 Chapter 30 of The Last of the Mohicans. A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Chapter 30 Quote, if you deny me, fire upon your law. There is no force in the decrees of Venice. I stand for judgment. Answer, shall I have it? Merchant of Venice. The silence continued unbroken by human sounds for many anxious minutes. Then the waving multitude opened and shut again and Anka stood in the living circle. All those eyes which had been curiously studying the linements of the sage as the source of their own intelligence turned on the instant and were now bent in secret admiration 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 disturbed the self-possession of the young Mohican. He cast a deliberate and observing look on every side of him, meeting 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 Tamanand 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. Where 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 manateau? demanded the patriarch, without enclosing his eyes. Like his father's, Ancus replied, with a tongue of the Delaware. At this sudden and unexpected enunciation a low, fierce yell ran through the multitude that might not inaptly be compared to the growl of the lion as his collar is first awakened, fearful omen of the weight of his future anger. The effect was equally strong on the sage, though differently exhibited. He passed his hand before his eyes, if to exclude the least evidence of so shameful a spectacle, while he repeated his low, guttural tones, the words he had just heard. A Delaware? I have lived to see the tribes of the Lenape driven from their councilfires and scattered like broken herds of deer among the hills of the Iroquois. I have seen the hatchets of a strong people sweep woods from the valleys and the winds of heaven have spared. The beasts that run on the mountains and the birds that fly above the trees have I seen living in the wig moms of men. But never before have I found a Delaware so base as to creep like a poisonous serpent into the camps of his nation. The singing birds have opened their bills. Tamanund returned Uncus in the softest notes of his own musical voice and Tamanund has heard their song. The sage started and bent his head aside as if to catch the fleeting sounds of some passing melody. Does Taman 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 acceded this incoherent burst from the lips of the Delaware prophet. His people readily constructed his unintelligible language into 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 recollection of the subject before him, ventured to remind him again of the presence of the prisoner. The false Delaware dribbles, lest he should hear the words of Tamanund, he said. There's a hum that howls when the Yankees show him a trail. And ye, returned Uncus, looking sternly around him, are dogs that whine when the Frenchmen cast the oafles of his deer. Twenty knives gleamed in the air and as many warriors 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 Tamanund 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, but 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 a breath drawn louder and longer than common, until the closing syllable of this final decree had passed the lips of Tamanund. 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 intentions. In the midst of these prolonged and savage yells a chief proclaimed in a high voice that the captive was condemned 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. Hayward struggled madly with his captors. The anxious eye of Hawkeye began to look around him with an expression of peculiar earnestness and Cora again threw herself at the feet of the patriarch, once more a suppliant for mercy. Throughout the whole of these trying moments, Uncus had alone preserved his serenity. He looked on the preparations 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 toward his unresisting victim and prepared to lead him to the stake. But at that moment when he appeared most a stranger to the feeling of humanities, the purpose of the savage was arrested, as suddenly as if a supernatural agency had interposed in the behalf of Uncus. The eyes 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 Uncus 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 millennia, he said, My race upholds the earth. Your feeble tribes stand on my shell. What fire that a Delaware can light would burn the child of my fathers? He added, pointing proudly to the simple blazingry on his skin, that blood that came from such a stalk would smother your flames. My race is the grandfather of nations. Who art thou? demanded tominant, rising at the starling tones he heard, more than any meaning conveyed by the language of the prisoner. Uncus, son of Chinchkaachcook, answered the captive modestly, turning from the nation and bending his head in reverence to the other's character in years. A son of the great, unanimous footnote, turtle, and footnote. The hour of timonin is nigh, exclaimed the sage. The day is come at last to the night. I thank the men at all. The one is here to film my place at the council fire. Uncus, the child of Uncus, is found, that the eyes of a dying eagle gaze on the rising sun. The youth stepped lightly but proudly on the platform, where he became visible to the whole agitated and wandering multitude. Timonin held him long at the length of his arm and read every turn in the fine liniments of his countenance, with the untiring gaze of one who recalled days of happiness. Yes, timonin, a boy, at length the bewildered prophet exclaimed, have I dreamed of so many snows that my people were scattered like floating sands of yengis, more plenty than the leaves on the trees. The arrow of timonin 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 Uncus before him, as they went to battle against the palefaces. Uncus, the panther of his tribe, the eldest son of the lennopy, the wisest, Sagamore of the Mohicans. Tell me, ye Delaware's, has timonin been a sleeper for a hundred winters? The calm and deep silence which seceded these words sufficiently announced the awful reverence with which his people received all communication of the patriarch. None dared to answer, though all listened in breathless expectation of what might follow. Uncus, however, looking in his face with the fondness and veneration of a favored child, presumed on his own high and acknowledged rank to reply, four warriors of his race have lived and died, he said, since the fire of timonin led his people to battle, the blood of the turtle has been in many waves, but all have gone back into the earth from whence they came, except Chinggachcook 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 changed race were in the hills of the Yangis. Why have their seats at the council fires of