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diff --git a/old/dslyr10.txt b/old/dslyr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..babc122 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/dslyr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20967 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper +#7 in our series by James Fenimore Cooper + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* +*Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael Hart* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Stephen Kerr <renkerr@earthlink.net> + + + + + +The Deerslayer + +by James Fenimore Cooper + + + + +Chapter I + +"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, +There is a rapture on the lonely shore. +There is society where none intrudes, +By the deep sea, and music in its roar : +I love not man the less, but nature more, +From these our interviews, in which I steal +From all I may be, or have been before, +To mingle with the universe, and feel +What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal" + +Childe Harold. + +On the human imagination events produce the effects of time. Thus, he who +has travelled far and seen much is apt to fancy that he has lived long; and +the history that most abounds in important incidents soonest assumes the +aspect of antiquity. In no other way can we account for the venerable air +that is already gathering around American annals. When the mind reverts to +the earliest days of colonial history, the period seems remote and obscure, +the thousand changes that thicken along the links of recollections, throwing +back the origin of the nation to a day so distant as seemingly to reach the +mists of time; and yet four lives of ordinary duration would suffice to +transmit, from mouth to mouth, in the form of tradition, all that civilized +man has achieved within the limits of the republic. Altbough New York alone +possesses a population materially exceeding that of either of the four +smallest kingdoms of Europe, or materially exceeding that of the entire Swiss +Confederation, it is little more than two centuries since the Dutch commenced +their settlement, rescuing the region from the savage state. Thus, what +seems venerable by an accumulation of changes is reduced to familiarity when +we come seriously to consider it solely in connection with time. + +This glance into the perspective of the past will prepare the reader to look +at the pictures we are about to sketch, with less surprise than he might +otherwise feel ; and a few additional explanations may carry him back in +imagination to the precise condition of society that we desire to delineate. +It is matter of history that the settlements on the eastern shores of the +Hudson, such as Claverack, Kinderhook, and even Poughkeepsie, were not +regarded as safe from Indian incursions a century since; and there is still +standing on the banks of the same river, and within musket-shot of the +wharves of Albany, a residence of a younger branch' of the Van Rensselaers, +that has loopholes constructed for defence against the same crafty enemy, +although it dates from a period scarcely so distant. Other similar memorials +of the infancy of the country are to be found, scattered through what is now +deemed the very centre of American civi2ization, affording the plainest +proofs that all we possess of security from invasion and hostile violence is +the growth of but little more than the time that is frequently fulfilled by a +single human life. + +The incidents of this tale occurred between the years 1740 and I745, when the +settled portions of the colony of New York were confined to the four Atlantic +counties, a narrow belt of country on each side of the Hudson, extending from +its mouth to the falls near its head, and to a few advanced "neighborhoods" +on the Mohawk and the Schoharie. Broad belts of the virgin wilderness not +only reached the shores of the first river, but they even crossed it, +stretching away into New England, and affording forest covers to the +noiseless moccasin of the native warrior, as he trod the secret and bloody +war-path. A bird's-eye view of the whole region east of the Mississippi must +then have offered one vast expanse of woods, relieved by a comparatively +narrow fringe of cultivation along the sea, dotted by the glittering surfaces +of lakes, and intersected by the waving lines of river. In such a vast +picture of solemn solitude, the district of country we design to paint sinks +into insignificance, though we feel encouraged to proceed by the conviction +that, with slight and immaterial distinctions, he who succeeds in giving an +accurate idea of any portion of this wild region must necessarily convey a +tolerably correct notion of the whole. + +Whatever may be the changes produced by man, the eternal round of the seasons +is unbroken. Summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, return in their +stated order with a sublime precision, affording to man one of the noblest of +all the occasions he enjoys of proving the high powers of his far-reaching +mind, in compassing the laws that control their exact uniformity, and in +calculating their never-ending revolutions. Centuries of summer suns had +warmed the tops of the same noble oaks and pines, sending their heats even to +the tenacious roots, when voices were heard calling to each other, in the +depths of a forest, of which the leafy surface lay bathed in the brilliant +light of a cloudless day in June, while the trunks of the trees rose in +gloomy grandeur in the shades beneath. The calls were in different tones, +evidently proceeding from two men who had lost their way, and were searching +in different directions for their path. At length a shout proclaimed +success, and presently a man of gigantic mould broke out of the tangled +labyrinth of a small swamp, emerging into an opening that appeared to have +been formed partly by the ravages of the wind, and partly by those of fire. +This little area, which afforded a good view of the sky, although it was +pretty well filled with dead trees, lay on the side of one of the high hills, +or low mountains, into which nearly the whole surface of the adjacent country +was broken. + +4 + + "Here is room to breathe in! " exclaimed the liberated forester, as soon as +he found himself under a clear sky, shaking his huge frame like a mastiff +that has just escaped from a snowbank. "Hurrah! Deerslayer; here is daylight, +at last, and yonder is the lake." + +These words were scarcely uttered when the second forester dashed aside the +bushes of the swamp, and appeared in the area. After making a hurried +adjustment of hisarms and disordered dress, he joined his companion, who had +already begun his disposition for a halt. + +"Do you know this spot!" demanded the one called Deerslayer," or do you shout +at the sight of the sun? " " Both, lad, both; I know the spot, and am not +sorry to see so useful a fri'nd as the sun. Now we have got the p'ints of +the compass in our minds once more, and 't will be our own faults if we let +anything turn them topsy-turvy ag'in, as has just 'happened. My name is not +Hurry; Harry, if this be not the very spot where the land-hunters 'camped the +last summer, and passed a week. See I yonder are the dead bushes of their +bower, and here is the spring. Much as I like the sun, boy, I've no occasion +for it to tell me it is noon; this stomach of mine is as good a time-piece as +is to be found in the colony, and it already p'ints to half-past twelve. So +open the wallet, and let us wind up for another six hours' run." + +At this suggestion, both set themselves about making the preparations +necessary for their usual frugal but hearty meal. We will profit by this +pause in the discourse to give the reader some idea of the appearance of the +men, each of whom is destined to enact no insignificant part in our legend. +It would not have been easy to find a more noble specimen of vigorous manhood +than was offered in the person of him who called himself Hurry Harry. His +real name was Henry March but the frontiersmen having caught the practice of +giving sobriquets from the Indians, the appellation of Hurry was far oftener +applied to him than his proper designation, and not unfrequently he was +termed Hurry Skurry, a nickname he had obtained from a dashing, reckless +offhand manner, and a physical restlessness that kept him so constantly on +the move, as to cause him to be known along the whole line of scattered +habitations that lay between the province and the Canadas. The stature of +Hurry Harry exceeded six feet four, and being unusually well proportioned, +his strength fully realized the idea created by his gigantic frame. The face +did no discredit to the rest of the man, for it was both good-humored and +handsome. His air was free, and though his manner necessarily partook of the +rudeness of a border life, the grandeur that pervaded So noble a physique +prevented it from becoming altogether vulgar. + +Deerslayer, as Hurry called his companion, was a very different person in +appearance, as well as in character. In stature he stood about six feet in +his moccasins, but his frame was comparatively light and slender, showing +muscles, however, that promised unusual agility, if not unusual strength. +His face would have had little to recommend it except youth, were it not for +an expression that seldom failed to win upon those who had leisure to examine +it, and to yield to the feeling of confidence it created. This expression +was simply that of guileless truth, sustained by an earnestness of purpose, +and a sincerity of feeling, that rendered it remarkable. At times this air +of integrity seemed to be so simple as to awaken the suspicion of a want of +the usual means to discriminate between artifice and truth; but few came in +serious contact with the man, without losing this distrust in respect for his +opinions and motives. + +Both these frontiersmen were still young, Hurry having reached the age of six +or eight and twenty, while Deerslayer was several years his junior. Their +attire needs no particular description, though it may be well to add that it +was composed in no small degree of dressed deer-skins, and had the usual +signs of belonging to those who pass their Lime between the skirts of +civilized society and the boundless forests. There was, notwithstanding, +some attention to smartness and the picturesque in the arrangements of +Deerslayer's dress, more particularly in the part connected with his arms and +accoutrements. His rifle was in perfect condition, + +6 + +the handle of his hunting-knife was neatly carved, his powder-horn was +ornamented with suitable device slightly cut into the material, and his shot- +pouch was decorated with wampum. On the other hand, Hurry Harry, either from +constitutional recklessness, or from a secret consciousness how little his +appearance required artificial aids, wore everything in a careless, slovenly +manner, as if he felt a noble scorn for the trifling accessories of dress and +ornaments. Perhaps the peculiar effect of his fine form and great stature was +increased rather than lessened, by this unstudied and disdainful air of +indifference. + +"Come, Deerslayer, fall to, and prove that you have a Delaware stomach, as +you say you have had a Delaware edication," cried Hurry, setting the example +by opening his mouth to receive a slice of cold venison steak that would have +made an entire meal for a European peasant; " fall to, lad, and prove your +manhood on this poor devil of a doe with your teeth, as you 've already done +with your ride." + +"Nay, nay, Hurry, there's little manhood in killing a doe, and that too out +of season; though there might be some in bringing down a painter or a +catamount," returned the other, disposing himself to comply. "The Delawares +have given me my name, not so much on account of a bold heart, as on account +of a quick eye, and an actyve foot. There may not be any cowardyce in +overcoming a deer, but sartain it is, there 's no great valor." + +"The Delawares themselves are no heroes," muttered Hurry through his teeth, +the mouth being too full to permit it to be fairly opened, " or they would +never have allowed them loping vagabonds, the Mingos, to make them women. " + +"That matter is not rightly understood--has never been rightly explained," +said Deerslayer earnestly, for he was as zealous a friend as his companion +was dangerous as an enemy; "the Mengwe fill the woods with their lies, and +misconstruct words and treaties. I have now lived ten years with the +Delawares, and know them to be as manful as any other nation, when the proper +time to strike comes." + +"Harkee, Master Deerslayer, since we are on the subject, we may as well open +our minds to each other in a man-to man way; answer me one question; you have +had so much luck among the game as to have gotten a title, it would seem, but +did you ever hit anything-human or intelligible: did you ever pull trigger on +an inimy that was capable of pulling one upon you ?" + +This question produced a singular collision between mortification and correct +feeling, in the bosom of the youth, that was easily to be traced in the +workings of his ingenuous countenance. The struggle was short, however; +uprightness of heart soon getting the better of false pride and frontier +boastfulness. + +"To own the truth, I never did," answered Deerslayer; "seeing that a fitting +occasion never offered. The Delawares have been peaceable since my sojourn +with 'em, and I hold it to be ontawful to take the life of man, except in +open and generous warfare." + +"What! did you never find a fellow thieving among pour traps and skins, and +do the law on him with your own hands, by way of saving the magistrates +trouble in the settlements, and the rogue himself the cost of the suit!" + +"I am no trapper, Hurry," returned the young man proudly: " I live by the +ride, a we'pon at which I will not turn my back on any man of my years, +atween the Hudson and the St. Lawrence. I never offer a skin that has not a +hole in its head besides them which natur' made to see with or to breathe +through." + +"Ay, ay, this is all very well, in the animal way, though it makes but a poor +figure alongside of scalps and ambushes. Shooting an Indian from an ambush is +acting up to his own principles, and now we have what you call a lawful war +on our hands, the sooner you wipe that disgrace off your character, the +sounder will be your sleep; if it only come from knowing there is one inimy +the less prowling in the woods. I shall not ~-frequent your society long, +friend Natty, unless you look higher than four-footed beasts to practice your +ride on." + +"Our journey is nearly ended, you say, Master March, and we can part to- +night, if you see occasion. I have a fri'nd waiting for me, who will think it +no disgrace to consort with a fellow-creatur,' that has never yet slain his +kind.'' + +"I wish I knew what has brought that skulking Delaware ware into this part of +the country so early in the season," muttered Hurry to himself, in a way to +show equally distrust and a recklessness of its betrayal. " Where did you +say the young chief was to give you the meeting!" + +"At a small round rock, near the foot of the lake, where they tell me, the +tribes are given to resorting to make their; treaties, and to bury their +hatchets. This rock have f often heard the Delawares mention, though lake +and rock are equally strangers to me. The country is claimed by both Mangos +and Mohicans, and is a sort of common territory to fish and hunt through, in +time of peace, though what it may become in war-time, the Lord only knows I " + +"Common territory" exclaimed Hurry, laughing aloud. " I should like to know +what Floating Tom Hutter would say to that! He claims the lake as his own +property, in vartue of fifteen years' possession, and, will not be likely to +give it up to either Mingo or Delaware without a battle for it" + +" And what will the colony say to such a quarrel! All this country must have +some owner, the gentry pushing their cravings into the wilderness, even where +they never dare to ventur', in their own persons, to look at the land +they own." + +"That may do in other quarters of the colony, Deerslayer, but it will not do +here. Not a human being, the Lord excepted, owns a foot of sile in this part +of the country. Pen was never put to paper consarning either hill or valley +hereaway, as I 've heard old Tom say time and ag'in, and so be claims the +best right to it of any man breathing; and what Tom claims, he'll be very +likely to maintain." + +"By what I've heard you say, Hurry, this Floating Tom must be an oncommon +mortal; neither Mingo, Delaware, nor pale-face. His possession, too, has +been long, by your tell, and altogether beyond frontier endurance. What's +the man's history and natur'?" + +"Why, as to old Tom's human natur', it is not much like other men's human +natur', but more like a muskrat's human +natar', seeing that he takes more to the ways of that animal than to the ways +of any other fellow-creatur'. Some think he was a free liver on the salt +water, in his youth, and a companion of a sartain I(Kidd, who was hanged for +piracy, long afro you and I were born or acquainted, and that he came up into +these regions, thinking that the king's cruisers could never cross the +mountains, and that he might enjoy the plunder peaceably in the woods." + +"Then he was wrong, Hurry; very wrong. A man can enjoy plunder peaceably +nowhere.'' + +"That's much as his turn of mind may happen to be. I've known them that never +could enjoy it at all, unless it was in the midst of a jollification, and +them again that enjoyed it best in a corner. Some men have no peace if they +don't find plunder, and some if they do. Human nature' is crooked in these +matters. Old Tom seems to belong to neither set, as he enjoys his, if +plunder he has really got, with his darters, in a very quiet and comfortable +way, and wishes for no more." + +"Ay, he has darters, too; I've heard the Delawares, who've hunted this a way, +tell their histories of these young women. Is there no mother, Hurry?" + +" There was once, as in reason; but she has now been dead and sunk these two +good years.'' + +" Anan? " said Deerslayer, looking up at his companion in a little surprise. + +" Dead and sunk, I say, and I hope that's good English. The old fellow +lowered his wife into the lake, by way of seeing the last of her, as I can +testify, being an eye-witness of the ceremony; but whether Tom did it to save +digging, which is no easy job among roots, or out of a consait that water +washes away sin sooner than 'arth, is more than I can say." + +" Was the poor woman oncommon wicked, that her husband should take so much +pains with her body ? " + +"Not onreasonable; though she had her faults. I consider Judith Hutter to +have been as graceful, and about as likely to make a good ind as any woman +who had lived so long beyond the sound of church bells I and I conclude old +Tom sunk her as much by way of saving pains, as by way of taking it. There +was a little steel in her temper, it's true, and, as old Hutter is pretty +much flint, they struck out sparks once-and-a-while; but, on the whole, they +might be said to live amicable like. When they did kindle, the listeners got +some such insights into their past lives, as one gets into the darker parts +of the woods, when a stray gleam of sunshine finds its way down to the roots +of the trees. But Judith I shall always esteem, as it's recommend enough to +one woman to be the mother of such a creator' as her darter, Judith Hutter! " + +"Ay, Judith was the name the Delawares mentioned, though it was pronounced +after a fashion of their own. From their discourse, I do not think the girl +would much please my fancy." + +"Thy fancy!" exclaimed March, taking fire equally at the indifference and at +the presumption of his companion, " what the devil have you to do with a +fancy, and that, too, consarning one like Judith? You are but a boy--a +sapling, that has scarce got root. Judith has had men among her suitors, ever +since she was fifteen; which is now near five years; and will not be apt even +to cast a look upon a half-grown creatur' like you ! " + +"It is June, and there is not a cloud atween us and the sun, Hurry, so all +this heat is not wanted," answered the other, altogether undisturbed ; " any +one may have a fancy, and a squirrel has a right to make up his mind touching +a catamount.'' + +"Ay, but it might not be wise, always, to let the catamount knowit." growled +March. "But you're young and thoughtless, and I'll overlook your ignorance. +Come, Deerslayer," he added, with a good-natured laugh, after pausing a +moment to reflect, "come, Deerslayer, we are sworn friends, and will not +quarrel about a light-minded, jilting jade, just because she happens to be +handsome; more especially as you have never seen her. Judith is only for a +man whose teeth show the full marks, and it 's foolish to be afford of a boy. +What did the Delawares say of the hussy' for an Indian, after all, has his +notions of woman-kind, as well as a white man." + +"They said she was fair to look on, and pleasant of speech; but over-given to +admirers, and light-minded." + +"They are devils incarnate! After all, what schoolmaster is a match for an +Indian, in looking into nature' ! Some people think they are only good on a +trail or the war-path, but I say that they are philosophers, and understand a +man as well as they understand a beaver, and a woman as well as they +understand either. Now that's Judith's character to a ribbon ! To own the +truth to you, Deerslayer, I should have married the gal two years since, if +it had not been for two particular things, one of which was this very +lightmindedness.'' + +" And what may have been the other?" demanded the hunter, who continued to +eat like one that took very little interest in the subject. + + " T'other was an insartainty about her having me. The hussy is handsome, and +she knows it. Boy, not a tree that is growing in these hills is straighter, +or waves in the wind with an easier bend, nor did you ever see the doe that +bounded with a more nat'ral motion. If that was all, every tongue would +sound her praises ; but she has such failings that I find it hard to overlook +them, and sometimes I Swear I'll never visit the lake again." + +" Which is the reason that you always come back? Nothing is ever made more +sure by swearing about it.'' + +" Ah, Deerslayer, you are a novelty in these particulars; keeping as true to +education as if you had never left the settlements. With me the case is +different, and I never want to clinch an idee, that I do not feel a wish to +swear about it. If you know'd all that I know consarning Judith, you 'd find +a justification for a little cussing. Now, the officers sometimes stray over +to the lake, from the forts on the Mohawk, to fish and hunt, and then the +creator' seems beside herself! You can see in the manner which she wears her +finery, and the airs she gives herself with the gallants." + +" That is unseemly in a poor man's darter," returned Deerslayer gravely, " +the officers are all gentry, and can only look on such as Judith with evil +intentions." + +"There's the unsartainty, and the damper! I have my misgivings about a +particular captain, and Jude has no one to blame but her own folly, if I'm +right. On the whole, I wish to look upon her as modest and becoming, and yet +the clouds that drive among these hills are not more unsartain. Not a dozen +white men have ever laid eyes upon her since she was a child, and yet her +airs, with two or three of these officers, are extinguishers! " +" I would think no more of such a woman, but turn my mind altogether to the +forest; that will not deceive you, being ordered and ruled by a hand that +never wavers." + +" If you know'd Judith, you would see how much easier it is to say this than +it would be to do it. Could I bring my mind to be easy about the officers, +I would carry the gal off to the Mohawk by force, make her marry me in spite +of her whiffling, and leave old Tom to the care of Hefty, his other child, +who, if she be not as handsome or as quick-witted as her sister, is much the +most dutiful." + +" Is there another bird in the same nest! " asked Deerslayer, raising his +eyes with a species of half-awakened curiosity,--" the Delawares spoke to me +only of one.'' + +That's nat'ral enough, when Judith Hutter and Hefty Hutter are in question. +Hefty is only comely, while her sister, I tell thee, boy, is such another as +is not to be found attain this and the sea: Judith is as full of wit, and +talk, and cunning, as an old Indian orator, while poor Hefty is at the best +but ' compass meant us.' " " Anan?'' inquired, again, the Deerslayer. + +" Why, what the officers call 'compass meant us,' which I understand to +signify' that she means always to go in the right direction, but sometimes +does not know how. 'Compass'for the p'int, and 'meant us' for the intention. +No, poor Hetty is what I call on the verge of ignorance, and sometimes she +stumbles on one side of the line, and sometimes on toothier." + +" Them are beings that the Lord has in his 'special care," said Deerslayer, +solemnly; " for he looks carefully to all who fall short of their proper +share of reason. The redskins honor and respect them who are so gifted, +knowing that the +Evil Spirit delights more to dwell in an artful body, than in one that has no +cunning to work upon." + +"I'11 answer for it, then, that he will not remain long with poor Kitty; for +the child is just'compass meant us,' as I have told you. Old Tom has a +feeling for the gal, and so has Judith, quick-witted and glorious as she is +herself; else would I not answer for her being altogether safe among the sort +of men that sometimes meet on the lake shore." + +" I thought this water an unknown and little-frequented sheet," observed the +Deerslayer, evidently uneasy at the idea of being too near the world. + +" It's all that, lad, the eyes of twenty white men never having been laid on +it; still, twenty true-bred frontiersmen --hunters and trappers, and scouts, +and the like,--can do a deal of mischief if they try. 'T would be an awful +thing to me, Deerslayer, did I and Judith married, after an absence of six +months !" + +"Have you the gal's faith, to encourage you to hope otherwise?" +" Not at all. I know not how it is: I'm good-looking, boy,--that much I can +see in any spring on which the sun shines,--and yet I could not get the hussy +to a promise, or even a cordial willing smile, though she will laugh by the +hour. If she has dared to marry in my absence, she'd be like to know the +pleasures of widowhood afore she is twenty !" + +" You would not harm the man she has chosen, Hurry, simply because she found +him more to her liking than yourself! " + +" Why not! If an enemy crosses my path, will I not beat him out of it ! Look +at me ! am I a man like to let any sneaking, crawling, skin-trader get the +better of me in a matter that touches me as near as the kindness of Judith +Hutter! Besides, when we live beyond law, we must be our own judges and +executioners. And if a man should be found dead in the woods, who is there +to say who slew him, even admitting that the colony took the matter in hand +and made a stir about it?" + + I '5 + +"If that man should be Judith Hutter's husband, after what has passed, +I might tell enough, at least, to put the colony on the trail." + + "You!--half-grown, venison-hunting battling! You dare to think of informing +against Hurry Harry in so much as a matter touching a mink or a woodchuck ! " +"I would dare to speak truth, Hurry, consarning you or any man that ever +lived." + + March looked at his companion, for a moment, in silent amazement; then +seizing him by the throat with both hands, he shook his comparatively slight +frame with a violence that menaced the dislocation of some of the bones. Nor +was this done jocularly, for anger hashed from the giant's eyes, and there +were certain signs that seemed to threaten much more earnestness than the +occasion would appear to call for. Whatever might be the real intention of +March, and it is probable there was none settled in his mind, it is certain +that he was unusually aroused; and most men who found themselves throttled by +one of a mould so gigantic, in such a mood, and in a solitude so deep and +helpless, would have felt intimidated, and tempted to yield even the right. +Not so, however, with Deerslayer. His countenance remained unmoved ;his hand +did not shake, and his answer was given in a voice that did not resort to the +artifice of louder tones, even by way of proving its owner's resolution. + +"You may shake, Hurry, until you bring down the mountain," he said quietly, " +but nothing beside truth will you shake from me. It is probable that Judith +Hutter has no husband to slay, and you may never have a chance to waylay one, +else would I tell her of your threat, in the first conversation I held with +the gal." + +March released his gripe, and sat regarding the other in silent astonishment. + +"I thought we had been friends," he at length added; "but you've got the last +secret of mine that will ever enter your ears." + +" I want none, if they are to be like this. I know we live in the woods, +Hurry, and are thought to be beyond human +laws,--and perhaps we are so, in fact, whatever it may be in right,--but +there is a law and a law-maker, that rule across the whole continent. He +that flies in the face of either need not call me a friend." + +" Damme, Deerslayer, if I do not believe you are at heart a Moravian, and no +fair-minded, plain-dealing hunter, as you've pretended to be ! " + +" Fair-minded or not, Hurry, you will find me as plaindealing in deeds as I +am in words. But this giving way to sudden anger is foolish, and proves how +little you have sojourned with the redden. Judith Hutter no doubt is still +single, and you spoke but as the tongue ran, and not as the heart felt. +There's my hand, and we will say and think no more about it.'' + +Hurry seemed more surprised than ever; then he burst forth in a loud, good- +natured laugh, which brought tears to his eyes. After this he accepted the +offered hand, and the parties became friends. + +"'T would have been foolish to quarrel about an idee," March cried, as he +resumed his meal, " and more like lawyers in the towns than like sensible men +in the woods. They tell me, Deerslayer, much ill-blood grows out of idees +among the people in the lower counties, and that they sometimes get to +extremities upon them." + +" That do they,-that do they; and about other matters that might better be +left to take care of themselves. I have heard the Moravians say that there +are lands in which men quarrel even consarning their religion; and if they +can get their tempers up on such a subject, Hurry, the Lord have Marcy on +'em. Howsoever, there is no occasion for our following their example, and +more especially about a husband that this Judith Hutter may never see, or +never wish to see. For my part, I feel more cur'osity about the feeble-witted +sister than about your beauty. There's something that comes close to a +man's feelin's, when he meets with a fellow· creatur' that has all the +outward show of an accountable mortal, and who fails of being what he seems, +only through a lack of reason. This is bad enough in a man, but when it +comes to a woman, and she a young, and maybe a winning creature' it touches +all the pitiful thoughts his natur' has. God knows, Hurry, that such poor +things be defenceless enough with all their wits about 'em; but it's a cruel +fortun' when that great protector and guide fails 'em.'' " Hark, Deerslayer,- +-you know what the hunters, and trappers, and peltry-men in, general be; and +their best friends will not deny that they are headstrong and given to having +their own way, without much bethinking 'em of other people's rights or +feline's,--and yet I don't think the man is to be found, in all this region, +who would harm +Hetty Hutter, if he could; no, not even a redskin." + +"Therein, fri'nd Hurry, you do the Delawares, at least, and all their allied +tribes, only justice, for a redskin looks +upon a being thus struck by God's power as especially under his care. I +rejoice to hear what you say, however, I rejoice to hear it; but as the sun +is beginning to turn towards the afternoon's sky, had we not better strike +the trail again, and make forward, that we may get an opportunity of seeing +these wonderful sisters" + +Harry March giving a cheerful assent, the remnants of the +meal were soon collected; then the travelers shouldered their packs, resumed +their arms, and, quitting the little area of light, they again plunged into +the deep shadows of the forest. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +"Thou'rt passing from the lake's green side, +And the hunter's hearth away; +For the time of flowers, for the summer's pride, +Daughter! thou canst not stay." + +Mrs. Hemans, 'Edith. A Tale of the Woods" II. 191-94 + + + +Our two adventurers had not far to go. Hurry knew the direction, as soon as +he had found the open spot and the spring, and he now led on with the +confident step of a man assured of his object. The forest was dark, as a +matter of course, but it was no longer obstructed by underbrush, and the +footing was firm and dry. After proceeding near a mile, March stopped, and +began to cast about him with an inquiring look, examining the different +objects with care, and occasionally turning his eyes on the trunks of the +fallen trees, with which the ground was well sprinkled, as is usually the +case in an American wood, especially in those parts of the country where +timber has not yet become valuable. + +"This must be the place, Deerslayer," March at length observed; " here is a +beech by the side of a hemlock, with three pines at hand, and yonder is a +white birch with a broken top; and yet I see no rock, nor any of the branches +bent down, as I told you would be the case." + +"Broken branches are onskilful landmarks, as the least exper'enced know that +branches don't often break of themselves," returned the other; " and they +also lead to suspicion and discoveries. The Delawares never trust to broken +branches, unless it is in friendly times, and on an open trail. As for the +beeches, and pines, and hemlocks, why, they are + + +to be seen on all sides of us, not only by twos and threes, but by forties, +and fifties, and hundreds." + +"Very true, Deerslayer, but you never calculate on position. Here is a beech +and a hemlock--'' + +"Yes, and there is another beech and a hemlock, as loving as two brothers, +or, for that matter, more loving than some brothers; and yonder are others, +for neither tree is a rarity in these woods. fear me, Hurry, you are better +at trapping beaver and shooting bears, than at leading on a blindish sort of +a trail. Ha! there's what you wish to end, a'ter all!" + +"Now, Deerslayer, this is one of your Delaware pretensions, for hang me if I +see anything but these trees, which do seem to start up around Us in a most +onaccountable and perplexing manner." + +"Look this a way, Hurry--here, in a line with the black oak-don't you see the +crooked sapling that is hooked up in the branches of the bass-wood, near it 1 +Now, that sapling was once snow-ridden, and got the bend by its weight ; but +it never straightened itself, and fastened itself in among the bass-wood +branches in the way you see. The hand of man did that act of kindness for +it." + +"That hand was mine!" exclaimed Hurry; "I found the slender young thing bent +to the airth, like an unfortunate creatur' borne down by misfortune, and +stuck it up where you see it. After all, Deerslayer, I must allow, you're +getting to have an oncommon good eye for the woods !" + +T'is improving, Hurry-- t'is improving I will acknowledge ; but 't is only a +child's eye, compared to some I know. There's Tamenund, now, though a man so +old that few remember when he was in his prime, Tamenund lets nothing escape +his look, which is more like the scent of a hound than the sight of an eye. +Then Uncas, the father of Chingachgook, and the lawful chief of the Mohicans, +is another that it is almost hopeless to pass unseen. I'm improving, I will +allow--I'm improving, but far from being perfect, as yet." + +"And who is this Chingachgook, of whom you talk so much, Deerslayer! " asked +Hurry, as he moved off in the direction of the righted sapling; " a loping +redskin, at the best, I make no question." + +"Not so, Hurry, but the best of loping redskins, as you call'em. If he had +his rights, he would be a great chief; but, as it is, he is only a brave and +just-minded Delaware; respected, and even obeyed in some things,'tis true, +but of a fallen race, and belonging to a fallen people. Ah! Harry March, +'twould warm the heart within you to sit in their lodges of a winter's night, +and listen to the traditions of the ancient greatness and power of the +Mohicans!" + +"Karkee, fr-i'nd Nathaniel," said Hurry, stopping short to face his +companion, in order that his words might carry greater weight with them, "if +a man believed all that other people choose to say in their own favor, he +might get an oversized opinion of them, and an undersized opinion of himself. +These redskins are notable boasters, and I set down more than half of their +traditions as pure talk." + +"There is truth in what you say, Hurry, I'll not deny it, for I've seen it, +and believe it. They do boast, but then that is a gift from natur'; and it's +sinful to withstand nat'ral gifts. See; this is the spot you come to find !" +This remark cut short the discourse, and both the men now gave all their +attention to the object immediately before them. Deerslayer pointed out to +his companion the trunk of a huge linden, or bass-wood, as it is termed in +the language of the country, which had filled its time, and fallen by its own +weight. This tree, like so many millions of its brethren, lay where it had +fallen, and was mouldering under the slow but certain influence of the +seasons. The decay, however, had attacked its centre, even while it stood +erect in the pride of vegetation, bellowing out its heart, as disease +sometimes destroys the vitals of animal life, even while a fair exterior is +presented to the observer. As the trunk lay stretched for near a hundred +feet along the earth, the quick eye of the hunter detected this peculiarity, +and. from this and other circumstances, he knew it to be the tree of which +March was in search. + +"Ay, here we have what we want," cried Hurry, looking in at the larger end of +the linden; "everything is as snug as if it had been left in an old woman's +cupboard Come, lend me a hand, Deerslayer, and we'll be afloat in half an +hour." + +At this call the hunter joined his companion, and the two went to work +deliberately and regularly, like men accustomed to the sort of thing in which +they were employed. In the first place, Hurry removed some pieces of bark +that lay before the large opening in the tree, and which the other declared +to be disposed in a way that would have been more likely to attract attention +than to conceal the cover, had any straggler passed that way. The two then +drew out a bark canoe, containing its seats, paddles, and Other appliances, +even to fishing-lines and rods. This vessel was by no means small; but such +was its comparative lightness, and so gigantic was the strength of Hurry, +that the latter shouldered it with seeming ease, declining all assistance, +even in the act of raising it to the awkward position in which he was obliged +to hold it. + +"Lead ahead, Deerslayer," said March, "and open the bushes; the rest I can do +for myself." + +The other obeyed, and the men left the spot, Deerslayer +clearing the way for his companion, and inclining to the right or to the +left, as the latter directed In about ten minutes they both broke suddenly +into the brilliant light of the sun, on a low gravelly point, that was washed +by water on quite half its outline. + +An exclamation of surprise broke from the lips of Deerslayer, an exclamation +that was low and guardedly made, however, for his habits were much more +thoughtful and regulated than those of the reckless Hurry, when on reaching +the margin of the lake, he beheld the view that unexpectedly met his gaze. It +was, in truth, sufficiently striking to merit a brief description. On a level +with the point lay a broad sheet of water, so placid and limpid that it +resembled a bed of the pure mountain atmosphere, compressed +into a setting of hills and woods. Its length was +about three leagues, while its breadth was irregular, expanding to half a +league, or even more, opposite to the +point, and contracting to less than half that distance, more to the +southward. Of course, its margin was irregular, being indented by bays, and +broken by many projecting, low points. At its northern, or nearest end, it +was bounded by an isolated mountain, lower land falling off east and west, +gracefully relieving the sweep of the outline. Still the character of the +country was mountainous; high hills, or low mountains, rising abruptly from +the water, on quite nine tenths of its circuit. The exceptions, indeed, only +served a little to vary the scene; and even beyond the parts of the shore +that were comparatively low, the background was high, though more distant. + +But the most striking peculiarities of this scene were its solemn solitude +and sweet repose. On all sides, wherever the eye turned, nothing met it but +the mirror-like surface of the lake, the placid view of heaven, and the dense +setting of woods. So rich and fleecy were the outlines of the forest, that +scarce an opening could be seen, the whole visible earth, from the rounded +mountain-top to the water's edge, presenting one unvaried hue of unbroken +verdure. As if vegetation were not satisfied with a triumph so complete, the +trees overhung the lake itself, shooting out towards the light; and there +were miles along its eastern shore, where a boat might have pulled beneath +the branches of dark Rembrandt-looking hemlocks, " quivering aspens," and +melancholy pines. In a word, the hand of man had never yet defaced or +deformed any part of this native scene, which lay bathed in the sunlight, a +glorious picture of affluent- +forest-grandeur, softened by the balminess of June, and relieved by the +beautiful variety afforded by the presence of so broad an expanse of water. + +"This is grand! --'t is solemn!-'t is an edication of itself, to look upon!" +exclaimed Deerslayer, as he stood leaning on his rifle, and gazing to the +right and left, north and south, above and beneath, in whichever direction +his eye passed into a setting of hills and woods. about three leagues, while +its breadth could wander; " not a tree disturbed even by redskin hand, as I +can discover, but everything left in the ordering of the Lord, to live and +die according to his own designs and laws! Hurry, your Judith ought to be a +moral and well disposed young woman, if she has passed half the time you +mention in the centre of a spot so favored." + +"That's naked truth; and yet the gal has the vagaries. All her time has not +been passed here, howsoever, old Tom having the custom, afore I know'd him, +of going to spend the winters in the neighborhood of the settlers, or under +the guns of the forts. No, no, Jude has caught more than is for her good +from the settlers, and especially from the gallantifying officers." + +"If she has--if she has, Hurry, this is a school to set her mind right ag'in. +But what is this I see off here, abreast of us, that seems too small for an +island, and too large for a boat, though it stands in the midst of the water! + +"Why, that is what these galantine gentry from the forts call Muskrat Castle; +and old Tom himself will grin at the name, though it bears so hard on his own +nature' and character. 'T is the stationary house, there being two; this, +which never moves, and the other, that floats, being sometimes in one part of +the lake and sometimes in another. The last goes by the name of the ark, +though what may be the meaning of the word is more than I can tell you.'' " +It must come from the missionaries, Hurry, whom I have heard speak and read +of such a thing. They say that the 'arth was once covered with water, and +that Noah, with his children, was saved from drowning by building a vessel +called an ark, in which he embarked in season. Some of the Delawares believe +this tradition, and some deny it ; but it behooves you and me, as white men +born, to put our faith in its truth. Do you see anything of this ark! + +"'T is down south, no doubt, or anchored in some of the bays. But the canoe +is ready, and fifteen minutes will carry two such paddles as your'n and mine +to the castle." + +At this suggestion, Deerslayer helped his companion to place the different +articles in the canoe, which was already boat. This was no sooner done than +the two frontiermen embarked, and by a vigorous push sent the light bark some +tight or ten rods from the shore. Hurry now took the seat in the stern, +while Deerslayer placed himself forward, and by leisurely but steady strokes +of the paddles, the canoe glided across the placid sheet, towards the +extraordinary-looking structure that the former had styled Muskrat Castle. +Several times the men ceased paddling, and looked about them at the scene, as +new glimpses opened from behind points, enabling them to see farther down the +lake, or to get broader views of the wooded mountains. The only changes, +however, were in the new forms of the hills, the varying curvature of the +bays, and the wider reaches of the valley south; the whole earth apparently +being clothed in a gala-dress of leaves. + +"This is a sight to warm the heart! " exclaimed Deerslayer, when they had +thus stopped for the fourth or fifth time; " the lake seems made to let us +get an insight into the noble forests; and land and water alike stand in the +beauty of God's providence! Do you say, Hurry, that there is no man who calls +himself lawful owner of all these glories? '' + +"None but the King, lad. He may pretend to some right of that nature', but he +is so far away that his claim will never trouble old Tom Hutter, who has got +possession, and is like to keep it as long as his life lasts. Tom is no +squatter, not being on land; I call him a floater." + +"I invy that man ! I know it's wrong, and I strive again the feline', but I +invy that man! Don't think, Hurry, that I'm consorting any plan to put +myself in his moccasins, for such a thought does n't harbor in my mind; but I +can't help a little invy? 'Tis a nat'ral feelin', and the best of us are but +nat'ral, a'ter all, and give way to such feelin's at times." + +"You've only to marry Hetty to inherit half the estate," cried Hurry, +laughing; "the gal is comely; nay, if it was n't for her sister's beauty she +would be even handsome ; and then her wits are so small that you may easily +convart her into one of your own way of thinking, in all things. Do you take +Hetty off the old fellow's hands, and I'11 engage +he'll give you an interest in every deer you can knock over within five miles +of his lake." + +"Does game abound!" suddenly demanded the other, who paid but little +attention to March's raillery. + +"It has the country to itself. Scarce a trigger is pulled on it; and as for +the trappers, this is not a region they greatly frequent. I ought not to be +so much here myself, but Jude pulls one way, while the beaver pulls another. +More than a hundred Spanish dollars has that creatur' zest me the last two +seasons, and yet I could not forego the wish to look upon her face once +more." + + "Do the redmen often visit this lake, Hurry!" continued Deerslayer, pursuing +his own train of thought. + +"Why, they come and go; sometimes in parties, and sometimes singly. The +country seems to belong to no native tribe in particular; and so it has +fallen into the hands of the Hutter tribe. The old man tells me that some +sharp ones have been wheedling the Mohawks for an Indian deed, in order to +get a title out of the colony ; but nothing has come of it, seeing that no +one heavy enough for such a trade has yet meddled with the matter. The +hunters have a good life-lease still of this wilderness." "So much the +better, so much the better, Hurry. If I was King of England, the man that +felled one of these trees without good occasion for the timber, should be +banished to a desarted and forlorn region, in which no fourfooted animal ever +trod. Right glad am I that Chingachgook app'inted our meeting on this lake, +for hitherto eye of mine never looked on such a glorious spectacle." + " That's because you've kept so much among the Delawares, in whose country +there are no lakes. Now, farther north and farther west these bits of water +abound; and you're young, and may yet live to see'em. But though there be +other lakes, Deerslayer, there's no other Judith Hutter !" + At this remark his companion smiled, and then he dropped his paddle into the +water, as if in consideration of a lover's haste. Both now pulled vigorously +until they got within a hundred yards of the "castle," as Hurry +familiarly called the house of Hutter, when they again ceased paddling; the +admirer of Judith restraining his impatience the more readily, as he +perceived that the building was untenanted, at the moment. This new pause was +to enable Deerslayer to survey the singular edifice, which was of a +construction so novel as to merit a particular description. + +Muskrat Castle, as the house had been facetiously named by some waggish +officer, stood in the open lake, at a distance of fully a quarter of a mile +from the nearest shore. On every other side the water extended much farther, +the precise position being distant about two miles from the northern end of +the sheet, and near, if not quite, a mile from its eastern shore. As there +was not the smallest appearance of any island, but the house stood on piles, +with the water flowing beneath it, and Deerslayer had already discovered that +the lake was of a great depth, he was fain to ask an explanation of this +singular circumstance. Hurry solved the difficulty by telling him that on +this spot alone, a long, narrow shoal, which extended for a few hundred yards +in a north and south direction, rose within six or eight feet of the surface +of the lake, and that Hutter had driven piles into it, and placed his +habitation on them, for the purpose of security. + +"The old fellow was burnt out three times, atween the Indians and the +hunters; and in one affray with the redskins he lost his only son, since +which time he has taken to the water for safety. No one can attack him here, +without coming in a boat, and the plunder and scalps would scarce be worth +the trouble of digging out canoes. Then it's by no means sartain which would +whip in such a scrimmage, for old Tom is well supplied with arms and +ammunition, and the castle, as you may see, is a tight breastwork agin light +shot." + +Deerslayer had some theoretical knowledge of frontier warfare, though he had +never yet been called on to raise his hand in anger against a fellow- +creature. He saw that Hurry did not overrate the strength of this position +in a military point of view, since it would not be easy to attack it without +exposing the assailants to the fire of the be~ +besieged A good deal of art had also been manifested in the disposition of +the timber of which the building was constructed and which afforded a +protection much greater than was usual to the ordinary log-cabins of the +frontier. The sides and ends were composed of the trunks of large +pines, cut about nine feet long, and placed upright, instead of being laid +horizontally, as was the practice of the country. These logs were squared on +three sides, and had large tenons on each end. Massive sills were secured on +the heads of the piles, with suitable grooves dug out of their upper +surfaces, which had been squared for the purpose, and the lower tenons of the +upright pieces were placed in these grooves, giving them secure fastening +below. Plates bad been laid on the upper ends of the upright logs, and were +kept in their places by a similar contrivance; the several corners of the +structure being well fastened by scarfing and pinning the sills and plates. +The doors were made of smaller logs, similarly squared, and the roof was +composed of light poles, firmly united, and well covered with bark. The +effect of this ingenious arrangement was to give its owner a house that could +be approached only by water, the sides of which were composed of logs closely +wedged together, which were two feet thick in their thinnest parts, and which +could be separated only by a deliberate and laborious use of human hands, or +by the slow operation of time. The outer surface of the building was rude and +uneven, the logs being of unequal sizes; but the squared surfaces within gave +both the sides and door as uniform an appearance as was desired, either for +use or show. The chimney was not the least singular portion of the castle, +as Hurry made his companion observe, while he explained the process by which +it had been made. The material was a stiff clay, properly worked, which had +been put together in a mould of sticks, and suffered to harden, a foot or two +at a time, commencing at the bottom. When the entire chimney had thus been +raised, and had been properly bound in with outward props, a brisk ~e was +kindled, and kept going until it was burned to something like a brick-red +This had not been an easy operation, nor had it succeeded entirely ; but by +dint of filling the cracks with fresh clay, a safe fireplace and chimney had +been obtained in the end. This part of the work stood on the log-door, +secured beneath by an extra pile. There were a few other peculiarities about +this dwelling, which will better appear in the course of the narrative. + + "Old Tom is full of contrivances," added Hurry, " and he set his heart on +the success of his chimney, which threatened more than once to give out +altogether; but perseverance will even overcome smoke; and now he has a +comfortable cabin of it, though it did promise, at one time, to be a chinky +sort of a due to carry flames and fire." "You seem to know the whole history +of the castle, Hurry, chimney and sides," said Deerslayer, smiling; "is love +so overcoming that it causes a man to study the story of his sweetheart's +habitation ! " + +"Partly that, lad, and partly eyesight," returned the good-natured giant, +laughing; " there was a large gang of us in the lake, the summer the old +fellow built, and we helped him along with the job. I raised no small part +of the weight of them uprights with my own shoulders, and the axes hew, I can +inform you, Master Natty, while we were bee-in it among the trees ashore. +The old de no way stingy about food, and as we had often eat at his hearth, +we thought we would just house him comfortably, afore we went to Albany with +our skins. Yes, many is the meal I've swallowed in Tom Hutter's cabins; and +Hetty, though so weak in the way of wits, has a wonderful particular way +about a frying-pan or a gridiron ! + +" While the parties were thus discoursing, the canoe had been gradually +drawing nearer to the "castle," and was now so close as to require but a +single stroke of a paddle to reach the landing. This was at a floored +platform in front of the entrance, that might have been some twenty feet +square. + +"Old Tom calls this sort of a wharf his door-yard," observed Hurry, as he +fastened the canoe, after he and his Companion had left it: "and the gallants +from the forts have named it the castle court though what a 'court' can have +to do here is more than I can tell you, seeing that there is no law. Tis as I +supposed; not a soul within, but the whole family is off on a v'y'ge of +discovery ! " While Hurry was bustling about the "door-yard," examining the +fishing-spears, rods, nets, and other similar appliances of a frontier cabin, +Deerslayer, whose manner was altogether more rebuked and quiet, entered the +building with a curiosity that was not usually exhibited by one so long +trained in Indian habits. The interior of the "castle" was as faultlessly +neat as its exterior was novel. The entire space, some twenty feet by forty, +was subdivided into several small sleeping-rooms; the apartment into +which he first entered, serving equally for the ordinary uses of its inmates, +and for a kitchen. The furniture was of the strange mixture that it is not +uncommon to find in the remotely situated log-tenements of the interior. Most +of it was rude, and to the last degree rustic; but there was a clock, with a +handsome case of dark wood, in a corner, and two or three chairs, with a +table and bureau, that had evidently come from some dwelling of more than +usual pretension. The clock was industriously ticking, but its leaden- +looking hands did no discredit to their dull aspect, for they pointed to the +hour of eleven, though the sun plainly showed it was some time past the turn +of the day. There was also a dark, massive chest. The kitchen utensils were +of the simplest kind, and far from numerous, but every article was in its +place, and showed the nicest care in its condition. + +After Deerslayer had cast a look about him in the outer room, he raised a +wooden latch, and entered a narrow passage that divided the inner end of the +house into two equal parts. Frontier usages being no way scrupulous, and his +curiosity being strongly excited, the young man now opened a door, and found +himself in a bedroom. A single glance sufficed to show that the apartment +belonged to females. The bed was of the feathers of wild geese, and filled +nearly to overflowing; but it lay in a rude bunk, raised only a foot from the +door. On one side of it were arranged, on pegs, various dresses, of a +quality much superior to what end one would expect to meet in such a place, +with ribbons and other similar articles to correspond. Pretty shoes, with +handsome silver buckles, such as were then worn by females in easy +circumstances, were not wanting; and no less than six fans, of gay colors, +were placed half open, in a way to catch the eye by their conceits and bees. +Even the pillow, on this side of the bed, was covered with finer linen than +its companion, and it was ornamented with a small ruffle. A cap, coquettishly +decorated with ribbons, hung above it, and a pair of long gloves, such as +were rarely used in those days by persons of the laboring classes, were +pinned ostentatiously to it, as if with an intention to exhibit them there, +if they could not be shown on the owner's arms. + +All this Deerslayer saw, and noted' with a degree of minuteness that would +have done credit to the habitual observation of his Mends, the Delawares. +Nor did he fail to perceive the distinction that existed between the +appearances on the different sides of the bed, the head of which stood +against the wall. On that opposite to the one just described, everything was +homely and uninviting, except through its perfect neatness. The few garments +that were hanging from the pegs were of the coarsest materials and of the +commonest forms, while nothing seemed made for show. Of ribbons there was +not one; nor was there either cap or Kerchief beyond those which Hutter's +daughters might be fairly entitled to wear. + +It was now several years since Deerslayer had been in a spot especially +devoted to the uses of females of his own color and race. The sight brought +back to his mind a rush of childish recollections; and he lingered in the +room with a tenderness of feeling to which he had long been a stranger. He +bethought him of his mother, whose homely vestments he remembered to have +seen hanging on pegs like those which he felt must belong to Hetty Hutter; +and he bethought himself of a sister, whose incipient and native taste for +finery had exhibited itself somewhat in the manner of that of Judith, though +necessarily in a less degree. These little resemblances opened a long hidden +vein of sensations; and as he quitted the room, it was with a saddened mien. +He looked no further, but returned slowly and thoughtfully towards the " +door-yard." + +If Old Tom has taken to a new calling, and has been trying his hand at the +traps," cried Hurry, who had been coolly examining the borderer's implements; +"if that is his humor, and you're disposed to remain in these parts, we can +make an oncoming comfortable season of it; for, while the old man and I out- +knowledge the beaver, you can fish, and knock down the deer, to keep body and +soul together. I've always give the poorest hunters half a share, but one as +actyve and sartain as yourself might expect a full one." "Thank'ee, Hurry; +thank'ee, with all my heart--but I do a little beavering for myself as +occasions offer. 