neither were the secondary actors
in these momentous incidents forgotten. Through the me-
dium of the scout, who served for years afterwards as a link
between them and civilized life, they learned, in an ver to
their inquiries, that the " Gray Head *' was speedily gathered
to his fathers — borne down, as was erroneously believed, by
his military misfortunes ; and that the " Open Hand *' had
conveyed his surviving daughter far into the settlements of
the " pale-faces," where her tears had at last ceased to flow,
and had been succeeded by the bright smiles which were
better suited to her joyous nature.

But ^hese were events of a time later than that which
concerns our tale. Deserted by all of his color, Hawkeye
returned to the spot where his own sympathies led him,
with a force that no ideal bond of union could bestow. He
was just in time to catch a parting look of the features of
Uncag, whom the Delawares were already inclosing in hifl
87

418 lUE LAST OF THE ■ ^ >.

tost vestments of skins. They paused to permit the lon^ng
and lingering gaze of the sturdy woodsman, and when il
was ended, the body was enveloped, never to be unclosed
ftgain. Then came a procession like the other, and the
whole nation was collected about the temporary grave of
the chief — temporary, because it was proper that, at some
future day, his bones should rest among those of his own
people.

The movement, like the feeling, had been simultaneous
and general. The same grave expression of grief, the
same rigid silence, and the same deference to the principal
mourner, were observed around the place of interment as
have been already described. The body was deposited in
an attitude of repose, facing the rising sun, with the imple-
ments of war and of the chase at hand, in readiness for the
final journey. An opening was left in the shell, by which
it was protected from the soil, for the spirit to communicate
with its earthly tenement, when necessary ; and the whole
was concealed from the instinct, and protected from the
ravages of the beasts of prey, with an ingenuity peculiar to
the natives. The manual rites then ceased, and all present
reverted to the more spiritual part of the ceremonies.

Chingachgook became once more the object of the com-
mon attention. He had not yet spoken, and something
consolatory and instructive was expected from so renowned
a chief on an occasion of such interest. Conscious of the
wishes of the people, the stern and self-restrained warrior
raised his face, which had latterly been buried in his robe,
and looked about him with a steady eye. His firmly com-
pressed and expressive lips then severed, and for the first
time during the long ceremonies his voice was distinctly
audible.

" Why do my brothers mourn ! " he said, regarding the
dark race of dejected warriors by whom he was environed;
'* why do my daughters weep ! that a young man has gone
to the happy hunting-grounds ; that a chief has filled his
time with honor ! He was good ; he was dutiful ; he was
brave. Who can deny it ? The Manitou had need of such
a warrior, and He has called him away. As for me, the sob

THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS. 419

and the father of* Uncas, I am a blazed pine, in a clearii^^
of the pale-faces. My race has gone from the shores of
the salt lake, and the hills of the Delawares. But who
can say that the Serpent of his tribe has forgotten his wis-
dom ? I am alone " —

" No, no," cried Ilawkeye, who had been gazing with a
yearning look at the rigid features of his friend, with some-
thing like his own self-command, but whose philosophy could
endure no longer ; " no, Sagamore, not alone. The gifts of
our colors may be different, but God has so placed us as to
journey in the same path. I have no kin, and I may also
say, like you, no people. He was your son, and a red-skin
by nature ; and it may be that your blood was nearer — but
if ever I forget the lad who has so often fou't at my side in
war, and slept at my side in peace, may He who made us
all, whatever may be our color or our gifts, forget me!
The boy has left us for a time ; but. Sagamore, you are not
alone."

Chingachgook grasped the hand that, in the warmth oi
feeling, the scout had stretched across the fresh earth, and
in that attitude of friendship these two sturdy and intrepid
woodsmen bowed their heads together, while scalding tears
fell to their feet, watering the gi-ave of Uncas like drops of
felling rain.

In the midst of the awfiil stillness with which such a
burst of feeling, coming, as it did, from the two most re-
nowned warriors of that region, was received, Tamenund
hfted his voice to disperse the multitude.