the Delaware's 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 it once and forever the policy of his family he said aloud, once we slept where we could hear the Salt Lake speak of his anger. Then we were rulers and Sagamores over the land, but when a pale face was seen on every brook we followed the deer back to the river of our nation. The Delaware's are gone, few warriors of them all stayed to drink of the stream they love. They said, my fathers, here will we hunt, the waters of the river go into the Salt Lake. If we go toward the setting sun, we shall find streams that run into the great lakes of the sweet water. There would a mehican die like fishes of the sea in the clear springs. When the manateau is ready and shall say come, we will follow the river to the sea and take our own again. Such Delaware's is the belief of the children of the turtle. Our eyes are on the rising and not toward the setting sun. We know whence he comes. But we know not whether he goes. It is enough. The men of the Lennipi listen to his words with all the respect that superstition could lend, finding a secret charm even in the figurative language with which the young Sagamore imparted his ideas. Uncus 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, permitting his looks to wonder over the silent throng that crowded around the elevated seat of Tamanund, he first perceived Hawkeye in his balance. Stepping eagerly from his stand, he made way for himself to the side of his friend, and cutting his thong 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, Uncus stood the scout by the hand and led him to the feet of the patriarch. Father, he said, look at his pale face, a just man, and the friend of the Delaware's. Is he a son of Minkwon? Not so, a warrior known to the Ingis and feared by the Mokwas. What name has he gained by his deeds? We call him Hawkeye. Uncus replied, using the Delaware phrase, for his sight never fails. The mingos know him better by the death he gives their warriors. With them he is the long rifle. That long carabine, exclaimed Tamanund, opening his eyes and regarding the scout sternly. My son has not done well to call him friend. I call him soul, who proves himself such, returned the young chief, with great calmness but with a steady mean. If Uncus is welcome among the Delaware's, then is Hawkeye with his friends. The pale face has slain my young man. His name is great for the blows he has struck the Lannopy. If Amingo 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 vindicate himself from such offensive charges, and who spoke as the man he addressed, modifying his Indian figures, however with his own peculiar notions, that I have slain the Mokwas. I am not the man to deny, even at their own council fires. But that knowingly my hand has never harmed the Delaware is opposed to the reason of my gifts, which is friendly to them, and all that belongs to their nation. A low exclamation of applause passed among the warriors who exchanged looks at each other, like men that first began to perceive their lives. Where is the Huron? demanded Tamanund. Has he stopped my ears? Mokwa, whose feelings during that scene in which Uncus had triumphed, may be much better imagined than described. Answered to the call by stepping boldly in front of the patriarch. That just Tamanund, he said, will not keep what the Huron has lent. Tell me, son, of my brother, return the sage, avoiding the dark countenance of Laysubtil, and turning gladly to the more ingenious features of Uncus. Has the stranger the 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. Let long Caribbean last at the mingos. Go, Huron. Ask your squalls the color of a bear. The stranger and white maiden that come into my camp together should journey an open path. And the woman that Huron left with my warriors, Uncus made a reply. And the woman that the mingo has brought into my camp? Repeated Tamanund gravely. She is mine, cried Mokwa, shaking his hand in triumph at Uncus. Mohican, you know that she is mine. My son is silent, said Tamanund, 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 seceded, during which it was very apparent with what reluctance the multitude admitted the justice of the mingo's claim, at length the sage, on whom alone the decision depended, said in a firm voice. Huron depart. As he came, just Tamanund demanded the wile Mokwa, or with hands filled with the faith of the Delaware's. The wigwam of Lerunay Subtil is empty. Make him strong with his own. The aged man mused with himself for a while, and then bending his head toward 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 takes thee to wife. Go, thy race will not end. Better a thousand times it should, exclaimed the horror strakora, than meet with such a degradation. But her mind is in the tense of her father's. An unwilling maiden makes an unhappy wigwam. She speaks the tongue of her people, returned Mokwa, regarding his victim with a look of bitter irony. She is of a race of traitors, and will bargain for a bright look. Let Tamanund speak the words. Take you, the wampum, and our love. Nothing hens but what Mokwa brought hither. Then depart with thine own. The great manateau forbids that a Delaware should be unjust. Mokwa advanced, and seized his captive strongly by the arm. The Delaware's fell back in silence, and Cora, as if that remonstrance would be useless. Prepare 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. Mokwa is a red skin. He wants not the beads of the pale faces. Gold, silver, powder, lead, all that the warrior needs shall be in thy wigwam, all that becomes the greatest chief. Laysubtil is very strong, cried Mokwa, violently shaking the hand which grasped the unresisting arm of Cora. He has his revenge. Mighty ruler of Providence, exclaimed Hayward, clasping his hands together in agony. Can't this be suffered? Do you, Chastamanon, I appeal for your mercy! The words of the Delaware are said, returned the sage, closing his eyes and dropping back into his seat, alike wearied with his mental and bodily exertion. Men speak not twice. That a chief should not misspend his time and saying what has 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, any more of your warriors will meet me in the woods. Put it to your judgment, then, whether 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 Magwa hesitatingly, for he had already made a motion toward quitting 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 Magwa listened to his proposal. It would be an unequal exchange to give a warrior in the prime of his age in usefulness for the best woman on the frontiers. I might consent to go into winter quarters now. At least six weeks before the leaves will turn, on condition you will release the maiden. Magwa shook his head and made an impatient sigh 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 Kildir into the bargain. Take the word of an experienced hunter. The peace has not its equal between the provinces. Magwa 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 weapon, it would smooth the little differences in our judgments. Léonard fiercely ordered the Delaware's 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 of the infallible justice of their prophet. What is ordered must sooner or later arrive, continued Hawkeye, turning with a sad and humbled look to Uncus. The varlet knows his advantage 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 later I must die. It is, therefore, fortunate there are but few to make my death-how. 