'Tie true, the Delawares call me Deerslayer, but it's not +so much +because I'm pretty fatal with the venison as because that while I kill so +many bucks and does, I've never yet taken the life of a fellow-creatur'. They +say their traditions do not tell of another who had shed so much blood of +animals that had not shed the blood of man.'' + +"I hope they don't account you chicken-hearted, lad! A faint-hearted man is +like a no-tailed beaver." "I don't believe, Hurry, that they account me as +out-of the-way timorsome, even though they may not account me as out-of-the- +way brave. But I'm not quarrelsome; and that goes a great way towards keeping +blood off the hands, among the hunters and redskins; and then, Harry March, +it keeps blood off the conscience, too." + +"Well, for my part I account game, a redskin, and a Frenchman as pretty much +the same thing; though I'm as +onquarrelsome a man, too, as there is in all the colonies. I despise a +quarreller as I do a cur-dog; but one has no need to be over-scrupulsome when +it's the right time to show the flint." + +'' I look upon him as the most of a man who acts nearest the right, Hurry. +But this is a glorious spot, and my eyes never a-weary looking at it !" Tis +your first acquaintance with a lake; and these ideas come over us all at such +times. Lakes have a gentle character, as I say, being pretty much water and +land, and points and bays." + +As this definition by no means met the feelings that were uppermost in the +mind of the young hunter, he made no immediate answer, but stood gazing at +the dark hills and the glassy water in silent enjoyment. + + "Have the Governor's or the King's people given this lake a name?" he +suddenly asked, as if struck with a new idea. " If they've not begun to blaze +their trees, and set up their compasses, and line off their maps, it's likely +they've not bethought them to disturb natur' with a name. " + +''They've not got to that, yet; and the last time I went in with skins, one +of the King's surveyors was questioning me consarning all the region +hereabouts. He had heard that there was a lake in this quarter, and had got +some general notions about it, such as that there was water and hills; but +how much of either, he know'd no more than you know of the Mohawk tongue. I +did n't open the trap any wider than was necessary, giving him but poor +encouragement in the way of farms and clearings. In short, I left on his mind +some such opinion of this country, as a man gets of a spring of dirty water, +with a path to it that is so muddy that one mires afore he sets out. He told +me they had'n't got the spt down, yet on their maps, though I conclude that +is a mistake, for he showed me his parchment, and there is a lake donw on it, +where there is no lake in fact, and which is about fifty miles from the place +where it ought to be, if they meant it for this. I don't think any account +will encourage him to mark down another, by way of improvement." + + Here Hurry laughed heartily, such tricks being particularly grateful to a +set of men who dreaded the approaches of civilization as a curtailment of +their own lawless empire. The egregious errors that existed in the maps of +the day, all of which were made in Europe, were, more~er, a standing topic of +ridicule among them; for, if they had not science enough to make any better +themselves, they had sufficient local information to detect the gross +blunders contained in those that existed. Any one who will take the trouble +to compare these unanswerable evidences of the topographical skill of our +fathers a century since, with the more accurate sketches of our own time, +will at once percieve that the men of the woods had a sufficient justifcation +for all their criticism on this branch of the skill of the colonial +governments, which did not at all hesitate to place a rivet or a lake a +degree or two out of the way, even though they lay within a day's march of +the inhabited parts of the Colony glad it has no name," resumed Deerslayer, " +or at least, no pale-face name; for their christenings always foretell waste +and destruction. No doubt, howsoever, the redskins have their modes of +knowing it, and the hunters and trappers, too; they are likely to call the +place by something reasonable and resembling." + +' As for the tribes, each has its tongue, and its own way of calling things; +and they treat this part of the world just as they treat all others. Among +ourselves, we've got to calling the place the'Glimmerglass,' seeing that its +whole basin is so often hinged with pines, cast upward to its face as if it +would throw hack the hills that hang over it." + + "There is an outlet, I know, for all lakes have outlets, and the rock at +which I am to meet Chingachgook stands near an outlet. Has that no colony- +name yet ? + +" In that particular they've got the advantage of us, having one end, and +that the biggest, in their own keeping: they've given it a name which has +found its way up to its source; names nat'rally working up stream. No doubt, +Deerslayer, you've seen the Susquehannah, down in the Delaware country " + +"That have I, and hunted along its banks a hundred +times. That and this are the same in fact, and, I suppose, the same in sound. +I am glad they've been compelled to keep the redmen's name, for it would be +too hard to rob them of both land and name I " + + Deerslayer made no answer; but he stood leaning on his rifle, gazing at the +view which so much delighted him. The reader is not to suppose, however, that +it was the picturesque alone which so strongly attracted his attention. +The spot was very lovely, of a truth, and it was then seen in one of its most +favorable moments, the surface of the late being as smooth as glass and as +limpid as pure air, throwing back the mountains, clothed in dark pines, along +the whole of its eastern boundary, the points thrusting forward their trees +even to nearly horizontal lines, while the bays were seen glittering through +an occasional arch beneath, left by a vault fretted with branches and leaves. +It was the air of deep repose--the solitudes, that spoke of scenes and +forests untouched by the hands of man--the reign of nature, in a word, that +gave so much pure delight to one of his habits and turn of mind. Still, he +felt, though it was unconsciously, like a poet also. If he found a pleasure +in studying this large, and to him unusual opening into the mysteries and +forms of the woods, as one is gratified in getting broader views of any +subject that has long occupied his thoughts, he was not insensible to the +innate loveliness of such a landscape neither, but felt a portion of that +soothing of the spirit which is a common attendant of a scene so thoroughly +pervaded by the holy cairn of nature. + + +CHAPTER III. + +"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? +And yet it irks me, the poor dappled foals,- +Being native burghers of this desert city,- +Should, in their own confines, with forked heads +Have their round haunches gored." + +As You Like It, II.i.21-25 + + +Hurry Harry thought more of the beauties of Judith Hutter than of those of +the Glimmerglass and its accompanying scenery. As soon as he had taken a +sufficiently intimate survey of floating Tom's implements, therefore, he +summoned his companion to the canoe, that they might go down the lake in +quest of the family. Previously to embarking, however, Hurry carefully +examined the whole of the northern end of the water with an indifferent +ship's glass, that formed a part of Hutter's effects. In this scrutiny, no +part of the shore was overlooked; the bays and points in particular being +subjected to a closer inquiry than the rest of the wooded boundary. + +T'is as I thought," said Hurry, laying aside the glass, "the old fellow is +drifting about the south end this fine weather, and has left the castle to +defend itself. Well, now we know that he is not up this-a-way, 'twill be but +a small matter to paddle down and hunt him up in his hiding-place. + +'Does Master Hutter think it necessary to burrow on this lake?" inquired +Deerslayer, as he followed his companion into the canoe; 'to my eye it is +such a solitude as one might open his whole soul in, and fear no one to +disarrange his thoughts or his worship." + +'You forget your friends the Mingos, and all the French savages. Is there a +spot on 'arth, Deerslayer, to which them disquiet rogues don't go? Where is +the lake, or even the deer lick, that the blackguards don't find out, and +having found out, don't, sooner or later, discolour its water with blood.' + +'I hear no good character of 'em, sartainly, friend Hurry, though I've never +been called on, yet, to meet them, r any other mortal, on the warpath. I dare +to say that such a lovely spot as this, would not be likely to be overlooked +by such plunderers, for, though I've not been in the way of quarreling with +them tribes myself, the Delawares give me such an account of 'em that I've +pretty much set 'em down in my own mind, as thorough miscreants." + +"You may do that with a safe conscience, or for that matter, any other savage +you may happen to meet.: + +Here Deerslayer protested, and as they went paddling down the lake, a hot +discussion was maintained concerning the respective merits of the pale-faces +and the redskins. Hurry had all the prejudices and antipathies of a white +hunter, who generally regards the Indian as a sort of natural competitor, and +not unfrequently as a natural enemy. As a matter of course, he was loud, +clamorous, dogmatical and not ver argumentative. Deerslayer, on the other +hand, manifested a very different temper, proving by the moderation of his +language, the fairness of his views, and the simplicityof his distinctions, +that he possessed every disposition to hear reason, a strong, innate desire +to dojustice, and an ingenuousness that was singularly indisposed to have +recourse to sophism to maintain an argument; or to defend a prejudice. Still +he was not altogether free from the influence of the latter feeling. This +tyrant of the human mind, which ruses on it prey through a thousand avenues, +almost as soon as men begint to think and feel, and which seldom relinquishes +its iron sway until they cease to do either, had made some impression on even +the just propensities of this individual, who probably offered in these +particulars, a fair specimen of what absence from bad example, the want of +temptation to go wrong, and native good feeling can render youth. + +"You will allow, Deerslayer, that a Mingo is more than half devil," cried +Hurry, following up the discussion with an animation that touched closely on +ferocity, "though you want to over-persuade me that the Delaware tribe is +pretty much made up of angels. Now, I gainsay that proposal, consarning white +men, even. All white men are not faultless, and therefore all Indians can't +be faultless. And so your argument is out at the elbow in the start. But this +is what I call reason. Here 's three colors on 'arth: white, black, and red. +White is the highest color, and therefore the best man; black comes next, and +is put to live in the neighborhood of the white man, as tolerable, and fit to +be made use of; and red comes last, which shows that those that made 'em +never expected an Indian to be accounted as more than half human." + +"God made all three alike, Hurry." + +"Alike! Do you call a nigger like a white man, or me like an Indian?" + +"You go off at half-cock, and don't hear me out. God made us all, white, +black, and red; and, no doubt, had his own wise intentions in coloring us +differently. Still, he made us, in the main, much the same in feelin's; +though I'll not deny that he gave each race its gifts. A white man s gifts +are Christianized, while a redskin's are more for the wilderness. Thus, it +would be a great offence for a white man to scalp the dead; whereas it 's a +signal vartue in an Indian. Then ag'in, a white man cannot amboosh women and +children in war, while a redskin may. 'T is cruel work, I '11 allow; but for +them it 's lawful work; while for us, it would be grievous work." + +"That depends on your inimy. As for scalping, or even skinning a savage, I +look upon them pretty much the same as cutting off the ears of wolves for the +bounty, or stripping a bear of its hide. And then you 're out significantly, +as to taking the poll of a redskin in hand, seeing that the very colony has +offered a bounty for the job; all the same as it pays for wolves' ears and +crows' heads." +"Ay, and a bad business it is, Hurry. Even the Indians themselves cry shame +on it, seeing it's ag'in a white man's gifts. I do not pretend that all that +white men do, is properly Christianized, and according to the lights given +them, for then they would be what they ought to be; which we know they are +not; but I will maintain that tradition, and use, and color, and laws, make +such a difference in races as to amount to gifts. I do not deny that there +are tribes among the Indians that are nat'rally pervarse and wicked, as there +are nations among the whites. Now, I account the Mingos as belonging to the +first, and the Frenchers, in the Canadas, to the last. In a state of lawful +warfare, such as we have lately got into, it is a duty to keep down all +compassionate feelin's, so far as life goes, ag'in either; but when it comes +to scalps, it '5 a very different matter." + +"Just hearken to reason, if you please, Deerslayer, and tell me if the colony +can make an onlawful law? Isn't an onlawful law more ag'in natur' than +scalpin' a savage? A law can no more be onlawful, than truth can be a lie." + +"That sounds reasonable; but it has a most onreasonable bearing, Hurry. Laws +don't all come from the same quarter. God has given us his 'n, and some come +from the colony, and others come from the King and Parliament. When the +colony's laws, or even the King's laws, run ag'in the laws of God, they get +to be onlawful, and ought not to be obeyed. I hold to a white man's +respecting white laws, so long as they do not cross the track of a law comm' +from a higher authority; and for a redman to obey his own redskin usages, +under the same privilege. But, 't is useless talking, as each man will think +fir himself, and have his say agreeable to his thoughts. Let us keep a good +lookout for your friend Floating Tom, lest we pass him, as he lies hidden +under this bushy shore." + +Deerslayer had not named the borders of the lake amiss. Along their whole +length, the smaller trees overhung the water, with their branches often +dipping in the transparent element The banks were steep, even from the narrow +ple, the want of temptation to go wrong, and native good feeling, can render +youth. + +"You will allow, Deerslayer, that a Mingo is more than half devil," cried +Hurry, following up the discussion with an animation that touched closely on +ferocity, "though you want to over-persuade me that the Delaware tribe is +pretty much made up of angels. Now, I gainsay that proposal, consarning white +men, even. All white men are not faultless, and therefore all Indians can't +be faultless. And so your argument is out at the elbow in the start. But this +is what I call reason. Here 's three colors on 'arth: white, black, and red. +White is the highest color, and therefore the best man; black comes next, and +is put to live in the neighborhood of the white man, as tolerable, and fit to +be made use of; and red comes last, which shows that those that made 'em +never expected an Indian to be accounted as more than half human." + +"God made all three alike, Hurry." + +"Alike! Do you call a nigger like a white man, or me like an Indian?" + +"You go off at half-cock, and don't hear me out. God made us all, white, +black, and red; and, no doubt, had his own wise intentions in coloring us +differently. Still, he made us, in the main, much the same in feelin's; +though I'll not deny that he gave each race its gifts. A white man s gifts +are Christianized, while a redskin's are more for the wilderness. Thus, it +would be a great offence for a white man to scalp the dead; whereas it 's a +signal vartue in an Indian. Then ag'in, a white man cannot amboosh women and +children in war, while a redskin may. 'T is cruel work, I '11 allow; but for +them it 's lawful work; while for us, it would be grievous work." + +"That depends on your inimy. As for scalping, or even skinning a savage, I +look upon them pretty much the same as cutting off the ears of wolves for the +bounty, or stripping a bear of its hide. And then you 're out significantly, +as to taking the poll of a redskin in hand, seeing that the very colony has +offered a bounty for the job; all the same as it pays for wolves' ears and +crows' heads." +"Ay, and a bad business it is, Hurry. Even the Indians themselves cry shame +on it, seeing it 's ag'in a white man's gifts. I do not pretend that all that +white men do, is properly Christianized, and according to the lights given +them, for then they would be what they ought to be; which we know they are +not; but I will maintain that tradition, and use, and color, and laws, make +such a difference in races as to amount to gifts. I do not deny that there +are tribes among the Indians that are nat'rally pervarse and wicked, as there +are nations among the whites. Now, I account the Mingos as belonging to the +first, and the Frenchers, in the Canadas, to the last. In a state of lawful +warfare, such as we have lately got into, it is a duty to keep down all +compassionate feelin's, so far as life goes, ag'in either; but when it comes +to scalps, it 's a very different matter." + +"Just hearken to reason, if you please, Deerslayer, and tell me if the colony +can make an onlawful law? Isn't an onlawful law more ag'in natur' than +scalpin' a savage? A law can no more be onlawful, than truth can be a lie." + +"That sounds reasonable; but it has a most onreasonable bearing, Hurry. Laws +don't all come from the same quarter. God has given us his 'n, and some come +from the colony, and others come from the King and Parliament. When the +colony's laws, or even the King's laws, run ag'in the laws of God they get to +be strand; and, as vegetation invariably struggles towards the light, the +effect was precisely that at which the lover of the picturesque would have +aimed, had the ordering of this glorious setting of forest been submitted to +his control. The points and bays, too, were sufficiently numerous to render +the outline broken and diversified. As the canoe kept close along the western +side of the lake, with a view, as Hurry had explained to his companion, of +reconnoitring for enemies, before he trusted himself too openly in sight, +the expectations of the two adventurers were kept constantly on the stretch, +as neither could foretell what the next turning of a point might reveal. +Their progress was swift, the gigantic strength of Hurry enabling him to play +with the light bark as if it had been a feather, while the skill of his +companion almost equalized their usefulness, notwithstanding the disparity +in natural means. + +Each time the canoe passed a point, Hurry turned a look behind him, expecting +to see the "ark" anchored, or beached in the bay. He was fated to be +disappointed, however; and they had got within a mile of the southern end of +the lake, or a distance of quite two leagues from the "castle," which was now +hidden from view by half a dozen intervening projections of the land, when he +suddenly ceased paddling, as if uncertain in what direction next to steer. + +"It is possible that the old chap has dropped into the river," said Hurry, +after looking carefully along the whole of the eastern shore, which was about +a mile distant, and open to his scrutiny for more than half its length; "for +he has taken to trapping considerable, of late, and, barring flood-wood, he +might drop down it a mile or so; though he would have a most scratching time +in getting back again I" + +"Where is this outlet?" asked Deerslayer; "I see no opening in the banks or +the trees, that looks as if it would let a river like the Susquehannah run +through it." + +"Ay, Deerslayer, rivers are like human mortals; having small beginnings, and +ending with broad shoulders and vide mouths. You don't see the outlet, +because it passes atween high. steep banks; and the pines, and hemlocks and +bass-woods hang over it, as a roof hangs over a house. [f old Tom is not in +the 'Rat's Cove,' he must have burrowed in the river ; we '11 look for him +first in the cove, and hen we '11 cross to the outlet." + +As they proceeded, Hurry explained that there was a shallow bay, formed by a +long, low point, that had got the name of the "Rat's Cove," from the +circumstance of its being a favorite haunt of the muskrat; and which offered +so complete a cover for the "ark," that its owner was fond f lying in it, +whenever he found it convenient. + +"As a man never knows who may be his visitors, in this part of the country," +continued Hurry, "it 's a great advantage to get a good look at 'em afore +they come too near. Now it 's war, such caution is more than commonly useful, +since a Canada man or a Mingo might get into his hut afore he invited 'em. +But Hutter is a first-rate look-outer, and can pretty much scent danger, as a +hound scents the deer." + +"I should think the castle so open, that it would be sartain to draw +inimies, if any happened to find the lake; a thing onlikely enough, I will +allow, as it 's off the trail of the forts and settlements." + +"Why, Deerslayer, I'ye got to believe that a man meets with inimies easier +than he meets with fri'nds. It 's skearful to think for how many causes one +gets to be your inimy, and for how few your fri'nd. Some take up the hatchet +because you don't think just as they think; other some because you run ahead +of 'em in the same idees; and I once know'd a vagabond that quarrelled with a +fri'nd because he did n't think him handsome. Now, you 're no monument in the +way of beauty, yourself, Deerslayer, and yet you would n't be so onreasonable +as to become my inimy for just saying so." + +"I'm as the Lord made me; and I wish to be accounted no better, nor any +worse. Good looks I may not have; that is to say, to a degree that the light- +minded and vain crave; but I hope I 'm not altogether without some ricommend +in the way of good conduct. There '5 few nobler looking men to be seen than +yourself, Hurry; and I know that I am not to expect any to turn their eyes on +me, when such a one as you can be gazed on; but I do not know that a hunter +is less expart with the rifle, or less to be relied on for food, because he +does n't wish to stop at every shining spring he may meet, to study his own +countenance in the water." +Here Hurry burst into a fit of loud laughter; for while he was too reckless +to care much about his own manifest physical superiority, he was well aware +of it, and, like most men who derive an advantage from the accidents of birth +or nature, he was apt to think complacently on the subject, whenever it +happened to cross his mind. + +"No, no, Deerslayer, you 're no beauty, as you will own yourself, if you '11 +look over the side of the canoe," he cried; "Jude will say that to your face, +if you start her, for a parter tongue is n't to be found in any gal's head, +in or out of the settlements, if you provoke her to use it. My advice to you +is, never to aggravate Judith; though you may tell anything to Hetty, and +she'll take it as meek as a lamb. No, Jude will be just as like as not to +tell you her opinion consarning your looks." + +"And if she does, Hurry, she will tell me no more than you have said already- +" + +"You're not thick'ning up about a small remark, I hope, Deerslayer, when no +harm is meant. You are not a beauty, as you must know, and why should n't +fri'nds tell each other these little trifles? If you was handsome, or ever +like to be, I 'd be one of the first to tell you of it; and that ought to +content you. Now, if Jude was to tell me that I 'm as ugly as a sinner, I 'd +take it as a sort of obligation, and try not to believe her." + +"It's easy for them that natur' has favored, to jest about such matters, +Hurry, though it is sometimes hard for others. I 11 not deny but I 've had my +cravings towards good looks; yes, I have; but then I 've always been able to +get them down by considering how many I 've known with fair outsides, who +have had nothing to boast of inwardly. I '11 not deny, Hurry, that I often +wish I 'd been created more comely to the eye, and more like such a one as +yourself in +them particulars; but then I get the feelin' under by remembering how much +better off I am, in a great many respects, than some fellow-mortals. I might +have been born lame, and onfit even for a squirrel-hunt, or blind, which +would have made me a burden on myself as well as on my fri'nds; or without +hearing, which would have totally onqualified me for ever campaigning or +scouting; which I look forward to as part of a man's duty in troublesome +times. Yes, yes; it 's not pleasant, I will allow, to see them that 's more +comely, and more sought a'ter, and honored than yourself; but it may all be +borne, if a man looks the evil in the face, and don't mistake his gifts and +his obligations." + +Hurry, in the main, was a good-hearted as well as good-natured fellow; and +the self-abasement of his companion completely got the better of the passing +feeling of personal vanity. He regretted the allusion he had made to the +other's appearance, and endeavored to express as much, though it was done in +the uncouth manner that belonged to the habits and opinions of the frontier. + +"I meant no harm, Deerslayer," he answered, in a deprecating manner, "and +hope you '11 forget what I 've said. If you 're not downright handsome, you +'ve a sartain look that says, plainer than any words, that all 's right +within. Then you set no valie by looks, and will the sooner forgive any +little slight to your appearance. I will not say that Jude will greatly +admire you, for that might raise hopes that would only breed disapp' intment; +but there! s Hetty, now, would be just as likely to find satisfaction in +looking at you, as in looking at any other man. Then you 're altogether too +grave and considerate-like, to care much about Judith; for, though the gal is +oncommon, she is so general in her admiration, that a man need not be exalted +because she happens to smile. I sometimes think the hussy loves herself +better than she does anything else breathin' + +"If she did, Hurry, she'd do no more, I'm afeard, than most queens on their +thrones, and ladies in the towns, answered Deerslayer, smiling, and turning +back towards his companion with every trace of feeling banished from +his honest-looking and frank countenance. "I never yet know' d even a +Delaware of whom you might not say that much. But here is the end of the long +p'int you men tioned, and the 'Rat's Cove' can't be far off." + +This point, instead of thrusting itself forward, like all the others, ran in +a line with the main shore of the lake, which here swept within it, in a deep +and retired bay, circling round south again, at the distance of a quarter of +a mile, and crossed the valley, forming the southern termination of the +water. In this bay Hurry felt almost certain of finding the ark, since, +anchored behind the trees that covered the narrow strip of the point, it +might have lain concealed from prying eyes an entire summer. So complete, +indeed, was the cover, in this spot, that a boat hauled close to the beach, +within the point, and near the bottom of the bay, could by any possibility be +seen from only one direction; and that was from a densely wooded shore within +the sweep of the water, where strangers would be little apt to go. + +"We shall soon see the ark," said Hurry, as the canoe glided round the +extremity of the point, where the water was so deep as actually to appear +black; " he loves to burrow up among the rushes, and we shall be in his nest +in five minutes, although the old fellow may be off among the traps himself." + +March proved a false prophet. The canoe completely doubled the point, so as +to enable the two travellers to command a view of the whole cove or bay, for +it was more properly the last, and no object, but those that nature had +placed there, became visible. The placid water swept round in a graceful +curve, the rushes bent gently towards its surface, and the trees overhung it +as usual; but all lay in the soothing and sublime solitude of a wilderness. +The scene was such as a poet or an artist would have delighted in, but it had +no charm for Hurry Harry, who was burning with impatience to get a sight of +his light-minded beauty. + +The motion of the canoe had been attended with little or no noise, the +frontiermen habitually getting accustomed to caution in most of their +movements, and it now lay on the glassy water appearing to float in air, +partaking of the breathing stillness that seemed to pervade the entire scene. +At this instant a dry stick was heard cracking on the narrow strip of land +that concealed the bay from the open lake. Both the adventurers started, and +each extended a hand towards his rifle, the weapon never being out of reach +of the arm. + +"'Twas too heavy for any light creatur'," whispered Hurry, "and it sounded +like the tread of a man!" + +"Not so-not so," returned Deerslayer; "'t was, as you say, too heavy for one, +but it was too light for the other. Put your paddle in the water, and send +the canoe in, to that log; I 'll land and cut off the creatur's retreat up +the p'int, be it a Mingo, or be it a muskrat." + +As Hurry complied, Deerslayer was soon on the shore, advancing into the +thicket with a moccasined foot, and a caution that prevented the least noise. +In a minute he was in the centre of the narrow strip of land, and moving +slowly down towards its end, the bushes rendering extreme watchfulness +necessary. Just as be reached the centre of the thicket the dried twigs +cracked again, and the noise was repeated at short intervals, as if some +creature having life walked slowly towards the point. Hurry heard these +sounds also, and pushing the canoe off into the bay, he seized his rifle to +watch the result. A breathless minute succeeded, after which a noble buck +walked out of the thicket, proceeded with a stately step to the sandy +extremity of the point, and began to slake his thirst from the water of the +lake. Hurry hesitated an instant; then raising his rifle hastily to his +shoulder, he took sight and fired. The effect of this sudden interruption of +the solemn stillness of such a scene was not its least striking peculiarity. +The report of the weapon had the usual sharp, short sound of the rifle: but +when a few moments of silence had succeeded the sudden crack, during which +the noise was floating in air across the water, it reached the rocks of the +opposite mountain, where the vibrations accumulated, and were rolled from +cavity to cavity for miles along the hills, seeming to awaken the sleeping +thunders of the woods. The buck merely shook his head at the report of the +rifle and the whistling of the bullet, for never before had he come in +contact with man; but the echoes of the hills awakened his distrust, and +leaping forward, with his four legs drawn under his body, he fell at once +into deep water, and began to swim towards the foot of the lake. Hurry +shouted and dashed forward in chase, and for one or two minutes the water +foamed around the pursuer and the pursued. The former was dashing past the +point, when Deerslayer appeared on the sand and signed to him to return. + +"'Twas inconsiderate to pull a trigger, afore we had re conn'itred the shore, +and made sartain that no inimies harbored near it," said the latter, as his +companion slowly and reluctantly complied. "This much I have l'arned from the +Delawares, in the way of schooling and traditions, even though I've never yet +been on a war-path. And, moreover, venison can hardly be called in season +now, and we do not want for food. They call me Deerslayer, I'll own, and +perhaps I desarve the name, in the way of understanding the creatur's habits, +as well as for some sartainty in the aim, but they can't accuse me of killing +an animal when there is no occasion for the meat, or the skin. I may be a +slayer, it's true, but I'm no slaughterer." + +"'Twas an awful mistake to miss that buck!" exclaimed Hurry, doffing his cap +and running his fingers through his handsome but matted curls, as if he would +loosen his tangled ideas by the process. "I've not done so onhandy a thing +since I was fifteen." + +"Never lament it, as the creatur's death could have done neither of us any +good, and might have done us harm. Them echoes are more awful in my ears, +than your mistake, Hurry, for they sound like the voice of natur' calling out +ag'in a wasteful and onthinking action." + +"You'll hear plenty of such calls, if you tarry long in this quarter of the +world, lad," returned the other laughing. "The echoes repeat pretty much all +that is said or done on the Glimmerglass, in this calm summer weather. If a +paddle falls +you hear of it sometimes, ag'in and ag'in, as if the hills were mocking your +clumsiness, and a laugh, or a whistle, comes out of them pines, when they're +in the humour to speak, in a way to make you believe they can r'ally +convarse." + +"So much the more reason for being prudent and silent. I do not think the +inimy can have found their way into these hills yet, for I do'nt know what +they are to gain by it, but all the Delawares tell me that, as courage is a +warrior's first varme, so is prudence his second. One such call from the moun +tains, is enough to let a whole tribe into the secret of our arrival." + +"If it does no other good, it will warn old Tom to put the pot over, and let +him know visiters are at hand. Come, lad; get into the canoe, and we will +hunt the ark up, while there is yet day." + +Deerslayer complied, and the canoe left the spot. Its head was turned +diagonally across the lake, pointing towards the south-eastern curvature of +the sheet. In that direction, the dis tance to the shore, or to the +termination of the lake, on the course the two were now steering, was not +quite a mile, and, their progress being always swift, it was fast lessening +under the skilful, but easy sweeps of the paddles. When about half way +across, a slight noise drew the eyes of the men towards the nearest land, and +they saw that the buck was just emerg ing from the lake and wading towards +the beach. In a minute, the noble animal shook the water from his flanks, +gazed up ward at the covering of trees, and, bounding against the bank, +plunged into the forest. + +"That creatur' goes off with gratitude in his heart," said Deerslayer, "for +natur' tells him he has escaped a great dan ger. You ought to have some of +the same feelin's, Hurry, to think your eye was'n't true, or that your hand +was onsteady, when no good could come of a shot that was intended on +meaningly rather than in reason." + +"I deny the eye and the hand," cried March with some heat. "You've got a +little character, down among the Delawares, there, for quickness and +sartainty, at a deer, but I should like to see you behind one of them pines, +and a full painted Mingo behind another, each with a cock'd rifle and +astriving for the chance! Them's the situations, Nathaniel, to try the sight +and the hand, for they begin with trying the narves. I never look upon +killing a creatur' as an explite; but killing a savage is. The time will come +to try your hand, now we've got to blows ag'in, and we shall soon know what a +ven'son reputation can do in the field. I deny that either hand or eye was +onsteady; it was all a miscalculation of the buck, which stood still when he +ought to have kept in motion, and so I shot ahead of him." + +"Have it your own way, Hurry; all I contend for is, that it 's lucky. I dare +say I shall not pull upon a human mortal as steadily or with as light a +heart, as I pull upon a deer." + +"Who 's talking of mortals, or of human beings at all, Deerslayer? I put the +matter to you on the supposition of an Injin. I dare say any man would have +his feelin's when it got to be life or death, ag'in another human mortal; but +there would be no such scruples in regard to an Inj in; nothing but the +chance of his hitting you, or the chance of your hitting him." + +"I look upon the redmen to be quite as human as we are ourselves, Hurry. They +have their gifts, and their religion, it's true; but that makes no difference +in the end, when each will be judged according to his deeds, and not +according to his skin." + +"That 's downright missionary, and will find little favor up in this part of +the country, where the Moravians don't congregate. Now, skin makes the man. +This is reason; else how are people to judge of each other. The skin is put +on, over all, in order when a creatur', or a mortal, is fairly seen, you may +know at once what to make of him. You know a bear from a hog, by his skin, +and a gray squirrel from a black." + +"True, Hurry," said the other looking back and smiling, "nevertheless, they +are both squirrels." + +"Who denies it? But you '11 not say that a redman and a white man are both +Injins?" + +" but I do say they are both men. Men of different races and colors, and +having different gifts and traditions, but, in the main, with the same +natur'. Both have souls; and both will be held accountable for their deeds in +this life." + +Hurry was one of those theorists who believed in the inferiority of all the +human race who were not white. His notions on the subject were not very +clear, nor were his definitions at all well settled; but his opinions were +none the less dogmatical or fierce. His conscience accused him of sundry +lawless acts against the Indians, and he had found it an exceedingly easy +mode of quieting it, by putting the whole family of redmen, incontinently, +without the category of human rights. Nothing angered him sooner than to deny +his proposition, more especially if the denial were accompanied by a show of +plausible argument; and he did not listen to his companion's remarks with +much composure of either manner or feeling. + +"You're a boy, Deerslayer, misled and misconsaited by Delaware arts, and +missionary ignorance," he exclaimed, with his usual indifference to the forms +of speech, when excited. " You may account yourself as a redskin's brother, +but I hold 'em all to be animals; with nothing human about 'em but cunning. +That they have, I '11 allow:but so has a fox, or even a bear. I 'm older than +you, and have lived longer in the woods-or, for that matter, have lived +always there, and am not to be told what an Injin is or what he is not. If +you wish to be considered a savage, you 've only to say so, and I '11 name +you as such to Judith and the old man, and then we '11 see how you '11 like +your welcome." + +Here Hurry's imagination did his temper some service, since, by conjuring up +the reception his semi-aquatic acquaintance would be likely to bestow on one +thus introduced, he burst into a hearty fit of laughter. Deerslayer too well +knew the uselessness of attempting to convince such a being of anything +against his prejudices, to feel a desire to undertake the task; and he was +not sorry that the approach of the canoe to the southeastern curve of the +lake gave a new direction to his ideas. They were now, indeed. quite near the +place that March had pointed out for the position of the outlet, and both +began to look for it with,a curiosity that was increased by the expectation +of the ark. + +It may strike the reader as a little singular, that the place where a stream +of any size passed through banks that had an elevation of some twenty feet, +should be a matter of doubt with men who could not now have been more than +two hundred yards distant from the precise spot. It will be recollected, +however, that the trees and bushes here, as elsewhere, fairly overhung the +water, making such a fringe to the lake, as to conceal any little variations +from its genera] outline. + +"I've not been down at this end of the lake these two summers," said Hurry, +standing up in the canoe, the better to look about him. "Ay, there 's the +rock, showing its chin above the water, and I know that the river begins in +its neighborhood." + +The men now plied the paddles again, and they were presently within a few +yards of the rock, floating towards it, though their efforts were suspended. +This rock was not large, being merely some five or six feet high, only half +of which elevation rose above the lake. The incessant washing of the water +for centuries had so rounded its summit, that it resembled a large beehive in +shape, its form being more than usually regular and even. Hurry remarked, as +they floated slowly past, that this rock was well known to all the Indians in +that part of the country, and that they were in the practice of using it as a +mark to designate the place of meeting, when separated by their hunts and +marches. + +"And here is the river, Deerslayer," he continued, "though so shut in by +trees and bushes as to look more like an and-bush, than the outlet of such a +sheet as the Glimmerglass." + +Hurry had not badly described the place, which did truly seem to be a stream +lying in ambush. The high banks might have been a hundred feet asunder; but, +on the western side, a small bit of low land extended so far forward as to +diminish the breadth of the stream to half that width + +As the bushes hung in the water beneath, and pines that had the stature of +church-steeples, rose in tall columns above, all inclining towards the light, +until their branches intermingled, the eye, at a little distance, could not +easily detect any opening in the shore, to mark the egress of the water. In +the forest above, no traces of this outlet were to be seen from the lake, the +whole presenting the same connected and seemingly interminable carpet of +leaves. As the canoe slowly advanced, sucked in by the current, it entered +beneath an arch of trees, through which the light from the heavens struggled +by casual openings, faintly relieving the gloom beneath. + +"This is a nat'ral and-bush," half whispered Hurry, as if he felt that the +place was devoted to secresy and watchfulness; "depend on it, old Tom has +burrowed with the ark somewhere in this quarter. We will drop down with the +current a short distance, and ferret him out." + +"This seems no place for a vessel of any size," returned the other; "it +appears to me that we shall have hardly room enough for the canoe." + +Hurry laughed at the suggestion, and, as it soon appeared, with reason; for +the fringe of bushes immediately on the shore of the lake was no sooner +passed, than the adventurers found themselves in a narrow stream, of a +sufficient depth of limpid water, with a strong current, and a canopy of +leaves upheld by arches composed of the limbs of hoary trees. Bushes lined +the shores, as usual, but they left sufficient space between them to admit +the passage of anything that did not exceed twenty feet in width, and to +allow of a perspective ahead of eight or ten times that distance. + +Neither of our two adventurers used his paddle, except to keep the light bark +in the centre of the current, but both watched each turning of the stream, of +which there were two or three within the first hundred yards, with jealous +vigilance. Turn after turn, however, was passed, and the canoe had dropped +down with the current some little distance, when Hurry caught a bush, and +arrested its move~ ment so suddenly and silently as to denote some unusual +motive for the act. Deerslayer laid his hand on the stock of his rifle as +soon as he noted this proceeding, but it was quite as much with a hunter's +habit as from any feeling of alarm. + +"There the old fellow is!" whispered Hurry, pointing with a finger, and +laughing heartily, though he carefully avoided making a noise, "ratting it +away, just as I supposed; up to his knees in the mud and water, looking to +the traps and the bait. But for the life of me I can see nothing of the ark; +though I '11 bet every skin I take this season, Jude is n't trusting her +pretty little feet in the neighborhood of that black mud. The gal's more +likely to be braiding her hair by the side of some spring, where she can see +her own good looks, and collect scornful feelings ag'in us men." + +"You over-judge young women-yes, you do, Hurry- who as often bethink them of +their failings as they do of their perfections. I dare to say this Judith, +now, is no such admirer of herself, and no such scorner of our sex as you +seem to. think; and that she is quite as likely to be sarving her father in +the house, wherever that may be, as he is to be sarving her among the traps." + +"It's a pleasure to hear truth from a man's tongue, if it be only once in a +girl's life," cried a pleasant, rich, and yet soft female voice, so near the +canoe as to make both the listeners start. "As for you, Master Hurry, fair +words are so apt to choke you, that I no longer expect to hear them from your +mouth; the last you uttered sticking in your throat, and coming near to +death. But I 'm glad to see you keep better society than formerly, and that +they who know how to esteem and treat women are not ashamed to journey in +your company." +As this was said, a singularly handsome and youthful female face was thrust +through an opening in the leaves, within reach of Deerslayer's paddle. Its +owner smiled graciously on the young man; and the frown that she cast on +Hurry, though simulated and pettish, had the effect to render her beauty more +striking, by exhibiting the play of an expressive but capricious countenance; +one that seemed to change from the soft to the severe, the mirthful to the +reproving, with facility and indifference. + +A second look explained the nature of the surprise. Unwittingly, the men had +dropped alongside of the ark, which had been purposely concealed in bushes +cut and arranged for the purpose; and Judith Hutter had merely pushed aside +the leaves that lay before a window, in order to show her face, and speak to +them. + + + + +Chapter IV. + +"And that timid fawn starts not with fear, +When I steal to her secret bower; +And that young May violet to me is dear, +And I visit the silent streamlet near, +To look on the lovely flower." + +Bryant, "An Indian Story," ii.11-15 + +The ark, as the floating habitation of the Hutters was generally called, was +a very simple contrivance. A large flat, or scow, composed the buoyant part +of the vessel; and in its centre, occupying the whole of its breadth, and +about two thirds of its length, stood a low fabric, resembling the castle in +construction, though made of materials so light as barely to be bullet- +proof. As the sides of the scow were a little higher than usual, and the +interior of the cabin had no more elevation than was necessary for comfort, +this unusual addition had neither a very clumsy nor a very obtrusive +appearance. It was, in short, little more than a modern canal-boat. though +more rudely constructed, of greater breadth than common, and bearing about it +the signs of the wilderness, in its bark-covered posts and roof. The scow, +however, had been put together with some skill, being comparatively light, +for its strength, and sufficiently manageable. The cabin was divided into two +apartments, one of which served for a parlor, and the sleeping-room of the +father, and the other was appropriated to the uses of the daughters. A very +simple arrangement sufficed for the kitchen, which was in one end of the +scow, and removed from the cabin, standing in the open air; the ark being +altogether a summer habitation. + +The "and-bush," as Hurry in his ignorance of English termed it, is quite as +easily explained. In many parts of the lake and river, where the banks were +steep and high, the smaller trees and larger bushes, as has been already +mentioned, fairly overhung the stream, their branches not unfrequently +dipping into the water. In some instances they grew out in nearly horizontal +lines, for thirty or forty feet. The water being uniformly deepest near the +shores, where the banks were highest and the nearest to a perpendicular, +Hutter had found no difficulty in letting the ark drop under one of these +covers, where it had been anchored with a view to conceal its position; +security requiring some such precautions, in his view of the case. Once +beneath the trees and bushes, a few stones fastened to the ends of me +branches had caused them to bend sufficiently to dip into the river; and a +few severed bushes, properly disposed, did the rest. The reader has seen that +this cover was so complete as to deceive two men accustomed to the woods, +and who were actually in search of those it concealed; a circumstance that +will be easily understood by those who are familiar with the matted and wild +luxuriance of a virgin American forest, more especially in a rich soil. The +discovery of the ark produced very different effects on our two adventurers. +As soon as the canoe could be got round to the proper opening, Hurry leaped +on board, and in a minute was closely engaged in a gay, and a sort of +recriminating discourse with Judith, apparently forgetful of the existence of +all the rest of the world. Not so with Deerslayer. He entered the ark with a +slow, cautious step, examining every arrangement of the cover with curious +and scrutinizing eyes. It is true, he cast one admiring glance at Judith, +which was extorted by her brilliant and singular beauty; but even this could +detain him but a single instant from the indulgence of his interest in +Hutter's contrivances. Step by step did he look into the construction of the +singular abode, investigate its fastenings and strength, ascertain its means +of defence, and make every inquiry that would be likely to and make every +inquiry that would be likely tof occur to one whose thoughts dwelt +principally on such expedients. Nor was .the cover neglected. Of this he +examined the whole minutely, his commendation escaping him more than once in +audible comments. Frontier usages admitting of this familiarity, he passed +through the rooms, as he had previously done at the 'Castle', and opening a +door issued into the end of the scow opposite to that where he had left Hurry +and Judith. Here he found the other sister, employed at some coarse needle- +work, seated beneath the leafy canopy of the cover. + +As Deerslayer's examination was by this time ended, he dropped the butt of +his rifle, and, leaning on the barrel, with both hands, he turned towards the +girl with an interest the singular beauty of her sister had not awakened. He +had gathered from Hurry's remarks that Hetty was considered to have less +intellect than ordinarily falls to the share of human beings, and his +education among Indians had taught him to treat those who were thus afflicted +by Providence, with more than common tenderness. Nor was there any thing in +Hetty Hurter's appearance, as so often happens, to weaken the interest her +situation excited. An idiot she could not properly be termed, her mind being +just enough enfeebled to lose most of those traits that are connected with +the more artful qualities, and to retain its ingenuousness and love of truth. +It had often been remarked of this girl, by the few who had seen her, and who +possessed sufficient knowledge to discriminate, that her perception of the +right seemed almost intuitive, while her aversion to the wrong formed so +distinctive a feature of her mind, as to surround her with an atmosphere of +pure morality; peculiarities that are not infrequent with persons who are +termed feeble-minded; as if God had forbidden the evil spirits to invade a +precinct so defenceless, with the benign purpose of extending a direct +protection to those, who had been left without the usual aids of humanity. +Her person, too, was agreeable, having a strong resemblance to that of her +sister's, of which it was a subdued and humble copy. If it had none of the +brilliancy of Judith's, the calm, quiet, almost holy expression of her meek +countenance, seldom failed to win on the observer, and few noted it long, +that did not begin to feel a deep and lasting interest in the girl. She had +no colour, in common, nor was her simple mind apt to present images that +caused her cheek to brighten, though she retained a modesty so innate, that +it almost raised her to the unsuspecting purity of a being superior to human +infirmities. Guileless, innocent, and without distrust, equally by nature and +from her mode of life, providence had, nevertheless, shielded her from harm, +by a halo of moral light, as it is said 'to temper the wind to the shorn +lamb.' + +"You are Hetty Hutter said Deerslayer, in the way one puts a question, +unconsciously to himself assuming a kindness of tone and manner that were +singularly adapted to win the confidence of her he addressed. "Hurry Harry +has told me of you, and I know you must be the child?" + +"Yes, I'm Hetty Hutter returned the girl in a low, sweet voice, which nature, +aided by some education, had preserved from vulgarity of tone and utterance- +"I'm Hetty; Judith Hurter's sister; and Thomas Hurter's youngest daughter." +"I know your history, then, for Hurry Harry talks considerable, and he is +free of speech when he can find other people's consarns to dwell on. You pass +most of your life on the lake, Hetty." + +"Certainly. Mother is dead; father is gone a-trapping, and Judith and I stay +at home. What's your name?" + +"That's a question more easily asked than it is answered, young woman, seeing +that I'm so young, and yet have borne more names than some of the greatest +chiefs in all America." + +"But you've got a name-you don't throw away one name, before you come +honestly by another?" + +"I hope not, gal-I hope not. My names have come nat'rally, and I suppose the +one I bear now, will be of no great lasting, since the Delawares seldom +settle on a man's ra'al title, until such time as he has an opportunity of +showing his true natur', in the council, or on the warpath; which has never +behappened me; seeing firstly, because I'm not born a red skin and have no +right to sit in their councillings, and am much too humble to be called on +for opinions from the great of my own colour; and, secondly, because this is +the first war that has befallen in my time, and no inimy has yet inroaded far +enough into the colony, to be reached by an arm even longer than mine." + +"Tell me your names," added Hetty, looking up at him artlessly, "and, maybe, +I 'll tell you your character." + +"There is some truth in that, I 'll not deny, though it often fails. Men are +deceived in other men's characters, and frequently give 'em names they by no +means desarve. You can see the truth of this in the Mingo names, which, in +their own tongue, signify the same things as the Delaware names,- at least, +so they tell me, for I know little of that tribe, unless it be by report,-and +no one can say they are as honest or as upright a nation. I put no great +dependence, therefore, on names." + +"Tell me all your names," repeated the girl, earnestly, for her mind was too +simple to separate things from professions, and she did attach importance to +a name; "I want to know what to think of you." + +"Well, sartain; I 've no objection, and you shall hear them all. In the first +place, then, I 'in Christian, and white-born, like yourself, and my parents +had a name that came down from father to son, as is a part of their gifts. My +father was called Bumppo; and I was named after him, of course, the given +name being Nathaniel, or Natty, as most people saw fit to tarm it." + +"Yes, yes - Natty - and Hetty' '-interrupted the girl quickly, and looking up +from her work again, with a smile: "you are Natty, and I 'in Hetty-though you +are Bumppo, and I 'm Hutter. Bumppo isn't as pretty as Hutter, is it?' + +"Why, that's as people fancy. Bumppo has no lofty sound, I admit; and yet men +have bumped through the world with it. I did not go by this name, howsever, +very long; for the Delawares soon found out, or thought they found out, that +I was not given to lying, and they called me, firstly, 'Straight-tongue.'" + +"That's a good name, ' interrupted Hetty, earnestly, and + + + + + + + + +at her. Even Hurry Harry is n't more pleasant to look at though she is a +woman, and he is a man." + +Deerslayer regarded the girl for a moment with concern. Her pale face had +flushed a little, and her eye, usually so mild and serene, brightened as she +spoke, in the way to betray the inward impulses. + +"Ay, Hurry Harry," he muttered to himself, as he walked through the cabin +towards the other end of the boat; "this comes of good looks, if a light +tongue has had no consarn in it. It 's easy to see which way that poor +creatur's feelin's are leanin', whatever may be the case with your Jude's." + +But an interruption was put to the gallantry of Hurry, the coquetry of his +intros, the thoughts of Deerslayer, and the gentle feeling~ Hetty, by the +sudden appearance of the canoe of the ark's owner, in the narrow opening +among the bushes that served as a sort of moat to his position. It would seem +that Hutter, or Floating Tom, as he was familiarly called by all the hunters +who knew his habits, recognized the canoe of Hurry, for he expressed no +surprise at finding him in the scow. On the contrary, his reception was such +as to denote not only gratification, but a pleasure, mingled with a little +disappointment at his not having made his appearance some days sooner. + +"I looked for you last week," he said, in a half-grumbling, half-welcoming +manner; "and was disappointed uncommonly that you did n't arrive. There came +a runner through, to warn all the trappers and hunters that the colony and +the Canadas were again in trouble; and I felt lonesome, up in these +mountains, with three scalps to see to, and only one pair of hands to protect +them." + +"That 's reasonable," returned March; "and 't was feeling like a parent. No +doubt, if I had two sucb darters as Judith and Hetty, my exper'ence would +tell the same story, though in gin'ral I am just as well satisfied with +having the nearest neighbor fifty miles off, as when he is within call.'' + +"Notwithstanding, you did n' t choose to come into the wilderness alone, now +you knew that the Canada savages are likely to be stirring," returned Hutter, +giving a sort of distrustful, and at the same time inquiring glance at Deer. +slayer. + +"Why should I? They say a bad companion, on a journey, helps to shorten the +path; and this young man I account to be a reasonably good one. This is +Deerslayer, old Tom, a noted hunter among the Delawares, and Christian-born, +and Christian-edicated, too, like you and me The lad is not parfect, perhaps, +but there 's worse men in r the country that he came from, and it 's likely +he 'll find some that's no better, in this part of the world. Should we have +occasion to defend our traps, and the territory, he '11 be useful in feeding +us all; for he 's a reg'lar dealer in ven'son." + +"Young man, you are welcome, 'growled Tom, thrusting a hard, bony hand +towards the youth, as a pledge of his sincerity; "in such times, a white face +is a friend's, and I count on you as a support. Children sometimes make a +stout heart feeble, and these two daughters of mine give me more concern than +all my traps, and skins, and rights in the country." +"That's nat'ral l" cried Hurry. "Yes, Deerslayer, you e and I don't know it +yet by experience; but, on the whole, I consider that as nat'ral. If we had +darters, it 's more than probable we should have some such feelin's; and I +honor the man that owns 'em. As for Judith, old man, I enlist, at once, as +her soldier, and here is Deerslayer to help you to take care of' Hetty." + +"Many thanks to you, Master M[arch," returned the beauty, in a full, rich +voice, and with an accuracy of intonations tioti and utterance that she +shared in common with her sister, and which showed that she had been better +taught than her father's life and appearance would give reason to expect +"many thanks to you; but Judith Hutter has the spirit and the experience that +will make her depend more on herself than on good-looking rovers like you. +Should there be need to face the savages, do you land with my father, instead +of burrowing in the huts, under the show of defending us females and'-" + +"Girl--girl," interrupted the father, "quiet that glib tongue of thine, and +hear the truth. There are savages on the lake shore already, and no man can +say how near to us they may be at this very moment, or when we may hear more +from them!" + +"If this be true, Master Hutter," said Hurry, whose change of countenance +denoted how serious he deemed the information, though it did not denote any +unmanly alarm, "if this be true, your ark is in a most misfortunate position, +for, though the cover did deceive Deerslayer and myself, it would hardly be +overlooked by a full-blooded Injin, who was out seriously in s' arch of +scalps!" + +"I think as you do, Hurry, and wish, with all my heart, we lay anywhere else, +at this moment, than in this narrow, crooked stream, which has many +advantages to hide in, but which is almost fatal to them that are discovered. +The savages are near us, moreover, and the difficulty is, to get out of the +river without being shot down like deer standing at a lick!" +"Are you sartain, Master Hutter, that the redskins you dread are ra'al +Canadas?" asked Deerslayer, in a modest but earnest manner. "Have you seen +any, and can you describe their paint?" + +"I have fallen in with the signs of their being in the neighborhood, but have +seen none of 'em. I was down stream a mile or so, looking to my traps, when I +struck a fresh trail, crossing the corner of a swamp, and moving northward. +The man had not passed an hour; and I know'd it for an Indian footstep, by +the size of the foot, and the intoe, even before I found a worn moccasin, +which its owner had dropped as useless. For that matter, I found the spot +where he halted to make a new one, which was only a few yards from the place +where he had dropped the old one." + +"That does n't look much like a redskin on the war path!" returned the other, +shaking his head. "An exper'enced warrior, at least, would have burned, or +buried, or sunk in the river such signs of his passage; and your bail is, +quite likely, a peaceable trail. But the moccasin may greatly relieve my +mind, if you bethought you of bringing it off. I've come here to meet a young +chief my. self; and his course would be much in the direction you've +mentioned. The trail may have been his'n." + +"Hurry Harry, you 're well acquainted with this young man, I hope, who has +meetings with savages in a part of the country where he has never been +before?" demanded Hutter, in a tone and in a manner that sufficiently +indicated the motive of the question; these rude beings seldom hesitating, +on the score of delicacy, to betray their feelings. "Treachery is an Indian +virtue; and the whites, that live much in their tribes, soon catch their ways +and practices." + +"True-true as the Gospel, old Tom; but not personable to Deerslayer, who 's a +young man of truth, if he has no other ricommend. I'll answer for his +honesty, whatever I may do for his valor in battle." + +"I should like to know his errand in this strange quarter of the country." + +"That is soon told, Master Hutter," said the young man, with the composure of +one who kept a clean conscience. "I think, moreover, you've a right to ask +it. The father of two such darters, who occupies a lake, after your fashion, +has just the same right to inquire into a stranger's business in his +neighborhood, as the colony would have to demand the reason why the Frenchers +put more rijiments than common along the lines. No, no, I '11 not deny your +right to know why a stranger comes into your habitation or country, in times +as serious as these." + +"If such is your way of thinking, friend, let me hear your story without more +words." + +"'T is soon told, as I said afore; and shall be honestly told. I 'm a young +man, and, as yet, have never been on a war-path; but no sooner did the news +come among the Delawares, that wampum and a hatchet were about to be sent in +to the tribe, than they wished me to go out among the people of my own color, +and get the exact state of things for 'em. This I did, and, after delivering +my talk to the chiefs, on my return, I met an officer of the crown on the +Schoharie. who had messages to send to some of the fri'ndly tribes that live +farther west. Thiw was thought a good occasion for Chingachgook, a young +chief who has never struck a foe, and myself; to go on our first war path in +company, and an app'intment was made for us, by an old Delaware, to meet at +the rock near the foot of this lake. I'll not deny that Chingachgook has +another object in view, but it has no consarn with any here, and is his +secret and not mine; therefore I'll say no more about it.