 Chapter 21 of The Last of the Mohicans. A narrative of 1757 by James Venomore 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 21 Quote If you find a man there, he shall die a flea's death. Unquote. From Mary Wives of Windsor. 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 steps 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 depth with the freedom of a man accustomed to its privations and difficulties. 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, Monroe and Duncan slept without fear, if not without uneasiness. The dues were suffered to excel, and the sun had dispersed the mist 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 Hawkeye, who led the advance, became more deliberate and watchful. He often stopped to examine the trees. Nor did he cross a rivulet without attentively considering the quantity, the velocity, and the color of its waters. Distrusting his own judgment, his appeals to the opinion of Chinchgochkuk were frequent and earnest. During one of these conferences, Hawkeye would observe that Anka stood a patient and silent, though, 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 was 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 between the waters of the Hudson and the Hurrican, until they might strike the springs of the Canadian streams, which would lead them into the heart of the country of the Frenchers. Yet here are we, within a short range of the saccharoons, and not a sign of a trail have we crossed. Human nature is weak, and it is possible we may have not 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 Anka's no counsel to offer in such a straight? The young mohe can cast a glance at his father, but, maintaining his quiet and reserved mean, he continued silent. Chinchgoch Cook had caught the look, and, motioning with his hand, he bade him speak. The moment this permission was accorded, the countenance of Anka's 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 eclivity, 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 animal. The eyes of the whole party followed the unexpected movement, and read their success in the error of triumph that the youth assumed. Tis the trail exclaimed the scout advancing to the spot. The lad is quick of sight and keen of wit for his years. Tis extraordinary that he should have withheld his knowledge for 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 concede that his knowledge, like his legs, outruns that of his fathers. But where experience is the master, the scholar is made to know the value of years and respects them accordingly. See, said Uncus, pointing north and south, at the evident marks of the broad trail on either side of him, the dark air has gone toward the forest. Hound never ran on a more beautiful scent, responded the scout, dashing forward at once on the indicated route. We are favored, greatly favored, and can follow with high noses. I, here are both your waddling beasts. This juron 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 full 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 was 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 by the certainty that Maugwa had found it necessary to journey through the valleys, a circumstance which rendered the general direction of the route sure. Nor had the Huron entirely neglected the arch uniformly practiced by the natives when retiring in front of an enemy. False trails 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 saccharoons, 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 Lerunard had made a halt. Extinguished brands were laying around a spring. The offals of a deer were scattered about the place, and the trees bore evident marks of having been browsed by the horses. At a little distance, Hayward discovered and contemplated with tender emotion the small bower under which he was feigned to believe that Cora and Alice had reposed. But while the earth was trodden and the footsteps of both men and beasts were so plainly visible around the place, the trail appeared to have suddenly ended. It was easy to follow the tracks of the Narragansans, but they seemed only to have wandered without guides or any other object than the pursuit of food. At length, Uncus, 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 queue, he communicated his success to his companions. And while the latter were consulting on the circumstances, the youth reappeared leading the two fillies with their saddles broken and the housing soiled, as if they had been permitted to run at will for several days. What would this prove? said Duncan, turning pale and glancing his eyes around him, as if he feared the brush and leaves were about to give him some horrid secret, that our marches come to a quick end and that we are in an enemy's country return the scout. Had the nave been pressed and the gentle ones wanted horses to keep up with the party, he might have taken their scalps, but without an enemy at his heels, and with such rugged beast as these, he would not hurt a hair on their heads. I know your thoughts, and shame be it to your color that you have reason for them, but he who thinks that even a mingo would ill treat a woman and lest it be to tomahawk her, knows nothing of Indian nature 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 with incentive of their camp. Why should they not? The morning and evening guns of Thai may be heard any day among these mountains, for the Frenchers are running a new line between the provinces of the King and the Canada's. It is true that the horses are here, but the Hurons are gone. Let us then hunt for the path by which they parted. Hawkeye and the Mohicans now applied themselves 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, however, resulted in no discovery. The impressions of footsteps were numerous, but they all appeared like those of men who had wondered about the spallot 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 than when they had started. Such cunning is not without