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. You added the rugged woodsman, bending his head aside and then instantly changing its direction again with a wistful look toward the youth. I love both you and your father, Uncus. 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 depend 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 hark, ye lad, as your natural gifts don't deny you the use of vengeance, use it a little freely on the mingos. It may unburden grease at my loss and ease your mind. Huron, I accept your offer. Release 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 pleasure at the manliness of the intended sacrifice. Rock was 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 Tatler. We will go. The maiden drew back in lofty womanly reserve and her dark eye kindled while the rich bloodshot, like 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 follow even to my death. But violence is unnecessary, she coldly said. And immediately, turning to Hawkeye added, Generous hunter, from my soul I thank you. Your offer is vain. Neither could it be accepted. But still you may serve me. Even more than in your own noble intention. Look at that drooping humble child. Abandon her not until you leave her in the habitations of civilized men. I will not say, ringing the hard hand of the scout, that her father will reward you for such as you are above the rewards of men. But he will thank you and bless you. And believe me, the blessing of a just and ancient man has virtue in the sight of heaven. Would to God I could hear one word from his lips at this awful moment. Her voice became choked, and for an instant she was silent. Then, advancing a step nire 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 struggle. What need not tell you to cherish the treasure you possess? You love her, Ayward. That would conceal a thousand thoughts. 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, oh, oh, 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, perhaps, than core reason would approve that I will spare you and myself. Her voice became inaudible, and her 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 without 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 follow. I go, cried Duncan, placing Alice in the arms of an Indian girl. Go, Magwa, go! These Delaware's have their laws which forbid them to detain you. But I, I have no such obligation. Go, malignant monster, why do you delay? It would be difficult to describe the expression with which Magwa listened to this threat to follow. There was at first a fierce and manifest display of joy, and then it was instantly subdued in a look of cunning coldness. The words 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 your death. Huron, interrupted Uncus, who submissive to the stern customs of his people, had been an attentive and grave listener to all that passed. Huron, the justice of the Delaware's 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 Magwa 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 Delaware's? 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 jibes were listened to in a dead, boating silence. And with these biting words in his mouth, the triumphant Magwa passed unmolested into the forest, followed by his passive captive, and protected by the inviolable laws of Indian hospitality. End of Chapter 30 This reading by Gary W. Sherwin in Yukon, Pennsylvania, in January of 2008. Chapter 31 of The Last of the Mohicans A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Chapter 31 Quote, So long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the multitude remained motionless as beings charmed to the place by some power that was friendly to Tehran. But the instant he disappeared, it became tossed and adorned by the enemy. And so long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight, the multitude remained motionless as beings charmed to the place by some power that was friendly to Tehran. But the instant he disappeared, it became tossed and agitated by fierce and powerful passion. Uncus maintained his elevated stand, keeping his eyes on the form of Korra 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 attentive warriors who caught the gleams of anger that shot from the eyes of the young chief in passing, followed him to the place he had selected for his meditations, after which Tamanun and Alice were removed and the women and the children were ordered to disperse. During the momentous hour that seceded, the encampment resembled a hive of troubled bees who only awaited the appearance and example of their leader to take some distance and momentous flight. A young warrior at length issued from the lodge of Uncus and, moving deliberately with a sort of grave march toward a dwarf pine that grew in the crevices of the rocky terrace, he tore the bark from its body and then turned once he came without speaking. He was soon followed by another who stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked and blazed trunk. Footnote. A tree which has been partially or entirely stripped of its bark is said in the language of the country to be blazed. The term is strictly English, for a horse is said to be blazed when it has a white mark. And footnote. A third colored the post with stripes of a dark red paint, all which indications of a hostile design in the leaders of the nation were received by the men without in a gloomy and ominous silence. Finally 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. Uncus moved with a slow and dignified tread toward 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 plaintive, even rivaling the melody of birds, and then, by sudden and startling transitions, causing the auditors to tremble by their depth and energy. The words were few and often repeated, preceding 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 acknowledgment of his own dependence on the Great Spirit. If it were possible to translate the comprehensive and melodious language in which he spoke, the Ode might read something like the following, Manito, Manito, Manito, thou