" It is enough," he said. " Go, children of the Lenape,
the anger of the Manitou is not done. Why should Tame-
nund stay ? The pale-faces are masters of the earth, and
the time of the red-men has not yet come again. My day
has been too long. In the morning I saw the sons of
Unamis happy and strong ; and yet, before the night ha«
come, have I lived to see the last warrior of the wise race
of the Mohicans."

APPENDIX.

NoTB A, Chaptbr L

Fort William Hewrt, and Fort Edward. — These forts, bafll
in the reign of Greorge II., were named by the commanders of the royal
forces, after two of the younger sons of Frederick, Prince of Wales.
These Princes were brothers of George III. Prince Edward, Duke
of York, died young. Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester,
married the widowed Lady Waldcgrave, the beautiful niece of Horace
Walpole. In allusion to these two Princes, Horace Walpole, in one
of his witty letters, says that society at that day was " like one of
Shakespeare's plays; Flourish, entr the Dukes of York and Gloa-
cester, and attendants."

Fort William Henry was not built until November, 1757, after the
repulse of Dieskau. There has been some onfusion in the historical
names given to this fort, the old French writers usually calling it
Fort George in connection with the name the English gave to the
Lake. It wasi not however until 1759 that General Amherst, after
his successful expedition against Ticonderoga, built another fort on
the site of the intrenched camp of Colonel Munro, and gave it the
name of Fort George.

NoTB B, Chapter HI.

" His body, which was nearly naked, presex^tei a terrific emblem of
Dea,th, drawn in intermingled colors of white and black." Page 23.

Many of the red warriors were singularly skillful in this pictorial
coloring of their faces, and figures. There appears to have been a
great variety in ttie designs, which in the most skillful hands assumed
•omething of the dignity of an art. An old writer gives the following
account of a painted warrior he had htmself seen. *' A man whom I
saw, had known how to paint three faces for himself, — one in front,
while on one side he appeared like the beak of an eagle, a little open,
the eye and the head perfect, and on the opposite side the same nose
represented a hog's snout, with a small eye, and showing the teeth
very ekillfully done."

* APPENDIX.

Note C, Chapter III.

" A hickory bow, and a good flint-head, drawn with ladian jndg
ment, and sent by an Indian eye." Page 25.

Smith in his " History of New York" says . " The Indian boya
strike a shilling " with their arrows, " five times in ten, at twelve or
fourteen yards distance. The men are superior marksmen.*'

Note D, Chapter m.

" My tribe is the grandfather of nations." Page 28.

The Lenni Lennape, or Delawar3s, were called " Grandfathers ** by
many other tribes, as the stock whence numerous branches had di
verged. Their traditions declared that they came from beyond the
Mississippi. Lenni Lennape means " Men of Men " — Men superior
to all others. Wahpanacki, another of their names, has the same sig-
nification. The Mohicans were among their "grandchildren."
They received the name of Delawares from the English who found
them on the river named by the colonists after Lord Delaware, a river
called by themselves Lennapi-hittuck. But the tribe was pleased to
receive the name of Delaware in English, as they learned it was the
title of a great chief, and names of adoption were considered honor
able among their race.

Note E, Chapter VI,

" The gourd of sweet water, and the venison in a trencher neatly
carved from the knot of the pepperidge." Page 57.

The Indians were skillful in carving wooden trenchers, and bowls,
even when the whites first appeared among them, and consequently
before they had any iron tools. They made use of fire, hard shells,
bones, and flint gouges, or hatchets, to shape their wooden ware. Their
dishes were often colored red. Gourds were the water vessels con-
stantly in use, before the whites came, as they cultivated several va-
rieties of the squash. They had, also, earthern water vessels of a rude
description, generally round, with a rim or lip. And it is said that
the women could also make bark vessels sufficiently tight to carry
water a short distance.

Note F, Chapter XII.

" Throwing aside the dried leaves, and opening the blue clay, out oi
which a clear and sparkling spring of bright, glancing water, quickly
bubbled." Page 136.

This description was intended for the principal spring at Ballston,
in its wild condition. The Indians were well aware of the medicinal
qualities of the waters at Saratoga and B;illston and frequently visited
that ground. The battle deecribed in this chapter is suppose<i to hav^

APPENDIX. 428

taken place on a hill, just above the springs at Ballston. Mr. Cooper
had recently visited the ground when he wrote this chapter.