its deviltry, exclaimed Hawkeye, when he met the disappointed looks of his assistants. We must get down to it, Sagamore, beginning at the spring and going over the ground by inches. The Huron shall never brag in his tribe that he has a foot which leaves no print. Setting the example himself, the scout engaged in the scrutiny with renewed zeal. Not a leaf was left unturned. The sticks were removed, and the stones lifted. For Indian cunning was known frequently to adopt these objects as cover, lavering with the utmost patience and industry to conceal such footstep as they proceed. Still no discovery was made. At length, Uncus, whose activity had enabled him to achieve his portion of the task the soonest, raked the earth across the turbid little reel which ran from the spring, and diverted its course into another channel. As soon as its narrow bed below the dam was dry, he stooped over it with a keen and curious eye. A cry of exultation immediately announced the success of the young warrior. The whole party crowded to the spot, where Uncus pointed out the impression of a moccasin in the moist of Luvian. This lad will be an honour 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. I, and a thorn in the side 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, Uncus, and bring me the size of the singer's foot. You will find a beautiful print of it just opposite Yon Rock again the hillside. While the youth was engaged in this commission, the scout and Chinch Gachkuk 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 moccasin. I can now read the whole of it, as plainly as if I had seen the arts of lips of teal, 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, imitating their formation. But, cried Duncan, I see no signs of—the gentle ones interrupted the scout. The violet has found a way to carry them, until he's opposed 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 reel, 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, content in knowing that the trail lay beneath. More than half a mile was passed before the reel rippled close around the base of an extensive and dry rock. Here they paused to make sure that the Hurons had not quitted the water. It was fortunate they did so. For the quick and active Uncus 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 by this discovery. He entered the neighboring thicket, and struck the trail as fresh and obvious as it had been before they reached the spring. Mother Shout announced the good fortune of the youth to his companions, and at once terminated the search. I, 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 Hayward. 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 land of Providence. Always plain but one thing, which is the manner that the nave 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 Hayward, pointing toward the fragments of a sort of hand-barrow, that had been rudely constructed of bowels and bound together with wives, and which now seemed carelessly cast aside as useless. Tis explained, cried the delighted Hawkeye, if them violets have passed a minute, they have spent hours in striving to fabricating a lying end to their trail. Well, I've known them to waste the day in the same manner to his little purpose. Here we have three pair of moccasins, and two of little feet. It is amazing that any mortal being can journey on limbs so small. Pass me the thong of buckskin, Uncus, 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 in its gifts for its own wise reasons. The best and most contented of us must allow. The tender limbs of my daughters are unequal to these hardships, said Monroe, 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 for fear, returned the scout, slowly shaking his head. This is a firm and straight, though a light step, and not over long. See the hill has hardly touched the ground, and there the dark hair has made a little jump from root to root. No, no. My knowledge of 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 traveled wide and tottered. And there again it looks as though he journeyed on snowshoes. I, I, a man who uses his throat altogether, can hardly give his legs a proper training. From such undeniable testimony did the practice 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 it 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 upward at the setting sun, and pushed forward with a rapidity which compelled Hayward and the still vigorous Monroe to exert all of 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 delayed by uncertainty. Before an hour had elapsed, however, 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 conscious of approaching danger. He soon stopped again, and waited for the whole party to come up. I sent the Hurons, he said, speaking to the Mohicans. Yonder is open sky through the treetops. And we are getting too nigh their encampment. Sagamore, you will take the hillside to the right. Uncus will bend along the brook to the left, while I will try the trail. If 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 approaching an encampment. The Indians departed their several ways without reply, while Hawkeye cautiously proceeded with the two gentlemen. Hayward soon pressed to the side of their guide, eager to catch any 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 situation to command of you, which he found as extraordinary as it was novel. The trees of many acres have been filled, 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 lowland 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 waters, as though the latter had overflowed its usual banks. Their rounded roofs, admirably molded for defense against the weather, denoted more of industry and foresight, than natives were want to bestow on the regular habitations, much less on those occupied for the temporary purposes of hunting and war. In short, the whole village or town, whichever it might be termed, possessed more of method and needless 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 