-" + +"'Tis something about a young woman," interrupted Judith hastily, then +laughing at her own impetuosity, and even having the grace to colour a +little, at the manner in which she had betrayed her readiness to impute such +a motive. "If 'tis neither war, nor a hunt, it must be love." + +"Ay, it comes easy for the young and handsome, who hear so much of them +feelin's, to suppose that they lie at the bot tom of most proceedin's; but, +on that head, I say nothin'. Chingachgook is to meet me at the rock, an hour +afore sunset to-morrow evening, after which we shall go our way to gether, +molesting none but the king's inimies, who are law fully our own. Knowing +Hurry of old, who once trapped in our hunting grounds, and falling in with +him on the Scho harie, just as he was on the p'int of starting for his summer +ha'nts, we agreed to journey in company; not so much from fear of the Mingos, +as from good fellowship, and, as he says, to shorten a long road." + +"And you think the trail I saw may have been that of your friend, ahead of +his time?" said Hurter. + +"That's my idee, which may be wrong, but which may be right. If I saw the +moccasin, howsever, I could tell, in a min ute, whether it is made in the +Delaware fashion, or not." + +"Here it is, then," said the quick witted Judith, who had already gone to the +canoe in quest of it. "Tell us what it says; friend or enemy. You look +honest, and I believe all you say, whatever father may think." + +"That's the way with you, Jude; forever finding out friends, +where I distrust foes," grumbled Tom: "but, speak out, young man, and tell us +what you think of the moccasin." + +"That's not Delaware made," returned Deerslayer, examining the worn and +rejected covering for the foot with a cautious eye. "I'm too young on a war- +path to be positive, but I should say that moccasin has a northern look, and +comes from beyond the Great Lakes." + +"If such is the case, we ought not to lie here a minute longer than is +necessary," said Hutter, glancing through the leaves of his cover, as if he +already distrusted the presence of an enemy on the opposite shore of the +narrow and sinuous stream. "It wants but an hour or so of night, and to move +in the dark will be impossible, without making a noise that would betray us. +Did you hear the echo of a piece in the mountains, half-an-hour since?" + +"Yes, old man, and heard the piece itself," answered Hurry, who now felt the +indiscretion of which he had been guilty, "for the last was fired from my own +shoulder." +"I feared it came from the French Indians; still it may put them on the look- +out, and be a means of discovering us. You did wrong to fire in war-time, +unless there was good occasion. + +"So I begin to think myself, Uncle Tom; and yet, if a man can't trust himself +to let off his rifle in a wilderness that is a thousand miles square, lest +some inimy should hear it, where 's the use in carrying one?" + +Hutter now held a long consultation with his two guests, in which the parties +came to a true understanding of their situation. He explained the difficulty +that would exist in attempting to get the ark out of so swift and narrow a +stream, in the dark, without making a noise that could not fail to attract +Indian ears. Any strollers in their vicinity would keep near the river or the +lake; but the former had swampy shores in many places, and was both so +crooked and so fringed with bushes, that it was quite possible to move by +daylight without incurring much danger of being seen. More was to be +apprehended, perhaps, from the ear than from the eye, especially as long as +they were in the short, straitened, and canopied reaches of the stream. + +"I never drop down into this cover, which is handy to my traps, and safer +than the lake, from curious eyes, without providing the means of getting out +ag'in," continued this singular being; "and that is easier done by a pull +than a push. My anchor is now lying above the suction, in the open lake; and +here is a line, you see, to haul us up to it. Without some such help, a +single pair of bands would make heavy work in forcing a scow like this up +stream. I have a sort of a crab, too, that lightens the pull, on occasion. +Jude can use the oar astern as well as myself; and when we fear no enemy, to +get out of the river gives us but little trouble." + +"What should we gain, Master Hutter, by changing the position?" asked +Deerslayer, with a good deal of earnest ness; "this is a safe cover, and a +stout defence might be made from the inside of this cabin. I 've never fou't +unless in the way of tradition; but it seems to me we might beat off twenty +Mingos, with palisades like them afore us." + +"Ay, ay; you 've never fought except in traditions, that 's plain enough, +young man! Did you ever see as broad a sheet of water as this above us, +before you came in upon it with Hurry?" + +"I can't say that I ever did," Deerslayer answered, modestly. "Youth is the +time to l'arn; and I 'm far from wishing to raise my voice in counsel, afore +it is justified by exper'ence." + +"Well, then, I'll teach you the disadvantage of fighting in this position, +and the advantage of taking to the open lake. Here, you may see, the savages +will know where to aim every shot; and it would be too much to hope that some +would not find their way through the crevices of the logs. Now, on the other +hand, we should have nothing but a forest to aim at. Then we are not safe +from fire, here, the bark of this roof being little better than so much +kindling-wood. The castle, too, might be entered and ransacked in my absence, +and all my possessions overrun and destroyed. Once in the lake, we can be +attacked only in boats or on rafts-shall have a fair chance with the enemy- +and can protect the castle with the ark. Do you unmediated this reasoning, +youngster?" + +"It sounds well-yes, it has a rational sound; and I'll not gainsay it." + + "Well, old Tom," cried Hurry, "If we are to move, the sooner we make a +beginning, the sooner we shall know whether we are to have our scalps for +night-caps, or not." + +As this proposition was self-evident, no one denied its justice. The three +men, after a short preliminary explanation now set about their preparations +to move the ark in earnest. The slight fastenings were quickly loosened; and, +by hauling on the line, the heavy craft slowly emerged from the cover. It was +no sooner free from the incumbrance of the branches, than it swung into the +stream, sheering quite close to the western shore, by the force of the +current. Not a soul on board heard the rustling of the branches, as the cabin +came against the bushes and trees of the western bank, without a feeling of +uneasiness; for no one knew at what moment, or in what place, a secret and +murderous +enemy might unmask himself. Perhaps the gloomy light that still struggled +through the impending canopy of leaves, or found its way through the narrow, +ribbon-like opening, which seemed to mark, in the air above, the course of +the river that flowed beneath, aided in augmenting the appearance of the +danger; for it was little more than sufficient to render objects visible, +without giving up all their outlines at a glance. Although the sun had not +absolutely set, it had withdrawn its direct rays from the valley; and the +hues Of evening were beginning to gather around objects that stood uncovered, +rendering those within the shadows of the re woods still more sombre and +gloomy. + +No interruption followed the movement, however, and, as the men continued to +haul on the line, the ark passed steadily ahead, the great breadth of the +scow preventing its sinking into the water, and from offering much resistance +to the progress of the swift element beneath its bottom. Hutter, too, had +adopted a precaution suggested by experience, which might have done credit +to a seaman, and which completely prevented any of the annoyances and +obstacles which otherwise would have attended the short turns of the river. +As the ark descended, heavy stones, attached to the line, were dropped in the +centre of the stream, forming local anchors, each of which was kept from +dragging by the assistance of those above it, until the uppermost of all was +reached, which got its "backing" from the anchor, or grapnel, that lay well +out in the lake. In consequence of this expedient, the ark floated clear of +the incumbrances of the shore, against which it would otherwise have been +unavoidably hauled at every turn, producing embarrassments that Hutter, +single-handed, would have found it very difficult to overcome. Favored by +this foresight, and stimulated by the apprehension of discovery, Floating Tom +and his two athletic companions hauled the ark ahead with quite as much +rapidity as comported with the strength of the line. At every turn in the +stream, a stone was raised from the bottom, when the direction of the scow +changed to one that pointed towards the stone that lay above. In this manner, +with the channel buoyed out for him, as a sailor might term it, did Hutter +move forward, occasionally urging his friends, in a low and guarded voice, to +increase their exertions, and then, as occasions offered, warning them +against efforts that might, at particular moments, endanger all by too much +zeal. In spite of their long familiarity with the woods, the gloomy character +of the shaded river added to the uneasiness that each felt; and when the ark +reached the first bend in the Susquehannah, and the eye caught a glimpse of +the broader expanse of the lake, all felt a relief, that perhaps none would +have been willing to confess. Here the last stone was raised from the bottom, +and the line led directly towards the grapnel, which, as Hutter had +explained, was dropped above the suction of the current. + +"Thank God!" ejaculated Hurry, "there is day-light, and we shall soon have a +chance of seeing our inimies, if we are to feel 'em." + +"That is more than you or any man can say," growled Hutter. "There is no spot +so likely to harbor a party as the shore around the outlet, and the moment we +clear these trees and get into open water, will be the most trying time, +since it will leave the enemy a cover, while it puts us out of one. Judith, +girl, do you and Hetty leave the oar to take care of itself; and go within +the cabin; and be mindful not to show your faces at a window; for they who +will look at them won't stop to praise their beauty. And now, Hurry, we 'll +step into this outer room ourselves, and haul through the door, where we +shall all be safe, from a surprise, at least. Friend Deerslayer, as the +current is lighter, and the line has all the strain on it that is prudent, do +you keep moving from window to window, taking care not to let your head be +seen, if you set any value on life. No one knows when or where we shall hear +from our neighbors." + +Deerslayer complied, with a sensation that had nothing in common with fear, +but which had all the interest of a perfectly novel and a most exciting +situation. For the first time in his life he was in the vicinity of enemies, +or had good reason to think so; and that, too, under all the thrilling +circumstances of Indian surprises and Indian artifices. As he took his stand +at the window, the ark was just passing through the narrowest part of the +stream, a point where the water first entered what was properly termed the +river, and where the trees fairly interlocked overhead, causing the current +to rush into an arch of verdure; a feature as appropriate and peculiar to the +country, perhaps, as that of Switzerland, where the rivers come rushing +literally from chambers of ice. + +The ark was in the act of passing the last curve of this leafy entrance, as +Deerslayer, having examined all that could be seen of the eastern bank of the +river, crossed the room to look from the opposite window, at the western. His +arrival at this aperture was most opportune, for he had no sooner placed his +eye at a crack, than a sight met his gaze that might well have alarmed a +sentinel so young and inexperienced. A sapling overhung the water, in nearly +half a circle, having first grown towards the light, and then been pressed +down into this form by the weight of the snows; a circumstance of common +occurrence in the Amer ican woods. On this no less than six Indians had +already appeared, others standing ready to follow them, as they left the +room; each evidently bent on running out on the trunk, and dropping on the +roof of the ark as it passed beneath. This would have been an exploit of no +great difficulty, the inclination of the tree admitting of an easy passage, +the adjoining branches offering ample support for the hands, and the fall +being too trifling to be apprehended. When Deerslayer first saw this party, +it was just unmasking itself, by ascending the part of the tree nearest to +the earth, or that which was much the most difficult to overcome; and his +knowledge of Indian habits told him at once that they were all in their war- +paint, and belonged to a hostile tribe. + +Pull, Hurry," he cried; " pull for your life, and as you love Judith Hutter! +Pull, man, pull !" + +This call was made to one that the young man knew had the strength of a +giant. It was so earnest and solemn, that both Hutter and March felt it was +not idly given, and they applied all their force to the line simultaneously, +and at a most critical moment. The scow redoubled its motion, and seemed to +glide from under the tree as if conscious of the danger that was impending +overhead. Perceiving that they were discovered, the Indians uttered the +fearful war-whoop, and running forward on the tree, leaped desperately +towards their fancied prize. There were six on the tree, and each made the +effort. All but their leader fell into the river more or less distant from +the ark, as they came, sooner or later, to the leaping-place. The chief, who +had taken the dangerous post in advance, having an earlier opportunity than +the others, struck the scow just within the stern. The fall proving so much +greater than he had anticipated, he was slightly stunned, and for a moment he +remained half bent and unconscious of his situation. At this instant Judith +rushed from the cabin, her beauty heightened by the excitement that produced +the bold act, which flushed her cheek to crimson, and, throwing all her +strength into the effort, she pushed the intruder over the edge of the scow, +headlong into the river. This decided feat was no sooner accomplished than +the woman resumed her sway; Judith looked over the stern to ascertain what +had become of the man, and the expression of her eyes softened to concern, +next, her cheek crimsoned between shame and surprise, at her own temerity, +and then she laughed in her own merry and sweet manner. All this occupied +less than a minute, when the arm of Deerslayer was thrown around her waist, +and she was dragged swiftly within the protection of the cabin. This retreat +was not effected too soon. Scarcely were the two in safety, when the forest +was filled with yells, and bullets and began to patter against the logs. + + The ark being in swift motion all this while, it was beyond the danger of +pursuit by the time these little events had occurred; and the savages, as +soon as the first burst of their anger had subsided, ceased firing, with the +consciousness that they were expending their ammunition in vain. When the +scow came up over her grapnel, Hutter tripped the latter, in a way not to +impede the motion; and being now beyond the influence of the current, the +vessel continued to drift ahead, until fairly in the open lake, though still +neat enough to the land to render exposure to a rifle-bullet dangerous. +Hutter and March got out two small sweeps, and, covered by the cabin, they +soon urged the ark far enough. from the shore to leave no inducement to their +enemies to make any further attempt to injure them. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"Why, let the strucken deer go weep, +The hart ungalled play, +For some must watch, while some must sleep, +Thus runs the world away." +Hamlet, III.ii.271-74 + + +Another consultation took place in the forward part of the scow, at which +both Judith and Hetty were present. As no danger could now approach unseen, +immediate uneasiness had given place to he concern which attended the +conviction that enemies were in considerable force on the shores of the lake, +and that they might be sure no practicable means of accomplishing their own +destruction would be neglected. As a matter of course Hutter felt these +truths the deepest, his daughters having an habitual reliance on his +resources, and knowing too little to appreciate fully all the risks they ran; +while his male companions were at liberty to quit him at any moment they saw +fit. His first remark showed that he had an eye to the latter circumstance, +and might have betrayed, to a keen observer, the apprehension that was just +then uppermost. + +"We 'ye a great advantage over the Iroquois, or the enemy, whoever they are, +in being afloat," he said. + +"There 's not a canoe on the lake that I don't know where it 's hid; and now +yours is here. Hurry, there are but three more on the land, and they 're so +snug in hollow logs that I don't believe the Indians could find them, let +them try ever so long." + +"There's no telling that-no one can say that," put in Deerslayer; "a hound is +not more sartain on the scent than a redskin, when he expects to get anything +by it. Let this party see scalps afore 'em, or plunder, or honor accordin' to +their idees of what honor is, and 't will be a tight log that hides a canoe +from their eyes." + +"You're right, Deerslayer," cried Harry March; "you're downright Gospel in +this matter, and I rej 'ice that my bunch of bark is safe enough here, within +reach of my arm. I calcilate they '11 be at all the rest of the canoes afore +to-morrow night, if they are in ra' al 'arnest to smoke you out, old Tom, and +we may as well overhaul our paddles for a pull." + +Hutter made no immediate reply. He looked about him in silence for quite a +minute, examining the sky, the lake, and the belt of forest which inclosed +it, as it might be hermetically, like one consulting their signs. Nor did he +find any alarming symptoms. The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep +repose of nature, the heavens were placid, but still luminous with the light +of the retreating sun, while the lake looked more lovely and calm than it had +before done that day. It was a scene altogether soothing, and of a character +to lull the passions into a species of holy calm. How far this effect was +produced, however, on the party in the ark, must appear in the progress of +our narrative. + +"Judith," called out the father, when he had taken this close but short +survey of the omens, "night is at hand; find our friends food; a long march +gives a sharp appetite." + +"We're not starving, Master Hutter," March observed, "for we filled up just +as we reached the lake, and for one, I prefar the company of Jude even to her +supper. This quiet evening is very agreeable to sit by her side." + +"Natur' is natur'," objected Hutter, "and must be fed. Judith, see to the +meal, and take your sister to help you. I 've a little discourse to hold with +you, friends," he continued, as soon as his daughters were out of hearing, +"and +wish the girls away. You see my situation, and I should like to hear your +opinions concerning what is best to be done. Three times have I been burnt +out already, but that was on the shore; and I 've considered myself as pretty +safe +ever since I got the castle built, and the ark afloat. My other accidents, +however, happened in peaceable times, being nothing more than such flurries +as a man must meet with, in the woods; but this matter looks serious, and +your +ideas would greatly relieve my mind." + +"It's my notion, old Tom, that you, and your huts, and your traps, and your +whole possessions, hereaway, are in +desperate jippardy," returned the matter-of-fact Hurry, who +saw no use in concealment. "Accordin' to my idees of valie, +they 're altogether not worth half as much to-day as they +was yesterday, nor would I give more for 'em, taking the +pay in skins." + +"Then I've children!" continued the father, making the +allusion in a way that it might have puzzled even an indifferent + observer to say was intended as a bait, or as an +exclamation of paternal concern, "daughters, as you know, +Hurry, and good girls too, I may say, though I am their +father." + +"A man may say anything, Master Hutter, particularly +when pressed by time and circumstances. You've darters, +as you say, and one of them hasn't her equal on the frontiers +for good looks, whatever she may have for good behavior. +As for poor Hetty, she's Hetty Hutter, and that's as much +as one can say about the poor thing. Give me Jude, if her +conduct was only equal to her looks!" + +"I see, Harry March, I can only count on you as a fair- +weather friend; and I suppose that your companion will be +of the same way of thinking," returned the other, with a +slight show of pride, that was not altogether without dig- +nity; "well, I must depend on Providence, which will not +turn a deaf ear, perhaps, to a father's prayers." + +"If you 've understood Hurry, here, to mean that he intends to desart you," +said Deerslayer, with an earnest simplicity that gave double assurance of its +truth, "I think you do him injustice, as I know you do me, in supposing I +would follow him, was he so ontrue-hearted as to leave a family of his own +color in such a strait as this. I 've come on this at take, Master Hutter, to +rende'vous a fri'nd, and I only wish hehe was here himself, as I make no +doubt he will be at +sunset to-morrow, when you 'd have another rifle to aid you; +an inexper'enced one, I '11 allow, like my own, but one that +has proved true so often ag'in the game, big and little, that +I ll answer for its sarvice ag'in mortals." + +May I depend on you to stand by me and my daughters, +then, Deerslayer?" demanded the old man, with a father's +anxiety in his countenance. + +"That may you, Floating Tom, if that's your name; and +e, as a brother would stand by a sister, a husband his wife, or a suitor his +sweetheart. In this strait you may count on +me, through all advarsities; and I think Hurry does dis- +credit to his natur' and wishes, if you can't count on him." + +"Not he," cried Judith, thrusting her handsome face out +of the door; "his nature is hurry, as well as his name, and +he '11 hurry off, as soon as he thinks his fine figure in danger. Neither +'old Tom,' nor his 'gals,' will depend much on +Master March, now they know him, but you they will rely +on, Deerslayer; for your honest face and honest heart tell us +that what you promise you will perform." + +This was said, as much, perhaps, in affected scorn for +Hurry, as in sincerity. Still, it was not said without feeling. The fine face +of Judith sufficiently proved the latter circumstance; and if the conscious +March fancied that he had never seen in it a stronger display of contempt-a +feeling in which the beauty was apt to indulge-than while she was looking at +him, it certainly seldom exhibited more of +a womanly softness and sensibility, than when her speaking +a blue eyes were turned on his travelling companion. + +"Leave us, Judith," Hutter ordered sternly, before either +of the young men could reply; "leave us; and do not +return until you come with the venison and fish. The girl +has been spoilt by the flattery of the officers, who sometimes +find their way up here, Master March, and you '11 not think +any harm of her silly words." + +"You never said truer syllable, old Tom," retorted Hurry, +who smarted under Judith's observations; "the devil- +tongued youngsters of the garrison have proved her undo' +ing. I scarce know Jude any longer, and shall soon take to +admiring her sister, who is getting to be much more to my +fancy." + +"I 'm glad to hear this, Harry, and look upon it as a sign that you're coming +to your right senses. Hetty would make a much safer and more rational +companion than Jude, and would be much the most likely to listen to your +suit, as the officers have, I greatly fear, unsettled her sister's mind." + +"No man needs a safer wife than Hetty," said Hurry, +laughing, "though I 'U not answer for her being of the most +rational. But no matter; Deerslayer has not misconceived +me, when he told you I should be found at my post. I '11 +not quit you, Uncle Tom, just now, whatever may be my +feelin's and intentions respecting your eldest darter." + +Hurry had a respectable reputation for prowess among his +associates, and Hurter heard this pledge with a satisfaction +that was not concealed. Even the great personal strength of +such an aid became of moment, in moving the ark, as well as +in the species of hand-to-hand conflicts, that were not unfre' +quent in the woods; and no commander who was hard +pressed could feel more joy at hearing of the arrival of +reinforcements, than the borderer experienced at being told +this important auxiliary was not about to quit him. A +minute before, Hutter would have been well content to com- +promise his danger, by entering into a compact to act only +on the defensive; but no sooner did he feel some security on +this point, than the restlessness of man induced him to think +of the means of carrying the war into the enemy's country. + +"High prices are offered for scalps on both sides." he observed, with a grim +smile, as if he felt the force of the induce-ment, at the very time he wished +to affect a superiority to earning money by means that the ordinary feelings +of those who aspire to be civilized men repudiated, even while they were +adopted. "It isn't right, perhaps, to take gold for human blood; and yet, +when mankind is busy in killing one another, there can be no great harm in +adding a little bit of skin to the plunder. What 's your sentiments, Hurry, +touching these p'ints?" + +"That you've made a vast mistake, old man, in calling +savage blood human blood, at all. I think no more of a +redskin's scalp than I do of a pair of wolf's ears; and +would just as lief finger money for the one as for the other. +With white people 't is different, for they 've a nat'ral +avarsion to being scalped; whereas your Indian shaves his +head in readiness for the knife, and leaves a lock of hair +by way of braggadocio, that one can lay hold of in the +bargain." + +"That 's manly, however, and I felt from the first that +we had only to get you on our side, to have your heart +and hand," returned Tom, losing all his reserve, as he +gained a renewed confidence in the disposition of his +companions. "Something more may turn up from this +inroad of the redskins than they bargained for. Deerslayer, +I conclude you 're of Hurry's way of thinking, and look +upon money 'arued in this way as being as likely to pass +as money 'arned in trapping or hunting." + +"I've no such feelin', nor any wish to harbor it, not I," +returned the other. " My gifts are not scalpers' gifts, but +such as belong to my religion and color. I '11 stand by you, +old man, in the ark or in the castle, the canoe or the woods, +but I '11 not unhumanize my natur' by falling into ways +that God intended for another race. If you and Hurry +have got any thoughts that lean towards the colony's gold, +go by yourselves in s'arch of it, and leave the females to +my care. Much as I must differ from you both on all +gifts that do not properly belong to a white man, we shall +agree that it is the duty of the strong to take care of the +weak, especially when the last belong to them that natur' +intended man to protect and console by his gentleness and +strength." + +"Hurry Harry, that is a lesson you might learn and +practise on to some advantage," said the sweet, but spirited +voice of Judith, from the cabin; a proof that she had over- +heard all that had hitherto been said. + +"No more of this, Jude," called out the father angrily. +"Move farther off; we are about to talk of matters unfit +for a woman to listen to." + +Hutter did not take any steps, however, to ascertain +whether he was obeyed or not; but dropping his voice a +little, he pursued the discourse. + +"The young man is right, Hurry," he said; "and we +can leave the children in his care. Now, my idea is just +this; and I think you '11 agree that it is rational and correct. +There 's a large party of these savages on shore and, though +I did n't tell it before the girls, for they 're womanish, and +apt to be troublesome when anything like real work is to +be done, there 's women among 'em. This I know from +moccasin prints; and 't is likely they are hunters, after all, +who have been out so long that they know nothing of the +war, or of the bounties." + +"In which case, old Tom, why was their first salute an +attempt to cut our throats?" + +"We don't know that their design was so bloody. It 'S +natural and easy for an Indian to fall into ambushes and sur- +prises; and, no doubt they wished to get on hoard the ark +first, and to make their conditions afterwards. That a dis- +app' inted savage should fire at us, is in rule; and I think +nothing of that. Besides, how often they burned me out, +and robbed my traps-ay, and pulled trigger on me, in the +most peaceful times?" + +"The blackguards will do such things, I must allow;nd we pay 'em off pretty +much in their own time. Women would not be on the war-path, sartainly; and, +so far,there 's reason in your idee.'' + +"Nor would a hunter be in his war-paint," returned +Deerslayer. "I saw the Mingos, and know that they are +out on the trail of mortal men; and not for beaver or deer." + +"There you have it ag'in, old fellow," said Hurry. "In +the way of an eye, now, I 'd as soon trust this young man, +as trust the oldest settler in the colony; if he says paint, +why paint it was." + +"Then a hunting-party and a war-party have met, for +women must have been with 'em. It 's only a few days +since the runner went through with the tidings of the +troubles; and it may be that warriors have come out to call +in their women and children, to get an early blow." + +"That would stand the courts, and is just the truth +cried Hurry; "you 'ye got it now, old Tom, and I should +like to hear what you mean to make out of it." + +we "The bounty," returned the other, looking up at his +attentive companion, in a cool, sullen manner, in which, +ct.however, heartless cupidity and indifference to the means +were far more conspicuous than any feelings of animosity +or revenge. + +"If there's women, there 's children; and big to and little have scalps; the +colony pays for all alike." + +"More shame to it, that it should do so," interrupted +Deerslayer; "more shame to it, that it don't understand its +gifts, and pay greater attention to the will of God." + +"Hearken to reason, lad, and don't cry out afore you +understand a case," returned the unmoved Hurry; "the +savages scalp your fri'nds, the Delawares, or Mohicans +whichever they may be, among the rest; and why shouldn't +ur- we scalp? I will own, it would be ag'in right for you and +me now, to go into the settlements and bring out scalps, +but it '5 a very different matter as concerns Indians A man +shouldn't take scalps, if he is n't ready to be scalped, him- +self, on fitting occasions. One good turn desarves another, +the all the world over. That 's reason, and I believe it to be good +religion." + +"Ay, Master Hurry," again interrupted the rich voice +of Judith, "is it religion to say that one bad turn deserves +another?" + +"I '11 never reason ag'in you, Judy, for you beat me with +ned beauty, if you can't with sense. Here 's the Canadas +paying their Injins for scalps, and why not we pay-" + +"Our Indians !" exclaimed the girl, laughing with a +'In sort of melancholy merriment. "Father, father! think no +more of this, and listen to the advice of Deerslayer, who +int, has a conscience; which is more than I can say or think of Harry +March." + +Hutter now rose, and, entering the cabin, he compelled +his daughters to go into the adjoining room, when he +the secured both the doors, and returned. Then he and Hurry +call pursued the subject; but, as the purport of all that was material in +this discourse will appear in the imrrative, it need not be related here in +detail. The reader, however, +can have no difficulty in comprehending the morality that +presided over their conference. It was, in truth, that +which, in some form or other, rules most of the acts of men, +and in which the controlling principle is that one wrong +will justify another. Their enemies paid for scalps, and this was sufficient +to justify the colony for retaliating. It is true, the French used the same +argument, a circumstance,as Hurry took occasion to observe in answer to one +of Deerslayer's objections, that proved its truth, as mortal enemies would +not be likely to have recourse to the same reason unless it were a good one. +But neither Hutter nor Hurry was a man likely to stick at trifles in matters +connected with the right of the aborigines, since it is one of the +consequences of aggression that it hardens the conscience, as the only means +of quieting it. In the most +peaceable state of the country, a species of warfare was +carried on between the Indians, especially those of the +Canadas, and men of their caste; and the moment an +actual and recognized warfare existed, it was regarded as +the means of lawfully revenging a thousand wrongs, real +and imaginary. Then, again, there was some truth, and a +good deal of expediency, in the principle of retaliation, of +which they both availed themselves, in particular, to answer +the objections of their juster-minded and more scrupulous +companion. + +"You must fight a man with his own we'pons, Deerslayer," cried Hurry, in his +uncouth dialect, and in his dogmatical manner of disposing of all oral +propositions; "if he's f"erce you must be f'ercer; if he's stout of heart, +you must be stouter. This is the way to get the better of +Christian or savage: by keeping up to this trail, you'll get +soonest to the ind of your journey." + +"That's not Moravian doctrine, which teaches that all +are to be judged according to their talents or l'arning; the +Injin like an Injin; and the white man like a white man. +Some of their teachers say, that if you're struck on the cheek,it's a duty to +turn the other side of the face, and take another blow, instead of seeking +revenge, whereby I understand-" + +"That's enough !" shouted Hurry; "that's all I want, +to prove a man's doctrine! How long would it take to +kick a man through the colony-in at one ind and out at +the other, on that principle?" + +"Don't mistake me, March," returned the young hunter, +with dignity; "I don't understand by this any more than +that it 's best to do this, if possible. Revenge is an Injin +gift, and forgiveness a white man's. That 's all. Overlook +all you can is what 's meant; and not revenge all you can. +As for kicking, Master Hurry," and Deerslayer's sunburnt +cheek flushed as he continued, "into the colony, or out of +the colony, that's neither here nor there, seeing no one +proposes it, and no one would be likely to put up with it. +What I wish to say is, that a redskin's scalping don't justify a pale-face's +scalping." + +"Do as you 're done by, Deerslayer; that 's ever the +Christian parson's doctrine." No, Hurry, I 'ye asked the Moravians consarning +that;and it 's altogether different. 'Do as you would be done by,' they tell +me, is the true saying, while men practyse the false. They think all the +colonies wrong that offer bounties for scalps, and believe no blessing will +follow the measures. Above all things, they forbid revenge." + +"That for your Moravians!" cried March, snapping his +fingers; "they 're the next thing to Quakers; and if you'd +believe all they tell you, not even a 'rat would be skinned, +out of marcy. Who ever heard of marcy on a muskrat!" + +The disdainful manner of Hurry prevented a reply, and +he and the old man resumed the discussion of their plans in +a more quiet and confidential manner. This confidence +lasted until Judith appeared, bearing the simple but savory +supper. March observed, with a little surprise, that she +placed the choicest bits before Deerslayer, and that in the +little nameless attentions it was in her power to bestow, she quite obviously +manifested a desire to let it be seen that she deemed him the honored guest. +Accustomed, however, to Lhe waywardness and coquetry of the beauty, this +discovery gave him little concern, and he ate with an appetite that was in no +degree disturbed by any moral causes. The easily-digested food of the forests +offering the fewest possible obstacles to the gratification of this great +animal indulgence, Deerslayer, notwithstanding the hearty meal both had taken +in the woods, was in no manner behind his companion in doing justice to the +viands. + +An hour later the scene had greatly changed. The lake +was still placid and glassy, but the gloom of the hour had +succeeded to the soft twilight of a summer evening, and all +within the dark setting of the woods lay in the quiet repose +of night. The forests gave up no song, or cry, or even +murmur, but looked down from the hills on the lovely basin +they encircled, in solemn stillness; and the only sound that +was audible was the regular dip of the sweeps, at which +Hurry and Deerslayer lazily pushed, impelling the ark +towards the castle. Hutter had withdrawn to the stern of +the scow, in order to steer, but, finding that the young men +kept even strokes, and held the desired course by their own +skill, he permitted the oar to drag in the water, took a seat on the end of +the vessel, and lighted his pipe. He had not been thus placed many minutes, +ere Hetty came stealthily out of the cabin, or house, as they usually termed +that part of the ark, and placed herself at his feet, on a little bench that +she brought with her. As this movement was by no +means unusual in his feeble-minded child, the old man paid +no other attention to it than to lay his hand kindly on her +head, in an affectionate and approving manner; an act of +grace that the girl received in meek silence. + +After a pause of several minutes, Hetty began to sing. +Her voice was low and tremulous, but it was earnest and +solemn. The words and the tune were of the simplest form, +the first being a hymn that she had been taught by her +mother, and the last one of those natural melodies that find +favor with all classes, in every age, coming from and being +addressed to the feelings. Hutter never listened to this +simple strain without finding his heart and manner softened; facts that his +daughter well knew, and by which she had often profited, through the sort of +holy instinct that +enlightens the weak of mind, more especially in their aims +toward good. + +Hetty's low, sweet tones had not been raised many +moments, when the dip of the oars ceased, and the holy +strain arose singly on the breathing silence of the wilder- +ness. As if she gathered courage with the theme, her pow- +ers appeared to increase as she proceeded; and though +nothing vulgar or noisy mingled in her melody, its strength +and melancholy tenderness grew on the ear, until the air +was filled with this simple homage of a soul that seemed +almost spotless. That the men forward were not indifferent +to this touching interruption, was proved by their inaction; +nor did their oars again dip until the last of the sweet sounds had actually +died among the remarkable shores, which, at that witching hour, would waft +even the lowest modulations of the human voice more than a mile. Hutter was +much affected; for rude as he was by early habits, and even ruthless as he +had got to be by long exposure to the practices of the wilderness, his nature +was of that fearful mixture of good and evil that so generally enters into +the moral composition of man. + +"You are sad to-night, child," said the father, whose +manner and language usually assumed some of the gentle- +ness and elevation of the civilized life he had led in youth, when he thus +communed with this particular child; "we have just escaped from enemies, and +ought rather to +rejoice." + +"You can never do it, father!" said Hetty, in a low, +remonstrating manner, taking his hard, knotty hand into +both her own; "you have talked long with Harry March; +but neither of you have the heart to do it!" + +"This is going beyond your means, foolish child; you +must have been naughty enough to have listened, or you +could know nothing of our talk." + +"Why should you and Hurry kill people-especially +women and children?" + +"Peace, girl, peace; we are at war, and must do to our +enemies as our enemies would do to us." + +"That 's not it, father! I heard Deerslayer say how it +was. You must do to your enemies as you wish your enemies +would do to you. No man wishes his enemies to kill him." + +"We kill our enemies in war, girl, lest they should kill +us. One side or the other must begin; and them that begin +first, are most apt to get the victory. You know nothing +about these things, poor Hetty, and had best say nothing." + +"Judith says it is wrong, father; and Judith has sense +though I have none." + +"Jude understands better than to talk to me of these +matters; for she has sense, as you say, and knows I '11 not +bear it. Which would you prefer, Hetty; to have your own +scalp taken, and sold to the French, or that we should kill +our enemies, and keep them from harming us?" + +"That 's not it, father! Don't kill them, nor let them +kill us. Sell your skins, and get more, if you can; but +don't sell human blood." + +"Come, come, child; let us talk of matters you under- +stand. Are you glad to see our old friend, March, back +again? You like Hurry, and must know that one day he +may be your brother-if not something nearer." + +"That can't be, father," returned the girl, after a consid- +erable pause; "Hurry has had one father, and one mother; +and people never have two." + +"So much for your weak mind, Hetty. When Jude +marries, her husband's father will be her father, and her +husband's sister her sister. If she should marry Hurry, +then he will be your brother." + +"Judith will never have Hurry," returned the girl mildly. +but positively; "Judith don't like Hurry." +"That's more than you can know, Hetty. Harry March +is the handsomest, and the strongest, and the boldest young +man that ever visits the lake; and, as Jude is the greatest +beauty, I don't see why they shouldn't come together. He +has as much as promised that he will enter into this job with me, on +condition that I'11 consent." + +Hetty began to move her body back and forth, and other- +wise to express mental agitation; but she made no answer +for more than a minute. Her father, accustomed to her +manner, and suspecting no immediate cause of concern, con- +tinued to smoke with the apparent phlegm which would +seem to belong to that particular species of enjoyment. + +"Hurry is handsome, father," said Hetty, with a simple +emphasis, that she might have hesitated about using, had +her mind been more alive to the inferences of others. + +"I told you so, child," muttered old Hutter, without +removing the pipe from between his teeth; "he's the +likeliest youth in these parts; and Jude is the likeliest +young woman I've met with since her poor mother was +in her best days." + +"Is it wicked to be ugly, father?'" + +"One might be guilty of worse things-but you 're by no +means ugly; though not so comely as Jude." + +"Is Judith any happier for being so handsome?" + +"She may be, child, and she may not be. But talk of +other matters now, for you hardly understand these, poor +Hetty. How do you like our new acquaintance, Deer- +slayer?" + +"He isn't handsome, father. Hurry is far handsomer than Deerslayer." + +"That's true; but they say he is a noted hunter! His +fame had reached me before I ever saw him; and I did hope +he would prove to be as stout a warrior as he is dexterous +with the deer. All men are not alike, howsever, child; and +it takes time, as I know by experience, to give a man a true +wilderness heart." + +"Have I got a wilderness heart, father-and Hurry, is +his heart true wilderness?" + +"You sometimes ask queer questions, Hetty! Your +heart is good, child, and fitter for the settlements than for the woods; +while your reason is fitter for the woods than for the settlements." + +"Why has Judith more reason than I, father?" + +"Heaven help thee, child: this is more than I can an- +swer God gives sense, and appearance, and all these +things; and he grants them as he seeth fit. Dost thou +wish for more sense?" + +"Not I. The little I have troubles me; for when I +think the hardest, then I feel the unhappiest. I don't +believe thinking is good for me, though I do wish I was as +handsome as Judith !" + +"Why so, poor child? Thy sister's beauty may cause +her trouble, as it caused her mother before her. It's no +advantage, Hetty, to be so marked for anything as to her +come an object of envy, or to be sought after more than +others." + +"Mother was good, if she was handsome," returned the +girl, the tears staffing to her eyes, as usually happened +when she adverted to her deceased parent. Old Hutter, if not +equally affected, was moody and silent at this allusion to his wife. +He continued smoking, without appearing disposed to make any answer, +until his simple-minded daughter repeated her remark, in a way to +show that she felt uneasiness lest he might be inclined to deny +her assertion. Then he knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and +laying his hand in a sort of rough kindness on the girl's +head, he made a reply. + +"Thy mother was too good for this world," he said; +"though others might not think so. Her good looks did +not befriend her; and you have no occasion to mourn that +you are not as much like her as your sister. Think less of +beauty, child, and more of your duty, and you '11 be as +happy on this lake as you could be in the king's palace." + +"I know it, father; but Hurry says beauty is everything +in a young woman." + +Hutter made an ejaculation expressive of dissatisfaction, +and went forward, passing through the house, in order to +do so. Hetty's simple betrayal of her weakness in behalf +of March gave him uneasiness on a subject concerning +which he had never felt before, and he determined to come +to an explanation at once with his visitor; for directness +of speech and decision in conduct were two of the best +qualities of this rude being, in whom the seeds of a better +education seemed to be constantly struggling upwards, to +be choked by the fruits of a life in which his hard struggles + for subsistence and security had steeled his feelings and +indurated his nature. When he reached the forward end of the +scow, he manifested an intention to relieve Deerslayer at +the oar, directing the latter to take his own place aft By +these changes, the old man and Hurry were again left alone, +while the young hunter was transferred to the other end of the ark. + +Hetty had disappeared when Deerslayer reached his new +post, and for some little time he directed the course of the +slow-moving craft by himself. It was not long, however, +before Judith came out of the cabin, as if disposed to do +the honors of the place to a stranger engaged in the service +of her family. The starlight was sufficient to permit objects +to be plainly distinguished when near at hand, and the bright +eyes of the girl had an expression of kindness in them, when +they met those of the youth, that the latter was easily enabled +to discover. Her rich hair shaded her spirited and yet soft +countenance, even at that hour rendering it the more beautiful- +as the rose is loveliest when reposing amid the shadows and +contrasts of its native foliage. Little ceremony is used in +the intercourse of the woods; and Judith had acquired a +readiness of address, by the admiration that she so generally +excited, which, if it did not amount to forwardness, certainly +in no degree lent to her charms the aid of that retiring modesty +on which poets love to dwell. + +"I thought I should have killed myself with laughing, +Deerslayer," the beauty abruptly, but coquettishly com- +menced, when I saw that Indian dive into the river! He +was a good-looking savage, too," the girl always dwelt on +personal beauty as a sort of merit, "and yet one could n't +stop to consider whether his paint would stand water!" + +"And I thought they would have killed you with their +we'pons, Judith," returned Deerslayer; "it was an awful +risk for a female to run in the face of a dozen Mingos!" + +"Did that make you come out of the cabin, in spite of +their rifles, too?" asked the girl, with more real interest +than she would have cared to betray, though with an indif- +ference of manner that was the result of a good deal of prac +tice united to native readiness. + +"Men ar'n't apt to see females in danger, and not come +to their assistance. Even a Mingo knows that." + +This sentiment was uttered with as much simplicity of +wanner as of feeling, and Judith rewarded it with a smile so +that literally knew no guile. To answer without saying +more or less than he wished, was consequently a delicate +duty. + +"March has his say of all things in whether of +fri'nd or foe," slowly and cautiously rejoined the hunter. +"He's one of them that speak as they feel while the +tongue's a-going, and that's sometimes different from what +they'd speak if they took time to consider. Give me a +Delaware, Judith, for one that reflects and ruminates on his +idees! Inmity has made him thoughtful, and a loose +tongue is no ricommend at their council fires." + + +"I dare say March's tongue goes free enough when it gets +on the subject of Judith Hutter and her sister," said the +girl, rousing herself as if in careless disdain. "Young +women's good names are a pleasant matter of discourse with +some that would n't dare be so open-mouthed if there was a +brother in the way. Master March may find it pleasant to +traduce us, but sooner or later he '11 repent. + +"Nay, Judith, this is taking the matter up too much in +'arnest. Hurry has never whispered a syllable ag'in the +good name of Hetty, to begin with-" + +"I see how it is-I see how it is," impetuously interrupted +Judith. "I am the one he sees fit to scorch with his +withering tongue! Hetty, indeed! Poor Hetty!" she +continued, her voice sinking into low, husky tones, that +seemed nearly to stifle her in the utterance; "she is beyond +and above his slanderous malice! Poor Hetty! If God has +created her feeble-minded, the weakness lies altogether on +the side of errors of which she seems to know nothing. The +earth never held a purer being than Hetty Hutter, +Deerslayer." + + "I can believe it-yes, I can believe that, Judith, and I + hope 'arnestly that the same can be said of her handsome + sister." + +There was a soothing sincerity in the voice of Deerslayer, +which touched the girl's feelings; nor did the allusion to +her beauty lessen the effect with one who only knew too +well the power of her personal charms. Nevertheless, the +still, small voice of conscience was not hushed, and it prompted the +answer which she made, after giving herself time to reflect. + +"I can believe it-yes, I can believe tha, Judith, and I +hope 'arnestly that the same can be said of her handsome +sister." + +There was a soothing sincerity in the voice of Deerslayer, +which touched the girl's feelings; nor did the allusion +to her beauty lessen the effect with one who only knew +too well the power of her personal charms. Nevertheless, +the still, small voice of conscience was not hushed, and +it prompted the answer which she made after giving herself +time to reflect. + +"I dare say Hurry had some of his vile hints about the +people of the garrisons," she added. "He knows they are +gentlemen, and can never forgive any one for being what he +feels he can never become himself." + +"Not in the sense of a king's officer, Judith, sartainly, +for March has no turn thataway; but in the sense of reality, +why may not a beaver-hunter be as respectable as a governor? +Since you speak of it yourself, I'11 not deny that he did +complain of one as humble as you being so much in the +company of scarlet coats and silken sashes. But 't was jeal- +ousy that brought it out of him, and I do think he mourned +over his own thoughts as a mother would have mourned +over her child." + +Perhaps Deerslayer was not aware of the full meaning +that his earnest language conveyed. It is certain that he +did not see the color that crimsoned the whole of Judith's +fine face, nor detect the uncontrollable distress that +immediately after changed its hue to deadly paleness. +A minute or two elapsed in profound stillness, the splash +of the water seeming to occupy all the avenues of sound; +and then Judith arose, and grasped the hand of the hunter, +almost convulsively, with one of her own. + +"Deerslayer," she said, hurriedly, "I'm glad the ice is +broke between us. They say that sudden friendships lead +to long enmities, but I do not believe it will turn out so +with us. I know not how it is-but you are the first man I +ever met, who did not seem to wish to flatter-to wish my +ruin-to be an enemy in disguise-never mind; say nothing to +Hurry, and another time we '11 talk together again." + + +As the girl released her grasp, she vanished in the house, +leaving the astonished young man standing at the steering- +oar, as motionless as one of the pines on the hills. So +abstracted, indeed, had his thoughts become, that he was +hailed by Hutter to keep the scow's head in the right +direction, before he remembered his actual situation. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +"So spake the apostate Angel, though in pain, +Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair.' +Paradise lost, I.125-26. + +Shortly after the disappearance of Judith, a light southerly +air arose, and Hutter set a large square sail, that had once +been the flying top-sail of an Albany sloop, but which having +become threadbare in catching the breezes of Tappan, had been +condemned and sold. He had a light, tough spar of tamarack that +he could raise on occasion, and with a little contrivance, his +duck was spread to the wind in a sufficiently professional +manner. The effect on the ark was such as to supersede the +necessity of rowing; and in about two hours the castle was seen, +in the darkness, rising out of the water, at the distance +of a hundred yards. The sail was then lowered, and by slow degrees +the scow drifted up to the building, and was secured. No one +had visited the house since Hurry and his companion left it. +The place was found in the quiet of midnight, a sort of type +of the solitude of a wilderness. As an enemy was known to be +near, Hutter directed his daughters to abstain from the use of +lights, luxuries in which they seldom indulged during the warm +months, lest they might prove beacons to direct their foes where +they might be found. + +"In open daylight I shouldn't fear a host of savages behind these +stout logs, and they without any cover to skulk into," added Hutter, +when he had explained to his guests the reasons why he forbade the +use of light; "for I 'ye three or four trusty weapons always loaded, +and Killdeer, in particular, is a piece that never misses But it's a +different thing at night. A canoe might get upon us unseen, in the +dark; and the savages have so many cunning ways of attacking, that +I look upon it as bad enough to deal with 'em under a bright sun. +I built this dwelling in order to have 'em at arm's length, in case +we should ever get to blows again. Some people think it's too open +and exposed, but I'm for anchoring out here, clear of underbrush +and thickets, as the surest means of making a safe berth." + +"You was once a sailor, they tell me, old Tom?" said Hurry, in his +abrupt manner, struck by one or two expressions that the other had +just used, "and some people believe you could give us strange accounts +of inimies and shipwrecks, if you 'd a mind to come out with all you know?" + +"There are people in this world, Hurry," returned the other, evasively, +"who live on other men's thoughts; and some such often find their way +into the woods. What I 'ye been, or what I 'ye seen in youth, is of +less matter now than what the savages are. It 's of more account to find +out what will happen in the next twenty-four hours than to talk over +what happened twenty-four years since." + +"That's judgment, Deerslayer; yes, that's sound judgment. Here's Judith +and Hetty to take care of, to say nothing of our own top-knots; and, +for my part, I can sleep as well in the dark as I could under a noonday +sun. To me it's no great matter whether there is light or not, to see +to shut my eyes by." + +As Deerslayer seldom thought it necessary to answer his companion's +peculiar vein of humor, and Hutter was evidently indisposed to dwell +longer on the subject, it's discussion ceased with this remark. The +latter had something more on his mind, however, than recollections. +His daughters had no sooner left them, with an expressed intention of +going to bed, than he invited his two companions to follow him again +into the scow. Here the old man opened his project, keeping back the +portion that he had reserved for execution by Hurry and himself. + +"The great object for people posted like ourselves is to command the +water," he commenced. "So long as there is no other craft on the lake, +a bark canoe is as good as a man of-war, since the castle will not be +easily taken by swimming. Now, there are but five canoes remaining in +these parts, two of which are mine, and one is Hurry's. These three +we have with us here; one being fastened in the canoe-dock beneath +the house, and the other two being alongside the scow. The other +canoes are housed on the shore, in hollow logs, and the savages, +who are such venomous enemies, will leave no likely place unexamined +in the morning, if they 're serious in s'arch of bounties-" + +"Now, friend Hutter," interrupted Hurry, "the Indian don't live that +can find a canoe that is suitably wintered. I 'ye done something at +this business before now, and Deerslayer here knows that I am one that +can hide a craft in such a way that I can't find it myself." + +"Very true, Hurry," put in the person to whom the appeal had been made, +"but you overlook the sarcumstance that if you could n't see the trail +of the man who did the job, I could. I 'm of Master Hutter's mind, that +it 's far wiser to mistrust a savage's ingenuity, than to build any +great expectations on his want of eye-sight. If these two canoes can +be got off to the castle, therefore, the sooner it 's done the better." + +"Will you be of the party that's to do it?" demanded Hutter, in a way +to show that the proposal both surprised and pleased him. + +"Sartain. I 'm ready to enlist in any enterprise that 's not ag'in a +white man's lawful gifts. Natur' orders us to defend our lives, and +the lives of others, too, when there 's occasion and opportunity. +I '11 follow you, Floating Tom, into the Mingo camp, on such an arr'nd, +and will strive to do my duty, should we come to blows; though, never +having been tried in battle, I don't like to promise more than I may +be able to perform. We all know our wishes, but none know their might +till put to the proof." + +"That's modest and suitable, lad," exclaimed Hurry. "You've never yet +heard the crack of an angry rifle; and, let me tell you, 't is as +different from the persuasion of one of your venison speeches, as the +laugh of Judith Hutter, in her best humor, is from the scolding of a +Dutch house keeper on the Mohawk. I don't expect you'll prove much of +a warrior, Deerslayer, though your equal with the bucks and the does +don't exist in all these parts. As for the ra'al sarvice, however, +you'll turn out rather rearward, according to my consait." + +"We'll see, Hurry, we '11 see," returned the other, meekly; so far as +human eye could discover, not at all disturbed by these expressed doubts +concerning his conduct on a point on which men are sensitive, precisely +in the degree that they feel the consciousness of demerit; "having never +been tried, I '11 wait to know, before I form any opinion of myself; and +then there '11 be sartainty, instead of bragging. I've beard of them that +was valiant afore the fight, who did little in it; and of them that waited +to know their own tempers, and found that they were n't as bad as some +expected, when put to the proof." + +"At any rate, we know you can use a paddle, young man," said Hutter, "and +that 's all we shall ask of you tonight. Let us waste no more time, but +get into the canoe, and do, in place of talking." + +As Hutter led the way, in the execution of his project, the boat was +soon ready, with Hurry and Deerslayer at the paddles. Before the old +man embarked himself, however, he held a conference of several minutes +with Judith, entering the house for that purpose; then, returning, he +took his place in the canoe, which left the side of the ark at the next +instant. + +Had there been a temple reared to God, in that solitary wilderness, its +clock would have told the hour of midnight as the party set forth on their +expedition. The darkness had increased, though the night was still clear, +and the light of the stars sufficed for all the purposes of the adventurers. +Hutter alone knew the places where the canoes were hid, and he directed the +course, while his two athletic companions raised and dipped their paddles +with proper caution, lest the sound should be carried to the ears of their +enemies, across that sheet of placid water, in the stillness of deep night. +But the bark was too light to require any extraordinary efforts, and skill +supplying the place of strength, in about half an hour they were approaching +the shore, at a point near a league from the castle. + +"Lay on your paddles, men," said Hutter, in a low voice, "and let us look +about us for a moment. We must now be all eyes and ears, for these vermin +have noses like bloodhounds." + +The shores of the lake were examined closely, in order to discover any +glimmering of light that might have been left in a camp; and the men +strained their eyes, in the obscurity, to see if some thread of smoke +was not still stealing along the mountain-side, as it arose from the +dying embers of a fire. Nothing unusual could be traced; and as the +position was at some distance from the outlet, or the spot where the +savages had been met, it was thought safe to land. The paddles were +plied again, and the bows of the canoe ground upon the gravelly beach +with a gentle motion, and a sound barely audible. Hutter and Hurry +immediately landed, the former carrying his own and his friend's rifle, +leaving Deerslayer in charge of the canoe. The hollow log lay a little +distance up the side of the mountain, and the old man led the way towards +it, using so much caution as to stop at every third or fourth step, to +listen if any tread betrayed the presence of a foe. The same death-like +stillness, however, reigned on the midnight scene, and the desired place +was reached without an occurrence to induce alarm. + +"This is it," whispered Hutter, laying a foot on the trunk of a fallen +linden; "hand me the paddles first, and draw the boat out with care, for +the wretches may have left it for a bait, after all." + +"Keep my rifle handy, butt towards me, old fellow," answered March. +"If they attack me loaded, I shall want to unload the piece at 'em, at +least. And feel if the pan is full." + +"All 's right," muttered the other; "move slow, when you get your load, +and let me lead the way." + +The canoe was drawn out of the log with the utmost care, raised by +Hurry to his shoulder, and the two began to 'return to the shore, moving +but a step at a time, lest they should tumble down the steep declivity. +The distance was not great, but the descent was extremely difficult; and, +towards the end of their little journey, Deerslayer was obliged to land +and meet them, in order to aid in lifting the canoe through the bushes. +With his assistance the task was successfully accomplished, and the light +craft soon floated by the side of the other canoe. This was no sooner done, +than all three turned anxiously towards the forest and the mountain, +expecting an enemy to break out of the one, or to come rushing down the +other. Still the silence was unbroken, and they all embarked with the +caution that had been used in coming ashore. + +Hutter now steered broad off towards the centre of the lake. Having got +a sufficient distance from the shore, he cast his prize loose, knowing +that it would drift slowly up the lake before the light southerly air, +and intending to find it on his return. Thus relieved of his tow, the +old man held his way down the lake, steering towards the very point +where Hurry had made his fruitless attempt on the life of the deer. +As the distance from this point to the outlet was less than a mile, it +was like entering an enemy's country; and redoubled caution became +necessary. They reached the extremity of the point, however, and landed +in safety on the little gravelly beach already mentioned. Unlike the +last place at which they had gone ashore, here was no acclivity to ascend, +the mountains looming up in the darkness quite a quarter of a mile +farther west, leaving a margin of level ground between them and the +strand. The point itself, though long, and covered with tall trees, was +nearly flat, and for some distance only a few yards in width. Hutter and +Hurry landed as before, leaving their companion in charge of the boat. + + +In this instance, the dead tree that contained the canoe of which they +had come in quest lay about half-way be. between the extremity of the narrow +slip of land and the place where it joined the main shore; and knowing that +there was water so near him on his left, the old man led the way along the +eastern side of the belt with some confidence walking boldly, though still +with caution. He had landed at the point expressly to get a glimpse into the +bay. and to make certain that the coast was clear; otherwise he would have +come ashore directly abreast of the hollow tree. There was no difficulty in +finding the latter, from which the canoe was drawn as before, and instead +of carrying it down to the place where Deerslayer lay, it was launched at +the nearest favorable spot. As soon as it was in the water, Hurry entered +it, and paddled round to the point, whither Hutter also proceeded, following +the beach. As the three men had now in their possession all the boats on +the lake, their confidence was greatly increased, and there was no longer +the same feverish desire to quit the shore, or the same necessity for +extreme caution. Their position on the extremity of the long, narrow bit of +land, added to the feeling of security, as it permitted an enemy to approach +in only one direction, that in their front, and under circumstances that +would render discovery, with their habitual vigilance, almost certain. The +three now landed together, and stood grouped in consultation on the gravelly +point. + +"We 'ye fairly tree'd the scamps," said Hurry, chuckling at their success; +"if they wish to visit the castle, let 'em wade or swim! Old Tom, that idee +of your'n, in burrowing out in the lake, was high proof, and carries a fine +bead. There be men who would think the land safer than the water; but, after +all, reason shows it isn't; the beaver, and rats, and other l'arned creatur's +taking to the last when hard pressed. I call our position now, entrenched, +and set the Can adas at defiance." + +"Let us paddle along this south shore," said Hutter, "and see if there 's no +sign of an encampment; but, first, let me have a better look into the bay, +for no one has been far enough round the inner shore of the point to make +suit of that quarter yet." + +As Hutter ceased speaking, all three moved in the direction he had named. +Scarce had they fairly opened the bottom of the bay, when a general start +proved that their eyes had lighted on a common object at the same instant. It +was no more than a dying brand, giving out its flickering and failing light; +but at that hour, and in that place, it +was at once as conspicuous as "a good deed in a naughty world." There was not +a shadow of doubt that this fire had been kindled at an encampment of the +Indians. The situation, sheltered from observation on all sides but one, and +even on that except for a very short distance, proved that more care had been +taken to conceal the spot than would be used for ordinary purposes, and +Hutter, who knew that a spring was near at hand, as well as one of the best +fishing-stations on the lake, immediately inferred that this encampment +contained the women and children of the party. + +"That's not a warrior's encampment," he growled to Hurry; "and there 's +bounty enough sleeping round that fire to make a heavy division of head- +money. Send the lad to the canoes, for there '11 come no good of him in such +an onset, and let us take the matter in hand at once, like men." +"There 's judgment in your notion, old Tom, and I like it to the backbone. +Deerslayer, do you get into the canoe, lad, and paddle off into the lake with +the spare one, and set it adrift, as we did with the other; after which you +can float along shore, as near as you can get to the head of the bay, keeping +outside the point, howsever, and outside the rushes, too. You can hear us +when we want you; and if there's any delay, I '11 call like a loon-yes, that +'ll do it- the call of a loon shall be the signal. If you hear rifles, and +feel like sogering, why, you may close in, and see if you can make the same +hand with the savages that you do with the deer." + +"If my wishes could be followed, this matter would not be undertaken, Hurry-" + +"Quite true-nobody denies it, boy; but your wishes can't be followed; and +that inds the matter. So just canoe yourself off into the middle of the lake, +and by the time you get back there'11 be movements in that camp !" + +The young man set about complying with great reluctance and a heavy heart. He +knew the prejudices of the frontiermen too well, however, to attempt a +remonstrance. The latter, indeed, under the circumstances, might prove +dangerous, as it would certainly prove useless. He paddled the canoe, +therefore, silently, and with the former caution, to a spot near the centre +of the placid sheet of water, and set the boat just recovered adrift, to +float towards the castle, before the light southerly air. This expedient had +been adopted, in both cases, under the certainty that the drift could not +carry the light barks more than a league or two, before the return of light, +when they might easily be overtaken In order to prevent any wandering savage +from using them, by swimming off and getting possession, a possible but +scarcely a probable event, all the paddles were retained. + +No sooner had he set the recovered canoe adrift, than Deerslayer turned the +bows of his own towards the point on the shore that had been indicated by +Hurry. So light was the movement of the little craft, and so steady the sweep +of its master's arm, that ten minutes had not elapsed ere it was again +approaching the land, having, in that brief time, passed over fully half a +mile of distance. As soon as Deer-slayer's eye caught a glimpse of the +rushes, of which there were many growing in the water a hundred feet from the +shore, he arrested the motion of the canoe, and anchored his boat by holding +fast to the delicate but tenacious stem of one of the drooping plants. Here +he remained, awaiting, with an intensity of suspense that can be easily +imagined, the result of the hazardous enterprise. + +It would be difficult to convey to the minds of those who have never +witnessed it, the sublimity that characterizes the silence of a solitude as +deep as that which now reigned over the Glimmerglass. In the present +instance, this sublimity was increased by the gloom of night, which threw its +shadowy and fantastic forms around the lake, the forest, and the hills. It is +not easy, indeed, to conceive of any place more favorable to heighten these +natural impressions, than that Deerslayer now occupied. The size of the lake +brought all within the reach of human senses, while it displayed so much of +the imposing scene at a single view, giving up, as it might be, at a glance, +a sufficiency to produce the deepest impressions. As has been said, this was +the first lake Deerslayer had ever seen. Hitherto, his experience was at once +as conspicuous as "a good deed in a naughty world." There was not a shadow of +doubt that this fire had been kindled at an encampment of the Indians. The +situation sheltered from observation on all sides but one, and even on that +except for a very short distance, proved that more care had been taken to +conceal the spot than would be used for ordinary purposes, and Hutter, who +knew that a spring was near at hand, as well as one of the best fishing +stations on the lake, immediately inferred that this encampment contained +the women and children of the party. + +"That's not a warrior's encampment," he growled to Hurry; "and there 's +bounty enough sleeping round that fire to make a heavy division of head- +money. Send the lad to the canoes, for there '11 come no good of him in such +an onset, and let us take the matter in hand at once, like men." + +"There 's judgment in your notion, old Tom, and I like it to the backbone. +Deerslayer, do you get into the canoe, lad, and paddle off into the lake with +the spare one, and set it adrift, as we did with the other; after which you +can float along shore, as near as you can get to the head of the bay, keeping +outside the point, howsever, and outside the rushes, too. You can hear us +when we want you; and if there's any delay, I '11 call like a loon-yes, that +'11 do it- the call of a loon shall be the signal. If you hear rifles, and +feel like sogering, why, you may close in, and see if you can make the same +hand with the savages that you do with the deer."" + +"If my wishes could be followed, this matter would not be undertaken, Hurry-" + +"Quite true-nobody denies it, boy; but your wishes can't be followed; and +that inds the matter. So just canoe yourself off into the middle of the lake, +and by the time you get back there '11 be movements in that camp." + +The young man set about complying with great reluctance and a heavy heart. He +knew the prejudices of the frontiermen too well, however, to attempt a +remonstrance. the latter, indeed, under the circumstances, might prove +dangerous, as it would certainly prove useless. He paddled the canoe, +therefore, silently, and with the former caution, to a spot near the centre +of the placid sheet of water, and set the boat just recovered adrift, to +float towards the castle, before the light southerly air. This expedient had +been adopted, in both cases, under the certainty that the drift could not +carry the light barks more than a league or two, before the return of light, +when they might easily be overtaken. In order to prevent any wandering savage +from using them, by swimming off and getting possession, a possible, but +scarcely a probable event, all the paddles were retained. + +No sooner had he set the recovered canoe adrift, than Deerslayer turned the +bows of his own towards the point on the shore that had been indicated by +Hurry. So light was the movement of the little craft, and so steady the sweep +of its master's arm, that ten minutes had not elapsed ere it was again +approaching the land, having, in that brief time, passed over fully half a +mile of distance. As soon as Deerslayer's eye caught a glimpse of the +rushes, of which there were many growing in the water a hundred feet from the +shore, he arrested the motion of the canoe, and anchored his boat by holding +fast to the delicate but tenacious stem of one of the drooping plants. Here +he remained, awaiting, with an intensity of suspense that can be easily +imagined, the result of the hazardous enterprise. + +It would be difficult to convey to the minds of those who have never +witnessed it, the sublimity that characterizes the silence of a solitude as +deep as that which now reigned over the Glimmerglass. In the present +instance, this sublimity was increased by the gloom of night, which threw its +shadowy and fantastic forms around the lake, the forest, and the hills. It is +not easy, indeed, to conceive of any place more favorable to heighten these +natural impressions, than that Deerslayer now occupied. The size of the lake +brought all within the reach of human senses, while it displayed so much of +the imposing scene at a single view, giving up, as it might be, at a glance, +a sufficiency to produce the deepest impressions. As has been said, this was +the first lake Deerslayer had ever seen. Hitherto, his experience had been +limited to the courses of rivers and smaller streams, and never before had he +seen so much of that wilderness, which he so well loved, spread before his +gaze. Accustomed to the forest, however, his mind was capable of portraying +all its hidden mysteries, as he looked upon its leafy surface. This was also +the first time he had been on a trail where human lives depended on the +issue. His ears had often drunk in the traditions of frontier warfare, but he +had never yet been confronted with an enemy. + +The reader will readily understand, therefore, how intense must have been the +expectation of the young man, as be sat in his solitary canoe, endeavoring to +catch the smallest sound that might denote the course of things on shore. His +training had been perfect, so far as theory could go, and his self- +possession, notwithstanding the high excitement, that was the fruit of +novelty, would have done credit to a veteran. The visible evidences of the +existence of the camp, or of the fire could not be detected from the spot +where the canoe lay, and he was compelled to depend on the sense of hearing +alone. He did not feel impatient, for the lessons he had heard taught him the +virtue of patience, and, most of all, inculcated the necessity of wariness in +conducting any covert assault on the Indians. Once he thought he heard the +cracking of a dried twig, but expectation was so intense it might mislead +him. In this manner minute after minute passed, until the whole time since he +left his companions was extended to quite an hour. Deerslayer knew not +whether to rejoice in or to mourn over this cautious delay, for, if it +augured security to his associates, it foretold destruction to the feeble and +innocent. + +It might have been an hour and a half after his companions and he had parted, +when Deerslayer was aroused by a sound that filled him equally with concern +and surprise. The quavering call of a loon arose from the opposite side of +the lake, evidently at no great distance from its outlet. There was no +mistaking the note of this bird, which is so familiar to all who know the +sounds of the American lakes. Shrill, tremulous, loud, and sufficiently +prolonged, it seems the very cry of warning. It is often raised, also, at +night, an exception to the habits of most of the other feathered inmates of +the wilderness; a circumstance which had induced Hurry to select it as his +own signal. There had been sufficient time, certainly, for the two +adventurers to make their way by land from the point where they had been left +to that whence the call had come, but it was not probable that they would +adopt such a course. Had the camp been deserted they would have summoned +Deerslayer to the shore, and, did it prove to be peopled, there could be no +sufficient motive for circling it, in order to re-embark at so great a +distance. Should he obey the signal, and be drawn away from the landing, the +lives of those who depended on him might be the forfeit-and, should he +neglect the call, on the supposition that it had been really made, the +consequences might be equally disastrous, though from a different cause. In +this indecision he waited, trusting that the call, whether feigned or +natural, would be speedily renewed. Nor was he mistaken. A very few minutes +elapsed before the same shrill warning cry was repeated, and from the same +part of the lake. This time, being on the alert, his senses were not +deceived. Although he had often heard admirable imitations of this bird, and +was no mean adept himself in raising its notes, he felt satisfied that Hurry, +to whose efforts in that way he had attended, could never so completely and +closely follow nature. He determined, therefore, to disregard that cry, and +to wait for one less perfect and nearer at hand. + +Deerslayer had hardly come to this determination, when the profound stillness +of night and solitude was broken by a cry so startling, as to drive all +recollection of the more melancholy call of the loon from the listener's +mind. It was a shriek of agony, that came either from one of the female sex, +or from a boy so young as not yet to have attained a manly voice. This appeal +could not be mistaken. Heart rending terror-if not writhing agony-was in the +sounds, and the anguish that had awakened them was as sudden as it was +fearful. The young man released his hold of the rush, and dashed his paddle +into the water; to do, he knew not what-to steer, he knew not whither. A very +few moments, however, removed his indecision. The breaking of branches, the +cracking of dried sticks, and the fall of feet were distinctly audible; the +sounds appearing to approach the water though in a direction that led +diagonally towards the shore, and a little farther north than the spot that +Deerslayer had been ordered to keep near. Following this clue, the young man +urged the canoe ahead, paying but little attention to the manner in which he +might betray its presence. He had reached a part of the shore, where its +immediate bank was tolerably high and quite steep. Men were evidently +threshing through the bushes and trees on the summit of this bank, following +the line of the shore, as if those who fled sought a favorable place for +descending. Just at this instant five or six rifles flashed, and the +opposite hills gave back, as usual, the sharp reports in prolonged rolling +echoes. One or two shrieks, like those which escape the bravest when suddenly +overcome by unexpected anguish and alarm, followed; and then the threshing +among the bushes was renewed, in a way to show that man was grappling with +man. + +"Slippery devil!" shouted Hurry with the fury of disappointment-" his skin's +greased! I sha'n't grapple! Take that for your cunning!" + +The words were followed by the fall of some heavy object among the smaller +trees that fringed the bank, appearing to Deerslayer as if his gigantic +associate had hurled an enemy from him in this unceremonious manner. Again +the flight and pursuit were renewed, and then the young man saw a human form +break down the hill, and rush several yards into the water. At this critical +moment the canoe was just near enough to the spot to allow this movement, +which was accompanied by no little noise, to be seen, and feeling that there +he must take in his companion, if anywhere, Deerslayer urged the canoe +forward to the rescue. His paddle had not been raised twice, when the voice +of Hurry was heard filling the air with imprecations, and he rolled on the +narrow beach, literally loaded down with enemies. While prostrate, and almost +smothered with his foes, the athletic frontierman gave his loon-call, in a +manner that would have excited laughter under circumstances less terrific. +The figure in the water seemed suddenly to repent his own flight, and rushed +to the shore to aid his companion, but was met and immediately overpowered by +half a dozen fresh pursuers, who, just then, came leaping down the bank. + +"Let up, you painted riptyles-let up!" cried Hurry, too hard pressed to be +particular about the terms he used; "isn't it enough that I am withed like a +saw-log that ye must choke too!" + +This speech satisfied Deerslayer that his friends were prisoners, and that to +land would be to share their fate He was already within a hundred feet of the +shore, when a few timely strokes of the paddle not only arrested his advance, +but forced him off to six or eight times that distance from his enemies. +Luckily for him, all of the Indians had dropped their rifles in the pursuit, +or this retreat might not have been effected with impunity; though no one had +noted the canoe in the first confusion of the melee. + +"Keep off the land, lad," called out Hutter; "the girls depend only on you, +now; you will want all your caution to escape these savages. Keep off, and +God prosper you, as you aid my children!" + +There was little sympathy in general between Hutter and the young man, but +the bodily and mental anguish with which this appeal was made served at the +moment to conceal from the latter the former's faults. He saw only the father +in his sufferings, and resolved at once to give a pledge of fidelity to its +interests, and to be faithful to his word. + +"Put your heart at ease, Master Hutter," he called out; "the gals shall be +looked to, as well as the castle. The inimy has got the shore, 't is no use +to deny, but he hasn't got the water. Providence has the charge of all, and +no one can say what will come of it; but, if good-will can sarve you and your +'n, depend on that much. My exper'ence is small, but my will is good." + +"Ay, ay, Deerslayer," returned Hurry, in this stentorian voice, which was +losing some of its heartiness, notwith' standing,-" Ay, ay, Deerslayer. you +mean well enough + +believed himself to have reached a point in a line with that where he had set +the last canoe adrift, he changed his direction northward, keeping the light +air as nearly on his back as possible. After paddling a quarter of a mile in +this direction, a dark object became visible on the lake, a little to the +right; and turning on one side for the purpose, he had soon secured his lost +prize to his own boat. Deerslayer now examined the heavens, the course of the +air, and the position of the two canoes. Finding nothing in either to induce +a change of plan, he lay down, and prepared to catch a few hours' sleep, that +the morrow might find him equal to its exigencies. + +Although the hardy and the tired sleep profoundly, even in scenes of danger, +it was some time before Deerslayer lost his recollection. His mind dwelt on +what had passed, and his half-conscious faculties kept figuring the events of +the night, in a sort of waking dream. Suddenly he was up and alert, for he +fancied he heard the preconcerted signal of Hurry summoning him to the shore. +But all was still as the grave again. The canoes were slowly drifting +northward, the thoughtful stars were glimmering in their mild glory over his +head, and the forest-bound sheet of water lay embedded between its mountains, +as calm and melancholy as if never troubled by the winds, or brightened by a +noonday sun. Once more the loon raised his tremulous cry, near the foot of +the lake, and the mystery of the alarm was explained. Deerslayer adjusted his +hard pillow, stretched his form in the bottom of the canoe, and slept. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"Clear, placid Leman I Thy contrasted lake +With the wild world I dwelt in, is a thing +Which warns me, with its stillness, to forsake +Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring. +This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing +To waft me from distraction; once I loved +Torn ocean's roar, but thy soft murmuring +Sounds sweet as if a sister's voice reproved, +That I with stern delights should e'er have been so moved." +BYRON. + +Day had fairly dawned before the young man, whom we have left in the +situation described in the last chapter, again opened his eyes. This was no +sooner done, than he started up, and looked about him with the eagerness of +one who suddenly felt the importance of accurately ascertaining his precise +position. His rest had been deep and undisturbed; and when he awoke, it was +with a clearness of intellect and a readiness of resources that were very +much needed at that particular moment. The sun had not risen, it is true, but +the vault of heaven was rich with the winning softness that "brings and shuts +the day," while the whole air was filled with the carols of birds, the hymns +of the feathered tribe. These sounds first told Deerslayer the risks he ran. +The air, for wind it could scarce be called, was still light, it is true, but +it had increased a little in the course of the night, and as the canoes were +feathers on the water, they had drifted twice the expected distance; and, +what was still more dangerous, had approached so near the base of the +mountain that here rose precipitously from the eastern shore, as to render +the carols of the birds plainly audible. This was not the worst. The third +canoe had taken the same direction, and was slowly drifting towards a point +where it must inevitably touch, unless turned aside by a shift of wind, or +human hands. In other respects, nothing presented itself to attract +attention, or to awaken alarm. The castle stood on its shoal, nearly abreast +of the canoes, for the drift had amounted to miles in the course of the +night, and the ark lay fastened to its piles, as both had been left so many +hours before. + +As a matter of course, Deerslayer's attention was first given to the canoe +ahead. It was already quite near the point, and a very few strokes of the +paddle sufficed to tell him that it must touch before he could possibly +overtake it. Just at this moment, too, the wind inopportunely freshened, +rendering the drift of the light craft much mote rapid than certain. Feeling +the impossibility of preventing a contact with the land, the young man wisely +determined not to heat himself with unnecessary exertions; but first looking +to the priming of his piece, he proceeded slowly and warily towards the +point, taking care to make a little circuit, that he might be exposed on only +one side, as he approached. + +The canoe adrift being directed by no such intelligence, pursued its proper +way, and grounded on a small sunken rock, at the distance of three or four +yards from the shore. Just at that moment, Deerslayer had got abreast of the +point, and turned the bows of his own boat to the land; first casting loose +his tow, that his movements might be unencumbered. The canoe hung an instant +to the rock; then it rose a hair's breadth on an almost imperceptible swell +of the water, swung round, floated clear, and reached the strand. All this +the young man noted, but it neither quickened his pulses, nor hastened his +hand. If any one had been lying in wait for the arrival of the waif, he must +be seen, and the utmost caution in approaching the shore became +indispensable; if no one was in ambush, hurry was unnecessary. The point +being nearly diagonally opposite to the Indian encampment, he hoped the last, +though the former was not only possible, but probable; for the savages were +prompt in adopting all the expedients of their particular modes of warfare, +and quite likely had many scouts searching the shores for craft to carry them +off to the castle. As a glance at the lake from any height or projection +would expose the smallest object on its surface, there was little hope that +either of the canoes would pass unseen; and Indian sagacity needed no +instruction to tell which way a boat or a log would drift, when the direction +of the wind was known. As Deerslayer drew nearer and nearer to the land, the +stroke of his paddle grew slower, his eye became more watchful, and his ears +and nostrils almost dilated with the effort to detect any lurking danger. 'T +was a trying moment for a novice, nor was there the encouragement which even +the timid sometimes feel, when conscious of being observed and commended. He +was entirely alone, thrown on his own resources, and was cheered by no +friendly eye, emboldened by no encouraging voice. Notwithstanding all these +circumstances, the most experienced veteran in forest warfare could not have +behaved better. Equally free from recklessness and hesitation, his advance +was marked by a sort of philosophical prudence that appeared to render him +superior to all motives but those which were best calculated to effect his +purpose. Such was the commencement of a career in forest exploits, that +afterwards rendered this man, in his way, and under the limits of his habits +and opportunities, as renowned as many a hero whose name has adorned the +pages of works more celebrated than legends simple as ours can ever become. + +When about a hundred yards from the shore, Deerslayer rose in the canoe, gave +three or four vigorous strokes with the paddle, sufficient of themselves to +impel the bark to land, and then quickly laying aside the instrument of +labor, he seized that of war. He was in the very act of raising the rifle, +when a sharp report was followed by the buzz of a bullet that passed so near +his body as to cause him involuntarily to start. The next instant Deerslayer +staggered, and fell his whole length in the bottom of the canoe. A yell-it +came from a single voice-followed, and an Indian leaped from the bushes upon +the open area of the point, bounding towards the canoe. This was the moment +the young man desired. He rose on the instant, and levelled his own rifle at +his uncovered foe; but his finger hesitated about pulling the trigger on one +whom he held at such a disadvantage. This little delay, probably, saved the +life of the Indian, who bounded back into the cover as swiftly as he had +broken out of it. In the meantime Deerslayer had been swiftly approaching the +land, and his own canoe reached the point just as his enemy disappeared. As +its movements had not been directed, it touched the shore a few yards from +the other boat; and though the rifle of his foe had to be loaded, there was +not time to secure his prize, and carry it beyond danger, before he would be +exposed to another shot. Under the circumstances, therefore, he did not pause +an instant, but dashed into the woods and sought a cover. + +On the immediate point there was a small open area, partly in native grass, +and partly beach, but a dense fringe of bushes lined its upper side. This +narrow belt of dwarf vegetation passed, one issued immediately into the high +and gloomy vaults of the forest. The land was tolerably level for a few +hundred feet, and then it rose precipitously in a mountainside. The trees +were tall, large, and so free from underbrush, that they resembled vast +columns, irregularly scattered, upholding a dome of leaves. Although they +stood tolerably close together, for their ages and size, the eye could +penetrate to considerable distances; and bodies of men, even, might have +engaged beneath their cover, with concert and intelligence. + +Deerslayer knew that his adversary must be employed in re-loading, unless he +had fled. The former proved to be the case, for the young man had no sooner +placed himself behind a tree, than he caught a glimpse of the arm of the +Indian, his body being concealed by an oak, in the very act of forcing the +leathered bullet home. Nothing would have been easier than to spring forward, +and decide the affair by a close assault on his unprepared foe; but every +feeling of Deerslayer revolted at such a step, although his own life had +just been attempted from a cover. He was yet unpracticed in the ruthless +expedients of savage warfare, of which he knew nothing except by tradition +and theory, and it struck him as unfair advantage to assail an unarmed foe. +His color had heightened, his eye frowned, his lips were compressed, and all +his energies were collected and ready; but, instead of advancing to fire, he +dropped his rifle to the usual position of a sportsman in readiness to catch +his aim, and muttered to himself, unconscious that he was speaking- + +"No, no-that may be redskin warfare, but it's not a +Christian's gifts. Let the miscreant charge, and then we'll take it out like +men; for the canoe he must not, and shall not have. No, no; let him have time +to load, and God will take care of the right!" + +All this time the Indian had been so intent on his own movements, that he was +even ignorant that his enemy was in the woods. His only apprehension was, +that the canoe would be recovered and carried away before he might be in +readiness to prevent it. He had sought the cover from habit, but was within a +few feet of the fringe of bushes, and could be at the margin of the forest in +readiness to fire in a moment. The distance between him and his enemy was +about fifty yards, and the trees were so arranged by nature that the line of +sight was not interrupted, except by the particular trees behind which each +party stood. + +His rifle was no sooner loaded, than the savage glanced around him, and +advanced incautiously as regarded the real, but stealthily as respected the +fancied position of his enemy, until he was fairly exposed. Then Deerslayer +stepped from behind its own cover, and hailed him. + +"This a way, redskin; this a way, if you're looking for me," he called out. +"I'm young in war, but not so young as to stand on an open beach to be shot +down like an owl, by daylight. It rests on yourself whether it's peace or war +atween us; for my gifts are white gifts, and I'm not one of them that thinks +it valiant to slay human mortals, singly, in the woods." + +The savage was a good deal startled by this sudden discovery of the danger he +ran. He had a little knowledge of English, however, and caught the drift of +the other's meaning. He was also too well schooled to betray alarm, but, +dropping the butt of his rifle to the earth, with an air of confidence, he +made a gesture of lofty courtesy. All this was done with the ease and self- +possession of one accustomed to consider no man his superior. In the midst of +this consummate acting, however, the volcano that raged within caused his +eyes to glare, and his nostrils to dilate, like those of some wild beast that +is suddenly prevented from taking the fatal leap. + +"Two canoes," he said, in the deep guttural tones of his race, holding up the +number of fingers he mentioned, by way of preventing mistakes; "one for you-- +one for me." + +"No, no, Mingo, that will never do. You own neither; and neither shall you +have, as long as I can prevent it. I know it's war atween your people and +mine, but that's no reason why human mortals should slay each other, like +savage creatur's that meet in the woods; go your way, then, and leave me to +go mine. The world is large enough for us both; and when we meet fairly in +battle, why, the Lord will order the fate of each of us." + +"Good!" exclaimed the Indian; "my brother missionary-great talk; all about +Manitou." + +"Not so-not so, warrior. I'm not good enough for the Moravians, and am too +good for most of the other vagabonds that preach about in the woods. No, no; +I'm only a hunter, as yet, though afore the peace is made, 't is like enough +there'll be occasion to strike a blow at some of your people. Still, I wish +it to be done in fair fight, and not in a quarrel about the ownership of a +miserable canoe." + +"Good I My brother very young-but he is very wise. Little warrior-great +talker. Chief, sometimes, in council." + +" I don't know this, nor do I say it, Injin," returned Deerslayer, coloring a +little at the ill-concealed sarcasm of the other's manner; "I look forward to +a life in the woods, and I only hope it may be a peaceable one. All young men +must go on the war-path, when there's occasion, but war is n't needfully +massacre. I've seen enough of the last, this very night, to know that +Providence frowns on it; and I now invite you to go your own way, while I go +mine; and hope that we may part frinds." + +"Good! My brother has two scalp-gray hair under 'other. Old wisdom-young +tongue." + +Here the savage advanced with confidence, his hand extended, his face +smiling, and his whole bearing denoting amity and respect. Deerslayer met his +offered friendship in a proper spirit, and they shook hands cordially, each +endeavoring to assure the other of his sincerity and desire to be at peace. + +All have his own," said the Indian; "my canoe, mine; your canoe, your'n. Go +look; if your'n, you keep; if mine, I keep." + +"That's just, redskin; thought you must be wrong in thinking the canoe your +property. Howsever, seem' is believin ', and we'll go down to the shore, +where you may look with your own eyes; for it's likely you'll object to +trustin' altogether to mine." + +The Indian uttered his favorite exclamation of "Good!" and then they walked +side by side, towards the shore. There was no apparent distrust in the manner +of either, the Indian moving in advance, as if he wished to show his +companion that he did not fear turning his back to him. As they reached the +open ground, the former pointed towards Deerslayer' s boat, and said +emphatically- "No mine-pale-face canoe. This redman's. No want other man's +canoe-want his own." + +"You're wrong, redskin, you 're altogether wrong. This canoe was left in old +Hutter's keeping, and is his'n according to law, red or white, till its owner +comes to claim it. Here's the seats and the stitching of the bark to speak +for themselves. No man ever know'd an Injin to turn off such work." + +"Good! My brother little old-big wisdom. Injin no make him. White man's +work." + +"I'm glad you think so, for holding out to the contrary might have made ill +blood atween us, every one having a right to take possession of his own. I'll +just shove the canoe out of reach of dispute at once, as the quickest way of +settling difficulties." + +While Deerslayer was speaking, he put a foot against the end of the light +boat, and giving a vigorous shove, he sent it out into the lake a hundred +feet or more, where, taking the true current, it would necessarily float past +the point, and be in no further danger of coming ashore. The savage started +at this ready and decided expedient, and his companion saw that he cast a +hurried and fierce glance at his own canoe, or that which contained the +paddles. The change of manner, however, was but momentary, and then the +Iroquois resumed his air of friendliness, and a smile of satisfaction. + +"Good !" he repeated, with stronger emphasis than ever. "Young head, old +mind. Know how to settle quarrel. Farewell, brother. He go to house in water- +muskrat house- Injin go to camp; tell chiefs no find canoe." + +Deerslayer was not sorry to hear this proposal, for he felt anxious to join +the females, and he took the offered hand of the Indian very willingly. The +parting words were friendly, and while the redman walked calmly towards the +wood, with the rifle in the hollow of his arm, without once looking back in +uneasiness or distrust, the white man moved towards the remaining canoe, +carrying his piece in the same pacific manner, it is true, but keeping his +eye fastened on the movements of the other. This distrust, however, seemed to +be altogether uncalled for, and as if ashamed to have entertained it, the +young man averted his look, and stepped carelessly up to his boat. Here he +began to push the canoe from the shore, and to make his other preparations +for departing. He might have been thus employed a minute, when, happening to +turn his face towards the land, his quick and certain eye told him, at a +glance, the imminent jeopardy in which his life was placed. The black, +ferocious eyes of the savage were glancing on him, like those of the +crouching tiger, through a small opening in the bushes, and the muzzle of his +rifle seemed already to be opening in a line with his own body. + +Then, indeed, the long practice of Deerslayer, as a hunter did him good +service. Accustomed to fire with the deer on the bound, and often when the +precise position of the animal's body had in a manner to be guessed at, he +used the same expedients here. To cock and poise his rifle were the acts of a +single moment and a single motion: then aiming almost without sighting, he +fired into the bushes where he knew a body ought to be, in order to sustain +the appalling countenance which alone was visible. There was not time to +raise the piece any higher, or to take a more deliberate aim. So rapid were +his movements that both parties discharged their pieces at the same instant, +the concussions mingling in one report. The mountains, indeed, gave back but +a single echo. Deerslayer dropped his piece, and stood with head erect, +steady as one of the pines in the calm of a June morning, watching the +result; while the savage gave the yell that has become historical for its +appalling influence, leaped through the bushes, and came bounding across the +open ground, flourishing a tomahawk. Still Deerslayer moved not, but stood +with his unloaded rifle fallen against his shoulders, while, with a hunter's +habits, his hands were mechanically feeling for the powder-horn and charger. +When about forty feet from his enemy, the savage hurled his keen weapon; but +it was with an eye so vacant, and a hand so unsteady and feeble, that the +young man caught it by the handle as it was flying past him. At that instant +the Indian staggered and fell his whole length on the ground. + +"I know' d it-I know' d it!" exclaimed Deerslayer, who was already preparing +to force a fresh bullet into his rifle; "I know'd it must come to this, as +soon as I had got the range from the creatur's eyes. A man sights suddenly, +and fires quick when his own life's in danger; yes, I know'd it would come to +this. I was about the hundredth part of a second too quick for him, or it +might have been bad for me! The riptyle's bullet has just grazed my side- but +say what you will for or ag'in 'em, a redskin is by no means as sartain with +powder and ball as a white man. Their gifts don't seem to lie that a way. +Even Chingachgook, great as he is in other matters, isn't downright deadly +with the rifle." + +By this time the piece was reloaded, and Deerslayer, after tossing the +tomahawk into the canoe, advanced to his victim, and stood over him, leaning +on his rifle, in melancholy attention. It was the first instance in which he +ha seen a man fall in battle-it was the first fellow-creature against whom he +had ever seriously raised his own hand. The sensations were novel; and +regret, with the freshness of our better feelings, mingled with his triumph. +The Indian was not dead, though shot directly through the body. He lay on his +back motionless, but his eyes, now full of consciousness, watched each action +of his victor-as the fallen bird regards the fowler-jealous of every +movement. The man probably expected the fatal blow which was to precede the +loss of his scalp; or perhaps he anticipated that this latter act of cruelty +would precede his death. Deerslayer read his thoughts; and he found a +melancholy satisfaction in relieving the apprehensions of the helpless +savage. + +"No, no, redskin," he said; "you've nothing more to fear from me. I am of a +Christian stock, and scalping is not of my gifts. I '11 just make sartain of +your rifle, and then come back and do you what sarvice I can. Though here I +can't stay much longer, as the crack of three rifles will be apt to bring +some of your devils down upon me." + +The close of this was said in a sort of a soliloquy, as the young man went in +quest of the fallen rifle. The piece was found where its owner had dropped +it, and was immediately put into the canoe. Laying his own rifle at its +side, Deerslayer then returned and stood over the Indian again. + +"All inmity atween you and me's at an ind redskin," he said; "and you may set +your heart at rest on the score of the scalp, or any further injury. My gifts +are white, as I 'ye told you; and I hope my conduct will be white also." + +Could looks have conveyed all they meant, it is probable Deerslayer's +innocent vanity on the subject of color would have been rebuked a little; but +he comprehended the gratitude that was expressed in the eyes of the dying +savage, without in the least detecting the bitter sarcasm that struggled with +the better feeling. + +"Water !" ejaculated the thirsty and unfortunate creature; "give poor Injin +water." + +"Ay, water you shall have, if you drink the lake dry. I'll just carry you +down to it that you may take your fill. +This is the way, they tell me, with all wounded people- water is their +greatest comfort and delight." + +So saying, Deerslayer raised the Indian in his arms, and carried him to the +lake. Here he first helped him to take an attitude in which he could appease +his burning thirst; after which he seated himself on a stone, and took the +head of his wounded adversary in his own lap, and endeavored to soothe his +anguish in the best manner he could. + +"It would be sinful in me to tell you your time had n't come, warrior," he +commenced, "and therefore I '11 not say it. You 'ye passed the middle age +already, and, considerin' the sort of lives ye lead, your days have been +pretty well filled The principal thing now, is to look forward to what comes +next. Neither redskin nor pale-face, on the whole, calculates much on +sleepin' forever; but both expect to live in another world. Each has his +gifts, and will be judged by 'em, and I suppose you 'ye thought these matters +over enough not to stand in need of sarmons when the trial comes. You '11 +find your happy hunting-grounds, if you 'ye been a just Injin; if an onjust, +you'll meet your desarts in another way. I'ye my own idees about these +things; but you're too old and exper'enced to need any explanations from one +as young