art great, thou art good, thou art wise, Manito, Manito, thou art just, in the heavens, in the clouds, O I see many spots, many dark, many red, in the heavens, O I see many clouds, in the woods, in the air, O I hear the hoop, the long yell, and this cry, in the woods, O I hear the loud hoop. Manito, Manito, Manito, I am weak, thou art strong, I am slow, Manito, Manito, 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, that was 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-hoop, which burst from the lips of the young warrior like a combination of 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 esteemed chief of the Lannopy followed his example, singing words of his own, however, to music of similar character. Warrior after warrior enlisted in the dance, until all of any renowned 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 guttural tones. Just then Uncus 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 passions of the nation, a hundred youths who had here to been restrained by the diffidence of their years, rushed in a frantic body on the fancied emblem of their enemy, and severed it asunder, splinter by splendor, until nothing remained of the trunk but its roots in the earth. During this moment of tumult the ruthless deeds of war were performed on the fragments of the tree, with as much apparent ferocity as if they were the living victims of their cruelty. Some were scalped, some received the keen and trembling axe, and others suffered thrust from the fatal 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 Uncus had struck the blow, he moved out of the circle and cast his eyes up to the sun, which was just gaining the point whence the truce with Maqua was to end. The fact was soon announced by a significant gesture accompanied by a corresponding cry, and the whole of 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 still as if they were incapable of any uncommon burst of emotion. On the other hand the women broke out of the lodges with songs of joy and those of lamentation, so strangely mixed that it might have been difficult to have said which passion preponderated. None, however, was idle. Some bore their choices 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 Tamanund also retired with calm composure after a short and touching interview with Uncus, from whom the sage separated with the reluctance that a parent would quit a long lost and just recovered child. In the meantime Duncan saw Alice to a place of safety, and then sought the scout with accountants 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 passing 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 Uncus 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 material point was so satisfactorily decided, he dispatched an Indian boy in quest of kill-deer and the rifle of Uncus to the place where they had deposited their weapons on approaching the camp of the Delaware's. A measure of double policy, inasmuch to protect 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 means of defense and substance. In selecting another to perform the office of reclaiming his highly prized rifle, the scout had lost sight of none of his habitual caution. He knew that Magwa had not come unattended, 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 himself 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 Hayward joined him, the scout was coolly awaiting the result of this experiment. The boy, who had been well instructed and was sufficiently 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 toward 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 contemptuous 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 guns in triumph, while he moved with the air of a conqueror toward 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 a letter with a satisfaction that momentarily drove all other recollections from his mind. After examining the piece with an intelligent eye, and opening and shutting the pan for some ten or fifteen times, and trying sundry other equally important experiments on the lock, he turned to the boy and demanded with great manifestations of kindness, if he was hurt. The urchin looked proudly up in his face, but made no reply. Ah, I see lad, the navels 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 altar will act like a charm. In the meantime I will wrap it in a bandage of wampum. You have commenced the business of a warrior early, my brave boy, and are likely to bear plenty of honorable scars to your grave. I know many young men that have taken scalps that 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 bludgeoning 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 general notice and commendation it would have received under milder auspices. It had, however, served to apprise the Delaware's of the position and intentions of their enemies. Accordingly a party of adventurers better suited to the task than the weak, though spirited boy, was ordered to dislodge the scalpers. The duty was soon performed, for most of the part of themselves when they found they had been discovered. The Delaware's 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 solitude could render them. The calm but still impatient Unkas now he presented Hawkeye as a warrior often tried and always found deserving of confidence. When he found his friend met with a favorable reception, he bestowed on him the command of twenty men like himself active, skillful, and resolute. He gave the Delaware's to understand the rank of Hayward among the troops of the Anguise and then tendered to him a trust of equal authority. But Duncan declined the charge professing his readiness to serve as a volunteer by the side of the scout. After this disposition the young Mohican appointed various native chiefs to fill the different situations of responsibility. 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 have any living objects which could either give the alarm or furnish the intelligence they needed until they came upon the lairs of their own scouts. Here a halt was ordered and the chiefs were assembled to hold a whispering council. At this meeting diverse plans of operation were suggested, though none of a character to meet the wishes of their ardent leader. Had Unkas followed the promptings led his followers to the charge without a moment's delay and put the conflict to the hazard of an instant issue. But such of course would have been in opposition to all the received practices and opinions of his countrymen. He was therefore feigned to adopt the caution that in the present temper of his mind he extricated and to listen to advice at which his fiery spirit shaped under the vivid chorus danger and mock was insolence. 