he fancied he discovered several human forms advancing toward him on all fours, and apparently dragging in the train some heavy, and 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 for examining their humours 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 instinctively, when he found himself within a hundred yards of a stranger Indian. Recovering his recollection of the instant, instead of sounding 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 that 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 tough 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 perform the office that is usually expected by a much more commodious arrangement. His legs were, however, covered with a pair of good-dear 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 his side. You see, we have reached their settlement, or encampment, whispered the young man, and here is one of the savages himself in a very embarrassing position for our 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 your on, he said, nor of any of the Canada tribes, and yet you see, by his clothes, the nave has been plundering the white. I, Montcom, has raked the woods for his in-road, and a hooping, murdering set of varrots, 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 Hayward and regarded him a moment with unconcealed amazement. Then, opening 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 nave 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! Hayward had already permitted his companion to bury part of his person in the thicket, when stretching forth his 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 knew 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 reappeared, creeping along the earth from which his dress was hardly distinguishable, directly in the rear of his intended captive. Having reached within a few yards of the ladder, 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 meantime the uplifted hand of Hawkeye was above him, but without any apparent reason it was withdrawn, and its owner indulged another long, though silent fit of merriment. When the peculiar and hardy laughter of Hawkeye was ended, instead of grasping his victim by the throat, he tapped him on the shoulder and exclaimed aloud, How now, friend, have you mind to teach the beavers to sing? In so was the ready answer. It would seem that the being that gave them the power to improve his gift so well would not deny them voices to proclaim his praise. End of Chapter 21. This reading by Gary W. Sherwin of Yukon, Pennsylvania. In the windy autumn of 2007. 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 22. Quote. Bought. A Bibel. We all met. Key. Pat Pat. And here's a marvelous convenient place for our rehearsal. Unquote. For Midsummer Night's Dream. The reader may better imagine than we describe the surprise of Hayward. His lurking Indians were suddenly converted into four-footed beasts. His lake into a beaver pond. His cataract into a dam constructed by those industrious and ingenious quadrupeds. And a suspected enemy into his tried friend, David Gamut, the master of Psalmidae. The presence of the latter created so many unexpected hopes relative to the sisters that without a moment's hesitation 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 grip that brought tears into the eyes of the placid David and wished him joy in his new condition. You were about to opening your throat practicings 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 Kildir might have sounded the first note among them. I have none greater fools who could read and write than an experienced old beaver, but as for squalling, the animals are born dumb. What think of you as such a song as this? David shut his sensitive ears, and even Hayward, apprised as he was of the nature of the cry, looked upward in quest of the bird, as the calling of a crow rang in the air about them. See? continued the laughing scout, as he pointed toward 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 of the heathen, said David, and the greatly troubled in spirit, enjoying comfort and safety in the body. Both demanded the breathless Hayward. 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 trembling Monroe. I shall then receive my babes, spotless and angel-like, as I lost them. I know not that their deliver is at hand, returned the doubting David. The leader of those savages is possessed of an evil spirit that no power short of omnipotence contained. I have tried him sleeping and walking, but neither sounds nor language seem to touch his soul. Where is the knave, bluntly interrupted the scout? He hunts the moose today with his young men, and tomorrow, as I hear, they pass further into the forest and nire to the borders of Canada. The elder maiden is conveyed to a neighbouring people, whose lodges are situated beyond yonder black pinnacle of rock, while the younger is detained among the woman of the Huron's, whose dwellings are but too short miles hence, on a table-land, where the fire had done the office of the axe, and prepared the place for their reception. Alice, my gentle Alice, murmured Hayward, she has lost the consolation of her sister's presence? Even so. But so far as praise and thanksgiving and somedy can temper the spirit of affliction, she has not suffered. Has she, then, a heart for music? Of the graver and more solemn character. Though it must be acknowledged that, in spite of all my endeavours, the maiden weeps, oftener than she smiles, and such moments I've forbear to press the holy songs, but there are many sweet and comfortable periods of satisfactory communication, when the ears of the savages are astounded with the uplifting of our voices. And why are you permitted to go at large, unwatched? 