Note G, Chaptbr XIII.

" One of those deserted works which, having been thrown up on an
emergency, had been abandoned with the disappearance of danger,
and was now quietly crumbling in the solitude of the forest." Page
143.

Many small forts and block-houses were built during the first half
of the last century throughout the extent of the northern frontiers
of the colony of New York, as defenses against the French and In-
dians. These works were especially numerous in the valley of the
Mohawk, on the Wood Creek, and in the Oswego country to the west-
ward — and also on the upper Hudson, and the head-waters of Lake
Champlain to the eastward. It was by these two routes that the
enemy of that period, the French in Canada, and their Indian allies,
made their dreaded inroads upon the colonists. Scarce a year pi\ssed
without the building of several of these block-houses, or petty forts,
to meet some emergency of the hour, and as the threatened danger
passed away they were neglected and forgotten.

Note H, Chapter XIV.

" * Three battles did we make with the French-Dutchman in a day,*

continued Hawk-eye * When all was over, the dead, and some

say the dying, were cast into that little pond. These eyes have seen
its waters colored with blood, as natural water never yet flowed from
the bowels of the 'arth." ' Page 155.

Natty is here supposed to have been present at the battle of Lake
George in 1755, and gives his version of the defeat of Dieskau. This
was the first conflict of any importance in which the shores of Lake
Andiatarocte, or the Horican as we may call it, were discolored by
the blood of the whites. It was the first occasion on which the roar of
artillery ever echoed from the surrounding mofintains. The colonial
governments had planned an attack on the French Font of St. Fred-
erick, or Crown Point, commanding Lake Champlain. Major-gen
eral William Johnson commanded the Colonial army. A French
force of 3,000 men, French Canadians and Indians, was hastily thrown
into Fort St. Frederick for its defense, and Major-general Deiskau, a
distinguished French officer, only recently arrived in Canada, received
the command. His orders were to march against the enemy without
delay, to attack them before their advance. Both armies moved ir
A.ugust ; General Johnson began to build a fort at what had been a
trading-port, called Lydius, at the bend of the Hudson — now to ba
Earned Fort Edward. He opened a wagon-road through the forest
the whole distance from Albany, sorae seventy miles, and advanced

424 APPENDIX.

with 3,400 men to the shores of the Horican, then a perfect wilderaeMl
His army was entirily composed of colonial militia, from New Eng-
land and New York, with some three hundred Indians. He named th»
wild lake after King George, and made some preparations towards
building a fort. A few pieces of artillery from Fort Edward were
the first cannon ever brought to the lake shore, where they arrived the
3d of September. In the first days of September, General Dieskau
hastened foi-ward from Fort St. Frederick, with 1,500 men, of whom
600 we e Indians, 680 Canadians, and 220 French regulars. It was hia
object to seize Fort Edward by a coup de main, cut off General John-
son's supplies, and then returning towards Lake George to attack him
in the rear at his camp on the lake shore. He arrived within a league
of Fort Edward, and bivouacked in the woods, intending to attack
the camp and fortifications at day-break. But his Iroquois allies re-
fused to move. They evidently had no desire to face the English
cannon or to attack their own kindred in the English army. The
Indians made more than a third of his force. They consented, how-
ever, to march against the camp on the lake shore, supposing that
they should find no cannon there. Both the Indians and Canadians
were at that period in mortal dread of artillery. Compelled thus to
change his plan, by the vacillation of one third of his force. General
Dieskau moved at day-break the following morning towards the lake
shore, by the new road recently cut through the forest. At noon on
the 8th they came up with an English corps of 1,000 men, under Colo-
nel Williams, marching to reinforce Fort Edward. This party was
completely routed and their gallant commander killed. Hendrick
or Soi-en-ga-rahta, the famous Mohawk chief, was also killed in
this skirmish. He fell by a wound in the back, considered a great
misfortune by his people. But there was probably no braver man,
white or red, in the army — and scarcely one of more native sa-
gacity, or eloquence. The gray-headed old chief was on horse-
back, which rendered him an easy mark to the Canadian sharp-
shooters. We may be sure that his body was not among those thrown
into the Bloody Pond — the red men would maneuver skillfully, and
fight long over the dead body of a chief, rather than yield it to the
enemy. In hot pursuit of the routed colonists, the French rushed
towards the camp. But here the tide of battle turned. The Ameri-
cans had strengthened their position, by hastily drawing up their wag-
ons as a barricade, and bringing all their guns into position to bear
upon the approaching enemy, whom they had not expected from that
quarter. They made a desperate defense. The Indians stood aloo^
and were thrown into agitation by the artillery, they wavered and re*
tired on one side. The Canadians followed their example. M. de
Dieskau, who had been at their head, left them in disgust ; he threw
hiuself in front of the French regulars, only 220, and ordered them to