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 stranger hesitated appeared uncertain what course to take and finally halted. All eyes were turned now on Unkas as if seeking directions how to proceed. Hukai said the young chief in a low voice. He 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 his deliberate and fatal aim. But instead of pulling the trigger he lowered the muzzle again and indulged himself in a fit of his peculiar mirth. I took the inframingo as I am a miserable sinner he said. But when my eye ranged along his ribs for a place to get the bullet in would you think it, Unkas? I saw the musicianers blower and so after all it is the man they call Gamut whose death can profit no one and whose life, if this tongue can do anything but sing, may be made serviceable to our own ends. If sounds have not lost their virtue I'll soon have a discourse with the honest fellow and that in a voice he'll find more agreeable than the speech of Kildere. So saying Hukai laid aside his rifle and crawling through the bushes until with him hearing of David he attempted to repeat the musical effort which had conducted himself with so much safety and he clot 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 Hukai to produce a similar noise. And consequently having once before heard the sounds he now knew whence they proceeded. The poor fellow appeared relieved from the state of great embarrassment for pursuing the direction of the voice a task that to him was not much less arduous than it would have been to have gone up in the face of a battery. He soon discovered the hidden Songster. I wonder what the Hurons will think of that, said the scout laughing as he took his companion by the arm and urged him toward the rear. If the Naves lie within earshot they will say there are two non-composers instead of one but here we are safe he added pointing to Ankasen 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 faculties so far as to make an intelligent reply. The heathen are abroad in goodly numbers, said David. And I fear their evil intent. There has been much howling and ungodly revelry, together with such sounds as it is profanity utter. In their habitations within the past hour so much so in truth that I have fled to the Delaware's in search of peace. Your ears might not have profited much by the exchange had you been quicker afoot returned the scout a little dryly. But let that be as it may. Where are the Hurons? They lie hidden in the forests between this spot in their village in such force that prudence would teach you instantly to return. Uncus cast a glance along the range of trees which concealed his own band and mentioned the name of Makwa. He is among them. He brought in the maiden that had so germ with the Delaware's and leaving her in the cave like a raging wolf at the head of his savages. I know not what has troubled his spirit so great. He has left her, you say, in the cave interrupted Hayward to as well that we know its situation. May not something be done for her instant relief? Uncus looked earnestly at the scout before he asked. What says Hawkeye? Give me 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 hoop from that quarter. With this wind one may easily send it a mile. Then, Uncus, do you drive in the 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 the village of 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 courage and patience it can all be done. I like it very much! cried Duncan, who saw that the release of Korra was the primary object in the mind of the scout. Much! let it be instantly attempted. After a short conference, the plan was matured and rendered more intelligible to the several parties. The different signals were appointed and the chief separated each to his allotted station. End of Chapter 31 This reading by Gary W. Sherwin of Yukon, Pennsylvania in January of 2008 Chapter 32 of The Last of the Mohicans A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Chapter 32 Quote, but plague shall spread and funeral fires increase and the king without a ransom paid to her own chrissa send the black-eyed maid. Quote, from Pope. During the time Uncus was making his disposition of his forces, the woods were still and with the exception of those who had met in council, apparently as much untenanted as when they came fresh from the hands of their almighty creator. The eye could range in every way 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 beaches and occasionally a squirrel dropped the nut, drawing the startled looks of the party for a moment to the place, but the instant the casual passing air was heard murmuring above their heads, along the verdant and undulating surface of the 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 Delaware's and the village of their enemies it seemed as if the foot of man had never trodden, so breathing and deep was the silence in which it lay. But Hawkeye, 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 Kildere into the hollow of his arm and making a silent signal that he would be followed, he led them many rods toward the rear into the bed of a little brook which they had crossed in advancing. Here he hauled it, and after waiting for the whole of his grave and attentive warriors to close about him, he spoke in Delaware demanding. Do any of my young men know whether 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 its own length, the little water will be in the big. Then he added, pointing in the direction of the place he mentioned, the two make enough for the beavers. I thought as much, returned the scout, glancing his eye upward at the opening of the treetops, from the course it takes and the bearings of the mountains. Men, we will keep within the cover of its banks till we sent the Hurons. His companions gave the usual brief exclamation of assent, but perceiving that their leader would lead the way in person, one or two made signs that all was not as it should be. Hawkeye, who comprehended their meaning 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 rangers, and put under the command of one who, though another might say it with a better face, will not be apt to leave them idle. It may not be five. It cannot be thirty minutes before we tread on the body of a Huron living or dead. Though not admonished of your intentions and words, returned David, whose face was a little flush and whose ordinary quiet and eyes glimmered with an expression of unusual far. Your men have reminded me of the children of Jacob going out to battle against the Sekomites, for wickedly aspiring to wedlock with a woman of a race that was favored of the Lord. Now I have journeyed far and so joined much in good and evil with the maiden you seek, and though not a man of war with my loins 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 weapon. You carry no rifle, and believe me what the mingos take they will freely give again. Though not of vaunting bloodily disposed, Goliath returned David, drawing a sling from beneath his party-coloured 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 per adventure the skill has not entirely departed from me. I, said Hawkeye, considering the dear skinthong 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-groove barrel a man. However it seems to be your gift to go unharmed amid fire, and as you have hitherto been favoured. Major, you have left your rifle at a cock. A single shot before the time would be just twenty scalps here. 