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 somedy was suspended in the terrible business of that field of blood through which we have passed, it has recovered its influence over the souls of the heathen, and I am suffered to go and come at will. The scout laughed, and tapping his own forehead significantly, he perhaps explained the singular indulgence more satisfactorily when he said, The Indians never harm a non-composer, but why, when the pathway opened before your eyes, did you not strike back on your own trail? It is not as blind as that which a squirrel would make, and bring in the tidings to Edward. 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 his air, the latter was content to answer, Though my soul would rejoice to visit the habitations of Christendom once more, My feet would rather follow the tender spirits entrusted to my keeping, even into the idolatrous province of the Jesuits, than take one step backward while they pine in captivity and sorrow. Though the figurative language of David was not very intelligible, the sincere and steady expression of his eye and the glow of his honest countenance were not easily mistaken. Uncus pressed closer to his side and regarded the speaker with a look of commendation, while his father expressed his satisfaction by the ordinary pithy exclamation of approbation. The scout shook his head as he rejoined. The Lord never intended that a man should place all his endeavors in his throat to the neglect of other and better gifts. But he has fallen into the hands of some silly woman, when he should have been gathering his education under the blue sky, among the beauties of the forest. Dear friend, I didn't intend to kindle a fire with this toothing whistle of thine, but as you value the thing, take it and blow your best on it. Gemut received his pitch pipe with as strong an expression of pleasure as he believed compatible with the grave functions he exercised, after assaying its virtues repeatedly in contrast with his own voice, and satisfying himself that none of its melody was lost, he made a very serious demonstration toward achieving a few stanzas of one of the longest effusions in the little volume so often mentioned. Hayward, however, hastily interrupted 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 interrogatories 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 circumstances as were likely to prove useful in accomplishing their great and engrossing object, the recovery of the sisters. The narrative of David was simple, and the facts, but few. Mokwa had waited on the mountain until a safe moment to retire presented itself, when he had descended and taken the route along the western side of the Horrican in the direction of the Canada's. As the subtle Huron was familiar with the paths, and well knew that 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 Mokwa had not been entirely exempt from the veneration with which the Indians regard those whom the Great Spirit had 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 notwithstanding the remoteness and length of their trail, the artifices already named were resorted to in order to cut off every clue to the replace of retreat. On their arrival at the encampment of his people, Mokwa, in obedience to a policy seldom departed from, separated his prisoners. Korra had been sent to a tribe that temporarily occupied an adjacent valley, though David was far too ignorant of the customs and history of the natives to be able to declare anything satisfactory concerning their name or character. He 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 warlike and savage people whom Chance had for a time brought in such close and disagreeable contact with themselves. The Mohicans and the Scout listened to his interrupted and imperfect narrative, with an interest that obviously increased as he proceeded, and it was while attempting to explain the pursuits of the community in which Korra was detained, that the latter abruptly demanded, Did you see the fashion of their knives? Were they of English or French formation? My thoughts were bent on no such vanities, but rather mingled in consolation with those of the maidens. The time may come when you will not consider the knife of a savage such a despicable vanity, returned the Scout, with a strong expression of contempt for the other's dullness. Had they held their corn-feast, or can you say anything of the totems of the tribe? Of corn we had mentee and plentiful feast, 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 pertaineth in any wise to the art of Indian music, it need not be inquired after at their hands. They never joined 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 mingo adores but the true and loving God. It is wicked fabrication of the whites, and I say it to the shame of my color that would make the warrior bow down before images of his own creation. It is true they endeavor to make truces to 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 a spiritual pride, especially one and that, too, a foul and loathsome object. Was it a serpent? Quickly demanded the scout. Much the same, it was in the likeness of an object and creeping toward us. Huh! exclaimed both the attend of 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 Delaware's, 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 could enforce the meaning by the attitude. Duncan's eyes followed the movement, and he perceived that the animal just mentioned was beautifully, though faintly worked in blue tint on the swirly breast of the chief. All that he had ever heard of the violent separation of the vast tribes of the Delaware's 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 his 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 Delaware's, and is the great chief of their tortoises. That some of this stalker 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 altogether 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 nigh 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 Kora 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. Monroe seemed to shake off his apathy and listened to the wild schemes of the young man with the deference that his gray hairs and reverent ears should have denied. But the scout, after suffering the ardor of the lover to expand itself a little, found means to convince him of the folly of precipitation. In a manner that would require their coldest judgment and utmost fortitude. 