APPENDIX. 425

charge the breastwork at the point of the bajonet Bat they were
too few for the work before them. They behaved with the utmost
gallantry, but were mown down by the artillery. The confasioq
among the Canadians and Indians increased. " Are these your boasted
troops ! " exclaimed M. de Dieskau as he lay severely wounded at the
foot of a tree. Seeing their advantage, the Americans, leaping over
their defenses with a loud shout, made a gallant sortie, and drove the
enemy in all directions.

By four o'clock the battle of Lake George was won. Both gene-
rals were severely wounded. M. de Dieskau received four separate
gun-shot wounds. He was treated with the utmost kindness, Ijoth in
the camp, and at Albany. A few months later he was sent to Europe,
where he died of his wounds.

The Americans, with an effective force of 2,200 men, lost 120 killed,
80 wounded, and 62 missiug. The French, out of a force of 1,600 men,
reported 132 killed, and 300 wounded, besides some fifty prisoners.

NoTB I, Chapter XVI.

" From the shock of this unexpected blow, the haughty feelings of
Monro never recovered." Page 194.

Lieutenant-colonel George Monro withdrew to Albany, after the
capitulation of Fort William Henry. In January, 1756, he was pro-
moted to a Colonelcy, as a reward of his brave defense, but he died in
February of the same year of a broken heart, it was said.

NoTB J, Chapter XIX.

" The great tie of language." Page 233.

As a specimen of the Delaware language — of which the Mohican
was a dialect — we give a few words: Ahoalau, to love. Paau, to
come. Pounissin, to go. Pilape, is a youth, from pilsit, innocent, and
lenape, a man. When a Delaware woman is playing* with a little dog
or kitten, she will often exclaim " Ktdigatchis ! " This means " What
a pretty little paw you have." This word is compounded in the fol-
lowing manner : Ku is the pronoun for thou or thy. Uli is from wulit^
pretty. Gat is from wichgat, which signifies kg, or paw. Schis is a di-
minutive, conveying the idea of littleness. Thus one word implies the
whole sentence. Namcesi-sipu is the Mississippi or river of fish. Sus-
quehanna they call the great river of the Bay — meaning Chesapeake
Bay. These passages are taken from Duponceau.

At a public council held between the English and Delawares and
Mohicans, about the middle erf the last century, the Delawares obneree^
* The Muliicans are our consins. We understand their speech."

426 APPENDIX.

Note K, Chapter XXI.

** Here we are within a short range of the Scaroon." Page 252.

Hawk-eye and his companions are supposed to have followed the
trail of the retreating Magna and his prisoners into the forests be*
tween the upper Hudson and the Horican, among the sources of the
Schroon, or Scaroon, as the author writes it. This river is a principal
branch, or tributary of the Hudson, flowing through a valley dotted
with small lakes and highland meres, with mountains overlooking its
course, both eastward and westward. The principal sheet of water,
Scaroon Lake, is some ten miles long, and a mile or two in width.
The author of the " Mohicans " had not marked out any particular
ground for the closing scenes of this romance, which may be supposed
to have occured in some one of the secluded valleys of the Adirondack
country, at no great distance from the Scaroon, to the westward of
that river.

Note L, Chapter XXL

" It would have been more wonderful had he spoken without a bid-
ding/' Page 253.