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 bizarre 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 yet soar. We come to fight and not to musicate. Until the general hoop is given, nothing speaks but the rifle. David nodded as much 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 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 conceivable 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 Hayward, and glancing his eyes upward 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. Though little matter in itself, whereas with us it will be first a shot and then a clear view. But here is an end to our cover. The beavers have had the range of this stream for hundreds of years, and what between their food and their dams there is, as you see, many a girdled stub, but few living trees. Hock I 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 others spreading over acres of bottomland, forming little areas that might be turned ponds. Everywhere along its bands were the moldering 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 contained their lives. A few long, low, and moss-covered piles were scattered among them, like the memorials of a former and long-departed generation. 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 characteristic anxiety of one who dreaded danger, he 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 pain for uncertainty, for the sounds of hostility in the quarter where the unconscious was left. But nothing was audible except the sighing of the wind, which began to sweep over the bosom of the forest in gusts which threatened the tempest. At length, euding rather to his unusual impatience than taking counsel from his knowledge, he determined to bring matters to an issue by unmasking his force and preceding cautiously but steadily up the stream. The scout had stood while making his observations, sheltered by a break, and his companions still lay in the bed of the ravine through which the smaller stream debouched. But on hearing his low, though intelligible signal, the whole party stole up the bank like so many dark specters and silently arranged themselves around him. Pointing in the direction he wished to proceed, Hawkeye advanced, the band breaking off in single files following so accurately in his footsteps, as to leave it, if we accept Hayward and David, the trail but a single man. The party was however scarcely uncovered before a volley from a dozen rifles was heard in the rear, and a Delaware leaping high into the air like a wounded deer fell at his whole length, dead. Ah, I feared some devil-tree like this, exclaimed the scout in English, adding with the quickness of thought in his adoptive tongue, to cover men and charge. The band dispersed at the word and before Hayward 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. But this state of things was evidently to be of short continuance, for the scout set the example of pressing on their retreat and darting from tree to tree as his enemy slowly yielded ground. It would seem that the assault had been made by a very small party of the Hurons, which however continued to increase in numbers as it retired on its friends until the return fire was very nearly, if not quite equal to that maintained by the advancing Delaware's. Hayward threw himself among the combatants and imitating the necessary caution of his companions. He made quick discharges with his own rifle. The contests 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 the 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 Delaware's as to nearly 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 Uncus was posted, a bottom which, in a manner, lay beneath the ground in 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 consequently failed, the enemy in their turn, the enemy's 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 upward toward 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 example, Hawkeye then gave the word to bear down upon their foes. The charge in that rude species of warfare consisted merely of pushing from cover to cover, nigh or to the enemy, and in this maneuver he was instantly and successfully 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 assailant was set upon. Here the struggle was protracted, arduous and seemingly a doubtful issue. The Delaware's, 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 Hayward. Most of his own combatants being within call, a little on his right, where they maintained rapid though discharges on their sheltered enemies. You are a young man major, said the scout, dropping the butt of Kildur to the earth and leaning on the barrel, a little fatigued with his previous industry, and it may be your gift to lead armies. At some future day, again these imps the mingos. You may here see the philosophy of an Indian fight. It consists mainly in ready hand, a quick eye and a good cover. Now 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. I, there is white reason in what you say. But a man must ask himself in this wilderness, how many lives can he spare? No horse. Continued the scout shaking his head, like one who mused. Footnote, the American horse admits of the passage of horses. There being little underbrush and few tangled breaks. The plan of Hawkeye is the one which has always proved the most successful in the battles between the whites and the Indians. Wayne, in his celebrated campaign on the Miami, received the fire of his enemies in line. And then, causing his dragoons to wheel around his flanks, the Indians were driven from their covers before they had time to load. One of the most inspicuous of the chiefs who fought in the battle of Miami assured the writer that the red men could not fight the warriors with long knives and leather stockings, meaning the dragoons with their sabers and boots. And footnote, horse, I am ashamed to say, must sooner or later decide these scrimmages. 