as I." +"Good!" ejaculated the Indian, whose voice retained its depth even as life +ebbed away; "young head-old wisdom I" + +"It's sometimes a consolation, when the ind comes, to know that them we 'ye +harmed, or tried to harm, forgive us. I suppose natur' seeks this relief, by +way of getting a pardon on 'arth; as we never can know whether He pardons, +who is all in all, till judgment itself comes. It's soothing to know that any +pardon at such times; and that, I conclude, is the secret. Now, as for +myself, I overlook altogether your designs ag'in my life; first, because no +harm came of 'em; next, because it 's your gifts, and natur', and trainin', +and I ought not to have trusted you at all; and, finally and chiefly, because +I can bear no ill-will to a dying man, whether heathen or Christian. So put +your heart at ease, so far as I'm consarned; you know best what other matters +ought to trouble you, or what ought to give you satisfaction in so trying a +moment." + +It is probable that the Indian had some of the fearful glimpses of the +unknown state of being which God, in mercy, seems at times to afford to all +the human race; but they were necessarily in conformity with his habits and +prejudices Like most of his people, and like too many of our own, he thought +more of dying in a way to gain applause among those he left than to secure a +better state of existence hereafter. While Deerslayer was speaking, his mind +was a little bewildered, though he felt that the intention was good; and when +he had done, a regret passed over his spirit that none of his own tribe were +present to witness his stoicism, under extreme bodily suffering, and the +firmness with which he met his end. With the high innate courtesy that so +often distinguishes the Indian warrior before he becomes corrupted by too +much intercourse with the worst class of the white men, he endeavored to +express his thankfulness for the other's good intentions, and to let him +understand that they were appreciated. + +"Good!" he repeated, for this was an English word much used by the savages, +"good! young head ; young heart, too. Old heart tough; no shed tear. Hear +Indian when he die, and no want to lie-what he call him?" + +"Deerslayer is the name I bear now, though the Delawares have said that when +I get back from this war-path, I shall have a more manly title, provided I +can am one." + +"That good name for boy-poor name for warrior. He get better quick. No fear +there, "-the savage had strength sufficient, under the strong excitement he +felt, to raise a hand and tap the young man on his breast,-" eye sartain- +finger lightning-aim, death-great warrior soon. No Deerslayer -Hawkeye- +Hawkeye-Hawkeye. Shake hand." + +Deerslayer-or Hawkeye, as the youth was then first named, for in after years +he bore the appellation throughout all that region-Deerslayer took the hand +of the savage, whose last breath was drawn in that attitude, gazing in +admiration at the countenance of a stranger, who had shown so much readiness, +skill, and firmness, in a scene that was +equally trying and novel. When the reader remembers it is the highest +gratification an Indian can receive to see his enemy betray weakness, he will +be better able to appreciate the conduct which had extorted so great a +concession at such a moment. + +"His spirit has fled!" said Deerslayer, in a suppressed, melancholy voice. +"Ah's me! Well, to this we must all come, sooner or later; and he is +happiest, let his skin be what color it may, who is best fitted to meet it. +Here lies the body of no doubt a brave warrior, and the soul is already +flying towards its heaven or hell, whether that be a happy huntingground, a +place scant of game, regions of glory, according to Moravian doctine, or +flames of fire! So it happens too, as regards other matters! Here have old +Hutter and Hurry Harry got themselves into difficulty, if they have n't got +themselves into torment and death, and all for a bounty that luck offers to +me in what many would think a lawful and suitable manner. But not a farthing +of such money shall cross my hand. White I was born, and white will I die; +clinging to color to the last, even though the King's majesty, his governors, +and all his councils, both at home and in the colonies, forget from what they +come, and where they hope to go, and all for a little advantage in warfare. +No, no, warrior, hand of mine shall never molest your scalp, and so your soul +may rest in peace on the p'int of making a decent appearance when the body +comes to join it, in your own land of spirits." + +Deerslayer arose as soon as he had spoken. Then he placed the body of the +dead man in a sitting posture, with its back against the little rock, taking +the necessary care to prevent it from falling or in any way settling into an +attitude that might be thought unseemly by the sensitive, though wild notions +of a savage. When this duty was performed, the young man stood gazing at the +grim countenance of his fallen foe, in a sort of melancholy abstraction. As +was his practice, however, a habit gained by living so much alone in the +forest, he then began again to give utterance to his Thoughts and feelings +aloud. + +"I didn't wish your life, redskin," he said "but you +left me no choice atween killing or being killed. each party acted according +to his gifts, I suppose, and blame can light on neither. You were +treacherous, according to your natur' in war, and I was a little +oversightful, as I'm apt to be in trusting others. Well, this is my first +battle with a human mortal, though it's not likely to be the last. I have +fou't most of the creatur's of the forest, such as bears, wolves, painters, +and catamounts, but this is the beginning with the redskins. If I was Injin +born, now, I might tell of this, or carry in the scalp, and boast of the +expl'ite afore the whole tribe; or, if my inimy had only been even a bear, 't +would have been nat'ral and proper to let everybody know what had happened; +but I don't well see how I'm to let even Chingachgook into this secret, so +long as it can be done only by boasting with a white tongue. And why should I +wish to boast of it a'ter all? It's slaying a human, although he was a +savage; and how do I know that he was a just Injin; and that he has not been +taken away suddenly to anything but happy hunting-grounds. When it 's +onsartain whether good or evil has been done, the wisest way is not to be +boastful-still, I should like Chingachgook to know that I haven't discredited +the Delawares, or my training!" + +Part of this was uttered aloud, while part was merely muttered between the +speaker's teeth; his more confident opinions enjoying the first advantage, +while his doubts were expressed in the latter mode. Soliloquy and reflection +received a startling interruption, however, by the sudden appearance of a +second Indian on the lake shore, a few hundred yards from the point. This +man, evidently another scout, who had probably been drawn to the place by the +reports of the rifles, broke out of the forest with so little caution that +Deerslayer caught a view of his person before he was himself discovered. When +the latter event did occur, as was the case a moment later, the savage gave a +loud yell, which was answered by a dozen voices from different parts of the +mountain-side. There was no longer any time for delay; in another minute the +boat was quitting the shore under long and steady sweeps of the paddle. + +As soon as Deerslayer believed himself to be at a safe distance he ceased his +efforts, permitting the little bark to drift, while he leisurely took a +survey of the state of things. The canoe first sent adrift was floating +before the air, quite a quarter of a mile above him, and a little nearer to +the shore than he wished, now that he knew more of the savages were so near +at hand. The canoe shoved from the point was within a few yards of him, he +having directed his own course towards it on quitting the land. The dead +Indian lay in grim quiet where he had left him, the warrior who had shown +himself from the forest had already vanished, and the woods themselves were +as silent and seemingly deserted as the day they came fresh from the hands of +their great Creator. This profound stillness, however, lasted but a moment. +When time had been given to the scouts of the enemy to reconnoitre, they +burst out of the thicket upon the naked point, filling the air with yells of +fury at discovering the death of their companion. These cries were +immediately succeeded by shouts of delight when they reached the body and +clustered eagerly around it. Deerslayer was a sufficient adept in the usages +of the natives to understand the reason of the change. The yell was the +customary lamentation at the loss of a warrior, the shout a sign of rejoicing +that the conqueror had not been able to secure the scalp; the trophy, without +which a victory is never considered complete. The distance at which the +canoes lay probably prevented any attempts to injure the conqueror, the +American Indian, like the panther of his own woods, seldom making any effort +against his foe unless tolerably certain it is under circumstances that may +be expected to prove effective. + +As the young man had no longer any motive to remain near the point, he +prepared to collect his canoes, in order to tow them off to the castle. That +nearest was soon in tow, when he proceeded in quest of the other, which was +all this time floating up the lake. The eye of Deerslayer was no sooner +fastened on this last boat, than it struck him that it was nearer to the +shore than it would have been had it merely followed the course of the gentle +current of air. He began to suspect the influence of some unseen current in +the water, and he quickened his exertions, in order to regain possession of +it before it could drift into a dangerous proximity to the woods. On getting +nearer, he thought that the canoe had a perceptible motion through the water, +and, as it lay broadside to the air, that this motion was taking it towards +the land. A few vigorous strokes of the paddle carried him still nearer, when +the mystery was explained. Something was evidently in motion on the off-side +of the canoe, or that which was farthest from himself, and closer scrutiny +showed that it was a naked human arm. An Indian was lying in the bottom of +the canoe, and was propelling it slowly but certainly to the shore, using +his hand as a paddle. Deerslayer understood the whole artifice at a glance. A +savage had swum off to the boat while he was occupied with his enemy on the +point, got possession, and was using these means to urge it to the shore. + +Satisfied that the man in the canoe could have no arms, Deerslayer did not +hesitate to dash close alongside of the retiring boat, without deeming it +necessary to raise his own rifle. As soon as the wash of the water, which he +made in approaching, became audible to the prostrate savage, the latter +sprang to his feet, and uttered an exclamation that proved how completely he +was taken by surprise. + +"If you've enj'yed yourself enough in that canoe, redskin," Deerslayer +coolly observed, stopping his own career in sufficient time to prevent an +absolute collision between the two boats,-" if you 'ye enj'yed yourself +enough in that canoe, you 'Il do a prudent act by taking to the lake ag'in. +I'm reasonable in these matters, and don't crave your blood, though there 's +them about that would look upon you more as a due-bill for the bounty than a +human mortal. Take to the lake this minute, afore we get to hot words." + +The savage was one of those who did not understand a word of English, and he +was indebted to the gestures of Deerslayer, and to the expression of an eye +that did not often deceive, for an imperfect comprehension of his meaning. +Perhaps, too, the sight of the rifle that lay so near the hand of the white +man quickened his decision. At all events, he crouched like a tiger about to +take his leaps uttered a yell, and the next instant his naked body +disappeared in the water. When he rose to take breath, it was at the +distance of several yards from the canoe, and the hasty glance he threw +behind him denoted how much he feared the arrival of a fatal messenger from +the rifle of his foe. But the young man made no indication of any hostile +intention. Deliberately securing the canoe to the others, he began to paddle +from the shore; and by the time the Indian reached the land, and had shaken +himself, like a spaniel, on quitting the water, his dreaded enemy was already +beyond rifle-shot on his way to the castle. As was so much his practice, +Deerslayer did not fail to soliloquize on what had just occurred, while +steadily pursuing his course towards the point of destination. + +"Well, well,' '-he commenced,-" 't would have been wrong to kill a human +mortal without an object. Scalps are of no account with me, and life is +sweet, and ought not to be taken marcilessly by them that have white gifts. +The savage was a Mingo, it 's true; and I make no doubt he is, and will be as +long as he lives, a ta"l' al riptyle and vagabond; but that's no reason I +should forget my gifts and color. No, no,-let him go; if ever we meet ag'in, +rifle in hand, why then 'twill be seen which has the stoutest heart and the +quickest eye. Hawkeye! That's not a bad name for a warrior, sounding much +more manful and valiant than Deerslayer! 'T wouldn't be a bad title to begin +with, and it has been fairly arned. If 't was Chingachgook, now, he might go +home and boast of his deeds, and the chiefs would name him Hawkeye in a +minute; but it don't become white blood to brag, and 't is n't easy to see +how the matter can be known unless I do. Well, well,-everything is in the +hands of Providence; this affair as well as another; I'11 trust to that for +getting my desarts in all things." + +Having thus betrayed what might be termed his weak spot, the young man +continued to paddle in silence, making his way diligently, and as fast as his +tows would allow him, towards the castle. By this time the sun had not only +risen, but it had appeared over the eastern mountains, and was shedding a +flood of glorious light on this as yet unchristened sheet of water. The whole +scene was radiant with beauty; and no one unaccustomed to the ordinary +history of the woods would fancy it had so lately witnessed incidents so +ruthless and barbarous. As he approached the building of old Hutter, +Deerslayer thought, or rather felt that its appearance was in singular +harmony with all the rest of the scene. Although nothing had been consulted +but strength and security, the rude, massive logs, covered with their rough +bark, the projecting roof, and the form, would contribute to render the +building picturesque in almost any situation, while its actual position added +novelty and piquancy to its other points of interest. + +When Deerslayer drew nearer to the castle, however, objects of interest +presented themselves that at once eclipsed any beauties that might have +distinguished the scenery of the lake, and the site of the singular edifice. +Judith and Hetty stood on the platform before the door, Hurry's dooryard +awaiting his approach with manifest 'anxiety; the former, from time to time, +taking a survey of his person and of the canoes through the old ship's spy- +glass that has been already mentioned. Never probably did this girl seem more +brilliantly beautiful than at that moment; the flush of anxiety and alarm +increasing her color to its richest tints, while the softness of her eyes, a +charm that even poor Hetty shared with her, was deepened by intense concern. +Such, at least, without pausing or pretending to analyze motives, or to draw +any other very nice distinction between cause and effect, were the opinions +of the young man as his canoes reached the side of the ark, where he +carefully fastened all three before he put his foot on the platform. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles; +His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate; +His tears pure messengers sent from his heart; +His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth." + Two Gentle men of Verona, II.vii,75-78 + + +Neither of the girls spoke as Deerslayer stood before them alone, his +countenance betraying all the apprehension he felt on account of two absent +members of their party. + +"Father!" Judith at length exclaimed, succeeding in uttering the word, as it +might be by a desperate effort. + +He 's met with misfortune, and there 's no use in concealing it," answered +Deerslayer, in his direct and simpleminded manner. "He and Hurry are in +Mingo hands, and Heaven only knows what's to be the tarmination. I 'ye got +the canoes safe, and that's a consolation, since the vagabonds will have to +swim for it, or raft off, to come near this p1ace. At sunset we '11 be +reinforced by Chingachgook, if I can manage to get him into a canoe; and +then, I think, we two can answer for the ark and the caste, till some of the +officers in the garrisons hear of this war-path, which sooner or later must +be the case, when we may look for succor from that quarter, if from no +other." + +"The officers!" exclaimed Judith, impatiently, her color deepening, and her +eye expressing a lively but passing emotion. "Who thinks or speaks of the +heartless gallants now? We are sufficient of ourselves to defend the castle. +But what of my father, and of poor Hurry Harry?" + +"'T is natural you should feel this consarn for your own parent, Judith, and +I suppose it 's equally so that you should feel it for Hurry Harry, too." + +Deerslayer then commenced a succinct but clear narrative of all that occurred +during the night, in no manner concealing what had befallen his two +companions, or his own opinion of what might prove to be the consequences. +The girls listened with profound attention, but neither betrayed that +feminine apprehension and concern which would have followed such a +communication when made to those who were less accustomed to the hazards and +accidents of a frontier life. To the surprise of Deerslayer, Judith seemed +the most distressed, Hetty listening eagerly, but appearing to brood over the +facts in melancholy silence, rather than betraying any outward signs of +feeling. The former's agitation, the young man did not fail to attribute to +the interest she felt in Hurry, quite as much as to her filial love, while +Hetty's apparent indifference was ascribed to that mental darkness which, in +a measure, obscured her intellect, and which possibly prevented her from +foreseeing all the consequences. Little was said, however, by either, Judith +and her sister busying themselves in making the preparations for the morning +meal, as they who habitually attend to such matters toil on mechanically even +in the midst of suffering and sorrow. The plain but nutritious breakfast was +taken by all three in sombre silence. The girls ate little, but Deerslayer +gave proof of possessing one material requisite of a good soldier, that of +preserving his appetite in the midst of the most alarming and embarrassing +circumstances. The meal was nearly ended before a syllable was uttered; +then, however, Judith spoke in the convulsive and hurried manner in which +feeling breaks through restraint, after the latter has become more painful +than even the betrayal of emotion. + +"Father would have relished this fish " she exclaimed; "he says the salmon of +the lakes is almost as good as the salmon of the sea." + +"Your father has been acquainted with the sea, they tell me, Judith," +returned the young man., who could not for +bear throwing a glance of inquiry at the girl; for in common with all who +knew Hutter, he had some curiosity on the subject of his early history. +"Hurry Harry tells me he was once a sailor." + +Judith first looked perplexed; then, influenced by feelings that were novel +to her, in more ways than one, she became suddenly communicative, and +seemingly much interested in the discourse. + +"If Hurry knows anything of father's history, I would he had told it to me!" +she cried. "Sometimes I think, too, he was once a sailor, and then again I +think he was not. If that chest were open, or if it could speak, it might let +us into his whole history. But its fastenings are too strong to be broken +like packthread." + +Deerslayer turned to the chest in question, and for the first time examined +it closely. Although discolored, and bearing proofs of having received much +ill-treatment, he saw that it was of materials and workmanship altogether +superior to anything of the same sort he had ever before beheld. The wood was +dark, rich, and had once been highly polished, though the treatment it had +received left little gloss on its surface, and various scratches and +indentations proved the rough collisions that it had encountered with +substances still harder than itself. The corners were firmly bound with +steel, elaborately and richly wrought, while the locks, of which it had no +less than three, and the hinges, were of a fashion and workmanship that would +have attracted attention even in a warehouse of curious furniture. This chest +was quite large; and when Deerslayer arose, and endeavored to raise an end by +its massive handle, he found that the weight fully corresponded with the +external appearance. + +"Did you never see that chest opened, Judith?" the young man demanded with +frontier freedom, for delicacy on such subjects was little felt among the +people on the verge of civilization, in that age, even if it be to-day. + +"Never. Father has never opened it in my presence, if he ever opens it at +all. No one here has ever seen its lid raised, unless it be father; nor do I +even know that he has ever seen it." + +"Now you're wrong, Judith, "Hetty quietly answered. "Father has raised the +lid, and I've seen him do it." + +A feeling of manliness kept the mouth of Deerslayer shut; for, while he would +not have hesitated about going far beyond what would be thought the bounds of +propriety, in questioning the older sister, he had just scruples about taking +what might be thought an advantage of the feeble intellect of the younger. +Judith, being under no such restraint, howevever, turned quickly to the last +speaker and continued the discourse. + +"When and where did you ever see that chest opened, Hetty?" + +"Here, and again and again. Father often opens it when you are away, though +he don't in the least mind my being by, and seeing all he does, as well as +hearing all he says." + +"And what is it that he does, and what does he say?" + +"That I cannot tell youU, Judith," returned the other in a low but resolute +voice. "Father's secrets are not my secrets." + +"Secrets! This is stranger still, Deerslayer, that father should tell them +to Hetty, and not tell them to me!" + +"There's a good reason for that, Judith, though you"re not to know it. +Father's not here to answer for himself, and I'll say no more about it." + +Judith and Deerslayer looked surprised, and for a minute the first seemed +pained. But, suddenly recollecting herself, she turned away from her sister, +as if in pity for her weakness and addressed the young man. + +"You've told but half your story," she said, "breaking off at the place where +you went to sleep in the canoe-- or rather where you rose to listen to the +cry of the loon. we heard the call of the loons, too, and thought their +cries might bring a storm, though we are little used to tempests on this lake +at this season of the year." + +"The winds blow and the tempests howl as God pleases; sometimes at one +season, and sometimes at another," answered Deerslayer; "and the loons speak +accordin' to their natur'. Better would it be if men were as honest and +frank. After I rose to listen to the birds, finding it could not be Hurry's +signal, I lay down and slept. When the day dawned I was up and stirring, as +usual, and then I went in chase of the two canoes, lest the Mingos should lay +hands on 'em." + +"You have not told us all, Deerslayer," said Judith earnestly. "We heard +rifles under the eastern mountain; the echoes were full and long, and came so +soon after the reports, that the pieces must have beenfied on or quite near +to the shore. Our ears are used to these sigs, and are no to be deceived." + +"They've done their duty, gal, this tiime; yes, they've done their duty. +Rifles have been sighted this morning, ay, and triggers pulled, too, thoug +not as often a they might have been. One warrior has gone to his happy +hunting-grounds, and that's the whole of it. A man of white blood and white +gifts is not to be expected to boast of his expl'ites and to flourish +scalps." + +Judith listened almost beathlessly; and when Deerslayer, in his quiet, modest +manner, seemed disposed to quit the subject, she rose, and crossing the room, +took a seat by his side. The manner of the girl had nothing forward about i, +though it betrayed the quick instinct of a female's affection, and the +sympathizing kindness of a woman's heart. She even took the hard hand of the +hunter, and pressed it in both her own, unconsciously to herself, perhaps, +while she looked earnestly and even reproachfully into his sun burnt face. + +"You have been fighting the savages, Deerslayer, sinly and by yourself!" she +said. "In your wish to take care of us--of Hetty -- of me, perhaps, you've +fought the enemy bravely, with no eye to encourage your deeds, or o witness +your fall, had it pleased Providence to suffer so great a calamity!" + +"I've fou't, Judith; yes, I have fou't the inimy, and thattoo, for the first +time in my life. These thins must be, and they bring with 'em a mixed +feelin' of sorrow and triumph. Human natur' is a fightin'natur', I suppose,, +as all nations kill in battle, and we must be true to our rights and gifts. +What has yet been done is no great matter, but should Chingachgook come to +the rock this +evening, as is agreed atween us, and I get him off it onbe known to the +savages or, if known to them, ag'in their wishes and designs, then may we all +look to something like warfare, afore the Mingos shall get possession of +either the castle, or the ark, or yourselves." + +"Who is this Chingachgook; from what place does he come, and why does he come +here ?" + +"The questions are nat'ral and right, I suppose, though the youth has a great +name, already, in his own part of the country. Chingachgook is a Mohican by +blood, consorting with the Delawares by usage, as is the case with most of +his tribe, which has long been broken up by the increase of our color. He is +of the family of the great chiefs; Uncas, his father, having been the +considerablest warrior and counsellor of his people. Even old Tamenund honors +Chingachgook, though he is thought to be yet too young of lead in war; and +then the nation is so disparsed and diminished, that chieftainship among 'em +has got to be little more than a name. + +Well, this war having commenced in 'arnest, the Delaware and I rendezvous'd +an app'intment, to meet this evening at sunset on the rendezvous-rock at the +foot of this very lake, intending to come out on our first hostile expedition +ag'in the Mingos. Why we come exactly this a way is our own secret; but +thoughtful young men on the war-path, as you may suppose, do nothing without +a calculation and a design." + +"A Delaware can have no unfriendly intentions towards us," said Judith, after +a moment's hesitation, "and we know you to be friendly." + +"Treachery is the last crime I hope to be accused of," returned Deerslayer, +hurt at the gleam of distrust that had shot through Judith's mind; "and least +of all, treachery to my own color." + +"No one suspects you, Deerslayer," the girl impetuously cried. "No-no-your +honest countenance would be sufficient surety for the truth of a thousand +hearts! If all men had as honest tongues, and no more promised what they did +not mean to perform, there would be less wrong done in the world, and fine +feathers and scarlet cloaks would not be excuses for baseness and deception.' + +Tne girl spoke with strong, nay, even with convulsed feel' ing, and her fine +eyes, usually so soft and alluring, flashed fire as she concluded. Deerslayer +could not but observe this extraordinary emotion; but with the tact of a +courtier, he avoided not only any allusion to the circumstance, but succeeded +in concealing the effect of his discovery on himself. Judith gradually grew +calm again, and as she was obviously anxious to appear to advantage in the +eyes of the young man, she was soon able to renew the conversation as +composedly as if nothing had occurred to disturb her. + +"I have no right to look into your secrets, or the secrets of your friend, +Deerslayer," she continued, "and am ready to take all you say on trust. If we +can really get another male ally to join us at this trying moment, it will +aid us much; and I am not without hope that when the savages find that we are +able to keep the lake, they will offer to give up their prisoners in exchange +for skins, or at least for the keg of powder that we have in the house." + +The young man had the words scalps,'' and ''bounty," on his lips, but a +reluctance to alarm the feelings of the daughters prevented him from making +the allusion he had intended to the probable fate of their father. Still, so +little was he practised in the arts of deception, that his expressive +countenance was, of itself, understood by the quick-witted Judith, whose +intelligence had been sharpened by the risks and habits of her life. + +"I understand what you mean," she continued, hurriedly, "and what you would +say, but for the fear of hurting me- us, I mean ; for Hetty loves her father +quite as well as I do. But this is not as we think of Indians. They never +scalp an unhurt prisoner, but would rather take him away alive, unless, +indeed, the fierce wish for totturing should get the mastery of them. I fear +nothing for my father's scalp, and little for his life. Could they steal on +us in the night, we should all probably suffer in this way; but men taken in +open strife are seldom injured; not, at least, until the time of torture +comes." + +"That's tradition, I'11 allow. and it's accordin' to practice-but, Judith, do +you know the arr'nd on which your father and Hurry went ag'in the savages?" + +"I do; and a cruel errand it was! But what will you have? Men will be men, +and some even that flaunt in their gold and silver, and carry the King's +commission in their pockets, are not guiltless of equal cruelty." Judith's +eye again flashed, but by a desperate struggle she resumed her composure. "I +get warm when I think of all the wrong that men do," she added, affecting to +smile, an effort in which she only succeeded indifferently well. "All this is +silly. What is done is done, and it cannot be mended by complaints. But the +Indians think so little of the shedding of blood, and value men so much for +the boldness of their undertakings, that, did they know the business on which +their prisoners came, they would be more likely to honor than to injure them +for it." + +"For a time, Judith; yes, I allow that, for a time. But when that feelin' +dies away, then will come the love of revenge. We must indivor, -Chingachgook +and I,-we must indivor to see what we can do to get Hurry and your father +free; for the Mingos will no doubt hover about this lake some days, in order +to make the most of their success." + +"You think this Delaware can be depended on, Deerslayer?" demanded the girl, +thoughtfully. + +"As much as I can myself. You say you do not suspect me, Judith?" + +"You!" taking his hand again, and pressing it between her own, with a warmth +that might have awakened the vanity of one less simple-minded, and more +disposed to dwell on his own good qualities, ' I would as soon suspect a +brother! I have known you but a day, Deerslayer, but it has awakened the +confidence of a year. Your name, however, is not unknown to me; for the +gallants of the garrisons frequently speak of the lessons you have given them +in hunting, and all proclaim your honesty." + +''Do they ever talk of the shooting, gal?" inquired the other eagerly, after, +however, laughing in a silent but heartfelt manner. "Do they ever talk of +the shooting? I want to hear nothing about my own, for if that is n't +sartified to by this time, in all these parts, there's little use in being +skilful and sure; but what do the officers say of their own-yes, what do they +say of their own? Arms, as they call it, is their trade, and yet there 's +some among 'em that know very little how to use 'em !" + +"Such I hope will not be the case with your friend Chingachgook, as you call +him-what is the English of his Indian name?" + +"Big Sarpent-so called for his wisdom and cunning, Uncas is his ra'al name- +all his family being called Uncas. until they get a title that has been +'arned by deeds." + +"If he has all this wisdom, we may expect a useful friend in him, unless his +own business in this part of the country should prevent him from serving us." + +"I see no great harm in telling you his arr'nd, a'ter all, and, as you may +find means to help us, I will let you and Hetty into the whole matter, +trusting that you '11 keep the secret as if it was your own. You must know +that Chingachgook is a comely Injin, and is much looked upon and admired by +the young women of his tribe, both on account of his family, and on account +of himself. Now, there is a chief that has a daughter called Wah-ta-Wah, +which is intarpreted into Hist-oh-Hist, in the English tongue, the rarest gal +among the Delawares, and the one most sought a'ter and craved for a wife by +all the young warriors of the nation. Well, Chingachgook, among others, took +a fancy to Wah-taWab, and Wah-ta-Wah took a fancy to him." Here Deerslayer +paused an instant; for, as lie got thus far in his tale, Hetty Hutter arose, +approached, and stood attentive at his knee, as a child draws near to listen +to the legends of its mother. "Yes, he fancied her, and she fancied him," +resumed Deerslayer, casting a friendly and approving glance at the innocent +and interested girl; "and when that is the case, and all the elders are +agreed, it does not often happen that the young couple keep apart. +Chingachgook could n' t well carry off such a prize without making inimies +among them that wanted her as much as he did himself. A sartain Briarthorn, +as we call him in English, or Yocommon, as he is tarmed in Injin, took it +most to heart, and we mistrust him of having a hand in all that followed. +Wah-ta-Wah went with her father and mother, two moons ago, to fish for salmon +on the western streams, where it is agreed by all in these parts that fish +most abounds, and while thus empl'yed the gal vanished. For several weeks we +could get no tidings of her; but' here, ten days since, a runner, that came +through the Delaware country, brought us a message, by which we learn that +Wah-ta-Wah was stolen from her people, we think, but do not know it, by +Briarthorn's sarcumventions,-and that she was now with the inimy, who had +adopted her, and wanted her to marry a young Mingo. The message said that the +party intended to hunt and forage through this region for a month or two, +afore it went back into the Canadas, and that if we could contrive to get on +a scent in this quarter, something might turn up that would lead to our +getting the maiden off." + +"And how does that concern you, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith, a little +anxiously. + +"It consarns me, as all things that touches a fri'nd consarns a fri'nd. I 'm +here as Chingachgook's aid and helper, and if we can get the young maiden he +likes back ag'in, it will give me almost as much pleasure as if I had got +back my own sweetheart." + +"And where, then, is your sweetheart, Deerslayer?" +"She 's in the forest, Judith-hanging from the boughs of the trees, in a soft +rain-in the dew on the open grass- the clouds that float about in the blue +heavens-the birds that sing in the woods-the sweet springs where I slake my +thirst-and in all the other glorious gifts that come from God's Providence!" + +"You mean that, as yet, you've never loved one of my sex, but love best your +haunts, and your own manner of life." + +"That's it-that's just it. I am white-have a white heart and can't, in +reason, love a red-skinned maiden, who must have a redskin heart and +feelin's. No, no, I 'm sound enough in them partic'lars, and hope to remain +so, at least till this war is over. I find my time too much taken up with +Chingachgook's affair, to wish to have one of my own on my hands afore that +is settled." + + +"The girl that finally wins you, Deerslayer, will at least win an honest +heart,-one without treachery or guile; and that will be a victory that most +of her sex ought to envy." + +As Judith uttered this, her beautiful face had a resentful frown on it; while +a bitter smile lingered around a mouth that no derangement of the muscles +could render anything but handsome. Her companion observed the change, and +though little skilled in the workings of the female heart, he had sufficient +native delicacy to understand that it might be well to drop the subject. + +As the hour when Chingachgook was expected still remained distant, +Deerslayer had time enough to examine into the state of the defences, and to +make such additional arrangements as were in his power, and the exigency of +the moment seemed to require. The experience and foresight of Hutter had +left little to be done in these particulars; still, several precautions +suggested themselves to the young man, who may be said to have studied the +art of frontier warfare, through the traditions and legends of the people +among whom he had so long lived. The distance between the castle and the +nearest point on the shore, prevented any apprehension on the subject of +rifle-bullets thrown from the land. The house was within musket-shot in one +sense, it was true, but aim was entirely out of the question, and even Judith +professed a perfect disregard of any danger from that source. So long, then, +as the party remained in possession of the fortress, they were safe, unless +their assailants could find the means to come off and carry it by fire or +storm, or by some of the devices of Indian cunning and Indian treachery. +Against the first source of danger Hutter had made ample provision, and the +building itself, the bark roof excepted, was not very combustible. The floor +was scuttled in several places, and buckets provided with ropes were in +daily use, in readiness for any such emergency. One of the girls could easily +extinguish any fire that might be lighted, provided it had not time to make +much headway. Judith, who appeared to understand all her father's schemes of +defence, and who had the + +into the building, when Deerslayer had ended his task, even allowing the +assailants the use of any tools but the axe, and to be unresisted. This +attention to security arose from Hutter's having been robbed once or twice by +the lawless whites of the frontiers, during some of his many absences from +home. + +As soon as all was fast in the inside of the dwelling, Deerslayer appeared at +a trap, from which he descended into the canoe of Judith. When this was done, +he fastened the door with a massive staple and stout padlock. Hetty was then +received in the canoe, which was shoved outside of the palisadoes. The next +precaution was to fasten the gate, and the keys were carried into the ark. +The three were now fastened out of the dwelling, which could only be entered +by violence, or by following the course taken by the young man in quitting +it. +The glass had been brought outside as a preliminary step, and Deerslayer next +took a careful survey of the entire shore of the lake, as far as his own +position would allow. Not a living thing was visible, a few birds excepted, +and even the last fluttered about in the shades of the trees, as if unwilling +to encounter the heat of a sultry afternoon. All the nearest points, in +particular, were subjected to severe scrutiny, in order to make certain that +no raft was in preparation; the result everywhere giving the same picture of +calm solitude. A few words will explain the greatest embarrassment belonging +to the situation of our party. Exposed themselves to the observation of any +watchful eyes, the movements of their enemies were concealed by the drapery +of a dense forest. While the imagination would be very apt to people the +latter with more warriors than it really contained, their own weakness must +be too apparent to all who might chance to cast a glance in their direction. + +Nothing is stirring, howsever," exclaimed Deerslayer, as he finally lowered +the glass, and prepared to enter the ark. "If the vagabonds do harbor +mischief in their minds, they are too cunning to let it be seen ; it 's true, +a raft may be in preparation in the woods, but it has not yet been brought +down to the lake. They can't guess that we are about to Quit the castle, and, +if they did, they 'ye no means of knowing where we intend to go." + +"This is so true, Deerslayer," returned Judith, "that now all is ready, we +may proceed at once, boldly, and with. out the fear of being followed; else +we shall be behind our time." + +"No, no; the matter needs management; for, though the savages are in the dark +as to Chingachgook and the rock, they they 'ye eyes and legs, and will see in +what direction we steer, and will be sartain to follow us. I shall strive to + +baffle 'em, howsever, by heading the scow in all manner of ways, first in one +quarter and then in another, until they get to be a-leg-weary, and tired of +tramping a'ter us." + +So far as it was in his power, Deerslayer was as good as his word. In less +than five minutes after this speech was made, the whole party was in the ark, +and in motion. There was a gentle breeze from the north, and boldly hoisting +the sail, the young man laid the bead of the unwieldy craft in such a +direction, as, after making a liberal but necessary allowance for leeway, +would have brought it ashore a couple of miles down the lake, and on its +eastern side. The sailing of the ark was never very swift, though, floating +as it did on the surface, it was not difficult to get it in motion, or to +urge it along over the water at the rate of some three or four miles in the +hour. The distance between the castle and the rock was a little more than two +leagues. Knowing the punctuality of an Indian, Deerslayer had made his +calculations closely, and had given himself a little more time than was +necessary to reach the place of rendezvous, with a view to delay or to press +his arrival, as might prove most expedient. . When he hoisted the sail, the +sun lay above the western hills, at an elevation that promised rather more +than two hours of day; and a few minutes satisfied him that the progress of +the scow was such as to equal his expectations. + +It was a glorious June afternoon, and never did that solitary sheet of water +seem less like an arena of strife and bloodshed. The light air scarce +descended as low as the bed of the lake, hovering over it, as if unwilling to +disturb its deep tranquillity, or to ruffle its mirror-like surface- Even the +forests appeared to be slumbering in the sun, and a few piles of fleecy +clouds had lain for hours along the northern horizon like fixtures in the +atmosphere, placed there purely to embellish the scene. A few aquatic fowls +occasionally skimmed along the water, and a single raven was visible, sailing +high above the trees, and keeping a watchful eye on the forest beneath him, +in order to detect anything having life that the mysterious woods might offer +as prey. + +The reader will probably have observed, that, amidst the frankness and +abruptness of manner which marked the frontier habits of Judith, her +language was superior to that used by her male companions, her own father +included. This difference extended as well to pronunciation as to the choice +of words and phrases. Perhaps nothing so soon betrays the education and +association as the modes of speech; and few accomplishments so much aid the +charm of female beauty as a graceful and even utterance, while nothing so +soon produces the disenchantment that necessarily follows a discrepancy +between appearance and manner, as a mean intonation of voice, or a vulgar use +of words. Judith and her sister were marked exceptions to all the girls of +their class, along that whole frontier; the officers of the nearest garrison +having often flattered the former with the belief that few ladies of the +towns acquitted themselves better than herself, in this important particular. +This was far from being literally true, but it was sufficiently near the fact +to give birth to the compliment. The girls were indebted to their mother for +this proficiency, having acquired from her, in childhood, an advantage that +no subsequent study or labor can give without a drawback, if neglected beyond +the earlier periods of life. Who that mother was, or rather had been, no one +but Hutter knew. She had now been dead two summers, and, as was stated by +Hurry, she had been buried in the lake; whether in indulgence of a prejudice, +or from a reluctance to take the trouble to dig her grave, had frequently +been a matter of discussion between the rude beings of that region. Judith +had never visited the spot, but Hetty was present at the interment, and she +often paddled a canoe, about sunset. or by the light of the moon, to the +place, and gazed down into the limpid water, in the hope of being able to +catch a glimpse of the form that she had so tenderly loved from infancy to +the sad hour of their parting. + +"Must we reach the rock exactly at the moment the sun sets?" Judith demanded +of the young man, as they stood near each other, Deerslayer holding the +steering-oar, and she working with a needle at some ornament of dress, that +much exceeded her station in life, and was altogether a novelty in the woods. +"Will a few minutes, sooner or later, alter the the matter? it will be very +hazardous to remain long as near the shore as that rock!" + +"That's it, Judith; that 's the very difficulty! The rock 's within p'int +blank for a shot-gun, and 'twill never do to hover about it too close and too +long. When you have to deal with an Injin, you must calculate and manage, for +a red natur' dearly likes sarcumvention. Now you see, Judith, that I do not +steer towards the rock at all, but here to the eastward of it, whereby the +savages will be tramping off in that direction, and get their legs a-wearied, +and all for no advantage." + +"You think, then, they see us, and watch our movements, Deerslayer? I was in +hopes they might have fallen back into the woods, and left us to ourselves +for a few hours." + +"That's altogether a woman's consait. There 's no let-up in an Injin's +watchfulness when he 's on a war-path, and eyes are on us at this minute, +'though the lake presarves us. We must draw near the rock on a calculation, +and indivor to get the miscreants on a false scent. The Mingos have good +noses, they tell me; but a white man's reason ought always to equalize their +instinct." + +Judith now entered into a desultory discourse with Deerslayer, in which the +girl betrayed her growing interest in the young man; an interest that his +simplicity of mind and her decision of character, sustained as it was by the +consciousness awakened by the consideration her personal charms so +universally produced, rendered her less anxious to conceal than might +otherwise have been the case. She was scarcely forward in her manner, though +there was sometimes a freedom in her glances that it required all the aid of +her exceeding beauty to prevent from awakening suspicions unfavorable to her +discretion, if not to her morals. With Deerslayer, however, these glances +were rendered less obnoxious to so unpleasant a construction; for she seldom +looked at him without discovering much of the sincerity and nature that +accompany the purest emotions of woman. It was a little remarkable that, as +his captivity lengthened, neither of the girls manifested any great concern +for her father; but, as has been said already, their habits gave them +confidence, and they looked forward to his liberation, by means of a ransom, +with a confidence that might, in a great degree, account for their apparent +indifference. Once before, Hutter had been in the hands of the Iroquois, and +a few skins had readily effected his release. This event, however, unknown to +the sisters, had occurred in a time of peace between England and France, and +when the savages were restrained, instead of being encouraged to commit +their excesses, by the policy of the different colonial governments. While +Judith was loquacious and caressing in her manner, Hetty remained thoughtful +and silent. Once, indeed, she drew near to Deerslayer, and questioned him a +little closely as to his intentions, as well as concerning the mode of +effecting his purpose; but her wish to converse went no further. As soon as +her simple queries were answered -and answered they all were, in the fullest +and kindest manner-she withdrew to her scat, and continued to work on a +coarse garment that she was making for her father, sometimes humming a low +melancholy air, and frequently sighing. + +In this manner the time passed away; and when the sun was beginning to glow +behind the fringe of the pines that bounded the western hill, or about twenty +minutes before it actually set, the ark was nearly as low as the point where +Hutter and Hurry had been made prisoners. By sheering first to one side of +the lake, and then to the other, Deerslayer managed to create an uncertainty +as to his object; and, doubtless, the savages, who were unquestionably +watching his movements, were led to believe that his aim was to communicate +with them, at or near this spot, and would hasten in that direction, in order +to be in readiness t, profit by circumstances. This artifice was well +managed; since the sweep of the bay, the curvature of the lake, and the low +marshy land that intervened, would probably allow the ark to reach the rock +before its pursuers, if really collected near this point, could have time to +make the circuit that would be required to get there by land. With a view to +aid this deception, Deerslayer stood as near the western shore as was at all +prudent; and then causing Judith and Hetty to enter the house, or cabin, and +crouching himself so as to conceal his person by the frame of the scow, he +suddenly threw the head of the latter round, and began to make the best of +his way towards the outlet. Favored by an increase in the wind, the progress +of the ark was such as to promise the complete success of this plan, though +the crab-like movement of the craft compelled the helmsman to keep its head +looking in a direction very different from that in which it was actually +moving. + + + + +Chapter IX. + +"Yet art thou prodigal of smiles- +Smiles, sweeter than thy frowns are stern: +Earth sends from all her thousand isles, +A shout at thy return. +The glory that comes down from thee +Bathes, in deep joy, the land and sea." + + +Bryant, 'The Firmament," 11.19-24 + + +It may assist the reader in understanding the events we are about to record, +if he has a rapidly sketched picture of the scene, placed before his eyes at +a single view. It will be remembered that the lake was an irregularly shaped +basin, of an outline that, in the main, was oval, but with bays and points to +relieve its formality and ornament its shores. The surface of this beautiful +sheet of water was now glittering like a gem, in the last rays of the evening +sun, and the setting of the whole, hills clothed in the richest forest +verdure, was lighted up with a sort of radiant smile, that is best described +in the beautiful lines we have placed at the head of this chapter. As the +banks, with few exceptions, rose abruptly from the water, even where the +mountain did not immediately bound the view, there was a nearly unbroken +fringe of leaves overhanging the placid lake, the trees starting out of the +acclivities, inclining to the light, until, in many instances they extended +their long limbs and straight trunks some forty or fifty feet beyond the line +of the perpendicular. In these cases we allude only to the giants of the +forest, pines of a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet in height, for of the +smaller growth, very many inclined so far as to steep their lower branches in +the water. +In the position in which the Ark had now got, the castle was concealed from +view by the projection of a point, as indeed was the northern extremity of +the lake itself. A respectable mountain, forest clad, and rounded, like all +the rest, limited the view in that direction, stretching immediately across +the whole f the fair scene, with the exception of a deep bay that passed the +western end, lengthening the basin, for more than a mile. + +The manner in which the water flowed out of the lake, beneath the leafy +arches of the trees that lined the sides of the stream, has already been +mentioned, and it has also been said that the rock, which was a favorite +place of rendezvous throughout all that region, and where Deerslayer now +expected to meet his friend, stood near this outlet, and at no great distance +from the shore. It was a large, isolated stone that rested on the bottom of +the lake, apparently left there when the waters tore away the earth from +around it, in forcing for themselves a passage down the river, and which had +obtained its shape from the action of the elements, during the slow progress +of centuries. The height of this rock could scarcely equal six feet, and, as +has been said, its shape was not unlike that which is usually given to +beehives, or to a hay-cock. The latter, indeed, gives the best idea not only +of its form, but of its dimensions. It stood, and still stands, for we are +writing of real scenes, within fifty feet of the bank, and in water that was +only two feet in depth, though there were seasons in which its rounded apex, +if such a term can properly be used, was covered by the lake. Many of the +trees stretched so far forward, as almost to blend the rock with the shore, +when seen from a little distance, and one tall pine in particular overhung it +in a way to form a noble and appropriate canopy to a seat that had held many +a forest chieftain, during the long succession of unknown ages, in which +America, and all it contained, had existed apart, in mysterious solitude, a +world by itself; equally without, a familiar history, and without an origin +that the annals of man can reach. + +When distant some two or three hundred feet from the shore, Deerslayer took +in his sail. He dropped his grapnel, as soon as he found the Ark had drifted +in a line that was directly to windward of the rock. The motion of the scow +was then checked, when it was brought head to wind, by the action of the +breeze. As soon as this was done, Deerslayer "paid out line," and suffered +the vessel to "set down" upon the rock, as fast as the light air could force +it to leeward. Floating entirely on the surface, this was soon effected, and +the young man checked the drift when he was told that the stern of the scow +was within fifteen or eighteen feet of the desired spot. + +In executing this maneuver, Deerslayer had proceeded promptly, for, while he +did not in the least doubt that he was both watched and followed by the foe, +he believed he distracted their movements, by the apparent uncertainty of his +own, and he knew they could have no means of ascertaining that the rock was +his aim, unless indeed one of their prisoners had betrayed him; a chance so +improbable in itself, as to give him no concern. Notwithstanding the celerity +and decision his movements, he did not, however, venture so near the shore +without taking due precautions to effect a retreat, in the event of its +becoming necessary. He held the line in his hand, and Judith was stationed at +a loop, on the side of the cabin next the shore, where she could watch the +beach and the rock, and give timely notice of the approach of either friend +or foe. Hetty was also placed on watch, but it was to keep the trees over +head in view, lest some enemy might ascend one, and, by completely commanding +the interior of the scow render the defence of the hut, or cabin, useless. + +The sun had disappeared from the lake and valley, when Deerslayer checked the +Ark, in the manner mentioned. Still it wanted a few minutes to the true +sunset, and he knew Indian punctuality too well to anticipate any unmanly +haste in his friend. The great question was, whether, by enemies as he was +known to be, he had escaped their toils. The occurrences of the last twenty- +four hours must be a secret to him, and like himself, Chingachgook was yet +young on a path. It was true, he came prepared to encounter the party that +withheld his promised bride, but he had no means ascertaining the extent of +the danger he run, or the precise positions occupied by either friends, or +foes. In a word, the trained sagacity, and untiring caution of an Indian were +had to rely on, amid the critical risks he unavoidably ran. + +"Is the rock empty, Judith?" enquired Deerslayer, as soon as he had checked +the drift of the Ark, deeming it imprudent to venture unnecessarily near the +shore. "Is any thing to be seen of the Delaware chief?" + +"Nothing, Deerslayer. Neither rock, shore, trees, nor lake seems to have ever +held a human form." + +'Keep close, Judith-keep close, Hetty-a rifle has a prying eye, a nimble +foot, and a desperate fatal tongue. Keep close then, but keep up actyve +looks, and be on the alart T would grieve me to the heart, did any harm befal +either of you.' + +"And you Deerslayer-" exclaimed Judith, turning her handsome face from the +loop, to bestow a gracious and grateful look on the young man - "do you +'keep close', and have a proper care that the savages do not catch a glimpse +of you! A bullet might be as fatal to you as to one of us; and the blow that +you felt, would be felt by us all." + +"No fear of me, Judith-no fear of me, my good gal. Do not look this-a-way, +although you look so pleasant and comely, but keep your eyes on the rock, and +the shore, and the-" + +Deerslayer was interrupted by a slight exclamation from the girl, who, in +obedience to his hurried gestures, as much as in obedience to his words, had +immediately bent her looks again, in the opposite direction. + +"What is't? -What is't, Judith?" he hastily demanded-"Is any thing to be +seen?" + +"There is a man on the rock! - An Indian warrior, in his paint-and armed!" + +"Where does he wear his hawk's feather?" eagerly added Deerslayer, relaxing +his hold of the line, in readiness to drift nearer to the place of +rendezvous. "Is it fast to the war-lock, or does he carry it above the left +ear?" + +Tis as you say, above the left ear; he