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 a whipper-well? He is a pleasing bird, returned David, and has a softened melancholy note, though the time is rather quick, and he'll measure it. He speaks of the wish-tun-wish, said the scout. Well, since you like his whistle, it shall be your signal. Remember, then, when you hear the whipper-well's call three times repeated. You are to come into the bushes where the bird might be supposed. Stop! interrupted Hayward. I will accompany him. You exclaimed the astonished Hawkeye? Are you tired of seeing the sunrise and set? David is living proof that the Hurons can be merciful. I, but David can use his throat, as no man in his senses would pervert the gift. I, too, can play the madman, the fool, the hero. In short, any or everything to rescue her I love. Name your objections no longer. I am resolved. Hawkeye regarded the young man a moment in speechless amazement, but Duncan, whom deference to the other skill and services had hitherto submitted somewhat implicitly to his dictation, now assumed the superior with a manner that was not easily 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 to 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. Listen, interrupted Duncan, you have heard from this faithful follower 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 Delaware's. It's she you call the dark hair. The other and younger of the ladies is undeniably with our declared enemies the Huron. It becomes 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 his eyes, and his form became imposing under 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 hearty 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 would take to the water must be headed and not followed. Chinchgochkuk has as many different paints as the engineer's officer's wife, who takes down nature on scraps of paper, making the mountains look like crocs of rusty hay, and placing the blue sky in reach of your hand. The Sagamore 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 their discourse, readily undertook the office, and 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 amity. In short, he entirely sacrificed every appearance of the warrior to the masquerade of a buffoon. Such exhibitions 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 him much friendly advice, concerted signals, and appointed the place where they should meet in the event of mutual success. The parting between Monroe 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 helpful state of mind. The scout led Hayward aside and acquainted him with his intention to leave the veteran in some safe encampment in charge of Chinchgauchcook. While he and Uncus pursued their inquiries among the people, they had reason to believe were Delaware's. Then, renewing his cautions and advice, he concluded by saying with the 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 of a man who has reason to know all he says to be true. You will have occasion for your best manhood, and for a sharper width in what is to be gathered in books before 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 gentlemen, make Providence bless your undertaking, which is altogether for good. And remember that out with the knaves it is lawful to practice things that may not be naturally the gift of a white skin. Duncan shook his worthy and reluctant associate warmly by the hand. Once more recommended the aged friend to his care, and returning his good wishes, he motioned to David to proceed. Hawkeye gazed after the high-spirited and adventurous young man for several moments in open admiration. 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 laid directly across the clearing of the beavers and along the margin of 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 gloominess 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 precautions of their sagacious inmates that even the brutes of these vast wilds were possessed of an instinct nearly commensurate 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 semi-circle 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 moment, unwilling to leave the cover of their bushy path as a man pauses to collect his energies before he assays any hazardous experiment in which he is secretly conscious they will all be needed. He profited by the halt to gather such 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 particulars which Duncan had just seen that he began to expect 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 site 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 specters or some other unearthly 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 seceded by another, possessing the same mysterious character. David, observing that his companion lingered, pursued the direction of his gaze and in some measure recalled the recollection of Hayward by speaking. There is much fruitful soil uncultivated here, he said, and I may add, without the sinful leaven of self-commendation that since my short sojourn in these heathenish abodes, much good seed has been scattered by the wayside. The tribes are founder of the chase than of the arts of men of labour. Return the unconscious stunken, still gazing at the objects of his wonder. It is rather joy than labour to the spirit to lift up the voice and praise, but sadly do these boys abuse their gifts. Rarely have I found any of their age on whom nature has so freely bestowed the elements of samadhi, and surely, surely, there are none who neglect them more. Three nights have I now tarried here, and three several times have I assembled the urchins to join in sacred song, and as often 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 restraint of discipline is but little