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 his rifle be once emptied, he will never stop to load it again. This is a subject that might better be discussed at another time. Returned Hayward, shall we charge? I see no contradiction to the gifts of any man in passing his breathing spells in useful reflections, the scout replied. As to Rush, I little relish such a measure, for a scout 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 Uncus, the 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 word were answered by a shout, and at a given signal each warrior had 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 Delaware's leaped in long bounds toward the wood, like so many panthers springing upon their prey. Hawkeye was in front, brandishing his terrible rifle, and animating his followers by his example. A few of the older and more cunning Hurons, who had not been deceived by the Artifus, which had been practiced to draw their fire, now made a close and deadly discharge of their pieces, and justified the apprehensions of the scout by falling three of his foremost warriors. But the shock was insufficient to repel the impetus of the charge. The Delaware's broke into the cover with the ferocity of their natures, and the force 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 a sort of obstinacy that is so often witnessed in hunted brutes. At this critical moment, when the success of the struggle was again becoming doubtful, the Hurons, and a bullet came whizzing from among some beaver lodges, which were situated in the clearing in the rear, and was followed by the fierce appalling yell of the war-hoop. There speaks the Sagamore, shouted Hawkeye, answering 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 the Beaver, the warriors out of a common yell of disappointment, and breaking off in a body, they spread themselves across the opening, heedless of every consideration but flight. Many fell in making the experiment under the bullets and the blows of the pursuing Delaware's. We shall not pause to detail the meeting between the scout and Chinchgaach Cook, or the more touching interview that Duncan held with Monroe. A few brief minutes after the meeting, the Beaver took 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 chief. Chinchgaach Cook assumed the station to which his birth 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 party back through the thicket, his men scalping the fallen neurons 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 and sufficient numbers to conceal them. The land fell away rather precipitately in front, and narrow, dark, and wooded veil. It was through this dense and dark forest that Unkas 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 practice ears to the sounds of the combat. A few birds hovered over the leafy bosom of the valley, frightened from their secluded nest, and here and there a light vapory cloud which seemed already blending with fear arose above the trees and indicated some spot where the struggle had been fierce and stationary. The fight is coming up the ascent, said Duncan, pointing in the direction of a new explosion of firearms. We are too much in the center of their line to be effective. They will incline into the hollow where the cover is thicker, said the scout, and that will leave us well on their flank. Go, Sagmor, you will hardly be in time to give the hoop and lead on the young men. I will fight this scrimmage with warriors of my own color. You know me, Mohican. Not a Huron of them shall cross the swell into your rear without the notice of kill-deer. The Indian paused another moment to consider the signs of the contest, which was now rolling rapidly up the ascent. A certain evidence that the Delaware's triumph. Nor did he actually quit the place until admonished by 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 precede 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 a scene. It was not long before the reports of the rifles began to lose the echoes of the woods 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 of the obstinacy of desperation. Hayward began to grow impatient and turned his eyes anxiously in the direction of Chinchkaach Cook. The chief was seated on a rock with nothing visible but his calm visage, considering the spectacle with an eye as deliberate as if he were posted to merely view the struggle. The tide has come for the Delaware to strike, said Falcon. Not so, not so, returned the scout. When he sense his friend he will let them know that he is here. See, see, the naves are getting in that clump of pines, like bees settling after their flight. By the Lord a squaw might put a bullet in the center of such a knot of dark skins. At that instant the hoop was given and a dozen Hurons fell again. 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 center of their line and Uncus issued from the forest through the opening they left at the head of a hundred warriors. Waving his hands left and right the young chief pointed out the enemy to his followers who separated them from the pursuit. The war now divided both wings of the broken Hurons 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 Hurons however had disdained to seek a cover and were retiring like lions slowly and solemnly up the eclivity which Chingguch Cook and his band had just deserted to mingle more closely in the fray. Makwa was conspicuous in this party, both by his fierce and savage mean and by the air of haughty authority he yet maintained. In his eagerness to expedite the pursuit Uncus had left himself nearly alone but the moment his eye caught the figure of lace of teal every other consideration was forgotten. Raising his cry of battle which recalled some six or seven warriors and reckless of the disparity of their numbers he rushed upon his enemy. Lérenard, who watched the movement, paused to receive him with secret joy. But at the moment when he thought the rashness of his impestuous young assailant had left him at his mercy the shout was given and LaLong Carabine was seen rushing to the rescue, attended by all his white associates. The Huron instantly turned and commenced a rapid retreat up the ascent. There was no time for greetings or congratulations, for Uncus the unconscious of the presence of his friends 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 had long speed. It was fortunate that the race was of short continuance and that the white men were so much favored by their position or the Delaware would soon have outstripped all his companions and fall on a victim to his own temerity. But ere such a calamity could happen the pursuers and pursued entered the Wyandotte 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 lounge with the fury of despair. The onset and the issue were like the passage and destruction of a whirlwind. The Tomahawk of Uncus, the blows of Hawkeye and even the still nervous arm of Monroe were all busy for that passing moment and the ground was quickly strewed with their enemies. Still Maqua, 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 anger and disappointment the subtle chief when he saw his comrades fallen darted away from the place attended by his two only surviving friends, leaving the Delaware's engage in stripping the dead of the bloody trophies of their victory. But Uncus who had vainly sought him in the melee bounded forward in pursuit. Hawkeye, Hayward and David still pressing on his footsteps. The utmost that the scout could effect was to keep the muzzle of his rifle a little in advance of his friend to whom, however, it answered every purpose of a charmed shield. Once, Maqua appeared disposed to make another and final effort to revenge his losses but abandoning his intention as soon as demonstrated 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. Hawkeye, who had only foreborn to fire in tenderness to Uncus, 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 subterranean apartments of the cavern was preceded by the shrieks and the walls. 