smiles, too, and mutters the word +'Mohican.'" + +"God be praised, 'tis the Sarpent, at last!" exclaimed the young man, +suffering the line to slip through his hands, until hearing a light bound, in +the other end of the craft, he instantly checked the rope, and began to haul +it in, again, under the assurance that his object was effected. +At that moment the door of the cabin was opened hastily, and, a warrior, +darting through the little room, stood at Deerslayer's side, simply uttering +the exclamation "Hutty!" At the next instant, Judith and Hetty shrieked, and +the air was filled with the yell of twenty savages, who came leaping +through the branches, down the bank, some actually falling headlong into the +water, in their haste. + +"Pull, Deerslayer," cried Judith, hastily barring the door, in order to +prevent an inroad by the passage through which the Delaware had just entered; +"pull, for life and death-the lake is full of savages, wading after us!" + +The young men - for Chingachgook immediately came to his friend's assistance- +needed no second bidding, but they applied themselves to their task in a way +that showed how urgent they deemed the occasion. The great difficulty was in +suddenly overcoming the inertia of so large a mass, for, once in motion, it +was easy to cause the scow to skim the water, with all the necessary speed. + +"Pull, Deerslayer, for Heaven's sake!" cried Judith, again at the loop-"These +wretches rush into the water like hounds following their prey! Ah - the scow +moves! and now, the water deepens, to the arm-pits of the foremost, but they +reach forward, and will seize the Ark!" + +A slight scream, and then a joyous laugh followed from the girl; the first +produced by a desperate effort of their pursuers, and the last by its +failure; the scow, which had now got fairly in motion gliding ahead into deep +water, with a velocity that set the designs of their enemies at nought. As +the two men were prevented by the position of the cabin, from seeing what +passed astern, they were compelled to enquire of the girls, into the state of +the chase. + +"What now, Judith? - What next? - Do the Mingos still follow, or are we quit +of'em, for the present," demanded Deerslayer, when he felt the rope yielding +as if the scow was going fast ahead, and heard the scream and the laugh of +the girl, almost in the same breath. + +"They have vanished! -One-the last-is just burying himself in the bushes of +the bank - There, he has disappeared in the shadows of the trees! You have +got your friend, and we are all safe!" + +The two men now made another great effort, pulled the Ark up swiftly to the +grapnel, tripped it, and when the scow had shot some distance, and lost its +way, they let the anchor drop again. Then, for the first time since their +meeting, they ceased their efforts. As the floating house now lay several +hundred feet from the shore, and offered a complete protection against +bullets, there was no longer any danger, or any motive for immediate +exertion. + +The manner in which the two friends now recognised each other, was highly +characteristic. Chingachgook, a noble, tall, handsome and athletic young +Indian warrior, first examined his rifle, with care, opening the pan to make +sure that the priming was not wet, and, assured of this important fact, he +next cast furtive but observant glances around him, at the strange +habitation, and at the two girls. Still he spoke not, and most of all, did he +avoid the betrayal of a womanish curiosity, by asking questions. + +"Judith and Hetty" said Deerslayer, with an untaught, natural courtesy-"this +is the Mohican chief of whom you've heard me speak; Chingachgook as he is +called; which signifies Big Sarpent; so named for his wisdom and prudence, +and cunning, and my 'arliest and latest fri'nd. I know'd it must be he, by +the hawk's feather, over the left ear, most other warriors wearing 'em on the +war-lock." + +As Deerslayer ceased speaking, he laughed heartily, excited more perhaps by +the delight of having got his friend safe at his side, under circumstances so +trying, than by any conceit that happened to cross his fancy, and exhibiting +this outbreaking of feeling in a manner that was a little remarkable, since +his merriment was not accompanied by any noise. Although Chingachgook both +understood and spoke English, he was unwilling to communicate his thoughts +in it, like most Indians, and when he had met Judith's cordial shake of the +hand, and Hetty's milder salute, in the courteous manner that became a chief, +he turned away, apparently to await the moment when it might suit his friend +to enter into an explanation of his future intentions, and to give a +narrative of what had passed since their separation. The other understood his +meaning, and discovered his own mode of reasoning. in the matter, by +addressing the girls. +"This wind will soon die away altogether, now the sun is down," he said, "and +there is no need for rowing ag'in it. In half an hour, or so, it will either +be a flat calm, or the air will come off from the south shore, when we will +begin our journey back ag'in to the castle; in the mean while, the Delaware +and I will talk over matters, and get correct idees of each other's notions +consarning the course we ought to take." + +No one opposed this proposition, and the girls withdrew into the cabin to +prepare the evening meal, while the two young men took their seats on the +head of the scow and began to converse. The dialogue was in the language of +the Delawares. As that dialect, however, is but little understood, even by +the learned, we shall, not only on this, but on all subsequent occasions +render such parts, as it may be necessary to give closely, into liberal +English; preserving, as far as possible, the idion' and peculiarities of the +respective speakers, by way of presenting the pictures in the most graphic +forms to the minds of the readers. + +It is unnecessary to enter into the details first related by Deerslayer, who +gave a brief narrative of the facts that an already familiar to those who +have read our pages. In relating these events, however, it may be well to say +that the speaker touched only on the outlines, more particularly abstaining +from saying .any thing about his encounter with, and victory over the +Iroquois, as well as to his own exertions in behalf of the two deserted young +women. When Deerslayer ended, the Delaware took up the narrative, in turn, +speaking sententiously and with grave dignity. His account was both clear and +short, nor was it embellished by any incidents that did not directly concern +the history of his departure from the villages of his people, and his arrival +in the valley of the Susquehannah. On reaching the latter, which was at a +point only half a mile south of the outlet, he had soon struck a trail, which +gave him notice of the probable vicinity of enemies. Being prepared for such +an occurrence, the object of the expedition calling him directly into the +neighborhood of the party of Iroquois that was known to be out, he considered +the discovery as fortunate, rather than the reverse, and took the usual +precautions to turn it to account. First following the river to its source, +and ascertaining the position of the rock, he met another trail, and had +actually been hovering for hours on the flanks of his enemies, watching +equally for an opportunity to meet his mistress, and to take a scalp; and it +may be questioned which he most ardently desired. He kept near the lake, and +occasionally he ventured to some spot, where he could get a view of what was +passing on its suffice. The Ark had been seen and watched, from the moment +it hove in sight, though the young chief was necessarily ignorant that it was +to be the instrument of his effecting the desired junction with his friend. +The uncertainty of its movements, and the fact that it was unquestionably +managed by white men, soon led him to conjecture the truth, however, and he +held himself in readiness to get on board whenever a +suitable occasion might offer. As the sun drew near the horizon he repaired +to the rock, where, on emerging from the forest, he was gratified in finding +the Ark lying, apparently in readiness to receive him. The manner of his +appearance, and of his entrance into the craft is known. + +Although Chingachgook had been closely watching his enemies for hours, their +sudden and close pursuit, as he reached the scow, was as much a matter of +surprise to himself, as it had been to his friend. He could only account for +it, by the fact of their being more numerous than he had at first supposed, +and by their having out parties of the existence of which he was ignorant. +Their regular, and permanent encampment, if the word permanent can be applied +to the residence of a party that intended to remain out, in all probability, +but a few weeks, was not far from the spot where Hutter and Hurry had fallen +into their hands, and, as a matter of course, near a spring. + +"Well, Sarpent," asked Deerslayer, when the other had ended his brief but +spirited narrative, speaking always in the Delaware tongue, which for the +reader's convenience only we render into the peculiar vernacular of the +speaker-"Well, Sarpent, as you've been scouting around these Mingos, have +you any thing to tell us of their captyves, the father of these young women, +and of another, who, I somewhat conclude, is the lovyer of one of 'em." + +"Ghingachgook has seen them. An old man, and a young warrior- the falling +hemlock and the tall pine." + +"You're not so much out, Delaware; you're not so much out. Old Hutter is +decaying, of a sartainty, though many solid blocks might be hewn out of his +trunk yet, and, as for Hurry Harry, so far as heighth, and strength and +comliness go, he may be called the pride of the human forest. Were the men +bound, or, in any manner, suffering torture? I ask on account of the young +women, who, I dare to say, would be glad to know." + +"It is not so, Deerslayer. The Mingos are too many to cage their game. Some +watch; some sleep; some scout; some hunt. The pale faces are treated like +brothers to-day; to-morrow they will lose their scalps." + +"Yes, that's red natur', and must be submitted to! Judith and Hetty, here's +comforting tidings for you, the Delaware telling me that neither your father +nor Hurry Harry is in suffering, but, bating the loss of liberty, as well +off, as we are ourselves. Of course they are kept in the camp; otherwise they +do much as they please." + +"I rejoice to hear this, Deerslayer," returned Judith, "and now we are joined +by your friend, I make no manner of question that we shall find an +opportunity to ransom the prisoners. If there are any women in the camp, I +have articles of dress that will catch their eyes, and, should the worst come +to the worst, we can open the great chest, which, I think will be found to +hold things that may tempt the chiefs." + +"Judith," said the young man, looking up at her, with a smile, and an +expression of earnest curiosity, that, spite of the growing obscurity did not +escape the watchful looks of the girl, "can you find it in your heart, to +part with your own finery, to release prisoners; even though one be your own +father, and the other is your sworn suitor and lovyer?" + +The flush on the face of the girl arose in part from resentment, but more +perhaps from a gentler and a novel feeling, that, with the capricious +waywardness of taste, had been rapidly rendering her more sensitive to the +good opinion of the youth who questioned her, than to that of any other +person. Suppressing the angry sensation, with instinctive quickness, she +answered with a readiness and truth, that caused her sister to draw near to +listen, though the obtuse intellect of the latter was far from comprehending +the workings of a heart as treacherous, as uncertain, and as impetuous in its +feelings, as that of the spoiled and flattered beauty. +"Deerslayer," answered Judith, after a moment's pause, "I shall be honest +with you. I confess, that the time 'has been when what you call finery, was +to me the dearest thing on earth; but I begin to feel differently. Though +Hurry Harry is nought to me nor ever can be, I would give all I own to set +him free. If I would do this, for blustering, bullying, talking Hurry, who +has nothing but good looks to recommend him, you may judge what I would do +for my own father." + +"This sounds well, and is according to woman's gifts. Ah's, me! The same +feelin's is to be found among the young women of the Delawares. I've known +'em, often and often, sacrifice their vanity to their hearts. Tis as it +should be-'tis as it should be I suppose, in both colours. Woman was created +for the feelin's, and is pretty much ruled by feelin'." + +"Would the savages let father go, if Judith and I give them all our best +things?" demanded Hetty, in her innocent, mild, manner. + +"Their women might interfere, good Hetty; yes, their women might interfere +with such an ind in view. But, tell me, Sarpent, how is it as to squaws among +the knaves; have they many of their own women in the camp?" + +The Delaware heard, and understood all that passed, though with Indian +gravity and finesse he had sat, with averted face, seemingly inattentive to a +discourse in which he had no direct concern. Thus appealed to, however, he +answered his friend in his ordinary sententious manner. + +"Six-" he said, holding up all the fingers of one hand, and the thumb of the +other, "beside this." The last number denoted his betrothed, whom, with the +poetry and truth of nature, he described by laying his hand on his own heart. + +"Did you see her, chief- did you get a glimpse of her pleasant countenance, +or come close enough to her ear, to sing in it the song she loves to hear?" + +"No, Deerslayer- the trees were too many, and leaves covered their boughs +like clouds hiding' the heavens, in a storm. But"- and the young warrior +turned his dark face towards his friend, with a smile on it that illuminated +its fierce-looking paint, and naturally stern lineaments, with a bright gleam +of human feeling, "Ghingachgook heard the laugh of Wah-ta--Wah, and knew it +from the laugh of the women of the Iroquois. It sounded in his ears, like the +chirp of the wren." + +"Ay, trust a lovyer's ear for that, and a Delaware's ear for all sounds that +are ever heard in the woods. I know not why it is so, Judith, but when young +men- and I dares to say it may be all the same with young women, too - but +when they get to have kind feelin's towards each other, it's wonderful how +pleasant the laugh, or the speech becomes, to the other person. I've seen +grim warriors listening to the chattering and the laughing of young gals, as +if it was church music, such as is heard in the old Dutch church that stands +in the great street of Albany, where I've been, more than once, with peltry +and game." + +"And you, Deerslayer," said Judith quickly, and with more +sensibility than marked her usually light and thoughtless manner, -"have you +never felt how pleasant it is to listen to the laugh of the girl you love?" + +"Lord bless you gal! -Why I've never lived enough among my own colour to drop +into them sort of feelin's, - no never! I dares to say, they are nat'ral and +right, but to me there's no music so sweet as the sighing of the wind in the +tree tops, and the rippling of a stream from a full; sparkling, natyve +fountain of pure forest water-unless, indeed," he continued, dropping his +head for an instant in a thoughtful manner-"unless indeed it be the open +mouth of a sartain hound, when I'm on the track of a fat buck-As for +unsartain dogs, I care little for their cries, seem' they are as likely to +speak when the deer is not in sight, as when it is." + +Judith walked slowly and pensively away, nor was there any of her ordinary +calculating coquetry, in the light tremulous sigh, that, unconsciously to +herself, arose to her lips. On the other hand Hetty listened with guileless +attention, though it struck her simple mind as singular that the young man +should prefer the melody of the woods, to the songs of girls, or even to the +laugh of innocence and joy. Accustomed, however, to defer, in most things, to +her sister, she soon followed Judith into the cabin, where she took a seat, +and remained pondering intensely over some occurrence, or resolution, or +opinion-which was a secret to all but herself. Left alone, Deerslayer and his +friend resumed their discourse. + +"Has the young pale-face hunter been long on this lake?" demanded the +Delaware, after courteously waiting for the other to speak first. + +"Only since yesterday noon, Sarpent, though that has been long enough to see +and do much." The gaze that the Indian fastened on his companion was so keen +that it seemed to mock the gathering darkness of the night. As the other +furtively returned his look, he saw the two black eyes glistening on him, +like the balls of the panther, or those of the penned wolf. He understood the +meaning of this glowing gaze, and answered evasively, as he fancied would +best become the modesty of a white man's gifts. + +"Tis as you suspect, Sarpent; yes, 'tis somewhat that-a-way. +I have fell in with the inimy, and I suppose it may be said I've fou't them, +too." + +An exclamation of delight and exultation escaped the Indian, and then laying +his hand eagerly on the arm of his friend, he asked if there were any scalps +taken. + +"That I will maintain in the face of all the Delaware tribe, old Tamenund, +and your own father, the great Uncas, as well as the rest, is ag'in white +gifts! My scalp is on my head, as you can see, Sarpent, and that was the only +scalp that was in danger, when one side was altogether Christian and white." + +"Did no warrior fall? - Deerslayer did not get his name, by being slow of +sight, or clumsy with the rifle!" + +"In that particular, chief, you're nearer reason, and therefore nearer being +right. I may say one Mingo fell." + +"A chief'." demanded the other with startling vehemence. + +"Nay, that's more than I know, or can say. He was artful, and treacherous, +and stout-hearted, and may well have gained popularity enough with his people +to be named to that rank. The man fou't well, though his eye was'n't quick +enough for one who had had his schooling in your company, Delaware." +"My brother and friend struck the body?" + +"That was uncalled for, seeing that the Mingo died in my arms. The truth may +as well be said, at once; he fou't like a man of red gifts, and I fou't like +a man with gifts of my own colour. God gave me the victory; I coul'n't fly in +the face of his Providence by forgetting my birth and natur'. White he made +me, and white I shall live and die." + +"Good! Deerslayer is a pale face, and has pale-face hands. A Delaware will +look for the scalp, and hang it on a pole, and sing a song in his honour, +when we go back to our people. The glory belongs to the tribe; it must not be +lost." +"This is easy talking, but 'twill not be as easy doing. The Mingo's body is +in the hands of his fri'nds, and, no doubt, is hid in some hole, where +Delaware cunning will never be able to get at the scalp." + +The young man then gave his friend a succinct, but clear account, of the +event of the morning, concealing nothing of any moment, and yet touching on +every thing modestly and with a careful attention to avoid the Indian habit +of boasting.Chingachgo ok again expressed his satisfaction at the honour won +by his friend, and then both arose, the hour having arrived when it became +prudent to move the Ark further from the land. + +It was now quite dark, the heavens having become clouded, and the stars hid. +The north wind had ceased, - as was usual with the setting of the sun, and a +light air arose from the south. This change favoring the design of +Deerslayer, he lifted his grapnel, and the scow immediately and quite +perceptibly began to drift more into the lake. The sail was set, when the +motion of the craft increased to a rate not much less than two miles in the +hour. As this superseded the necessity of rowing, an occupation that an +Indian would not be likely to desire, Deerslayer, Chingachgook and Judith +seated themselves in the stern of the scow, where they first governed its +movements by holding the oar. Here they discoursed on their future movements, +and on the means that ought to be used in order to effect the liberation of +their friends. + +In this dialogue Judith held a material part, the Delaware readily +understanding all she said, while his own replies and remarks, both of which +were few and pithy, were occasionally rendered into English by his friend. +Judith rose greatly in the estimation of her companions, in the half hour +that followed. Prompt of resolution and firm of purpose, her suggestions and +expedients partook of her spirit and sagacity, both of which were of a +character to find favor with men of the frontier. The events that had +occurred since their meeting, as well as her isolated and dependant +situation, induced the girl to feel towards Deerslayer like the friend of a +year instead of an acquaintance of a day, and so completely had she been won +by his guileless truth of character and of feeling, pure novelties in our +sex, as respected her own experience, that his peculiarities excited her +curiosity, and created a confidence that had never been awakened by any other +man. Hitherto she had been compelled to stand on the defensive, in her +intercourse with men, with what success was best known to herself, but here +had she been suddenly thrown into the society, and under the protection of a +youth, who evidently as little contemplated evil towards herself, as if he +had been her brother. The freshness of his integrity, the poetry and truth of +his feelings, and even the quaintness of his forms of speech, all had their +influence, and aided in awakening an interest that she found as pure as it +was sudden and deep. Hurry's fine face and manly form had never compensated +for his boisterous and vulgar tone, and her intercourse with the officers +had prepared her to make comparisons under which even his great natural +advantages suffered. But this very intercourse with the officers who +occasionally came upon the lake to fish and hunt, had an effect in producing +her present sentiments towards the young stranger. With them, while her +vanity had been gratified, and her self-love strongly awakened, she had many +causes deeply to regret the acquaintance-if not to mourn over it, in secret +sorrow-for it was impossible for one of her quick intellect not to perceive +how hollow was the association between superior and inferior, and that she +was regarded as the play thing of an idle hour, rather than as an equal and a +friend, by even the best intentioned and least designing of her scarlet-clad +admirers. Deerslayer, on the other hand, had a window in his breast, through +which the light of his honesty was ever shining; and even his indifference to +charms that so rarely failed to produce a sensation, piqued the pride of the +girl, and gave him an interest that another, seemingly more favored by +nature, might have failed to excite. + +In this manner half an hour passed, during which time the Ark had been slowly +stealing over the water, the darkness thickening around it; though it was +easy to see that the gloom of the forest at the southern end of the lake, was +getting to be distant, while the mountains that lined the sides of the +beautiful basin were overshadowing it, nearly from side to side. There was, +indeed, a narrow stripe of water, in the centre of the lake where the dim +light that was still shed from the heavens, fell upon its surface in a line +extending north and south; and along this faint track, a sort of inverted +milky way, in which the obscurity was not quite as dense as in other places, +the scow held her course, he who steered well knowing that it led in the +direction he wished to go. The reader is not to suppose, however, that any +difficulty could exist as to the course. This would have been determined by +that of the air, had it not been possible to distinguish the mountains, as +well as by the dim opening to the south, which marked the position of the +valley in that quarter, above the plain of tall trees, by a sort of +lessened obscurity; the difference between the darkness of the forest, and +that of the night, as seen only in the air. The peculiarities at length +caught the attention of Judith and the Deerslayer, and the conversation +ceased, to allow each to gaze at the solemn stillness and deep repose of +nature. + +"Tis a gloomy night-" observed the girl, after a pause of several minutes-"I +hope we may be able to find the castle.' + +"Little fear of our missing that, if we keep this path, in the middle of the +lake," returned the young man. "Natur' has mad us a road here, and, dim as it +is, there'll be little difficulty following it." + +"Do you hear nothing, Deerslayer? - It seemed as if the water was stirring +quite near us!" + +"Sartainly something did move the water, oncommon like; must have been a +fish. Them creatur's prey upon each other like men, and animals on the land; +one has leaped into the ail and fallen hard, back into his own element. Tis +of little us Judith, for any to strive to get out of their elements, since it +natur' to stay in 'em, and natur' will have its way. Ha! That sounds like a +paddle, used with more than common caution! + +At this moment the Delaware bent forward, and pointed significantly into the +boundary of gloom, as if some object had suddenly caught his eye. Both +Deerslayer and Judith followed the direction of his gesture, and each got a +view of a canoe a the same instant. The glimpse of this startling neighbor +was dim, and to eyes less practised, it might have been uncertain though to +those in the Ark, the object was evidently a canoe with a single individual +in it; the latter, standing erect, and paddling. How many lay concealed in +its bottom, of course could not be known. Flight, by means of oars, from a +bar: canoe impelled by vigorous and skilful hands, was utterly im +practicable, and each of the men seized his rifle, in expectation of a +conflict. + +"I can easily bring down the paddler," whispered Deer slayer, "but we'll +first hail him, and ask his ar'n'd." Then raising his voice, he continued in +a solemn manner-"hold! I ye come nearer, I must fire, though contrary to my +wishes and then sartain death will follow. Stop paddling, and answer." + +"Fire, and slay a poor, defenceless, girl," returned a soft tremulous female +voice. "And God will never forgive you! Go your way, Deerslayer, and let me +go mine." + +"Hetty!" exclaimed the young man and Judith in a breath; and the former +sprang instantly to the spot where he had left the canoe they had been +towing. It was gone, and he understood the whole affair. As for the +fugitive, frightened at the menace, she ceased paddling, and remained dimly +visible, resembling a spectral outline of a human form, standing on the +water. At the next moment, the sail was lowered, to prevent the Ark from +passing the spot where the canoe lay. This last expedient, however, was not +taken in time, for the momentum of so heavy a craft, and the impulsion of the +air, soon set her by, bringing Hetty directly to windward, though still +visible, as the change in the positions of the two boats, now placed her in +that species of milky way which has been mentioned. + +"What can this mean, Judith?" demanded Deerslayer- "Why has your sister taken +the canoe, and left us?" + +"You know she is feeble-minded, poor girl! - and she has her own ideas of +what ought to be done. She loves her father more than most children love +their parents - and - then -" + +"Then, what, gal? This is a trying moment; one in which truth must be +spoken!" + +Judith felt a generous and womanly regret at betraying her sister, and she +hesitated ere she spoke again. But once more urged by Deerslayer, and +conscious herself of all the risks the whole party was running by the +indiscretion of Hetty, she could refrain no longer. + +"Then, I fear, poor, weak-minded, Hetty has not been altogether able to see +all the vanity, and rudeness and folly, that lie hid behind the handsome face +and fine form of Hurry Harry. She talks of him, in her sleep, and sometimes +betrays the inclination, in her waking moments." + +"You think, Judith, that your sister is now bent on some mad scheme to serve +her father and Hurry, which will, in all likelihood, give them riptyles the +Mingos, the mastership of a canoe?" + +"Such, I fear, will turn out to be the fact, Deerslayer: Poor Hetty has +hardly sufficient cunning to outwit a savage." + +All this while, the canoe, with the form of Hetty, erect in one end of it, +was dimly perceptible, though the greater drift of the Ark, rendered it, at +each instant, less and less distinct. It was evident no time was to be lost, +lest it should altogether disappear. The rifles were now laid aside, as +useless, the two men seizing the oars, and sweeping the head of the scow +round, in the direction of the canoe. Judith, accustomed to the office, flew +to the other end of the Ark, and placed herself at what might be called the +helm. Hetty took the alarm, at these preparations, which could not be made +without noise, and started off like a bird, that had been suddenly put up by +the approach of unexpected danger. + +As Deerslayer and his companion rowed with the energy of those who felt the +necessity of straining every nerve, and Hetty's strength was impaired by a +nervous desire to escape, the chase would have quickly terminated in the +capture of the fugitive, had not the girl made several short and unlooked-for +deviations in her course. These turnings gave her time, and they had also the +effect of gradually bringing both canoe and Ark within the deeper gloom, cast +by the shadows from the hills. They also gradually increased the distance +between the fugitive and her pursuers, until Judith called out to her +companions to cease rowing, for she had completely lost sight +of the canoe. + +When this mortifying announcement was made, Hetty was actually so near as to +understand every syllable her sister uttered, though the latter had used the +precaution of speaking as low as circumstances would allow her to do, and to +make herself heard. Hetty stopped paddling at the same moment, and waited the +result with an impatience that was breathless, equally from her late +exertions, and her desire to land. A dead silence immediately fell on the +lake, during which the three in the Ark were using their senses differently, +in order to detect the position of the canoe. Judith bent forward to listen, +in the hope of catching some sound that might betray the direction in which +her sister was stealing away, while her two companions brought their eyes, as +near as possible, to a level with the water, in order to detect any object +that might be floating on its surface. All was vain, however, for neither +sound, nor sight, rewarded their efforts. All this time Hetty, who had not +the cunning to sink into the canoe, stood erect, a finger pressed on her +lips, gazing in the direction in which the voices had last been heard, +resembling a statue of profound and timid attention. Her ingenuity had +barely sufficed to enable her to seize the canoe and to quit the Ark, in the +noiseless manner related, and then it appeared to be momentarily exhausted. +Even the doublings of the canoe had been as much the consequence of an +uncertain hand, and of nervous agitation, as of any craftiness, or +calculation. + +The pause continued several minutes, during which Deerslayer and the +Delaware conferred together, in the language of the latter. Then the oars +dipped, again, and the Ark moved away, rowing with as little noise as +possible. It steered westward, a little southerly, or in the direction of the +encampment of the enemy. Having reached a point, at no great distance from +the shore, and where the obscurity was intense, on account of the proximity +of the land, it lay there near an hour, in waiting for the expected approach +of Hetty, who, it was thought, would make the best of her way, to that spot, +as soon as she believed herself released from the danger of pursuit. No +success rewarded this little blockade, however, neither appearance nor sound +denoting the passage of the canoe. Disappointed at this failure, and +conscious of the importance of getting possession of the fortress, before it +could be seized by the enemy, Deerslayer now took his way towards the castle, +with the apprehension that all his foresight in securing the canoes would be +defeated, by this unguarded and alarming movement on the part of the feeble +minded Hetty. + + + + +Chapter X + +"But who in this wild wood +May credit give to either eye, or ear? +From rocky precipice or hollow cave, +'Midst the confused sound of rustling leaves;, +And creaking boughs, and cries of nightly birds, +Returning seeming answer!" + +Joanna Baihie, Rayner: A Tragedy, II.L3-4, 6-g. + + +Fear as much as calculation, had induced Hetty to cease paddling, when she +found that her pursuers did not know in which direction to proceed. She +remained stationary until the Ark had pulled in near the encampment, as has +been related in the preceding chapter, when she resumed the paddle and with +cautious strokes made the best of her way towards the western shore. In order +to avoid her pursuers, however, who, she rightly suspected, would soon be +rowing along that shore themselves, the head of the canoe was pointed so far +north, as to bring her to land on a point that thrust itself into the lake, +at the distance of near a league from the outlet. Nor was this altogether the +result of a desire to escape, for, feeble minded as she was, Hetty Hutter +had a good deal of that instinctive caution which so often keeps those whom +God has thus visited from harm. She was perfectly aware of the importance of +keeping the canoes from falling into the hands of the Iroquois, and long +familiarity with the lake had suggested one of the simplest expedients, by +which this great object could be rendered compatible with her own purpose. + +The point in question, was the first projection that offered on that side of +the lake, where a canoe, if set adrift with a southerly air would float clear +of the land, and where it would be no great violation of probabilities to +suppose it might even hit the castle; the latter lying above it, almost in a +direct line with the wind. Such then was Hetty's intention, and she landed on +the extremity of the gravelly point, beneath an overhanging oak, with the +express intention of shoving the canoe off from the shore, in order that it +might drift up towards her father's insulated abode. She knew, too, from the +logs that occasionally floated about' the lake, that did it miss the castle, +and its appentages tje wind would be likely to change before the canoe could +reach the northern extremity of the lake, and that Deerslayer might have an +opportunity of regaining it, in the morning, when no doubt he would be +earnestly sweeping the surface of the water, and the whole of its wooded +shores, with glass. In all this, too, Hetty was less governed by any chain of +reasoning than by her habits, the latter often supplying the of mind, in +human beings, as they perform the same for animals of the inferior classes. + +The girl was quite an hour finding her way to the point, the distance and the +obscurity equally detaining her, but she was no sooner on the gravelly beach, +than she prepared to set the canoe adrift, in the manner mentioned. While in +the act of pushing it from her, she heard low voices, that seemed to come +among the trees behind her. Startled at this unexpected danger Hetty was on +the point of springing into the canoe in order to seek safety in flight, when +she thought she recognised the tones of Judith's melodious voice. Bending +forward, so as to catch the sounds more directly, they evidently came from +the water, and then she understood that the Ark Was approaching from the +south, and so close in with the western shore, as necessarily to cause it. to +pass the point, within twenty yards of the spot where she stood. Here, then, +was all she could desire; the canoe was shoved off into the lake, leaving its +late occupant alone on the narrow strand. + +When this act of self-devotion was performed, Hetty did not retire. The +foliage of the overhanging trees and bushes would have almost concealed her +person, had there been light, but in that obscurity, it was utterly +impossible to discover any object thus shaded, at the distance of a few feet. +Flight, too, was perfectly easy, as twenty steps would effectually bury her +in the forest. She remained, therefore, watching with intense anxiety the +result of her expedient, intending to call the attention of the others to the +canoe, with her voice, should they appear to pass without observing it. The +Ark approached under its sail, again, Deerslayer standing in its bow, with +Judith near him, and the Delaware at the helm. It would seem that, in the bay +below, it had got too close to the shore, in the lingering hope of +ntercepting Hetty, for, as it caine nearer, the latter distinctly heard the +directions that the young man forward, gave to his companion aft, in order to +clear the point. + +"Lay her head more off the shore, Delaware," said Deerslayer for the third +time, speaking in English that his fair companion might understand his +words-"Lay her head well off shore. We have got embayed here, and needs keep +the mast clear of the trees. Judith, there's a canoe!" + +The last words were uttered with great earnestness, and Deerslayer's hand was +on his rifle, ere they were fairly out of his mouth. But the truth flashed on +the mind of the quickwitted girl, and she instantly told her companion that +the boat must be that in which her sister had fled. + +"Keep the scow straight, Delaware; steer-as straight as your bullet flies +when sent agin a buck - There, - I have it." + +The canoe was seized, and immediately secured again to the side of the Ark. +At the next moment the sail was lowered, and the motion of the Ark arrested, +by means of the oars. + +"Hetty!" called Qut Judith, concern, even affection betraying itself in her +tones. "Are you within hearing, sister- for God's sake answer, and let me +bear the sound of your voice, again! Hetty! -dear Hetty." + +"I'm here, Judith - here on the shore, where it will be useless to follow me, +as I will hide in the woods." + +"Oh! Hetty what is't you 4o! Remember 'tis drawing near midnight, and that +the woods are filled with savages and wild beasts!" + +"Neither will harm a poor half-witted girl, Judith. God is as much with me, +here, as he would be in the Ark or in the hut. I am going to help my father, +and poor Hurry Harry, who will be tortured and slain, unless some one cares +for them." + +"We all care for them, and intend to-morrow to,send them a flag of truce, to +buy their' ransom. Come back then, sister; trust to us, who have better heads +than you, and who will do all we can for father." + +"1 know your head is better than mine, Judith, for mine is very weak; to be +sure; but, I must go to father and poor Hurry. Do y~u and Deerslayer keep the +castle, sister; leave me in the hands of God." + + +"God is with us all, Hetty-in the castle, or on the shore - father as well as +ourselves, and it is sinful not to trust to his goodness. You can do nothing +in the dark; will lose your way in the forest, and perish for want of food." +"God will not let that happen to a poor child that goes to serve her father, +sister. I must try and find the savages." + +"Come back for this night only; in the morning, we will put you ashore, and +leave you to do as you may think right." + +"You say so, Judith, and you think so; but you would not. Your heart would +soften, and you'd see tomahawks and scalping knives, in the air. Besides, +I've got a thing to tell the Indian chief that will answer all our wishes, +and I'm afraid I may forget it, if I do'n't tell it to him at once. You'll +see that he will let father go, as soon as he hears it!" + +"Poor Hetty! What can you say to a ferocious savage that will be likely to +change his bloody purpose!" + +"That which will frighten him, and make him let father go-" returned the +simple minded girl, positively. "You'll see, sister; you'll see, how soon it +will bring him to, like a gentle child!" + +"Will you tell me, Hetty, what you intend to say?' asked DeerSlayer. "I know +the savages well, and can form some idee how far fair words will be likely, +or not, to work on their bloody natux's. If it~ not suited to the gifts of a +red skin, twill, be of no use; for reason goes by gifts, as well as conduct." + +"Well, then," answered Hetty, dropping her voice to a low, confidential, +tone, for the stillness of the night, and the nearness of the Ark, permitted +her to do this, and still to be heard-"Well, then, Deerslayer, as you seem a +good and honest young man I will tellyeu. I mean not to say a word to any of +the savages until I get face to face with their head chief, let them plague +me with as many questions as they please I'll answer none of them, unless it +be to tell them to lead me to their wisest man-Then, Deerslayer, I'll tell +him that God will not forgive murder, and thefts; and that if father and +Hurry did go after the scalps of the Iroquois, he must return good for evil, +for so the bible commands, else he will go into everlasting punishment. When +he hears this, and feels it to be true, as feel it he must, how long will it +be before he sends father, and Hurry, and me to the shore, opposite the +castle, telling us all three to go our way in peace?" + +The last question was put in a triumphant manner, and then the simple minded +girl laughed at the impression she never doubted that her project had made on +her auditors. Deerslayer was dumb-founded at this proof of guileless +feebleness of mind, but Judith had suddenly bethought her of a means of +counteracting this wild project, by acting on the very feelings that had +given it birth. Without adverting to the closing question, or the laugh, +therefore, she hurriedly called to her sister by name, as one suddenly +impressed with the importance of what she had to say. But no answer was given +to the call. + +By the snapping of twigs, and the rustling of leaves, Hetty had evidently +quitted the shore, and was already burying herself in the forest. To follow +would have been bootless, since the darkness, as well as the dense cover that +the woods every where. offered, would have rendered her capture next to +impossible, and there was also the never ceasing danger of falling into the +hands of their enemies. After ~ short and melancholy discussion, therefore, +the sail was again set, and the Ark pursued its course towards its habitual +moorings, Deerslayer silently felicitating himself on the recovery of the +canoe, and brooding over his plans for the morrow. The wind rose as the party +quitted the point, and in less than an hour they reached the castle. Here all +was found, as it had been left, and the reverse of the ceremonies had to be +taken, in entering the building, that had been used on quitting it. Judith +occupied a solitary bed that nights bedewing the pillow with her tears, as +she thought of the innocent and hitherto neglected creature, who had been~ +her companion, from childhood, and bitter regrets came over her mind, from +more causes than one, as the weary hours passed away, making it nearly +morning before' she lost her recollection in sleep. Deerslayer and the +Delaware took their rest in the Ark, where we shall leave them enjoying the +deep sleep of the honest, the healthful and fearless, to return to the girl +we have last seen in the midst of the forest. + +When Hetty left the shore, she took her way unhesitatingly into the woods, +with a nervous apprehension of being followed. Luckily, this course was the +best she could have hit on to effect her own purpose, since it was the only +one that led her from the point. The night was so intensely dark, beneath the +branches of the trees, that her progress was very slow, and the direction +she went altogether a matter of chance, after the first few yards. The +formation of the ground, however, did not permit her to deviate far from the +line in which she desired to proceed. On one hand it was soon bounded by the +acclivity of the hill, while the lake, on the other, served as a guide. For +two hours did this single-hearted and simple-minded girl toil through the +mazes of the forest, sometimes finding herself on the brow of the bank that +bounded the water, and at others struggling up an ascent that warned her to +go no farther in that direction, since it necessarily ran at right angles to +the course on which she wished to proceed. Her feet often slid from beneath +her, and she got many falls, though none to do her injury; but, by the end +of the period mentioned, she had become so weary as to want strength to go +any farther. Rest was indispensable, and she set about preparing a bed, with +the readiness and coolness of one to whom the wilderness presented no +unnecessary terrors. She knew that wild beasts roamed through all the +adjacent forest, but animals that preyed on the human species were rare, and +of dangerous serpents there were literally none. These facts had been taught +her by her father, and whatever her feeble mind received at all, it received +so confidingly as to leave her no uneasiness from any doubts, or scepticism. +To her the sublimity of the solitude in which she was placed, was soothing, +rather than appalling, and she gathered a bed of leaves, with as much +indifference to the circumstances that would have driven the thoughts of +sleep entirely from the minds of most of her sex, as if she had been +preparing her place of nightly rest, beneath the paternal roof. +As soon as Hetty had collected a sufficient number of the dried leaves to +protect her person from the damps of the ground, she kneeled beside the +humble pile, clasped her raised hands in an attitude of deep devotion, and in +a soft, low, but audible voice repeated the Lord's Prayer. This was followed +by those simple and devout verses, so familiar to children, in which she +recommended her soul to God, should it be called away to another state of +existence, ere the returirof morning. This duty done, she lay down and +disposed herself to sleep. The attire of the girl, though suited to the +season, was sufficiently 'warm for all ordinary purposes, but the forest is +ever cool, and the nights of that elevated region of country, have always a +freshness about them, that renders clothing more necessary than is commonly +the case in the summers of a low latitude. This had been foreseen by Hetty, +who had brought with her, a coarse heavy mantle, which, when laid over her +body, answered all the useful purposes of a blanket Thus protected, she +dropped asleep, in a few minutes, as tranquilly as if watched over by the +guardian care of that mother, who had so recently been taken from her +forever, affording in this partirular, a most striking contrast between her +own humble couch, and the sleepless pillow of her sister. + +Hour passed after hour, in a tranquility as undisturbed and a rest as sweet, +as if angels, expressly commissioned for that object, watched around the bed +of Hetty Hutter. Not once did her soft eyes open, until the grey of the dawn +came struggling through the tops of the trees, falling on their lids, and, +united to the freshness of a summer's morning, giving the usual summons to +awake. Ordinarily, Hetty was up ere the rays of the sun tipped the summits of +the mountains, but on this occasion her fatigue had been so great, and her +rest was so profound, that the customary warnings failed of their effect. The +girl murmured in her sleep, threw an arm forward, smiled as gently as an +infant in its cradle, but still slumbered. In making this unconscious +gesture, her hand fell on some object that was warm, and in the half +unconsciouss state in which she lay, she connected the circumstance with her +habits. At the next moment, a rude attack was made on her side, as if a +rooting animal were thrusting its snout beneath, with a desire to force her +position, and then, uttering the name of "Judith" she awoke. As the startled +girl arose to a sitting attitude she perceived that some dark object sprang +from her, scattering the leaves and soaping the fallen twigs in its haste. +Opening her eyes, and recovering from the first confusion and astonishment +of her situation, Hetty perceived a cub, of the common American brown bear, +balancing itself on its hinder legs, and still looking towards her, as if +doubtful whether it would be safe to trust itself near her person again. The +first impulse of Hetty, who had been mistress of several of these cubs, was +to run and seize the little creature as a prize, but a loud growl warned her +of the danger of such a procedure. Recoiling a few steps, the girl looked +hurly round, and perceived the dam, watching her moveftts, with fiery eyes, +at no great distance. A hollow tree; that once been the home of bees, having +recently fallen, the ther with two more cubs, was feasting on the dainty food +it this accident had placed within her reach; while the firsta jealous eye on +the situation of its truant and reckless young. + +It would exceed all the means of human knowledge to presume to analyze the +influences that govern the acts of the lower animals. On this occasion, the +dam, though proverbially fierce when its young is thought to be in danger, +manifested no intention to attack the girl. It quitted the honey, and +advanced to a place within twenty feet of her, where it raised itself on its +hind legs, and balanced its body in a sort of angry, growling discontent, but +approached no nearer. Happily, Hetty did not fly. On the contrary, though not +without terror, she knelt with' her face towards the animal, and with clasped +hands and uplifted eyes, repeated the prayer of the previous night. This act +of devotion was not the result of alarm, but it was a duty she ne4~'er +neglected to perform ere she slept, and w~hen the return of consciousness +awoke her to the business of the day. As the girl arose from her knees, the +bear dropped on its feet again, and collecting its cubs around her, permitted +them to draw their natural sustenance. Hetty was delighted with this proof of +tenderness in an animal that has but a very indutThrent reputation for the +gentler feelings, and as a cub would quit its mother to frisk and leap about +in wantonness, she felt a strong desireagaintocatchitupinherarms, +anciplaywithit. Butadmonished by the growl, she had self command sufficient +not to put this dangerous project in execution, and recollecting her errand +among the hills, she tore herself away from the group, and proceeded on her +course, along the margin of the lake, of which she now caught glimpses again +through the trees. To her surprise, though not to her alarm, the family of +bears arose and followed her steps, keeping a short distance behind her; +appaiently watching every movement as if they had a near interest in all she +did. + +In this manner, escorted by the dam and cubs, the girl proceeded nearly a +mile, thrice the distance she had been able to achieve in the darkness, +during the same period of time. She then reached a brook that had dug a +channel for itself into the earth, and went brawling into the lake, between +steep and high banks, covered with trees. Here, Hetty performed her +ablutions; then drinking of the pure mountain water, she went her way, +refreshed and lighter of heart, still attended by her singular companions. +Her course now lay along a- broad and nearly level terrace, which stretched +from the top of the bank that bounded the water, to a low acclivity that rose +to a second and irregular platform above. This was at a part of the valley +where the mountains ran obliquely, forming the commencement of a plain that +spread between the hills, southward of the sheet of water. J-Ietty knew, by +this circumstance, that she was getting near to the encampment, and had she +not, the bears would have given her warning of the vicinity of human beings. +Snuffing the air, the dam refused to follow any further, though the girl +looked back and invited her to come by childish signs, and even by direct +appeals made in her own sweet voice. It was while making her way slowly +through some bushes, in this manner, with averted face and eyes riveted on +the immovable animals, that the girl suddenly foundher steps arrested by a +human hand, that was laid lightly on her shoulder. + +"Where go? -" said a soft female voice, speaking hurriedly, and in concern.- +"Indian- red-man-savage- wicked warrior- thataway." + +This unexpected salutation alarmed the girl no more than the presence of the +fierce inhabitants of the woods. It took her a little by surprise, it is +true, but she was in a measure prepared for some such meeting, and the +creature who stopped her, was as-little likely to excite terror as any who +ever appeared in the guise of an Indian. It was a girl, not much older than +herself, whose smile was sunny asJudith's in her brightest moments, whose +voice was melody itself, and whose accents and manner had all the rebuked +gentleness that characterizes the sex among a peQple, who habitually treat +their women as the attendants and servitors of the warriors. Beauty among the +women of the aboriginal Americans, before they have become exposed to the +hardships of wives and mothers, is by no means uncommon. In this particular, +the original owners of the country were not unlike their more civilized +successors, nature appearing -to have bestowed that delicacy of mien and +outline that forms so great a charm in the youthful female, but of which they +are so early deprived; and that, too, as much by~the habits of domestic life, +as from any other cause. + +The girl who had so suddenly arrested the steps of Hetty was dressed in a +calico mantle that effectually protected all the upper part of her person, +while a short petticoat of blue cloth edged with gold lace, that fell no +lower than her knees, leggings of the same, and moccasins of deer-skin, +completed her attire. Her hair fell in long dark braids down her shoulders +and back, and was parted above a low smooth forehead, in a way to soften the +expression of eyes that were full bf archness and natural feeling. Her face +was oval, with delicate features, the teeth were even and white, while the +mouth expressed a melancholy tenderness, as if it wore this peculiar meaning +in intuitive perception of the fate of a being who was doomed from birth to +endure a woman's sufferings, relieved by a woman's affections. Her voice, as +has been already intimated, was soft as the sighing of the night air, a +characteristic of the females of her race, but which was so conspicuous in +herself as to have produced for her the name of Wah-ta!-Wah; which rendered +into English means Hist-oh!-Hist. + +In a word, this was the betrothed of Chingachgook, who -having succeeded in +lulling their suspicions, was permitted to wander around the encampment of +her captors. This indulgence w~s in accordance with the general policy of +the red man, who well knew, moreover, that her trail could have been easily +followed in the event of flight. It will also be remembered that the +Iroquois, or Hurons, as it would be better to call them, were entirely +ignorant of the proximity of her lover, a fact, indeed, that she did not know +herself. + +It is not easy to say which manifested the most self-possession at this +unexpected meeting; the pale face, or the red-girl. But, though a little +surprised, Wah-ta!-Wah was the most willing to speak, and far the readier in +foreseeing consequences, as well as in devising means to avert them. Her +father, during her childhood, had been much employed as a warrior by the +authorities of the Colony, and dwelling for several years near the forts, she +had caught a knowledge of~he English tongue, which she spoke in the usual, +abbreviated manner of an Indian, but fluently, and without any of the +ordinary reluctance of her people. + +"Where go?-" repeated Wah-ta!-Wah, returning the smile of Hetty, in her own +gentle, winning, manner - "wicked warrior that-a-way - good warrior, far +off." + +"What's your name?" asked Hetty, with the simplicity of a child. + +"Wah-ta! -Wah. I no Mingo - good Delaware - Yengeese friend. Mingo cruel, and +love scalp, for blood- Delaware love him, for honor. Come here, where no +eyes." + +Wah-ta!-Wah now led her companion towards the lake, descending the bank so as +to place its overhanging trees and bushes between them, and any probable +observers. Nor did she stop until they were both seated, side by side, on a +fallen log, one end of which actually lay buried in the water. + +"Why you come for?" the young Indian eagerly inquired- "Where you come for?" +Hetty told her tale in her own simple and truth-loving manner. She explained +the situation of her father, and stated her desire to serve him, and if +possible to procure his release. + +"Why your fader come to Mingo 'camp in night?" asked the Indian girl, with a +directness, which if not borrowed from the other, partook largely of its +sincerity. "He know it war-time, and he no boy - he no want beard - no want +to be told Iroquois carry tomahawk, and knife, and rifle. Why he come night +time, seize me by hair, and try to scalp, Delaware girl?" + +"You!" said Hetty, almost sickening with horror-"Did he seize you-did he try +to scalp you?" + +"Why no? Delaware scalp sell for much as Mingo scalp. Governor no tell +difference. Wicked t'ing for pale face to scalp. No his gifts, as the good +Deerslayer alway tell me." + +"And doyou know the Deerslayer?" said Hetty, coloring with delight and +surprise; forgetting her regrets, at the moment, in the influence of this new +feeling. "I know him, too. He is now in the Ark, with Judith and a Delaware +who is called the Big Serpent. A bold and handsome warrior is this Serpent, +too!" +Spite of the rich deep colour that nature had bestowed on the Indian beauty, +the tell-tale blood deepened on her cheeks, until the blush gave new +animation and intelligence to her jet-black eyes. Raising a finger in an +attitude of warning, she dropped her voice, already so soft and sweet, nearly +to a whisper, as she continued the discourse. + +"Chingachgook!" returned the Delaware girl, sighing out the harsh name, in +sounds so softly guttural, as to cause it to reach the ear in melody - "His +father, Uncas-great chief of the Mahicanni - next to old Tamenund! - More as +warrior, not so much gray hair, and less at Council Fire. You know Serpent?" + +"He joined us last evening, and was in the Ark with me, for two or three +hours before I left it. I'm afraid, Hist-" Hetty could not pronounce the +Indian name of her new friend, but having heard Deerslayer give her this +familiar appellation, she used it without any of the ceremony of civilized +life - "I'm afraid Hist, he has come after scalps, as well as my poor father +and Hurry Harry." + +"Why he should'n't - ha? Chingachgook red warrior - very red-scalp make his +honor-Be sure he take him." + +"Then," said Hetty, earnestly, "he will be as wicked as any other. God will +not pardon in a red-man, what he will not pardon in a white man. + +"No true-" returned the Delaware girl, with a warmth, that nearly amounted to +passion. "No true, I tell you! The Manitou smile and pleased when he see +young warrior come back from the war path, with two, ten, hundred scalp on a +pole! Chingachgook father take scalp - grandfather take scalp - all old +chief take scalp, and Chingachgook take as many scalp as he can carry, +himself" + +"Then, Hist, his sleep, of nights, must be terrible to think of No one can be +cruel, and hope to be forgiven." + +"No cruel-plenty forgiven-" returned Wah-ta!