known among the self-abandoned people. In a country of birches a rod is never seen, and it ought not to appear a marvel in my eyes that the choices, 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 superstition, said firmly, we will proceed. Without removing the safeguards from his ears, the master of song complied, and together they pursued their way toward what David was sometimes want to call the, quote, tense of the Philistines, unquote. End of Chapter 22 This reading by Gary W. Sherwin of Yukon, Pennsylvania, in the autumn of 2007. Chapter 23 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 23 Quote, but though the beast of gain, the privilege of chase may claim, though space and law the stag we lend, ere hound we slip, or bow we bend, whoever wrecked, where, how, or when, the prowling fox was trapped or slain, unquote, from Lady of the Lake. It is unusual to find an encampment of the natives, like those of the more instructed whites, guarded by the presence of armed men. Well informed of the approach of every danger, while it is yet at a distance, the Indian generally 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 near 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 center of the children who played the antics already mentioned, it was without the least previous intimation of their approach. But soon as they were observed, the whole of the juvenile pack raised by common consent, a shrill and warning hoop, 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 forms. Though, when surprise permitted Duncan to bend his look more curiously about the spot, he found it everywhere met by dark, quick, and rolling eyeballs. 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 savage group, gravely awaiting the nearer approach of those who had unexpectedly come among them. David, in some measure familiarized to the scene, led the way with the 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 unconcern, 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, who 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 his feelings to pursue his way into the center 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 the corner of the hut and seated himself in silence. So soon as their visitor had passed, the observant warriors fell back from the entrance and arranging themselves about him, they seemed patiently 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 upright post that supported the crazy building, while three or four of the oldest and most distinguished of the chiefs placed themselves on the earth a little more in advance. A flaring torch was burning in the place and set 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 probable character of his reception in the countenances of his host, 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 and to distrust. The men in the 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, whether 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 Hayward, 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 more than one had turned as if to catch the meaning of his words, they remained unanswered. I should be grieved to think, continued Duncan, speaking slowly and using the simplest French of which he was the master, to believe that none of this wise and brave nation understand the language that the Grand Marquis uses when he talks to his children, his heart would be heavy did he believe his Red Warriors paid him so little respect. A long and grave pause succeeded, during which no movement of a limb nor any expression of an eye betrayed the expression, produced by this remark. Duncan, who knew that silence was a virtue among his hosts, gladly had recourse to the custom in order to arrange his ideas. At length the same warrior who had before addressed him replied, by dryly demanding in the language of the Canada's, 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 Duncan evasively. Though chiefly he is satisfied with the brave Hurons. In what manner will he speak? demanded the weary chief. When the runners count to him the scalps which five nights ago grew on the heads of the Yengis. There were his enemies, said Duncan, shuddering involuntarily, and doubtless he will say it is good. My Hurons are very gallant. Our Canadian father does not think it. Instead of looking forward to reward his Indians, his eyes are turned backward. He sees the dead Yengis, 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 not float on the hurricane, turn the savage gloomily. His ears are open to the Delaware's 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 Hurons of the Great Lakes, and ask if any are sick. Another silence seceded this enunciation that the character Duncan had assumed. Every eye was simultaneously bent on his person, as if to inquire into the truth or falsehood of the declaration, with an intelligence and keenness that caused the subject of their scrutiny to tremble for the result. He was, however, relieved again by the former speaker. Do the cunning men of the Canada's paint their skins? The Huron coldly continued, they 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 of the tribe was favorably received. The elderly chief made a gesture of commendation, which was answered by most of his companions, who each drew forth a hand and uttered a brief exclamation of pleasure. Duncan began to breathe more freely, believing that the weight of his examination was past, and, as he had already prepared a simple and probable tale to support his pretend 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 declaration 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. It was immediately seceded 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, unconscious of everything but the effect produced by so frightful 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 still ringing beneath the arches of the woods. Unable to command himself any longer, the youth broke from the place and presently stood in the center of a