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 malitudes. Still Uncus kept his eye on Maqua as if life to him possessed but a single object. Hayward and the scout still pressed on his rear, actuated, though possibly in a less degree, human 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 row was seen fluttering in the further extremity of a passage that seemed to lead up the mountain. "'Tis Korra!' exclaimed Hayward in a voice in which horror and delight were wildly mingled. "'Korra! Korra!' echoed Uncus, bounding 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 encouraging by this glimpse of the captive. But the way was rugged, broken, and in spots nearly impassable. Uncus abandoned his rifle and leaped forward with headlong precipitation. Hayward initially imitated his example, though both were, a moment afterward, admonished of this madness, by hearing the bellowing of a piece that the Hurons found time to discharge down the passage in the rocks, the bullet from which gave the young Mehecan a slight wound. "'We must close!' said the scout, passing his friends by desperate leave. "'The names will pick us all off at this distance, and see they hold you.' Though his words were unheeded, or rather unheard, his example was followed by his companions, who, by incredible exertions, got near enough to the fugitives to perceive that Korra was born along between the two warriors while Mokwa 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 were ecstatic with disappointment Ancus and Hayward 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 so deep an interest in the captive and his companions, the Mokwa gave him a little. Ancus, in his turn, taking the lead of Hayward. In this manner rocks, precipices and difficulties were surmounted in an incredibly short space that at another time, and under other circumstances, would have been deemed almost insuperable. But the impetuous young men were rewarded by finding that encumbered with Korra, the Hurons were found in the race. Stay, dog of the Wyandots! exclaimed Ancus, shaking his bright Tomahawk at Mokwa. A Delaware girl, call stay! I will go no further! cried Korra, stopping unexpectedly on a ledge of rock that overhung a deep precipice at no great distance from the summit of the mountain. Kill me if thou wilt, detestable I will go no further! The supporters of the maiden raised their ready Tomahawks with the impious joy that fiends are thought to take in mischief. But Mokwa stayed the uplifted arms. The Huron chief, after casting the weapons he had wrestled from his companions over the rock, drew his knife and turned to his captive with a look in which conflicting passions fiercely contended. Choose the wigwam or the knife of lay subtil! Korra regarded him not, but dropping on her knees she raised her eyes and stretched her arms toward heaven, saying in a meek and yet confiding voice I am thine, do with me as thou seized best. Woman! repeated Mokwa hoarsely and endeavoring in vain to catch a serene and beaming eye. Choose! But Korra neither heard nor heeded his demand. The form of the Huron trembled in every fiber and he raised his arm on high, but dropped it again with a bewildered air, like one who doubted. Once more he struggled with himself and lifted the keen weapon again. But just then a piercing cry was heard above them, and Unkas appeared leaping frantically from a fearful height upon the ledge. Mokwa recoiled a step and one of his assistants, profiting by the chance, sheathed his own knife in the bosom of Korra. The Huron sprang like a tiger on his offending and already retreating countrymen, but the falling form of Unkas separated the unnatural combatants, diverted from his subject by this interruption and maddened by the murder he had just witnessed. He saw his weapon in the back of the prostrate Delaware, uttering an unearthly shout as he committed the dastardly deed. But Unkas arose from the blow as the wounded panther turns upon his foe and struck the murder of Korra 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 lace up till and indicated by the expression all that he would do had not the power deserted him. The latter seized the nervous arms of the unresisting Delaware and passed his knife into his bosom three several times before his victim, still keeping his gaze riveted on his enemy with a look of inextinguishable scorn, fell dead at his feet. Mercy! Mercy Huron! cried Hayward from above in tones nearly choked by mercy and thou shall receive from it. Whirling the bloody knife up at the imploring youth the victorious maqua uttered a cry so fierce, so wild, and so joyous that it conveyed the sounds of savage triumph to the ears of those who fought in the valley a thousand feet below. He was answered by a burst from the lips of the scout whose tall person was just then seen moving swiftly toward 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 awful 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 commute. Then Maqua 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 that Delaware's women Maqua 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 a height. The form of Hawkeye had crouched like a beast about to make 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 Maqua suffered his body to drop to the length of his arms and 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 together 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 that it poured out its contents. The scurron relaxed and his body fell back a little while his knees still kept their position. Turning a relentless look on his enemy he shook his hand in grim defiance but his hold loosened and his dark person was seen cutting the air with its head downward for a fleeting instant until it glided past the fringe of shrubbery which clung to the mountain in its rapid flight to destruction.