Zeisberger, the Moravian, relates a striking incident showing the
respectful silence of the young braves, in presence of the older men.
He was passing through the wilderness in Pennsylvania, on an errand
of importance, accompanied by several old men considered skillful
guides. There was a youth with the party. They came to a very
difficult pass — they found it impracticable, and prepared to choose
another track which would lengthen their journey a hundred miles.
Their young companion remained silent, but watchful. At length
he was asked for his opinion ; instantly he struck off in a new direc-
tion, through a pass previously known to him, leading directly to the
point where they wished to go. When asked why he had not spoken
earlier, he modestly observed it did not become him to speak in the
presence of the old men, unless invited to do so. It is said that the
public highway now passes over the track chosen by the young Del-
aware.

Note M, Chapter XXII.

" The great chief of their Tortoises." Page 269.

The importance attached to the tortoise by many tribes of the red
men is very marked. It was a part of the rude mythology of the
Lenni Lennape, or Delawares, that the earth rested on the back of %
tortoise. Their most important family clan was that of the Unamis
or Tortoise. And it would seem that among all those tribes subdi-
vided into distinct clans — and there were many such — the totem ov
emblem of the Tortoise always held a high position. Such was the
{act among: the Hur:>ns far to the northward, and also amtmg the Iixjr

APPENDIX. 42?

(jnois, as well as among the antagonist tribes of the Algonquin raoa
The tortoise being an amphibious animal, became in their eyes a my»-
tery — something supernatural.

NoTH N, Chapter XXIII.

" He used the language of the Wyandots, or Hurons." Page 278.

The Huron tribes, formerly very numerous in Canada, called them-
selves Ahondate, whence our English term of Wyandot. The French
gave them the name of Hurons from the word la hure, the upright
crest of hair, or mane rather of certain wild beasts, especially the
wild boar. These Wyandots wore their hair erect, and stiff, on the
crown of the head, giving them an especially fierce aspect, whence the
name of Hurons.

The Hurons had been all but exterminated in the previous centuiy
by the victorious Iroquois. Certain clans of them still existed, how-
ever, in close alliance with the French ; and among the many tribes
which accompanied M. de Montcalm in this expedition there were
two bands of Hurons, one from the vicinity of Montreal, the other
from Detroit.

We give the opening sentence of the Lord's Prayer in the Wyandot
or Huron speech. The letters must receive the French sound, as the
passage is taken from an early French Catechism.

'' Onaistau de arouhiae istar^."

Note 0, Chapter XXVlil.

" The name of Tamenund was whispered from mouth to mouth.**
Page 350.

There is but little known regarding the great chief of the Lenni
Lennape who bore this name. His existence is a mere tradition.
His people declared that he had been a renowned warrior, an orator of
wonderful eloquence and of unbounded influence. *His name was
held in the greatest reverence. He was said to have been wise above
all other red men and to have lived to a very great age. But at what
precise period this venerated chief lived, and died, has never been
clearly proved. The author of the " Mohicans " in conferring the same
name upon a venerable character of the last century, was only follow-
img a practice common among the red men, that of handing down the
names of their greatest chiefs to succeeding generations as so many
titles of honor. It is said indeed that the Delawares on the Ohio con-
ferred the name of " Tamenund," upon an American officer, whose
r>.urag'3 and wisdom they admired, as an especial honor, as late as
I77<k

428 APPENDIX.

Note P, Thb MoBAviANt.