disorderly throng that included everything having life within the limits of the encampment. Men, women, and children, the aged, the infirm, the active, and the strong, were alike abroad, some exclaiming aloud, others clapping their hands with a joy that seemed frantic, and all expressing their savage pleasure in some unexpected event. Though astounded at first by the uproar, Hayward was soon able to find its solution by the scene that followed. There yet lingered sufficient light in the heavens to exhibit those bright openings among the treetops where different 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 toward the dwellings. One in front bore a short pole on which, as it afterwards appeared, were suspended several human scalps. The startling sounds that Duncan had heard were what the whites have not inappropriately called the, quote, death halo, unquote, and each repetition of the cry was intended to announce to the tribe the fate of an enemy. Thus far the knowledge of Hayward assisted him in the explanation, and as he now knew that the interruption was caused by the unlookful 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 wellings of the dead, and the triumph to the victors, had entirely ceased. One of their number now called aloud in words that were far from appalling, were more intelligible to those 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 moment became a scene of the most violent bustle and commotion. The warriors drew their knives and flourishing them they arranged themselves in two lines, forming a lane that extended more 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 children would not be excluded, but boys, little able to wield the instruments, tore the tomahawks from the belts of their 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 weary 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 assisted 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 apparently 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 powerful impulse of admiration and pity toward 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. Insensibly, the young man drew nire 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 that had preceded it was broken by a burst of cries that far exceeded any before heard. The more object of the two victims continued motionless. But the other bounded from the place of the cry with the activity and swiftness of a deer. Instead of rushing through the hostile lines, as had been expected, he just entered the dangerous defile and before time was given for a single blow, turned short, and leaping the heads of a row of children, he gained at once the exterior and safer side of the formidable array. The artifice was answered by a hundred voices, raised in the implications, and the whole of the excited multitude broke from their order and spread themselves about the place of confusion. A dozen blazing piles now shed their lurid brightness on the place, which resembled some unhallowed and supernatural arena in which the malicious demons had assembled to act their bloody and lawless rites. The forms in the background looked like unearthly beings, gliding before the eye and cleaving the air with frantic and unmeaning gestures. While the savage passions of such as past the flames rendered fearfully distinct by the gleams that shot a thwart 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 center of his relentless persecutors, turning like a headed deer he shot with the swiftness of an arrow through a pillar of fort 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 urans. Once more he tried the throng as if seeking safety in its blindness and then several moments succeeded during which Duncan believed the 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 awful effect was heightened by the piercing streaks of the women and the fierce yells of the warriors. Now and then Duncan caught a glimpse of a light form with some desperate bound and he rather hoped than believed that the captive yet retained the command of his astonishing powers of activity. Suddenly the multitude rolled backward and approached the spot where he himself stood. The heavy body in the rear pressed upon the women and children in front and bore them to the earth. The stranger reappeared in the confusion. 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 headlong many feet in advance of his intended victim. Thought itself is not quicker than was the motion with which the latter profited by the advantage. He turned and leaned 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 to the lodges, Bloomy 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 and council had deliberated and determined 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 vocabulary that the disappointed women did not lavishly expend on the successful stranger. They flouted at his efforts and told him with bitter scoffs that his feet were better than his hands and that he merited wings while he knew not how to use an arrow or a knife. To all this the captive made no reply but was content to preserve an attitude in which dignity was singularly blended with disdain. Exasperated 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 Squall who had taken the necessary precaution to fire the piles made her way through the throne and cleared a place for herself in front of the captive. The squalid and withered person of this tag 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 jibes she commenced aloud. Look ye Delaware! she said snapping her fingers in his face. Your nation is a race of women and the whole is better fitted to your hands than the gun. Your Squalls 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 girl shall make you petticoats and we will find you a husband. A burst of savage laughter seceded this attack during which the soft and musical merriment of the younger females strangely chimed with the cracked voices 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 toward