-Wah, stamping her little foot on +the stony strand, and shaking her head in a way to show how completely +feminine feeling, in one of its aspects, had gotten the better of feminine +feeling in another. "I tell you, Serpent brave; he go home, this time, with +four, -yes-two scalp." + +"And is that his errand, here? - Did he really come all this distance, across +mountain, and valley, rivers and lakes, to torment his fellow creatures, and +do so wicked a thing?" + +This question at once appeased the growing ire of the half-offended Indian +beauty. It completely got the better of the prejudices of education, and +turned all her thoughts to a gentler and more feminine channel. At first, she +looked around her, suspiciously, as if distrusting eaves-droppers; then she +gazed wistfully into the face of her attentive companion; after which this +exhibition of girlish coquetry and womanly feeling, terminated by her +covering her face with both her hands, and laughing in a strain that might +well be termed the melody of the woods. Dread of discovery, however, soon put +a stop to this naive exhibition of feeling, and removing her hands, this +creature of impulses, gazed again wistfully into the face of her companion, +as if inquiring how far she might trust a stranger with her secret. Although +Hetty had no claims to her sister's extraordinary beauty, many thought her +countenance the most winning of the two. It expressed all the undisguised +sincerity of her character, and it was totally free from any of the +unpleasant physical accompaniments, that so frequently attend mental +imbecility. It is true that one accustomed to closer observations than +common, might have detected the proofs of her feebleness of intellect in the +language of her sometimes vacant eyes, but they were signs that attracted +sympathy by their total want of guile, rather than by any other feeling. The +effect on Hist, to use the English and more familiar translation of the name, +was favorable, and yielding to an impulse of tenderness, she threw her arms +around Hetty, and embraced her with an outpouring emotion, so natural that it +was only equalled by its warmth. + +"You good-" whispered the young Indian-"you good, I know; it so long since +Wah-ta!-Wah have a friend-a sister-any body to speak her heart to! You Hist +friend; do'n't I say trut'?" + +"I never had a friend," answered Hetty returning the warm embrace with +unfeigned earnestness. "I've a sister, but no friend. Judith loves me, and I +love Judith; but that's natural, and as we are taught in the bible-but I +should like to have a friend! I'll be your friend, with all my heart, for I +like your voice and your smile, and your way of thinking in every thing, +except about the scalps-" + +"No t'ink more of him-no say more of scalp-" interrupted Hist, soothingly- +"You pale face, I red skin; we bring up different fashion. Deerslayer and +Chingachgook great friend, +and no the same colour, Hist and-what your name, pretty pale face?" + +"I am called Hetty, though when they spell the name in the bible, they always +spell it, Esther." + +"What that make?-no good, no harm. No need to spell name at all-Moravian try +to make Wah-ta!-Wah spell, but no won't let him. No good for Delaware girl to +know too much-know more than warrior some time; that great shame. My name +Wah-ta!-Wah-that say Hist in your tongue; you call him, Hist-I call him, +Hetty." + +These preliminaries settled to their mutual satisfaction, the two girls began +to discourse of their several hopes and projects. Hetty made her new friend +more fully acquainted with her intentions in behalf of her father, and, to +one in the least addicted to prying into the affairs, Hist would have +betrayed her own feelings and expectations in connection with the young +warrior of her own tribe. Enough was revealed on both sides, however, to let +each party get a tolerable insight into the views of the other, though enough +still remained in mental reservation, to give rise to the following +questions and answers, with which the interview in effect closed. As the +quickest witted, Hist was the first with her interrogatories. Folding an arm +about the waist of Hetty, she bent her head so as to look up playfully into +the face of the other, and, laughing, as if her meaning were to be extracted +from her looks, she spoke more plainly. + +"Hetty got broder, as well as fader?-" she said-"Why no talk of broder, as +well as fader?" + +"I have no brother, Hist. I had one once, they say, but he is dead many a +year, and lies buried in the lake, by the side of my mother." + +"No got broder- got a young warrior- Love him, almost as much as fader, eh? +Very handsome, and brave-looking; fit to be chief, if he good as he seem to +be." + +"It's wicked to love any man as well as I love my father, and so I strive not +to do it, Hist," returned the conscientious Hetty. who knew not how to +conceal an emotion, by an approach to an untruth as venial as an evasion, +though powerfully tempted by female shame to err, "though I sometimes think +wickedness + +will get the better of me, if Hurry comes so often to the lake. I must tell +you the truth, dear Hist, because you ask me, but I should fall down and +die in the woods, if he knew it!" + +"Why he no ask you, himself?-Brave looking-why not bold speaking? Young +warrior ought to ask young girl, no make young girl speak first. Mingo girls +too shame for that." + +This was said indignantly, and with the generous warmth a young female of +spirit would be apt to feel, at what she deemed an invasion of her sex's most +valued privilege. It had little influence on the simple-minded, but also +just-minded Hetty, who, though inherently feminine in all her impulses, was +much more alive to the workings of her own heart, than to any of the usages +with which convention has protected the sensitiveness of her sex. + +"Ask me what?' the startled girl demanded, with a suddenness that proved how +completely her fears had been aroused. 'Ask me, if I like him as well as I do +my own father! Oh! I hope he will never put such a question to me, for I +should have to answer, and that would kill me!" + +"No-no-no kill, quite-almost," returned the other, aughing in spite of +herself. "Make blush come - make shame come too: but he no stay great while; +then feel happier than ever Young warrior must tell young girl he want to +make Nife, else never can live in his wigwam." + +"Hurry do'n't want to marry me- No body will ever want to marry me, Hist." + +"How you can know? P'raps every body want to marry you, and by-and-bye, +tongue say what heart feel. Why nobody want to marry you?" +"I am not full witted, they say. Father often tells me this; and so does +Judith, sometimes, when she is vexed; but I hould'n't so much mind them, as I +did mother. She said so once and then she cried as if her heart would break; +and, so, I know I'm not full witted." + +Hist gazed at the gentle, simple, girl, for quite a minute vithout speaking, +and then the truth appeared to flash all at nce on the mind of the young +Indian maid. Pity, reverence Lnd tenderness seemed struggling together in her +breast, and hen rising, suddenly, she indicated a wish to her companion hat +she would accompany her to the camp, which was situated at no great distance. +This unexpected change from the precautions that Hist had previously +manifested a desire to use, in order to prevent being seen, to an open +exposure of the person of her friend, arose from the perfect conviction that +no Indian would harm a being whom the Great Spirit had disarmed, by depriving +it of its strongest defence, reason. In this respect, nearly all +unsophisticated nations resemble each other, appearing to offer +spontaneously, by a feeling creditable to human nature, that protection by +their own forbearance, which has been withheld by the inscrutable wisdom of +Providence. Wah-ta!-Wah, indeed, knew that, in many tribes, the mentally +imbecile and the mad, were held in a species of religious reverence, +receiving from these untutored inhabitants of the forest respect and honors, +instead of the contumely and neglect that it is their fortune to meet with, +among the more pretending and sophisticated. + +Hetty accompanied her new friend without apprehension, or reluctance. It was +her wish to reach the camp, and, sustained by her motives, she felt no more +concern for the consequences, than did her companion herself, now the latter +was apprized of the character of the protection that the pale face maiden +carried with her. Still, as they proceeded slowly along a shore that was +tangled with overhanging bushes, Hetty continued the discourse, assuming the +office of interrogating, which the other had instantly dropped, as soon as +she ascertained the character of the mind to which her questions had been +addressed. + +"But you are not half-witted," said Hetty, and there's no reason why the +Serpent should not marry you. + +"Hist prisoner, and Mingo got big ear. No speak of Chingachgook when they +by. Promise Hist that, good Hetty." + +"I know-I know-" returned Hetty, half-whispering, in her eagerness to let the +other see she understood the necessity of caution. "I know-Deerslayer and the +Serpent mean to get you away from the Iroquois, and you wish me not to tell +the secret. + +"How you know?" said Hist, hastily, vexed at the moment, that the other was +not even more feeble minded than was actually the case. "How you know? +Better not talk of any but fader and Hurry- Mingo understand dat; he no +understand t'udder. Promise you no talk about what you no understand." + +"But I do understand this, Hist, and so I must talk about it. Deerslayer as +good as told father all about it, in my presence, and as nobody told me not +to listen, I overheard it all, as I did Hurry and father's discourse about +the scalps." + +"Very bad for pale faces to talk about scalps, and very bad for young woman +to hear! Now you love Hist, I know, Hetty, and so, among Injins, when love +hardest never talk most." + +"That's not the way among white people, who talk most about them they love +best. I suppose it's because I'm only halfwitted that I do'n't see the +reason why it should be so different among red people." + +"That what Deerslayer call gift. One gift to talk; t'udder gift to hold +tongue. Hold tongue your gift, among Mingos. If Sarpent want to see Hist, so +Hetty want to see Hurry. Good girl never tell secret of friend." + +Hetty understood this appeal, and she promised the Delaware girl not to make +any allusion to the presence of Chingachgook, or to the motive of his visit +to the lake. + +"Maybe he get off Hurry and fader, as well as Hist, if let him have his way," +whispered Wah~ta~~Wah to her companion, in a confiding flattering way, just +as they got near enough to the encampment to hear the voices of several of +their +own sex, who were apparently occupied in the usual toils of women of their +class. "Tink of dat, Hetty, and put two, twenty finger on mouth. No get +friend free without Sarpent do it. + +A better expedient could not have been adopted, to secure the silence and +discretion of Hetty, than that which was now presented to her mind. As the +liberation of her father and the young frontier man was the great object of +her adventure, she felt the connection between it and the services of the +Delaware, and with an innocent laugh, she nodded her head, and in the same +suppressed manner, promised a due attention to the wishes of her friend. Thus +assured, Hist tarried no longer, but immediately and openly led the way into +the encampment of her captors. + + + + +Chapter XI. + +-"The great King of Kings +Hath in the table of his law commanded, +That thou shalt do no murder. +Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hand, +To hurl upon their heads that break his law." +Richard III, I.iv.i95-97 199-200. + + +That the party to which Hist compulsorily belonged was not one that was +regularly on the war path, was evident by the presence of females. It was a +small fragment of a tribe that had been hunting and fishing within the +English limits, where it was found by the commencement of hostilities, and, +after passing the winter and spring by living on what was strictly the +property of its enemies, it chose to strike a hostile blow before it finally +retired. There was also deep Indian sagacity in the manoeuvre which had led +them so far into the territory of their foes. When the runner arrived who +announced the breaking out of hostilities between the English and French-a +struggle that was certain to carry with it all the tribes that dwelt within +the influence of the respective belligerents - this particular party of the +Iroquois were posted on the shores of the Oneida, a lake that lies some fifty +miles nearer to their own frontier than that which is the scene of our tale. +To have fled in a direct line for the Ganadas would have exposed them to the +dangers of a direct pursuit, and the chiefs had determined to adopt the +expedient of penetrating deeper into a region that had now become dangerous, +in the hope of being able to retire in the rear of their pursuers, instead of +having them on their trail. The presence of the women had induced the attempt +at this ruse, the strength of these feebler members of the party being +unequal to the effort of escaping from the pursuit of warriors. When the +reader remembers the vast extent of the American wilderness, at that early +day, he will perceive that it was possible for even a tribe to remain months +undiscovered in particular portions of it; nor was the danger of +encountering a foe, the usual precautions being observed, as great in the +woods, as it is on the high seas, in a time of active warfare. + +The encampment being temporary, it offered to the eye no more than the rude +protection of a bivouac, relieved in some slight degree by the ingenious +expedients which suggested themselves to the readiness of those who passed +their lives amid similar scenes. One fire, that had been kindled against the +roots of a living oak, sufficed for the whole party; the weather being too +mild to require it for any purpose but cooking. Scattered around this centre +of attraction, were some fifteen or twenty low huts, or perhaps kennels +would be a better word, into which their different owners crept at night, and +which were also intended to meet the exigencies of a storm. + +These little huts were made of the branches of trees, put together with some +ingenuity, and they were uniformly topped with bark that had been stripped +from fallen trees; of whichevery virgin forest possesses hundreds, in all +stages of decay. Of furniture they had next to none. Cooking utensils of the +simplest sort were lying near the fire, a few articles of clothing were to be +seen in, or around the huts, rifles, horns, and pouches leaned against the +trees, or were suspended from the lower branches, and the carcases of two or +three deer were stretched to view on the same natural shambles. + +As the encampment was in the midst of a dense wood, the eye could not take in +its tout ensemble at a glance, but hut after hut started out of the gloomy +picture, as one gazed about him in quest of objects. There was no centre, +unless the fire might be so considered, no open area where the possessors of +this rude village might congregate, but all was dark, covert and cunning, +like its owners. A few children strayed, from hut to hut, giving the spot a +little of the air of domestic life, and the suppressed laugh, and low voices +of the women occasionally broke in upon the deep stillness of the sombre +forest. As for themen, they either ate, slept, or examined their arms. They +conversed but little, and then usually apart, or in groups withdrawn from +the females, whilst an air of untiring, innate, watchfulness and apprehension +of danger seemed to be blended even with their slumbers. + +As the two girls came near the encampment, Hetty uttered a slight +exclamation, on catching a view of the person of her father. He was seated on +the ground, with his back to a tree, and Hurry stood near him, indolently +whittling a twig. Apparently they were as much at liberty as any others in, +or about the camp, and one unaccustomed to Indian usages would have mistaken +them for visiters, instead of supposing them to be captives. Wah-ta!-Wah led +her new friend quite near them, and then modestly withdrew, that her own +presence might be no restraint on her feelings. But Hetty was not +sufficiently familiar with caresses, or outward demonstrations of fondness, +to indulge in any outbreaking of feeling. She merely approached and stood at +her father's side without speaking, resembling a silent statue of filial +affection. The old man expressed neither alarm, nor surprise, at her sudden +appearance. In these particulars, he had caught the stoicism of the Indians, +well knowing that there was no more certain mode of securing their respect +than by imitating their self-command. Nor did the savages themselves betray +the least sign of surprise at this sudden appearance of a stranger among +them. In a word, this arrival produced much less visible sensation, though +occurring under circumstances so peculiar, than would be seen in a village of +higher pretensions to civilization, did an ordinary traveller drive up to the +door of its principal inn. Still a few warriors collected, and it was evident +by the manner in which they glanced at Hetty as they conversed together, that +she was the subject of their discourse, and probable that the reasons of her +unlooked-for appearance were matters of discussion. This phlegm of manner is +characteristic of the North American Indian - some say of his white successor +also - but, in this case much should be attributed to the peculiar situation +in which the party was placed. The force in the Ark, the presence of +Ghingachgook excepted, was well known, no tribe or body of troops was +believed to be near, and vigilant eyes were posted round the entire lake, +watching, day and night, the slightest movement of those whom it would not be +exaggerated now to term the besieged. + +Hutter was inwardly much moved by the conduct of Hetty, though he affected so +much indifference of manner. He recollected her gentle appeal to him, before +he left the Ark, and misfortune rendered that of weight, which might have +been forgotten amid the triumph of success. Then he knew thesimple, single- +hearted fidelity of his child, and understood why she had come, and the total +disregard of self that reigned in all her acts. + +"This is not well, Hetty," he said, deprecating the consequences to the girl +herself, more than any other evil. "These are fierce Iroquois, and are as +little apt to forget an injury, as a favor." + +"Tell me, father-" returned the girl, looking furtively about her, as if +fearful of being overheard, "did God let you do the cruel errand on which you +came? I want much to know this, that I may speak to the Indians plainly, if +he did not." + +"You should not have come hither, Hetty; these brutes will not understand +your nature, or your intentions!" + +"How was it, father; neither you, nor Hurry, seems to have any thing that +looks like scalps." + +"If that will set your mind at peace, child, I can answer you, no. I had +caught the young creatur' who came here with you, but her screeches soon +brought down upon me a troop of the wild cats, that was too much for any +single christian to withstand. If that will do you any good, we are as +innocent of having taken a scalp, this time, as I make no doubt we shall +also be innocent of receiving the bounty." + +"Thank god for that, father! Now I can speak boldly to the Iroquois, and with +an easy conscience. I hope Hurry, too, has not been able to harm any of the +Indians?" + +"Why, as to that matter, Hetty," returned the individual in question, "you've +put it pretty much in the natyve character of the religious truth. Hurry has +not been able, and that is the long and short of it. I've seen many squalls, +old fellow, both on land and on the water, but never did I feel one as lively +and as snappish as that which come down upon us, night afore last, in the +shape of an Indian hurrah-boys! Why, Hetty, you're no great matter at a +reason, or an idee that lies a little deeper than common, but you're human, +and have some human notions -now, I'll just ask you to look at them +circumstances. Here was old Tom, your father, and myself, bent on a legal +operation, as is to be seen in the words of the law and the proclomation; +thinking no harm; when we were set upon by critturs that were more like a +pack of hungry wolves, than mortal savages even,and there they had us +tethered like two sheep, in less time than it has taken me to tell you the +story." + +"You are free, now, Hurry," returned Hetty, glancing timidly at the fine +unfettered limbs of the young giant-"You have no cords, or withes, to pain +your arms, or legs, now. + +"Not I, Hetty. Natur' is natur', and freedom is natur', too. My limbs have a +free look, but that's pretty much the amount of it, sin' I can't use them in +the way I should like. Even these trees have eyes; ay, and tongues too; for +was the old man, here, or I, to start one single rod beyond our gaol limits, +sarvice would be put on the bail afore we could 'gird up our loins' for a +race, and, like as not, four or five rifle bullets would be travelling arter +us, carrying so many invitations to curb our impatience. There is'n't a gaol +in the colony as tight as this, we are now in; for I've tried the vartues of +two or three on 'em, and I know the mater'als they are made of, as well as +the men that made 'em; takin' down being the next step in schoolin', to +puttin' up, in all such fabrications." + +Lest the reader should get an exaggerated opinion of Hurry's demerits, from +this boastful and indiscreet revelation, it may be well to say that his +offences were confined to assaults and batteries, for several of which he had +been imprisoned, when, as he has just said, he often escaped by demonstrating +the flimsiness of the constructions in which he was confined, by opening for +himself doors, in spots where the architects had neglected to place them. But +Hetty had no knowledge of gaols, and little of the nature of crimes, beyond +what her unadulterated and almost instinctive perceptions of right and wrong +taught her, and this sally of the rude being who had spoken, was lost upon +her. She understood his general meaning, however, and answered in reference +to that alone. + +"It's so best, Hurry," she said. "It is best father and you should be quiet +and peaceable, 'till I have spoken to the Iroquois, when all will be well +and happy. I do'n't wish either of you to follow, but leave me to myself. As +soon as all is settled, and you are at liberty to go back to the castle, I +will come and let you know it." + +Hetty spoke with so much simple earnestness, seemed so confident of success, +and wore so high an air of moral feelingand truth, that both the listeners +felt more disposed to attach an importance to her mediation, than might +otherwise have happened. When she manifested an intention to quit them, +therefore, they offered no obstacle, though they saw she was about to join +the group of chiefs who were consulting apart, seemingly on the manner and +motive of her own sudden appearance. + +When Hist-for so we love best, to call her-quitted her companion, she strayed +near one or two of the elder warriors, who had shown her most kindness in her +captivity, the principal man of whom, had even offered to adopt her as his +child, if she would consent to become a Huron. In taking this direction, the +shrewd girl did so to invite inquiry. She was too well trained in the habits +of her people, to obtrude the opinions of one of her sex and years on men and +warriors, but nature had furnished a tact and ingenuity that enabled her to +attract the attention she desired, without wounding the pride of those to +whom it was her duty to defer, and respect. Even her affected indifference +stimulated curiosity, and Hetty had hardly reached the side of her father, +before the Delaware girl was brought within the circle of the warriors, by a +secret but significant gesture. Here she was questioned as to the person of +her companion, and the motives that had brought her to the camp. This was +all that Hist desired. She explained the manner in which she had detected the +weakness of Hetty's reason, rather exaggerating than lessening the deficiency +in her intellect, and then she related, in general terms, the object of the +girl in venturing among her enemies. The effect was all that the speaker +expected, her account investing the person and character of their visiter +with a sacredness and respect, that she well knew would prove her protection. +As soon as her own purpose was attained, Hist withdrew to a distance, where, +with female consideration, and a sisterly tenderness she set about the +preparation of a meal, to be offered to her new friend, as soon as the +latter might be at liberty to partake of it. While thus occupied, however, +the ready girl in no degree relaxed in her watchfulness, noting every change +of countenance among the chiefs, every movement of Hetty's, and the smallest +occurrence that could be likely to affect her own interests, or that of her +new friend. + +As Hetty approached the chiefs, they opened their little circle, with an +ease and deference of manner, that would have done credit to men of more +courtly origin. A fallen tree lay near, and the oldest of the warriors made a +quiet sign for the girl to be seated on it, taking his place at her side, +with the gentleness of a father. The others arranged themselves around the +two, with grave dignity, and then the girl, who had sufficient observation +to perceive that such a course was expected of her, began to reveal the +object of her visit. The moment she opened her mouth to speak, however, the +old chief gave a gentle sign for her to forbear, said a few words to one of +his juniors, and then waited in silent patience until the latter had summoned +Hist to the party. This interruption proceeded from the chief's having +discovered that there existed a necessity for an interpreter, few of the +Hurons present understanding the English language, and they but imperfectly. + +Wah-ta!-Wah was not sorry to be called upon to be present at the interview, +and least of all in the character in which she was now wanted. She was aware +of the hazards she run in attempting to deceive one or two of the party, but +was none the less resolved to use every means that offered, and to practice +every artifice that an Indian education could supply, to conceal the facts +of the vicinity of her betrothed, and of the errand on which he had come. One +unpractised in the expedients and opinions of savage life, would not have +suspected the readiness of invention, the wariness of action, the high +resolution, the noble impulses, the deep self-devotion, and the feminine +disregard of self when the affections were concerned, that lay concealed +beneath the demure looks, the mild eyes, and the sunny smiles of this young +Indian beauty. As she approached them, the grim old warriors regarded her +with pleasure, for they had a secret pride in the hope of engrafting so rare +a scion on the stock of their own nation; adoption being as regularly +practised, and as distinctly recognized among the tribes of America, as it +ever had been among those nations that submit to the sway of the Civil Law. + +As soon as Hist was seated by the side of Hetty, the old chief desired her to +ask "the fair young pale-face" what had brought her among the Iroquois, and +what they could do to serve her. + +"Tell them, Hist, who I am-Thomas Hutter's youngest daughter; Thomas Hutter, +the oldest of their two prisoners; he who owns the castle and the Ark, and +who has the best right to be thought the owner of these hills, and that lake, +since he has dwelt so long, and trapped so long, and fished so long, among +them - They'll know whom you mean by Thomas Hutter, if you tell them, that. +And then tell them that I've come here to convince them they ought not to +harm father, and Hurry, but let them go, in peace, and to treat them as +brethren, rather than as enemies. Now tell them all this plainly, Hist, and +fear nothing for yourself, or me. God will protect us. + +Wah-ta!-Wah did as the other desired, taking care to render the words of her +friend as literally as possible into the Iroquois tongue, a language she used +with a readiness almost equal to that with which she spoke her own. The +chiefs heard this opening explanation, with grave decorum, the two who had a +little knowledge of English, intimating their satisfaction with the +interpreter, by furtive but significant glances of the eyes. + +"And, now, Hist," continued Hetty, as soon as it was intimated to her that +she might proceed, "and, now, Hist, I wish you to tell these red men, word +for word, what I am about to say. Tell them first, that father and Hurry came +here with an intention to take as many scalps as they could, for the wicked +governor and the province have offered money for scalps, whether of warriors, +or women, men or children, and the love of gold was too strong for their +hearts to withstand it. Tell them this, dear Hist, just as you have heard it +from me, word for word." + +Wah-ta!-Wah hesitated about rendering this speech as literally as had been +desired, but detecting the intelligence of those who understood English, and +apprehending even a greater knowledge than they actually possessed she found +herself compelled to comply. Contrary to what a civilized man would have +expected, the admission of the motives and of the errands of their prisoners, +produced no visible effect, on either the countenances or the feelings of the +listeners. They probably considered the act meritorious, and that which +neither of them would have hesitated to perform in his own person, he would +not be apt to censure in another. + +"And, now, Hist," resumed Hetty, as soon as she perceived that her first +speeches were understood by the chiefs, "you can tell them more. They know +that father and Hurry did not succeed, and therefore they can bear them no +grudge for any harm that has been done. If they had slain their children and +wives, ii would not alter the matter, and I'm not certain that what I am +about to tell them would not have more weight had there been mischief done. +But ask them first, Hist, if they know there is a God, who reigns over the +whole earth, and is ruler and chief of all who live, let them be red, or +white, or what color they may?" +Wah-ta!-Wah looked a little surprised at this question, for the idea of the +Great Spirit is seldom long absent from the mind of an Indian girl. She put +the question, as literally as possible, however, and received a grave answer +in the affirmative. + +"This is right," continued Hetty, "and my duty will now be light. This Great +Spirit, as you call our God, has caused a book to be written, that we call a +bible, and in this book have been set down all his commandments, and his holy +will and pleasure, and the rules by which all men are to live, and +directions how to govern the thoughts even, and the wishes, and the will. +Here, this is one of these holy books, and you must tell the chiefs what I am +about to read to them, from its sacred pages." + +As Hetty concluded, she reverently unrolled a small English bible from its +envelope of coarse calico, treating the volume with the sort of external +respect that a Roman ist would be apt to show to a religious relic. As she +slowly proceeded in her task the grim warriors watched each movement with +riveted eyes, and when they saw the little volume appear a slight expression +of surprise escaped one or two of them. But Hetty held it out towards them, +in triumph as if she expected the sight would produce a visible miracle, and +then, without betraying either surprise or mortification at the Stoicism of +the Indian, she turned eagerly to her new friend, in order to renew the +discourse. + +"This is the sacred volume, Hist," she said-"and these words, and lines, and +verses, and chapters, all came from God." + +"Why Great Spirit no send book to Injin, too?" demanded Hist, with the +directness of a mind that -was totally unsophisticated. +"Why?' answered Hetty, a little bewildered by a question so unexpected. +"Why?-Ah! you know the Indians do'n't know how to read." + +If Hist was not satisfied with this explanation, she did not deem the point +of sufficient importance to be pressed. Simply bending her body, in a gentle +admission of the truth of what she heard, she sat patiently awaiting the +further arguments of the pale-face enthusiast. + +"You can tell these chiefs that throughout this book, men are ordered to +forgive their enemies; to treat them as they would brethren; and never to +injure their fellow creatures, more especially on account of revenge, or any +evil passions. Do you think you can tell them this, so that they will +understand ii, Hist?' + +"Tell him well enough, but he no very easy to understand." Hist then conveyed +the ideas of Hetty, in the best manner she could, to the attentive Indians, +who heard her words, with some such surprise as an American of our own times +would be apt to betray at a suggestion that the great modern, but vacillating +ruler of things human, public opinion, might be wrong. One or two of their +number, however, having met with missionaries, said a few words in +explanation, and then the group gave all its attention to the communications +that were to follow. Before Hetty resumed she enquired earnestly of Hist if +the chiefs had understood her, and receiving an evasive answer, was fain to +be satisfied. + +"I will now read to the warriors some of the verses that it is good for them +to know,' continued the girl, whose manner grew more solemn and earnest as +she proceeded - "and they will remember that they are the very words of the +Great Spirit. First, then, ye are commanded to 'love thy neighbor as thyself' +Tell them that, dear Hist.' + +"Neighbor, for Injin, no mean pale face,' answered the Delaware girl, with +more decision than she had hitherto thought it necessary to use. "Neighbor +mean Iroquois for Iroquois, Mohican for Mohican, Pale face for pale face. No +need tell chief any thing else.' + +"You forget, Hist, these are the words of the Great Spirit, and the chiefs +must obey them as well as others. Here is another commandment-'Whasoever +shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other aLso.~" + +"What that mean?' demanded Hist, with the quickness of lightning. + +Hetty explained that it was an order not to resent injuries, but rather to +submit to receive fresh wrongs from the offender. + +"And hear this, too, Hist," she added. " 'Love your enemies, bless them that +curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which +despitefully use you and persecute you.'' + +By this time Hetty had become excited; her eye gleamed with the earnestness +of her feelings, her cheeks flushed, and her voice, usually so low and +modulated, became stronger and more impressive. With the bible she had been +early made familiar by her mother, and she now turned from passage to +passage, with surprising rapidity, taking care to cull such verses as taught +the sublime lessons of christian charity and christian forgiveness. To +translate half she said, in her pious earnestness, Wah-ta!-Wah would have +found impracticable, had she made the effort, but wonder held her tongue +tied, equally with the chiefs, and the young, simple-minded enthusiast had +fairly become exhausted with her own efforts, before the other opened her +mouth, again, to utter a syllable. Then, indeed, the Delaware girl gave a +brief translation of the substance of what had been both read and said, +confining herself to one or two of the more striking of the verses, those +that had struck her own imagination as the most paradoxical, and which +certainly would have been the most applicable to the case, could the +uninstructed minds of the listeners embrace the great moral truths they +conveyed. + +It will be scarcely necessary to tell the reader the effect that such novel +duties would be likely to produce among a group of Indian warriors, with whom +it was a species of religious principle never to forget a benefit, or to +forgive an injury. Fortunately, the previous explanations of Hist had +prepared the minds of the Hurons for something extravagant, and most of that +which to them seemed inconsistent and paradoxical, was accounted for by the +fact that the speaker possessed a mind that was constituted differently from +those of most of the human race. Still there were one or two old men who had +heard similar doctrines from the missionaries, and these felt a desire to +occupy an idle moment by pursuing a subject that they found so curious. + +"This is the Good Book of the pale faces," observed one of these chiefs, +taking the volume from the unresisting hands of Hetty, who gazed anxiously at +his face, while he turned the leaves, as if she expected to witness some +visible results from the circumstance. "This is the law by which my white +brethren professes to live?" + +Hist, to whom this question was addressed, if it might be considered as +addressed to any one, in particular, answered simply in the affirmative; +adding that both the French of the Canadas, and the Yengeese of the British +provinces equally admitted its authority, and affected to revere its +principles. + +"Tell my young sister," said the Huron, looking directly at Hist, "that I +will open my mouth and say a few words." + +"The Iroquois chief go to speak-My pale face friend listen,' said Hist. + +"I rejoice to hear it!" exclaimed Hetty. "God has touched his heart, and he +will now let father and Hurry go." + +"This is the pale face law," resumed the chief. 'It tells him to do good to +them, that hurt him, and when his brother asks him for his rifle to give him +the powder horn, too. Such is the pale face law?" + +"Not so-not so-" answered Hetty earnestly, when these words had been +interpreted - "There is not a word about rifles in the whole book, and powder +and bullets give offence to the Great Spirit." + +"Why then does the pale face use them? If he is ordered to give double to him +that asks only for one thing, why does he take double from the poor Indian +who ask for no thing. He comes from beyond the rising sun, with this book in +his hand, and he teaches the red man to read it, but why does he forget +himself all it says? When the Indian gives, he is never satisfied; and now he +offers gold for the scalps of our women and children, though he calls us +beasts if we take the scalp of a warrior killed in open war. My name is +Rivenoak." + +When Hetty had got this formidable question fairly presented to her mind in +the translation, and Hist did her duty with more than usual readiness on this +occasion, it scarcely need be said that she was sorely perplexed. Abler heads +than that of this poor girl have frequently been puzzled by questions of a +similar drift, and it is not surprising that with all her own earnestness and +sincerity she did not know what answer to make. + +"What shall I tell them, Hist," she asked imploringly - "I know that all I +have read from the book is true, and yet it would'n't seem so, would it, by +the conduct of those to whom the book was given?" + +"Give 'em pale-face reason," returned Hist, ironically- "that always good for +one side; though he bad for t'other." + +"No-no-Hist there can't be two sides to truth-and yet it does seem strange! +I'm certain I have read the verses right, and no one would be so wicked as to +print the word of God wrong. That can never be, Hist." + +"Well, to poor Injin girl, it seem every thing can be to pale faces," +returned the other, coolly. "One time 'ey say white, and one time 'ey say +black. Why never can be?" + +Hetty was more and more embarrassed, until overcome with the apprehension +that she had failed in her object, and that the lives of her father and Hurry +would be the forfeit of some blunder of her own, she burst into tears. From +that moment the manner of Hist lost all its irony and cool indifference, and +she became the fond caressing friend, again. Throwing her arms around the +afflicted girl, she attempted to soothe her sorrows, by the scarcely ever +failing remedy of feniale sympathy. + +"Stop cry-no cry-" she said, wiping the tears from the face of Hetty, as she +would have performed the same office for a child, and stopping to press her +occasionally to her own warm bosom with the affection of a sister. "Why you +so trouble? You no make he book, if he be wrong, and you no make he pale face +if he wicked. There wicked red man, and wicked white man - no colour all good +- no colour all wicked. Chiefs know that well enough." + +Hetty soon recovered from this sudden burst of grief, and then her mind +reverted to the purpose of her visit, with all its single-hearted +earnestness. Perceiving that the grim looking +196 The Deerslayer + + +chiefs were still standing around her in grave attention, she hoped that +another effort to convince them of the right might be successful. +"Listen, Hist," she said, struggling to suppress her sobs, and to speak +distinctly - "Tell the chiefs that it matters not what the wicked do-right is +right-The words of The Great Spirit are the words of The Great Spirit - and +no one can go harmless for doing an evil act, because another has done it +before him. 'Render good for evil,' says this book, and that is the law for +the red man as well as for the white man." + +"Never hear such law among Delaware, or among Iroquois-" answered Hist +soothingly. "No good to tell chiefs any such laws as dat. Tell 'em somet'ing +they believe." + +Hist was about to proceed, notwithstanding, when a tap on the shoulder, from +the finger of the oldest chief caused her to look up. She then perceived that +one of the warriors had left the group, and was already returning to it with +Hutter and Hurry. Understanding that the two last were to become parties in +the inquiry, she became mute, with the unhesitating obedience of an Indian +woman. In a few seconds the prisoners stood face to face with the principal +men of the captors. + +"Daughter," said the senior chief to the young Delaware, "ask this grey beard +why he came into our camp?" + +The question was put by Hist, in her own imperfect English, but in a way +that was easy to be understood. Hutter was too stern and obdurate by nature, +to shrink from the consequences of any of his acts, and he was also too +familiar with the opinions of the savages not to understand that nothing was +to be gained by equivocation or an unmanly dread of their anger. Without +hesitating, therefore, he avowed the purpose with which he had landed, merely +justifying it by the fact that the government of the province had bid high +for scalps. This frank avowal was received by the Iroquois, with evident +satisfaction, not so much, however, on account of the advantage it gave them +in a moral point of view, as by its proving that they had captured a man +worthy of occupying their thoughts and of becoming a subject of their +revenge. Hurry, when interrogated, confessed the truth, though he would have +been more disposed to concealment than his sterner companion, did +thecircumstances very well admit of its adoption. But he had tact enough to +discover that equivocation would be useless, at that moment, and he made a +merit of necessity by imitating a frankness, which, in the case of Hutter, +was the offspring of habits of indifference acting on a disposition that was +always ruthless, and reckless of personal consequences. + +As soon as the chiefs had received the answers to their questions, they +walked away, in silence, like men who deemed the matter disposed of, all +Hetty's dogmas being thrown away on beings trained in violence, from infancy +to manhood. Hetty and Hist were now left alone with Hutter and Hurry, no +visible restraint being placed on the movements of either; though all four, +in fact, were vigilantly and unceasingly watched. As respects the men, care +was had to prevent them from getting possession of any of the rifles, that +lay scattered about, their own included; and there all open manifestations of +watchfulness ceased. But they, who were so experienced in Indian practices, +knew too well how great was the distance between appearances and reality, to +become the dupes of this seeming carelessness. Although both thought +incessantly of the means of escape, and this without concert, each was aware +of the uselessness of attempting any project of the sort that was not deeply +laid, and promptly executed. They had been long enough in the encampment, and +were sufficiently observant to have ascertained that Hist, also, was a sort +of captive, and, presuming on the circumstance, Hutter spoke in her presence, +more openly than he might otherwise have thought it prudent to do; inducing +Hurry to be equally unguarded by his example. + +"I'll not blame you, Hetty, for coming on this errand, which was well meant +if not very wisely planned," commenced the father, seating himself by the +side of his daughter, and taking her hand; a sign of affection that this rude +being was accustomed to manifest to this particular child. "But preaching, +and the bible, are not the means to turn an Indian from his ways. Has +Deerslayer sent any message; orhas he any scheme by which he thinks to get us +free?" + +Ay, that's the substance of it!" put in Hurry. "If you can help us, gal, to +half a mile of freedom, or even a good start of a short quarter, I'll answer +for the rest. Perhaps the old man may want a little more, but for one of my +height and years that will meet all objections." +Hetty looked distressed, turning her eyes from one to the other, but she had +no answer to give to the question of the reckless Hurry. + +"Father," she said, "neither Deerslayer, nor Judith knew of my coming, until +I had left the Ark. They are afraid the Iroquois will make a raft, and try to +get off to the hut, and think more of defending that, than of coming to aid +you." + +"No-no-no-" said Hist hurriedly, though in a low voice, and with her face +bent towards the earth, in order to conceal from those whom she knew to be +watching them the fact of her speaking at all. "No - no - no - Deerslayer +different man. He no t'ink of defending 'self, with friend in danger. Help +one another, and all get to hut." + +"This sounds well, old Tom," said Hurry, winking and laughing, though he too +used the precaution to speak low-"Give me a ready witted squaw for a fri'nd, +and though I'll not downright defy an Iroquois, I think I would defy the +devil." + +"No talk loud," said Hist. "Some Iroquois got Yengeese +tongue, and all got Yengeese ear." + +"Have we a friend in you, young woman?" enquired Hutter with an increasing +interest in the conference. "If so, you may calculate on a solid reward, and +nothing will be easier than to send you to your own tribe, if we can once +fairly get you off with us to the castle. Give us the Ark and the canoes, and +we can command the lake, spite of all the savages in the Canadas. Nothing but +artillery could drive us out of the castle, if we can get back to it. + +"'S'pose 'ey come ashore to take scalp?" retorted Hist, with cool irony, at +which the girl appeared to be more expert than is common for her sex. + +"Ay - ay - that was a mistake; but there is little use in +lamentations, and less still, young woman, in flings."'Father," said Hetty, +"Judith thinks of breaking open the big chest, in hopes of finding something +in that which may buy your freedom of the savages." + +A dark look came over Hutter at the announcement of this fact, and he +muttered his dissatisfaction in a way to render it intelligible enough. + +'What for no break open chest?" put in Hist. "Life sweeter than old chest - +scalp sweeter than old chest. If no tell darter to break him open, Wah-ta!- +Wah no help him to run away." + +"Ye know not what ye ask-ye are but silly girls, and the wisest way for ye +both is to speak of what ye understand and to speak of nothing else. I little +like this cold neglect of the savages, Hurry; it's a proof that they think of +something serious, and if we are to do any thing, we must do it soon. Can we +count on this young woman, think you?" + +"Listen-" said Hist quickly, and with an earnestness that proved how much her +feelings were concerned-"Wah-ta!-Wah no Iroquois - All over Delaware - got +Delaware heart - Delaware feeling. She prisoner, too. One prisoner help +t'udder prisoner. No good to talk more, now. Darter stay with fader - Wah-ta! +-Wah come and see friend-all look right- Then tell what he do." + +This was said in a low voice, but distinctly, and in a manner to make an +impression. As soon as it was uttered the girl arose, and left the group, +walking composedly towards the hut she occupied, as if she had no further +interest in what might pass between the pale-faces. + + + + +Chapter XII. + +"She speaks much of her father; says she hears, +There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her breast; +Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt, +That carry but half sense; her speech is nothing, +Yet the unshaped use of it doth move +The hearers to collection; -Hamlet, IV.v.4-9. + + + +We left the occupants of the castle and the ark, buried in sleep. Once, or +twice, in the course of the night, it is true, "Deerslayer, or the Delaware, +arose and looked out upon the ranquil lake; when, finding all safe, each +returned to his and slept like a man who was not easily deprived of his +pallet, +natural rest. At the first signs of the dawn, the former arose, however, and +made his personal arrangements for the day; though his companion, whose +nights had not been tranquil, or without disturbances, of late, continued on +his blanket, until the sun had fairly risen; Judith too, was later than +common, that morning, for the earlier hours of the night had brought her +little of either refreshment, or sleep. But ere the sun had shown himself +over the eastern hills, these too were up and afoot, even the tardy in that +region seldom remaining on their pallets, after the appearance of the great +luminary. +Ghingachgook was in the act of arranging his forest toilet, when Deerslayer +entered the cabin of the Ark and threw him a few coarse but light summer +vestments that belonged to Hutter. + +"Judith hath given me them for your use, chief," said the latter, as he cast +the jacket and trousers at the feet of the Indian, 'for it's ag'in all +prudence and caution to be seen in your war dress and paint. Wash off all +them fiery streaks from your cheeks, put on these garments, and here is a +hat, such as it is, that will give you an awful oncivilized sort .of +civilization, as the missionaries call it. Remember that Hist is at hand, and +what we do for the maiden, must be done while we are doing for others. I know +it's ag'in your gifts and your natur' to wear clothes, unless they are cut +and carried in a red man's fashion,but make a vartue of necessity, and put +these on, at once, even if they do rise a little in your throat." + +Chingachgook, or the Serpent, eyed the vestments with strong disgust; but he +saw the usefulness of the disguise, if not its absolute necessity. Should the +Iroquois discover a red-man, in or about the Castle, it might, indeed, place +them more on their guard, and give their suspicions a direction towards their +female captive. Any thing was better than a failure as it regarded his +betrothed, and, after turning the different garments round and round, +examining them with a species of grave irony, affecting to draw them on in a +way that defeated itself, and otherwise manifesting the reluctance of a young +savage to confine his limbs in the usual appliances of civilized life, the +chief submitted to the directions of his companion, and finally stood forth, +so far as the eye could detect, a red man in colour alone. Little was to be +apprehended from this last peculiarity, however, the distance from the shore, +and the want of glasses preventing any very close scrutiny, and Deerslayer, +himself, though of a brighter and fresher tint, had a countenance that was +burnt by the sun to a hue scarcely less red than that of his Mohican +companion. The awkwardness of the Delaware in his new attire, caused his +friend to smile, more than once that day, but he carefully abstained from the +use of any of those jokes, which would have been bandied among white men on +such an occasion, the habits of a chief, the dignity of a warrior on his +first path, and the gravity of the circumstances in which they were placed, +uniting to render so much levity out of season. + +The meeting at the morning meal of the three islanders, if we may use the +term, was silent, grave and thoughtful. Judith showed by her looks that she +had passed an unquiet night, while the two men had the future before them, +with its unseen and unknown events. A few words of courtesy passed between +Deerslayer and the girl, in the course of the breakfast, but no allusion was +made to their situation. At length Judith, whose heart was full, and whose +novel feelings disposed her to entertain sentiments more gentle and tender +than common, introduced the subject, and this in a way to show how much of +her thoughts it had occupied, in the course of the last sleepless night. + +"It would be dreadful, Deerslayer,' the girl abruptly exclaimed, "should any +thing serious befall my father and Hetty! We cannot remain quietly here, and +leave them if: the hands of the Iroquois, without bethinking us of some means +of serving them." + +"I'm ready, Judith, to sarve them, and a11 others who are in trouble, could +the way to do it be p'inted out. It's no trifling matter to fall into redskin +hands, when men set out on an ar'n'd like that which took Hutter and Hurry +ashore; that I know as well as another, and 1 would'n't wish my worst inimy +in such a strait, much less them with whom I've journeyed, and eat, and +slept. Have you any scheme, that you would like to have the Sarpent and me, +indivour to carry out?' + +"I know of no other means to release the prisoners, than by bribing the +Iroquois. They are not proof against presents, and we might offer enough, +perhaps, to make them think it better to carry away what to them will be rich +gifts, than to carry away poor prisoners; if, indeed, they should carry them +away at all!" + +"This is well enough, Judith; yes, it's well enough, if the inimy is to be +bought, and we can find articles to make the purchase with. Your father has a +convenient lodge, and it is most cunningly placed, though it does'n't seem +overstock'd with riches that will be likely to buy his ransom. There's the +piece he calls Killdeer, might count for something, and I understand there's +a keg of powder about, which might be a make weight, sprain; and yet two able +bodied men are not to be bought off for a trifle- besides- " + +"Besides what?'' demanded Judith impatiently, observ'ing that the other +hesitated to proceed, probably from a reluctance to distress her. + +'Why, Judith, the Frenchers offer bounties as well as our own side, and the +price of two scalps would purchase a keg of powder, and a rifle; though 1'11 +not say one of the latter altogether as good as Killdeer, there, which your +father va'nts as uncommon, and unequalled, like. But fair powder, and a +pretty captain rifle; then the red men are not the expartest in fire arms, +and do'n't always know the difference atwixt that +which is ra'al, and that which is seeming." + +''This is horriblel' muttered the girl, struck by the homely manner in which +her companion was accustomed to state his facts. "But you overlook my own +clothes, Deerslayer, and they, I think, might go far with the women of the +Iroquois." + +"No doubt they would; no doubt they would. Judith," returned the other, +looking at her keenly, as if he would ascertain whether she were really +capable of making such a sacrifice. 'But, are you sustain, gal, you could and +it in your heart, to part with your own finery for such a purpose? Many is +the man who has thought he was valiant 'till danger stared him in the face; +l've known them, too, that conspired they were kind and ready to give away +all they had to the poor, when they've been listening to other people's hard +learnedness; but whose fists have clench'd as tight as the riven hickory when +it came to downright offerings of their own. Besides, Judith, you're +handsome- uncommon in that way, one might observe and do no harm to the +truth- and they that have beauty, like to have that which will adorn it. Are +you bargain you could find it in your heart to part with your own finery?' + +The soothing allusion to the personal charms of the girl, was well timed, to +counteract the effect produced by the distrust that the young man expressed +of Judith's devotion to her filial duties. Had another said as much as +Deerslayer, the compliment would most probably have been overlooked in the +indignation awakened by the doubts, but even the unpolished sincerity, that +so often made this simple minded hunter bare his thoughts, had a charm for +the girl; and, while she colored, and, for an instant her eyes flashed fire, +she could not find it in her heart to be really angry with one whose very +soul seemed truth and manly kindness. Look her reproaches she did, but +conquering the desire to retort, she succeeded in answering in a mild and +friendly manner. + +"You must keep all your favorable opinions, for the Delaware girls, +Deerslayer, if you seriously think thus of those of your own colour," she +said, affecting to laugh. 