The Moravians first came to America in 1735, in connection wftih

Wbitefield's missionary labors in Georgia. They settled among the
Creeks, near Savannah. In 1 740 a Moravian brother. Christian Hein-
rich Rauch, arrived in New York, with the pious design of preaching
the Gospel to the Indians. Very soon after landing he fell in with
two Mohicans from Shekomeko, or " Pine Plains," a village between
the Hudson and the Connecticut near the Stissick mountain, and ac-
companied them to their home. The Spaniards molested the Mo-
ravians in Georgia, and they removed in 1740 to Pennsylvania; where
they found that Whitefield had purchased land at a spot he called
Nazareth, and built a large stone house intending to open a school for
negroes. This property was bought by Count Zinzendorf, the leader
of the Moravians. In September, 1 742, Zinzendorf organized a regular
Moravian mission at Shekomeko ; his lovely daughter Benigna went
with him. The good brothers had built themselves bark huts, and in
1743 they built a bark chapel thirty by twenty. There was at first
much opposition to their efforts, not only from the Indians but also
from the neighboring whites. But patiently and faithfully they per-
severed, until a few hearts were touched, and several converts were
baptized ; among them, the two whom Rauch had first met in New
York. The Brothers dressed like Indians, supporting themselves and
their families, for they were married men, by the work of their hands.
So successful was their preaching after a time that religious feeling
was aroused, not only among the Mohicans, and the Scaticokes, a
mixed tribe, living on the upper Housatonic and the borders of New
York, but also among the white population of several neighboring
villajjes. Among the Scaticokes, Manhewu, of Pequot descent, and
about one hundred and fifty of his people, were baptized. A general
reformation in the character of these Indians was effected ; their
morals became pure, they spent much time in public and private
prayer. Their church was filled with attentive worshippers. But this
did not satisfy the dissolute traders, who always gather like foul birds
of prey about the poor Indians. These men spread lying reports about
the missionaries, accusing them of being emissaries from Canada.
They were harassed in many ways. They were accused of being
French Jesuits in disguise. Governor Clinton of New York was in-
formed in July, 1744, that "several persons at Shecomico in Dutchess
County, calling themselves Moravians, had endeavored to seduce the
Indians from their allegiance ; " he accordingly ordered Colonel
Beekman, sheriff of the county and commander of the militia, to in-
quire into the matter. Colonel Beekman went from " Pikipsi," and
reported in due time that there were four Moravian priests, and
vany Indians at Shekomeko ; that the sheriff, justice of th« peaoib g

APPENDIX. 429

and eight othere had been to Shekomeko ; they found the Indians ai
work on their plantations, who seemed in great conaternation at their
approach, but received them civilly ; tkey searched for ammunition but
found none ; for arms but found only as few guns as could be expected
for forty-four men. The justice upbraided the priests, who " nre-
tended that their function was only to gain souls among the heathens,
and declared that they held a Commission from the Archbishop of
Canterbury, and were ready to show their credentials. The Moravi-
ans were required to take the oath of allegiance, but declined " through
a scruple of conscience against swearing." The High Sheritf was then
instructed to order these Moravians to New York. He joon reports
that he has been to Shekomeko, " a place in the remotest part of that
county," where he found three Moravian priests with their families,
in a block-house, and sixteen wigwams of Indians " round about."
He perceived nothing disorderly, but ordered the Moravians to New
York. In August these worthy men appeared before the Governor
and Council ; they declared that they crossed the ocean merely to in-
struct the Indians in the Gospel of Christ. " Being asked how they
dared come into this country and reside among the Indians without
acquainting the Government with their design, they answered they
thought this country gave liberty of conscience to all, that they might
exercise their religion freely." They further testified that they
worked for their livelihood, planting Indian corn and wheat, on land
belonging to the Indians ; that they were married men, and lived in a
liouse built by themselves, that Count Zinzendorf had been at Sheko-
meko ; that compassion in their hearts for the ignorance and condi-
tion of the Indians moved them to come and preach to them. The
result of these proceedings was that the Moravians were ordered " to
desist from farther teaching, or preaching among the Indians and to
depart this province." This " strange, surprising, and audacious con-
duct of the Moravians," led moreover to the passing of an especial act
against these worthy Christian people, a few weeks later. They were
forbidden to reside among the Indians without a lioanse, and taking
the oaths of allegiance. The license they could not procure without
the oath, which according to their doctrine they could not conscien-
tiously take. Thus they were finally driven from the colony of New
York. They removed to their countrymen at " Friedenhiitten," or
huts of peace, at Bethlehem, and at " Gnadenhiitten," or huts of grace,
at the junction of the Mahony and Lehigh. They were mobbed on
their journey, at Esopus. The people of New York now seized the
lands of the Indians, and set a guard to prevent the Moravians from
returning to preach there. A large number of Mohicans followed the
Moravians to Pennsylvania. The Scaticokes removed almost to a
man. A longing for their old homes, however, brought many back
after a while, and having no longer any Christian instr^iction thoj

4J^0 APPENDIX.

pradnally fell back, through ignorance, into their old ways. The fl©
sire of the traders was carried out — their victims were morally
ruined.