the dusky forms of the warriors who stalked in the background silent and sullen observers of the scene. Infuriated that the self-command of the captive the woman placed her arms akimbo and throwing herself in a posture of defiance he 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 muscle to vibrate in the motionless figure of the stranger. The effect of this indifference began to extend itself to the other spectators and a youngster who was just quitting the condition of a boy to enter the state of manhood attempted to assist the termigant by throurishing his tomahawk before their victim and adding his empty boast to the taunts of the women. Then, indeed the captive turned his face toward 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 Ancus, breathless with amazement and heavily oppressed with the critical situation of his friend, Hayward recoiled before the look trembling lest its meeting might be known 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. Motioning the woman and children aside with a stern gesture, he took Ancus by the arm and led him toward the door of the council lodge. Fither all the chiefs and most of the distinguished warriors followed among whom the anxious Hayward found means to enter without attracting any dangerous attention to himself. A few moments 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 agent 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 marked visages in the very center of the lodge immediately under an opening that admitted the twinkling light of one or two stars stood Ancus 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 plainly betrayed their admiration of the strangers daring. 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 he had also entered the lodge as though impelled by a fate to those decrees he submitted seemingly without a struggle. Hayward profited by the first opportunities 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 were 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 little space as possible. When each individual had taken his proper station and silence reigned in the place the gray haired chief already introduced to the reader spoke aloud in the language of the Lenny Lenapean Delaware he said the 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 word shall be spoken seven nights and as many summer days have I fasted on the trail of the Hurons Uncus coldly replied the children of the Lenape know how to travel a path of the just without lingering to eat two of my young men are in pursuit of your companion resume the other without appearing to regard the boast of his captive when they get back then will our wise man say to you live or die we are on no ears scornfully exclaimed Uncus twice since he has been your prisoner has that Delaware heard a gun that he knows your young man will never come back a short and sullen pause seceded this bold assertion Duncan who understood the Mahican to allude to the fatal rifle of the scout bent forward in earnest observation of the effect it might produce on the conquerors intent with simply retorting if the Lenape are so skillful why is one of their bravest warriors here he followed the steps of a flying coward and fell into a snare the cunning beaver may be caught as Uncus thus replied he pointed with his finger toward the solitary Huron but without dating to bestow any other notice on so worthy an object the words of the answer and the air of the speaker produced a strong sensation among his auditors every eye rolled sullenly toward 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 between shoulder and shoulder that was not now filled with the dark liniments of the speaker and curious human countenance in the meantime the more aged chiefs in the center communed with each other in short and broken sentences not a word was uttered that 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 brave precursor of a weighty and important judgment they who composed the outer circle faces were on tiptoe to gaze and even the culprit for an instant forgot his shame in a deeper emotion 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 Uncus placed himself in a dignified attitude before the offender at that moment the withered squall already mentioned moved into the circle in a slow sidling sort of dance holding the torch and muttering the indistinct words of what might have been a species of incantation though her presence was altogether an intrusion it was unheeded during uncus she held the blazing brand in such a manner as to cast its red glare on his person and to expose the slightest emotion of his countenance the Mohican maintained his firm and haughty attitude and his eyes so far from dainy to meet her inquisitive look dwelt steadily on the distance as though it penetrated the obstacles 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 countrymen the young Huron was in his war paint and very little of a finely molded 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 read 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 bored your tongue is loud in the village 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 anguished 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 our tribe it is already forgotten as the chief slowly uttered these words pausing impressively between each sentence the culprit raised his face in deference to the others rank in years shame horror and pride struggled in its liniments 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 rose to his feet and bearing his bosom looks 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 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 oncus the squall gave a loud and plaintive yell dashed the torch to the earth and buried everything in darkness the whole shattering group of spectators blighted from the lodge like troubled sprites and Duncan thought that he and the yet throbbing body of the victim of an Indian judgment had now become its only tenets end of chapter 23