Meanwhile the Moravians became deeply interested in the Dela*
wares ai.l Mohicans of Pennsylvania, and acquired great influence
over them. The Moravian Brothers were repeatedly employed by
the Government of Pennsylvania, in moments of great peril to the
Colony, to exert their peaceful influence over the Delawares and other
kindred tribes, and to induce them to withdraw from the French
alliance. During seventy years from the settlement of Pennsylvania,
at a period when New England and New York were in a state of con-
stant terror from attacks of the Indians, the peaceful colony of Penn
waa entirely free from danger of that kind. The Delawares were very
good friends with the " Quakels," as they called their neighbors.
They had an especial regard for the Moravians, by whom many were
converted and partially civilized. These Mora\aan Delawares and
Mohicans were very kind-hearted. A white man and his wife came
weeping to one of their lodges one day ; they had lost their child,
who had wandered into the forest ; their white neighbors had searched
in vain, could the Christian Indians help them ? Several red men left
their lodges instantly and went into the forest ; they set out from the
door of the white man, and followed the child's track, step by step,
over ground where the parents had seen no trace of its having passed,
and at length after penetrating two miles into the forest they found
the child wrapped in its petticoat, hungry and shivering with cold,
and restored it to the parents. These Moravian Delawares were
shrewd too. One night a Brother found that the Indians had turned
their horses into a Moravian meadow to feed there. He reproached
the Indians, " TeU me," was their answer, " who made the grass grow ?
Can you make it grow ? No one can do that but the Manitou ; he
makes it grow for your horses and mine. Grass and game are com-
mon to all. Did you ever eat venison or bear's meat? " " Yes, very
often." "Did any Indian ever complain of it ? ** "No." "Very
well then, don't complain if our horses have eaten what you call your
grass once ; for the grass, like the game you have eaten, were given
to Indians by the Great Spirit. You will see that our horses have
not eaten all your grass ; nevertheless to please you I will never again
put my horse in your meadow."

But the Moravians and their Indian converts were soon drawn into
very serious troubles. The greed of land at length threw Pennsyl-
vania into confusion. The colony of Connecticut claimed in right of
its charter, to own all lands to the extent of its own breadth, from
ocean to ocean 1 A land company was formed, called the " Susque-
hanna company," whose object was to make a settlement at Wyom-
ing; they also founded a "Delaware company." Purchases wert

APPENDIX. 431

made of the Indians for a nominal value. The Pennsylvaniaiui were
aLarmed, held councils with the Indians, and made nominal purchases
between the Blue Mountains and the forks of the Susquehanna. Dis«
putes and misunderstandings followed ; the Indians became jealous of
the whites, and the Delawares began to look upon the colonists as
enemies. They began to call them " Schwannack " — vile, bitter.
And about the same period the French, moving along the western
boundaries of the colony, and profiting by the dissatisfaction of the
Indians, brought their usual skillful diplomacy into action and suc-
ceeded in breaking the old alliance between the English and the
Lenni Lenape. The usual horrors of Indian warfare followed. And
it was owing in a great measure to the courage and prudence and
Christian charity of the Moravian Brothers, supported by the more
wise and just policy of Sir William Johnson, that peace was restored
in 1758.

Bethlehem or Friedenhiitten soon became a very important posi
tion of the Moravians, next to the mother establishment at Herrnhut
in Germany. A devout, simple minded, industrious people, the Mora-
vians are generally respected wherever they are found. They still
have charge of a mission to a fragment of the Delaware tribe, now in
Canada. They have also another mission to a considerable Delaware
band on the eastern border of the state of Kansas, where there were
recently 2,500 souls, on a tract of 370,000 acres of fine land.

Note Q, Chapter XXXIII.

" The bright blue blazonry of his race, that was indelibly impressed
on his naked bosom." Page 408.

Both the Delawares and Mohican* were occasionally tattooed. So
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