'But, try me; if you find that I regret either +hibbard or feather, silk or muslin, then may you think what you please of my +heart, and say what you think." + +"That's justice! -The rarest thing to find on 'arth, is a truly just man. So +says Tamenund, the wisest prophet of the Delawares, and so all must think, +that have occasion to see, and talk and act among Mankind. I love a just man, +Sargent. His eyes are never covered with darkness towards his unifies, while +they are all sunshine and brightness towards his fri'nds. He uses the reason +that God has given him, and he uses it with ' a feelin' of his being ordered +to look at, and to consider things as they are, and not as he wants them to +be. It's easy enough to find men who call themselves just, but it's wonderful +oncommon to find them that are the very thing, in fact. How often have I seen +Indians; gal, who believed they were lookin' into a matter agreeable to the +will of the Great Spirit, when, in truth, they were only striving to act up +to their own will and pleasure, and this, half the time, with a temptation to +go wrong that could no more be seen by themselves, than the stream that runs +in the next valley, can be seen by us through yonder mountain', though any +looker on might have discovered it, as plainly as we can discover the parch +that are swimming around this hull' + +"Very true, Deerslayer," rejoined Judith, losing every trace of displeasure +in a bright smile- "very true, and I hope to see you act on this love of +justice, in all matters in which I am concerned. Above all, I hope you will +judge for yourself, and not believe every evil story that a prating idler, +like Hurry Harry, may have to tell, that goes to touch the good name of any +young woman, who may not happen to have the same opinion of his face and +person that the blustering gallant has of himself." + +"Hurry Harry's idlees do not pass for gospel with me, Judith; but even worse +than he may have eyes and ears", returned the other gravely. " + +"Enough of this" exclaimed Judith, with flashing eye and a flush that mounted +to her temples, "and more of my father and his ransom. "T' s you say, +Deerslayer; the Indians will not be likely to give up their prisoners, +without a heavier bribe than my clothes can offer, and father's rifle and +powder. There is the chest." + +"Ay, there is, the chest, as you say. Judith, and when the question gets to +be between a secret and a scalp, I should think most men would prefer keeping +the last. Did your father ever give you any downright commands conserving +that chist?" + + +'Never. He has always appeared to think its locks, and its steel bands, and +its strength, its best protection." + +"T'is a rare chest, and altogether of curious build," returned Deerslayer, +rising and approaching the thing in question, on which he seated himself, +with a view to examine it with greater ease. "Chingachgook, this is no wood +that comes of any forest that you or I have ever trailed through! 'T'is'n't +the black walnut, and yet it's quite as comely, if not more so, did the smoke +and the treatment give it fair play.'' + +The Delaware drew near, felt of the wood, examined its grain, endeavored to +indent the surface with a nail, and passed his hand curiously over the steel +bands, the heavy padlocks, and the other novel peculiarities of the massive +box. "No- nothing like this grows in these regions, "resumed Deerslayer. +"I've seen all the oaks, both the maples, the elms, the bass woods, all the +walnuts, the butternuts, and every tree that has a substance and colour, +wrought into some form or other, but never have I before seen such a wood as +this! Judith, the chest itself, would buy your father's freedom, or Iroquois +cur'osity isn't as strong as redskin cur'osity, in general; especially in the +matter of woods." + +"The purchase might be cheaper made, perhaps, Deerslayer. The chest is full, +and it would be better to part with half than to part with the whole. +Besides, father- l know not why- but, father values that chest highly." + +"He would seem to prize what it holds more than the chest, itself, judging by +the manner in which he treats the outside, and secures the inside. Here are +three locks, Judith; is there no key?' + +"I've never seen one; and yet key there must be, since Hetty told us, she had +often seen the chest opened." + +"Keys no more lie in the air, or float on the water, than humans, gal; if +there is a key, there must be a place in which it is kept." + +''That is true, and it might not be difficult to find it, did we dare to +search! + +''This is for you, Judith; it is altogether for you. The chist is your'n, or +your father's; and Hutter is your father, not mine. Cur'osity is a woman's, +and not a man's failing, and there you have got all the reasons before you. +If the chist has articles for ransom, it seems to me they would be wisely +used in redeeming their owner's life, or even in saving his scalp; but that +is a matter for your judgment, and not for ourn. When the lawful owner of a +trap, or a buck, or a canoe, is'n't present, his next of kin becomes his +riprisentyve by all the laws of the woods. We therefore leave you to say +whether the chist shall, or shall not be opened." + +"I hope you do not believe I can hesitate, when my father's life's in danger, +Deerslayer'" + +"Why, it's pretty much putting a scolding ag'in tears and mourning. It's not +onreasonable to foretell that old Tom may find fault with what you've done, +when he sees himself, once more, in his hut, here, but there's nothing +unusual in men s falling out with what has been done for their own good; I +dare to say that even the moon would seem a different thing from what it now +does, could we look at it from the other side." + +"Deerslayer, if we can find the key, I will authorize you to open the chest, +and to take such things from it, as you may think will buy father's ransom." +"First find the key, gal; we'll talk of the rest a'terwards. Sarpent, you've +eyes like a fly, and a judgment that's seldom out; can you help us, in +calculating where Floating Tom would be apt to keep the key of a chist that +he holds to be as private as this." + +The Delaware had taken no part in the discourse, until he was thus directly +appealed to, when he quitted the chest, which had continued to attract his +attention, and cast about him for the place in which a key would be likely to +be concealed, under such circumstances. As Judith and Deerslayer were not +idle, the while, the whole three were soon engaged in an anxious and spirited +search. As it was certain that the desired key was not to be found in any of +the common drawers, or closets, of which there were several in the building, +none looked there, but all turned their enquiries to those places that struck +them as ingenious hiding places, and more likely to be used for such a +purpose. In this manner the outer room was thoroughly but fruitlessly +examined, when they entered the sleeping apartment of H utter. This part of +the rude building was better furnished than the rest of the structure, +containing several articles that had been especially devoted to the service +of the deceased wife, of its owner, but as Judith had all the rest of the +keys, it was soon rummaged, without bringing to light the particular key +desired. + +They now entered the bed room of the daughters. Chingachgook was immediately +struck with the contrast between the articles, and the arrangement, of that +side of the room that might be called Judith's and that which more properly +belonged to Hetty. A slight exclamation escaped him, and pointing in each +direction he alluded to the fact in a low voice, speaking to his friend in +the Delaware tongue. + +"Tis as you think, Sarpent," answered Deerslayer, whose remarks we always +translate into English, preserving as much as possible of the peculiar +phraseology and manner of the man, "Tis just so, as any one may see, and 'tis +all founded in natur'. One sister loves finery, some say overmuch; while +t'other is as meek and lowly as God ever created goodness and truth. Yet, +after all, I dare say that Judith has her vartues, and Hetty has her +failin's." + +"And the 'Feeble-Mind' has seen the chist opened?" inquired Chingachgook, +with curiosity in his glance. + +"Sartain; that much I've heard from her own lips; and, for that matter, so +have you. It seems her father does'n't misgive her discretion, though he does +that of his eldest darter." + +"Then, the key is hid only from the Wild Rose'?" for so Chingachgook had +begun gallantly to term Judith, in his private discourse with his friend. +"That's it! That's just it! One he trusts, and the other he does'n't. There's +red and white in that, Sarpent, all tribes and nations agreeing in trusting +some, and refusing to trust other some. It depends on character and +judgment." + +"Where could a key be put, so little likely to be found by the Wild Rose, as +among coarse clothes?" + +Deerslayer started, and turning to his friend, with admiration expressed in +every lineament of his face, he fairly laughed, in his silent but hearty +manner, at the ingenuity and readiness of the conjecture. + +"Your name's well bestowed, Sarpent- yes, 'tis well bestowed! Sure enough, +where would a lover of finery be so little likely to s'arch, as among +garments as coarse and onseemly as these of poor Hetty's. I dares to say, +Judith's delicate fingers have'n't touched a bit of cloth as rough and +oncomely as that petticoat, now, since she first made acquaintance with the +officers! Yet, who knows? The key may be as likely to be on the same peg, as +in any other place. Take down the garment, Delaware, and let us see if you +are ra'ally a prophet." +Chingachgook did as desired, but no key was found. A coarse pocket, +apparently empty, hung on the adjoining peg, and this was next examined. By +this time, the attention of Judith was called in that direction, and she +spoke hurriedly and like one who wished to save unnecessary trouble. + +"Those are only the clothes of poor Hetty, dear simple girl!" she said, +"nothing we seek, would be likely to be there." + +The words were hardly out of the handsome mouth of the speaker, when +Chingachgook drew the desired key from the pocket. Judith was too quick of +apprehension, not to understand the reason a hiding place so simple and +exposed, had been used. The blood rushed to her face, as much with +resentment perhaps, as with shame, and she bit her lip, though she continued +silent. Deerslayer and his friend now discovered the delicacy of men of +native refinement, neither smiling or even by a glance betraying how +completely he understood the motives and ingenuity of this clever artifice. +The former, who had taken the key from the Indian, led the way into the +adjoining room, and applying it to a lock ascertained that the right +instrument had actually been found. There were three padlocks, each of +which however was easily opened by this single key. Deerslayer removed them +all, loosened the hasps, raised the lid a little to make certain it was +loose, and then he drew back from the chest, several feet, signing to his +friend to follow. + +"This is a family chist, Judith," he said, "and 'tis like to hold family +secrets. The Sarpent and I will go into the Ark, and look to the canoes, and +paddles, and oars, while you can examine it by yourself, and find out +whether any thing that will be a make weight in a ransom, is, or is not, +among the articles. When you've got through, give us a call, and we'll all +sit in council, together, touching the valie of the articles." + +"Stop, Deerslayer," exclaimed the girl, as he was about to withdraw. "Not a +single thing will I touch - I will not even raise the lid-unless you are +present. Father and Hetty have seen fit to keep the inside of this chest a +secret from me, and I am much too proud to pry into their hidden treasures, +unless it were for their own good. But, on no account, will I open the chest +alone. Stay with me, then; I want witnesses of what I do." + +"I rather think, Sarpent, that the gal is right! Confidence and reliance +beget security, but suspicion is like to make us all wary. Judith has a right +to ask us to be present, and should the chist hold any of Master Hutter's +secrets, they will fall into the keeping of two as close mouthed young men as +are to be found. We will stay with you, Judith - but, first let us take a +look at the lake and the shore, for this chist will not be emptied in a +minute." + +The two men now went out on the platform, and Deerslayer swept the shore with +the glass, while the Indian gravely turned his eye on the water and the +woods, in quest of any sign that might betray the machinations of their +enemies. Nothing was visible, and assured of their temporary security, the +three collected around the chest, again, with the avowed object of opening +it. +Judith had held this chest, and its unknown contents, in a species of +reverence as long as she could remember. Neither her father, nor her mother, +ever mentioned it, in her presence, and there appeared to be a silent +convention, that in naming the different objects that occasionally stood near +it, or even lay on its lid, care should be had to avoid any allusion to the +chest itself. Habit had rendered this so easy, and so much a matter of +course, that it was only quite recently the girl had began even to muse on +the singularity of the circumstance. But there had never been sufficient +intimacy between Hutter and his eldest daughter to invite confidence. At +times he was kind, but in general, with her more especially, he was stern and +morose. Least of all had his authority been exercised in a way to embolden +his child to venture on the liberty she was about to take, without many +misgivings of the consequences, although the liberty proceeded from a desire +to serve himself. Then Judith was not altogether free from a little +superstition, on the subject of this chest, which had stood a sort of tabooed +relic before her eyes, from childhood to the present hour. Nevertheless the +time had come when it would seem that this +mystery was to be explained, and that under circumstances, too, which left +her very little choice in the matter. + +Finding that both her companions were watching her movements, in grave +silence, Judith placed a hand on the lid, and endeavored to raise it. Her +strength, however, was insufficient, and it appeared to the girl, who was +fully aware that all the fastenings were removed, that she was resisted in an +unhallowed attempt by some supernatural power. + +"I cannot raise the lid, Deerslayer!" she said-"Had we not better give up the +attempt, and find some other means of releasing the prisoners?" +"Not so-Judith; not so, gal. No means are as sartain and easy, as a good +bribe," answered the other. "As for the lid, 'tis held by nothing but its own +weight, which is prodigious for so small a piece of wood, loaded with iron as +it is." + +As Deerslayer spoke, he applied his own strength to the effort, and +succeeded in raising the lid against the timbers of the house, where he took +care to secure it, by a sufficient prop. Judith fairly trembled, as she cast +her first glance at the interior, and she felt a temporary relief in +discovering that a piece of canvass, that was carefully tucked in, around the +edges, effectually concealed all beneath it. The chest was apparently well +stored, however, the canvass lying within an inch of The lid. + +"Here's a full cargo," said Deerslayer, eyeing the arrangement, "and we had +needs go to work leisurely, and at our ease. Sarpent, bring some stools, +while I spread this blanket on the floor, and then we'll begin work orderly, +and in comfort." + +The Delaware complied, Deerslayer civilly placed a stool for Judith, took one +himself, and commenced the removal of the canvas covering. This was done +deliberately, and in as cautious a manner, as if it were believed that +fabrics of a delicate construction lay hidden beneath. When the canvass was +removed, the first articles that came in view were some of the habiliments of +the male sex. They were of fine materials, and, according to the fashions of +the age, were gay in colours, and rich in ornaments. One coat in particular +was of scarlet, and had button holes worked in gold thread. Still it was not +military, but was part of the attire of a civilian of condition, at a period +when social rank was rigidly respected in dress. Chingachgook could not +refrain from an exclamation of pleasure, as soon as Deerslayer opened this +coat, and held it up to view, for, notwithstanding all his trained self- +command, the splendor of the vestment was too much for the philosophy of an +Indian. Deerslayer turned quickly, and he regarded his friend with momentary +displeasure, as this burst of weakness escaped him, and then he soliloquized +as was his practice, whenever any strong feeling suddenly got the ascendant. + +"Tis his gift! -yes, 'tis the gift of a redskin to love finery, and he is not +to be blamed. This is an extr'ornary garment, too, and extr'ornary things get +up extr'ornary feelin's. I think this will do, Judith, for the Indian heart +is hardly to be found in all America, that can withstand, colours like these, +and glitter like that. If this coat was ever made for your father, you've +come honestly by the taste for finery, you have." + +'That coat was never made for father," answered the girl, quickly-"it is much +too long, while father is short and square." + +"Cloth was plenty if it was, and glitter cheap," answered Deerslayer, with +his silent, joyous laugh. "Sarpent, this garment was made for a man of your +size, and I should like to see it on your shoulders." + +Chingachgook, nothing loth, submitted to the trial, throwing aside the +coarse and thread bare jacket of Hutter, to deck his person in a coat that +was originally intended for a gentleman. The transformation was ludicrous, +but as men are seldom struck with incongruities in their own appearance, any +more than in their own conduct, the Delaware studied this change in a common +glass, by which Hutter was in the habit of shaving, with grave interest. At +that moment he thought of Hist, and we owe it to truth, to say, though it may +militate a little against the stern character of a warrior to avow it, that +he wished he could be seen by her, in his present improved aspect. + +"Off with it, Sarpent-off with it," resumed the inflexible Deerslayer. "Such +garments as little become you, as they would become me. Your gifts are for +paint, and hawk's feathers, and blankets, and wampum, and mine are for +doublets of skins, tough leggings, and sarviceable moccasins. I say +moccasins, Judith, for though white, living as I do in the woods, it's +necessary to take to some of the practyces of the woods, for comfort's sake, +and cheapness." + +"I see no reason, Deerslayer, why one man may not wear a scarlet coat, as +well as another," returned the girl. "I wish I could see you in this handsome +garment." + +"See me in a coat fit for a Lord! -Well, Judith, if you wait till that day, +you'll wait until you see me beyond reason and memory. No-no-gal, my gifts +are my gifts, and I'll live and die in 'em, though I never bring down another +deer, or spear another salmon. What have I done that you should wish to see +me in such a flaunting coat, Judith." + +"Because I think, Deerslayer, that the false-tongued and false-hearted young +gallants of the garrisons, ought not alone to appear in fine feathers, but +that truth and honesty have their claims to be honored and exalted." + +"And what exaltification -" the reader will have remarked that Deerslayer had +not very critically studied his dictionary-"and what exaltification would it +be to me,Judith, to be bedizzened and bescarleted like a Mingo chief that has +just got his presents up from Quebec? No - no - I'm well as I am; and if not, +I can be no better. Lay the coat down on the blanket, Sarpent, and let us +look farther into the chist." + +The tempting garment, one surely that was never intended for Hutter, was laid +aside, and the examination proceeded. The male attire, all of which +corresponded with the coat in quality, was soon exhausted, and then succeeded +female. A beautiful dress of brocade, a little the worse from negligent +treatment, followed, and this time open exclamations of delight escaped the +lips of Judith. Much as the girl had been addicted to dress, and favorable as +had been her opportunities of seeing some little pretension in that way, +among the wives of the different commandants, and other ladies of the forts, +never before had she beheld a tissue, or tints, to equal those that were now +so unexpectedly placed before her eyes. Her rapture was almost childish, nor +would she allow the enquiry to proceed, until she had attired her person in a +robe so unsuited to her habits and her abode. With this end, she withdrew +into her own room, where with hands practised in such offices, she soon got +rid of her own neat gown of linen, and stood forth in the gay tints of the +brocade. The dress + +happened to fit the fine, full, person of Judith, and certainly it had never +adorned a being, better qualified by natural gifts, to do credit to its +really rich hues and fine texture. When she returned, both Deerslayer and +Chingachgook, who had passed the brief time of her absence, in taking a +second look at the male garments, arose in surprise, each permitting +exclamations of wonder and pleasure to escape him, in a way so unequivocal +as to add new lustre to the eyes of Judith, by flushing her cheeks with a +glow of triumph. Affecting, however, not to notice the impression she had +made, the girl seated herself with the stateliness of a queen, desiring that +the chest might be looked into, further. + +"I do'n't know a better way to treat with the Mingos, gal," cried Deerslayer, +"than to send you ashore, as you be, and to tell 'em that a queen has arrived +among 'em! They'll give up old Hutter, and Hurry, and Hetty, too, at such a +spectacle!" + +"I thought your tongue too honest to flatter, Deerslayer," returned the girl, +gratified at this admiration more than she would have cared to own. "One of +the chief reasons of my respect for you, was your love for truth." + +"And 'tis truth, and solemn truth, Judith, and nothing else. Never did eyes +of mine gaze on as glorious a lookin' creatur', as you be yourself, at this +very moment! I've seen beauties in my time too; both white and red; and them +that was renowed and talk'd of, far and near; but never have I beheld one +that could hold any comparison with what you are at this blessed instant, +Judith; never." +The glance of delight which the girl bestowed on the frank-speaking hunter, +in no degree lessened the effect of her charms, and as the humid eyes blended +with it a look of sensibility, perhaps Judith never appeared more truly +lovely, than at what the young man had called that "blessed instant." He +shook his head, held it suspended a moment over the open chest, like one in +doubt, and then proceeded with the examination. + +Several of the minor articles of female dress came next, all of a quality to +correspond with the gown. These were laid at Judith's feet, in silence, as if +she had a natural claim to their possession. One or two, such as gloves, and +lace, the girl caught up, and appended to her already rich attire in affected +playfulness, but with the real design of decorating her person as far as +circumstances would allow. When these two remarkable suits, male and female +they might be termed, were removed, another canvass covering separated the +remainder of the articles from the part of the chest which they had occupied. +As soon as Deerslayer perceived this arrangement, he paused, doubtful of the +propriety of proceeding any further. + +"Every man has his secrets, I suppose," he said, "and all men have a right to +their enj'yment. We've got low enough in this chist, in my judgment to answer +our wants, and it seems to me we should do well by going no farther; and by +letting Master Hutter have to himself, and his own feelin's, all that's +beneath this cover. + +"Do you mean, Deerslayer, to offer these clothes to the Iroquois, as +ransom?" demanded Judith, quickly. + +"Sartain. What are we prying into another man's chist for, but to sarve its +owner, in the best way we can. This coat, alone, would be very apt to gain +over the head chief of the riptyles, and if his wife or darter should happen +to be out with him, that there gownd would soften the heart of any woman that +is to be found atween Albany and Montreal. I do not see that we want a larger +stock in trade than them two articles." + +"To you it may seem so, Deerslayer," returned the disappointed girl, "but of +what use could a dress like this be to any Indian woman? She could not wear +it among the branches of the trees, the dirt and smoke of the wigwam would +soon soil it, and how would a pair of red arms appear, thrust through these +short, laced sleeves!" + +"All very true, gal, and you might go on and say, it is altogether out of +time, and place and season, in this region at all. What is it to us how the +finery is treated, so long as it answers our wishes? I do not see that your +father can make any use of such clothes, and it's lucky he has things that +are of no valie to himself, that will bear a high price with others. We can +make no better trade for him, than to offer these duds for his liberty. We'll +throw in the light frivol'ties, and get Hurry off in the bargain." + +"Then you think, Deerslayer, that Thomas Hutter has no one in his family - no +child - no daughter, to whom this dress may be thought becoming, and whom you +could wish to see in it, once and awhile, even though it should be at long +intervals, and only in playfulness?" + +"I understand you, Judith-yes, I now understand your meaning, and I think I +can say, your wishes. That you are as glorious, in that dress, as the sun +when it rises, or sets, in a soft October day, I'm ready to allow, and that +you greatly become it, is a good deal more sartain than that it becomes you. +There's gifts in clothes, as well as in other things. Now I do not think that +a warrior on his first path, ought to lay on the same awful paints as a chief +that has had his virtue tried, and knows from exper'ence he will not disgrace +his pretensions. So it is with all of us, red or white. You are Thomas +Hutter's darter, and that gownd was made for the child of some governor, or +a lady of high station, and it was intended to be worn among fine furniture, +and in rich company. In my eyes, Judith, a modest maiden never looks more +becoming, than when becomingly clad, and nothing is suitable that is out of +character. Besides, gal, if there's a creatur' in the colony that can afford +to do without finery, and to trust to her own good looks, and sweet +countenance, it's yourself." + +"I'll take off the rubbish this instant, Deerslayer," cried the girl, +springing up to leave the room, "and never do I wish to see it on any human +being, again." + +"So it is with 'em, all, Sarpent," said the other, turning to his friend and +laughing, as soon as the beauty had disappeared. "They like finery, but they +like their natyve charms most of all. I'm glad the gal has consented to lay +aside her furbelows, howsever, for it's ag'in reason for one of her class to +wear em; and then she is handsome enough, as I call it, to go alone. Hist +would show oncommon likely, too, in such a gownd, Delaware!" + +"Wah-ta!-Wah is a red skin girl, Deerslayer," returned the Indian, "like the +young of the pigeon, she is to be known by her own feathers. I should pass by +without knowing her, were she dressed in such a skin. It's wisest always to +be so clad that our friends need not ask us for our names. The 'Wild Rose' is +very pleasant, but she is no sweeter for so many colours." + +"That's it! - that's natur', and the true foundation for love and protection. +When a man stoops to pick a wild strawberry, he does not expect to find a +melon; and when he wishes to gather a melon, he's disapp'inted if it proves +to be a squash; + +though squashes be often brighter to the eye than melons. That's it, and it +means, stick to your gifts, and your gifts will stick to you." + +The two men had now a little discussion together, touching the propriety of +penetrating any farther into the chest of Hutter, when Judith re-appeared, +divested of her robes, and in her own simple, linen frock again. + +"Thank you, Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her kindly by the hand-"for I +know it went a little ag'in the nat'ral cravings of woman, to lay aside so +much finery, as it might be in a lump. But you're more pleasing to the eye as +you stand, you be, than if you had a crown on your head, and jewels dangling +from your hair. The question now is, whether to lift this covering, to see +what will be ra'ally the best bargain we can make for Master Hutter, for we +must do as we think he would be willing to do, did he stand here in our +places." + +Judith looked very happy. Accustomed as she was to adulation, the homely +homage of Deerslayer had given her more true satisfaction, than she had ever +yet received from the tongue of man. It was not the terms in which this +admiration had been expressed, for they were simple enough, that produced so +strong an impression; nor yet their novelty, or their warmth of manner, nor +any of those peculiarties that usually give value to praise; but the +unflinching truth of the speaker, that carried his words so directly to the +heart of the listener. This is one of the great advantages of plain dealing +and frankness. The habitual and wily flatterer may succeed until his +practises recoil on himself, and like other sweets his aliment cloys by its +excess; but he who deals honestly, though he often necessarily offends, +possesses a power of praising that no quality but sincerity can bestow, since +his words go directly to the heart, finding their support in the +understanding. Thus it was with Deerslayer and Judith. So soon and so deeply +did this simple hunter impress those who knew him, with a conviction-of his +unbending honesty, that all he uttered in commendation was as certain to +please, as all he uttered in the way of rebuke was as certain to rankle and +excite enmity, where his character had not awakened a respect and affection, +that in another sense rendered it painful. In after life, when the career of +this untutored being brought him in contact with officers of rank, and +others entrusted with the care of the interests of the state, this same +influence was exerted on a wider field, even generals listening to his +commendations with a glow of pleasure, that it was not always in the power of +their official superiors to awaken. PerhapsJudith was the first individual of +his own colour, who fairly submitted to this natural consequence of truth +and fair-dealing, on the part of Deerslayer. She had actually pined for his +praise, and she had now received it, and that in the form which was most +agreeable to her weaknesses and habits of thought. The result will appear in +the course of the narrative. + +'If we knew all that chest holds, Deerslayer," returned the girl, when she +had a little recovered from the immediate effect produced by his +commendations of her personal appearance, "we could better determine on the +course we ought to take." + +"That's not onreasonable, gal, though it's more a pale-face than a red-skin +gift to be prying into other people's secrets." + +"Curiosity is natural, and it is expected that all human beings, should have +human failings. Whenever I've been at the garrisons, I've found that most, in +and about them, had a longing to learn their neighbor's secrets." + +"Yes, and sometimes to fancy them, when they could'n't find 'em out! That's +the difference atween an Indian gentleman, and a white gentleman. The +Sarpent, here, would turn his head aside, if he found himself onknowingly +lookin' into another chief's wigwam, whereas, in the settlements while all +pretend to be great people, most prove they've got betters, by the manner in +which they talk of their consarns. I'll be bound, Judith, you would'n't get +the Sarpent, there, to confess there was another in the tribe so much greater +than himself, as to become the subject of his idees, and to empl'y his tongue +in conversations about his movements, and ways, and food, and all the other +little matters that occupy a man when he's not empl'y'd in his greater +duties. He who does this, is but little better than a blackguard, in the +grain, and them that encourages him, is pretty much of the same kidney, let +them wear coats as fine as they may, or of what dye they please." + +"But this is not another man's wigwam; it belongs to my father, these are his +things, and they are wanted in his service." + +"That's true, gal; that's true, and it carries weight with it. + +Well, when all is before us, we may, indeed, best judge, which to offer for +the ransom, and which to withhold." + +Judith was not altogether as disinterested in her feelings, as she affected +to be. She remembered that the curiosity of Hetty had been indulged, in +connection with this chest, while her own had been disregarded, and she was +not sorry to possess an opportunity of being placed on a level with her less +gifted sister, in this one particular. It appearing to be admitted all round, +that the enquiry into the contents of the chest ought to be renewed, +Deerslayer proceeded to remove the second covering of canvass. + +The articles that lay uppermost, when the curtain was again raised on the +secrets of the chest, were a pair of pistols, curiously inlaid with silver. +Their value would have been considerable, in one of the towns, though as +weapons, in the woods, they were a species of arms seldom employed; never, +indeed, unless it might be by some officer from Europe, who visited the +colonies, as many were then wont to do, so much impressed with the +superiority of the usages of London, as to fancy they were not to be laid +aside on the frontiers of America. What occurred on the discovery of these +weapons, will appear, in the succeeding chapter. + + + + +Chapter XIII. + +"An oaken, broken, elbow-chair; +A caudle-cup without an ear; +A battered, shattered ash bedstead; +A box of deal without a lid; +A pair of tongs, but out of joint; +A back-sword poker, without point; +A dish which might good meat afford once; +An Ovid, and an old Concordance." + +Thomas Sheridan, "A True and Faithful Inventory of the Goods belonging to Dr. +Swift," ll.i-6, 13-14. + + + +No sooner did Deerslayer raise the pistols, than he turned to the Delaware +and held them up, for his admiration. + +"Child gun," said the Serpent, smiling, while he handled one of the +instruments as if it had been a toy. + "Not it, Sarpent; not it-t'was made for a man and would satisfy a giant, if +rightly used. But stop; white men are remarkable for their carelessness in +putting away fire arms, in chists and corners. Let me look if care has been +given to these." + +As Deerslayer spoke, he took the weapon from the hand of his friend, and +opened the pan. The last was filled with priming, caked like a bit of +cinder, by time, moisture and compression. An application of the ramrod +showed that both the pistols were charged, although Judith could testify that +they had probably lain for years in the chest. It is not easy to portray the +surprise of the Indian, at this discovery, for he was in the practice of +renewing his priming daily, and of looking to the contents of his piece, at +other short intervals. + +"This is white neglect," said Deerslayer, shaking his head, "and scarce a +season goes by, that some one, in the settlements does n't suffer from it. +It's extr'ornary too, Judith-yes, it's downright extr'ornary that the owner +shall fire his piece at a deer, or some other game, or perhaps at an inimy, +and twice out of three times he'll miss; but let him catch an accident with +one of these forgotten charges, and he makes it sartain death to a child, or +a brother, or a fri'nd! Well, we shall do a good turn to the owner if we fire +these pistols for him, and as they're novelties to you and me, Sarpent, we'll +try our hands at a mark. Freshen that priming, and I'll do the same with +this, and then we'll see who is the best man with a pistol; as for the rifle, +that's long been settled atween us." + +Deerslayer laughed heartily, at his own conceit, and, in a minute or two, +they were both standing on the platform, selecting some object in the Ark for +their target. Judith was led by curiosity to their side. + +"Stand back, gal, stand a little back; these we'pons have been long loaded," +said Deerslayer, "and some accident may happen in the discharge." +"Then you shall not fire them! Give them both to the Delaware; or it would be +better to unload them, without firing." + +"That's ag'in usage-and some people say, ag'in manhood; though I hold to no +such silly doctrine. We must fire 'em, Judith; yes, we must fire 'em; though +I foresee that neither will have any great reason to boast of his skill." +Judith, in the main, was a girl of great personal spirit, and her habits +prevented her from feeling any of the terror that is apt to come over her +sex, at the report of fire arms. She had discharged many a rifle, and had +even been known to kill a deer, under circumstances that were favorable to +the effort. She submitted therefore, falling a little back by the side of +Deerslayer, giving the Indian the front of the platform to himself. +Chingachgook raised the weapon several times, endeavored to steady it by +using both hands, changed his attitude, from one that was awkward, to +another still more so, and finally drew the trigger with a sort of desperate +indifference, without having, in reality, secured any aim at all. The +consequence was, that instead of hitting the knot which had been selected for +the mark, he missed the ark altogether; the bullet skipping along the water, +like a stone that was thrown by hand. + +"Well done - Sarpent - well done -" cried Deerslayer laughing, with his +noiseless glee, "you've hit the lake, and that's an expl'ite for some men! I +know'd it, and as much as said it, here, to Judith; for your short we'pons +do'n't belong to red skin gifts. You've hit the lake, and that's better than +only hitting the air! Now, stand back and let us see what white gifts can do +with a white we'pon. A pistol is'n't a rifle, but colour is colour." + +The aim of Deerslayer was both quick and steady, and the report followed +almost as soon as the weapon rose. Still the pistol hung fire, as it is +termed, and fragments of it flew in a dozen directions, some falling on the +roof of the castle, others in the Ark, and one in the water. Judith screamed, +and when the two men turned anxiously towards the girl, she was as pale as +death, trembling in every limb. + +"She's wownded - yes, the poor gal's wownded - Sarpent, though one could'n't +foresee it, standing where she did. We'll lead her in to a seat, and we must +do the best for her, that our knowledge and skill can afford." + +Judith allowed herself to be supported to a seat, swallowed a mouthful of the +water that the Delaware offered her in a gourd, and, after a violent fit of +trembling, that seemed ready to shake her fine frame to dissolution, she +burst into tears. + +"The pain must be borne, poor Judith-yes, it must be borne," said Deerslayer, +soothingly, "though I am far from wishing you not to weep; for weeping often +lightens galish feelin's. Where can she be hurt, Sarpent? - I see no signs of +blood, nor any rent of skin, or garments?" + +'I am uninjured, Deerslayer-" stammered the girl, through her tears. "It's +fright-nothing more, I do assure you, and, God be praised! no one, I find, +has been harmed by the accident." + +"This is extr'ornary!" exclaimed the unsuspecting and simple minded hunter-"I +thought, Judith, you'd been above settlement weaknesses, and that you was a +gal not to be frightened by the sound of a bursting we'pon - No - I didn't +think you so skeary! Hetty might well have been startled; but you've too much +judgment and reason to be frightened when the danger's all over. They're +pleasant to the eye, chief, and changeful, but very unsartain in their +feelin's!" + +Shame kept Judith silent. There had been no acting in her agitation, but all +had fairly proceeded from sudden and uncontrollable alarm - an alarm that +she found almost as inexplicable to herself, as it proved to be to her +companions. Wip ing away the traces of tears, however, she smiled again, and +was soon able to join in the laugh at her own folly. + +"And you, Deerslayer," she at length succeeded in saying-"are you, indeed, +altogether unhurt? It seems almost miraculous that a pistol should have burst +in your hand, and you escape without the loss of a limb, if not of life!" + +"Such wonders ar'n't oncommon, at all, among worn out arms. The first rifle +they gave me play'd the same trick, and yet I liv'd through it, though not as +onharmless as I've got out of this affair. Thomas Hutter is master of one +pistol less than he was this morning, but, as it happened in trying to sarve +him, there's no ground of complaint. Now, draw near, and let us look farther +into the inside of the chist." + +Judith, by this time, had so far gotten the better of her agitation as to +resume her seat, and the examination went on. The next article that offered +was enveloped in cloth, and on opening it, it proved to be one of the +mathematical instruments that were then in use among seamen, possessing the +usual ornaments and fastenings in brass. Deerslayer and Chingachgook +expressed their admiration and surprise at the appearance of the unknown +instrument, which was bright and glittering, having apparently been well +cared for. + +"This goes beyond the surveyors, Judith!" Deerslayer exclaimed, after +turning the instrument several times in his hands. "I've seen all their tools +often, and wicked and heartless enough are they, for they never come into the +forest but to lead the way to waste and destruction; but none of them have as +designing a look as this! I fear me, after all, that Thomas Hutter has +journeyed into the wilderness with no fair intentions towards its happiness. +Did you ever see any of the cravings of a surveyor about your father, gal?" + +"He is no surveyor, Deerslayer, nor does he know the use of that instrument, +though he seems to own it. Do you suppose that Thomas Hutter ever wore that +coat? It is as much too large for him, as this instrument is beyond his +learning." + +"That's it-that must be it, Sarpent, and the old fellow, by some onknown +means, has fallen heir to another man's goods! They say he has been a +mariner, and no doubt this chist, and all it holds - ha! What have we here? - +This far out does the brass and black wood of the tool!" + +Deerslayer had opened a small bag, from which he was taking, one by one, the +pieces of a set of chess-men. They were of ivory, much larger than common, +and exquisitely wrought. Each piece represented the character, or thing after +which it is named; the knights being mounted, the castles stood on elephants, +and even the pawns possessed the heads and busts of men. The set was not +complete, and a few fractures betrayed bad usage; but all that was left had +been carefully put away and preserved. Even Judith expressed wonder, as these +novel objects were placed before her eyes, and Chingachgook fairly forgot his +Indian dignity in admiration and delight. The latter took up each piece, and +examined it with never tiring satisfaction, pointing out to the girl, the +more ingenious and striking portions of the workmanship. But the elephants +gave him the greatest pleasure. The "Hugh's!" that he uttered, as he passed +his fingers over their trunks, and ears, and tails, were very distinct, nor +did he fail to note the pawns, which were armed as archers. This exhibition +lasted several minutes, during which time Judith and the Indian had all the +rapture to themselves. Deerslayer sate silent, thoughtful, and even gloomy, +though his eyes followed each movement of the two principal actors, noting +every new peculiarity about the pieces as they were held up to view. Not an +exclamation of pleasure, nor a word of condemnation passed his lips. At +length his companions observed his silence, and, then, for the first time +since the chess men had been discovered, did he speak. + +'Judith," he asked earnestly, but with a concern that amounted almost to +tenderness of manner, "did your parents ever talk to you of religion?" + +The girl coloured, and the flashes of crimson that passed over her beautiful +countenance were like the wayward tints of a Neapolitan sky in November. +Deerslayer had given her so strong a taste for truth, however, that she did +not waver in her answer, replying simply and with sincerity. + +"My mother did often," she said, "my father never. I thought it made my +mother sorrowful to speak of our prayers and duties, but my father has never +opened his mouth on such matters, before or since her death." + +"That I can believe-that I can believe. He has no God-no such God as it +becomes a man of white skin to worship, or even a red-skin. Them things are +idols!" + +Judith started, and for a moment she seemed seriously hurt. Then she +reflected, and in the end she laughed. "And you think, Deerslayer, that these +ivory toys are my father's Gods? I have heard of idols, and know what they +are." + +"Them are idols!" repeated the other, positively. "Why should your father +keep 'em, if he does'n't worship 'em." + +"Would he keep his gods in a bag, and locked up in a chest? No - no - +Deerslayer; my poor father carries his God with him, wherever he goes, and +that is in his own cravings. These things may really be idols - I think they +are myself, from what I have heard and read of idolatry, but they have come +from some distant country, and like all the other articles, have fallen into +Thomas Hutter's hands, when he was a sailor." + +"I'm glad of it-I am downright glad to hear it, Judith, for I do not think I +could have mustered the resolution to strive to help a white idolater out of +his difficulties! The old man is of my colour and nation and I wish to sarve +him, but as one who denied all his gifts, in the way of religion, it would +have come hard to do so. That animal seems to give you great satisfaction, +Sarpent, though it's an idolatrous beast at the best." + +"It is an elephant," interrupted Judith. "I've often seen pictures of such +animals, at the garrisons, and mother had a book in which there was a printed +account of the creature. Father burnt that with all the other books, for he +said Mother loved reading too well. This was not long before mother died, and +I've sometimes thought that the loss hastened her end." + +This was said equally without levity and without any very deep feeling. It +was said without levity, for Judith was saddened by her recollections, and +yet she had been too much accustomed to live for self, and for the indulgence +of her own vanities, to feel her mother's wrongs very keenly. it required +extraordinary circumstances to awaken a proper sense of her situation, and +to stimulate the better feelings of this beautiful, but misguided girl, and +those circumstances had not yet occurred in her brief existence. + +"Elephant, or no elephant, t'is an idol," returned the hunter, "and not fit +to remain in christian keeping." + +"Good for Iroquois!" said Chingachgook, parting with one of the castles with +reluctance, as his friend took it from him to replace it in the bag-"Elephon +buy whole tribe-Buy Delaware, almost!" + +"Ay, that it would, as any one who comperhends red-skin natur' must know," +answered Deerslayer, "but the man that passes false money, Sarpent, is as bad +as he who makes it. Did you ever know a just Injin that would'n't scorn to +sell a 'coon skin, for the true marten, or to pass off a mink for a beaver. I +know that a few of these idols, perhaps one of them elephants, would go far +towards buying Thomas Hutter's liberty, but it goes ag'in conscience to pass +such counterfeit money. Perhaps no Injin tribe, hereaway, is downright +idolators but there's some that come so near it, that white gifts ought to be +particular about encouraging them in their mistake." + +"If idolatry is a gift, Deerslayer, and gifts are what you seem to think +them, idolatry in such people can hardly be a sin," said Judith with more +smartness than discrimination. + +'God grants no such gifts to any of his creatur's, Judith," returned the +hunter, seriously. "He must be adored, under some name or other, and not +creatur's of brass or ivory. It matters not whether the Father of All is +called God , or Manitou, Deity or Great Spirit, he is none the less our +common maker and master; nor does it count for much whether the souls of the +just go to Paradise, or Happy Hunting Grounds, since He may send each his own +way, as suits his own pleasure and wisdom; but it curdles my blood, when I +find human mortals so bound up in darkness and consait, as to fashion the +'arth, or wood, or bones, things made by their own hands, into motionless, +senseless iffigies, and then fall down afore them, and worship 'em as a +Deity!" + +"After all, Deerslayer, these pieces of ivory may not be idols, at all. I +remember, now, to have seen one of the officers, at the garrison, with a set +of fox and geese made in some such a design as these, and here is something +hard, wrapped in cloth, that may belong to your idols." + +Deerslayer took the bundle the girl gave him, and unrolling it, he found the +board within. Like the pieces it was large, rich, and inlaid with ebony and +ivory. Putting the whole in conjunction, the hunter, though not without many +misgivings, slowly came over to Judith's opinion, and finally admitted that +the fancied idols must be merely the curiously carved men of some unknown +game. Judith had the tact to use her victory with great moderation, nor did +she once, even in the most indirect manner, allude to the ludicrous mistake +of her companion. + +This discovery of the uses of the extraordinary-looking little images, +settled the affair of the proposed ransom. It was agreed generally, and all +understood the weaknesses and tastes of Indians, that nothing could be more +likely to tempt the cupidity of the Iroquois, than the elephants, in +particular. Luckily the whole of the castles were among the pieces, and these +four tower-bearing animals it was finally determined should be the ransom +offered. The remainder of the men, and, indeed, all the rest of the articles +in the chest, were to be kept out of view, and to be resorted to only as a +last appeal. As soon as these preliminaries were settled, every thing but +those intended for the bribe was carefully replaced in the chest, all the +covers were 'tucked in', as they had been found, and it was quite possible, +could Hutter have been put in possession of the castle again, that he might +have passed the remainder of his days in it, without even suspecting the +invasion that had been made on the privacy of the chest. The rent pistol +would have been the most likely to reveal the secret, but this was placed by +the side of its fellow, and all were pressed down as before, some half a +dozen packages in the bottom of the chest not having been opened at all. When +this was done, the lid was lowered, the padlocks replaced, and the key +turned. The latter was then replaced in the pocket from which it had been +taken. + +More than an hour was consumed in settling the course proper to be pursued, +and in returning every thing to its place. The pauses to converse were +frequent, and Judiih, who experienced a lively pleasure in the open, +undisguised admiration, with which Deerslayer's honest eyes gazed at her +handsome face, found the means to prolong the interview, with a dexterity +that seems to be innate in female coquetry. Deerslayer, indeed, appeared to +be the first who was conscious of the time that had been thus wasted, and to +call the attention of his companions to the necessity of doing something +towards putting the plan of ransoming into execution. Chingachgook had +remained in Hutter's bed room, where the elephants were laid, to feast his +eyes with the images of animals so wonderful, and so novel. Perhaps an +instinct told him that his presence would not be as acceptable to his +companions, as this holding himself aloof, for Judith had not much reserve in +the manifestations of her preferences, and the Delaware had not got so far as +one betrothed without acquiring some knowledge of the symptoms of the master +passion. + +"Well, Judith," said Deerslayer, rising, after the interview had lasted much +longer than even he himself suspected, "t'is pleasant convarsing with you, +and settling all these matters, but duty calls us another way. All this time, +Hurry and your father, not to say Hetty- The word was cut short in the +speaker's mouth, for, at that critical moment, a light step was heard on the +platform, or 'court-yard', a human figure darkened the door-way, and the +person last mentioned stood before him. The low exclamation that escaped +Deerslayer and the slight scream of Judith were hardly uttered, when an +Indian youth, between the ages of fifteen and seventeen, stood beside her. +These two entrances had been made with moccasined feet, and consequently +almost without noise, but, unexpected and stealthy as they were, they had not +the effect to disturb Deerslayer's self possession. His first measure was to +speak rapidly in Delaware to his friend, cautioning him to keep out of sight, +while he stood on his guard; the second was to step to the door to ascertain +the extent of the danger. No one else, however, had come, and a simple +contrivance, in the shape of a raft, that lay floating at the side of the +Ark, at once explained the means that had been used in bringing Hetty off. +Two dead and dry, and consequently buoyant, logs of pine were bound together +with pins and withes and a little platform of riven chestnut had been rudely +placed on their surfaces. Here Hetty had been seated, on a billet of wood, +while the young Iroquois had rowed the primitive, and slow-moving, but +perfectly safe, craft, from the shore. + +As soon as Deerslayer had taken a close survey of this raft, and satisfied +himself nothing else was near, he shook his head, and muttered in his +soliloquizing way- "This comes of prying into another man's chist! Had we +been watchful, and keen eyed, such a surprise could never have happened, and, +getting this much from a boy, teaches us what we may expect when the old +warriors set themselves fairly about their sarcumventions. It opens the way, +howsever, to a treaty for the ransom, and I will hear what Hetty has to say. + +Judith, as soon as her surprise and alarm had a little abated, discovered a +proper share of affectionate joy, at the return of her sister. She folded her +to her bosom, and kissed her, as had been her wont in the days of their +childhood and innocence. Hetty herself was less affected, for to her there +was no surprise, and her nerves were sustained by the purity and holiness of +her purpose. At her sister's request she took a seat, and entered into an +account of her adventures since they had parted. Her tale commenced just as +Deerslayer returned, and he also became an attentive listener, while the +young Iroquois stood near the door, seemingly as indifferent to what was +passing, as one of its posts. + +The narrative of the girl was sufficiently clear, until she reached the time +where we left her in the camp, after the interview with the chiefs, and, at +the moment when Hist quitted her, in the abrupt manner already related. The +sequel of the story may be told in her own language. + +"When I read the texts to the chiefs, Judith, you could not have seen that +they made any changes on their minds," she said, "but if seed is planted, it +will grow. God planted the seeds of all these trees-" + +"Ay that did he-that did he-" muttered Deerslayer-"and a goodly harvest has +followed." + +"God planted the seeds of all these trees," continued Hetty, after a moment's +pause, "and you see to what a height and shade they have grown! So it is with +the bible. You may read a verse this year, and forget it, and it will come +back to you a year hence, when you least expect to remember it." + +"And did you find any thing of this, among the savages, poor Hetty." +"Yes, Judith, and sooner, and more fully than I had even hoped. I did not +stay long with father and Hurry, but went to get my breakfast with Hist. As +soon as we had done, the chiefs came to us, and then we found the fruits of +the seed that had been planted. They said what I had read from the good book +was right- it must be right- it sounded right; like a sweet bird singing in +their ears; and they told me to come back and say as much to the great +warrior who had slain one of their braves; and to tell it to you, and to say +how happy they should be to come to church here, in the castle, or to come +out in the sun, and hear me read more of the sacred volume - and to tell you +that they wish you would lend them some canoes that they can bring father and +Hurry, and their women to the castle, that we might all sit on the platform +there, and listen to the singing of the Pale Face Manitou . There, Judith; +did you ever know of any thing that so plainly shows the power of the bible, +as that!" + +"If it were true 't would be a miracle, indeed, Hetty. But all this is no +more than Indian cunning and Indian treachery, striving to get the better of +us by management, when they find it is not to be done by force." + +"Do you doubt the bible, sister, that you judge the savages so harshly!" + +"I do not doubt the bible, poor Hetty, but I much doubt an Indian and an +Iroquois. What do you say to this visit, Deer-slayer?" + +"First let me talk a little with Hetty," returned the party appealed to; +"Was the raft made a'ter you had got your breakfast, gal, and did you walk +from the camp to the shore opposite to us, here?" + +'Oh! no, Deerslayer. The raft was ready made and in the water-could that have +been by a miracle, Judith!" + +"Yes- yes- an Indian miracle-" rejoined the hunter- "They're expart enough in +them sort of miracles. And you found the raft ready made to your hands, and +in the water, and in waiting like for its cargo?" + +"It was all as you say. The raft was near the camp, and the Indians put me on +it, and had ropes of bark, and they dragged me to the place opposite to the +castle, and then they told that young man to row me off, here." + +'And the woods are full of the vagabonds, waiting to know what is to be the +upshot of the miracle. We comperhend this affair, now, Judith, but I'll first +get rid of this young Canada blood sucker, and then we'll settle our own +course. Do you and Hetty leave us together, first bringing me the elephants, +which the Sarpent is admiring, for 'twill never do to let this loping deer be +alone a minute, or he'll borrow a canoe without asking." + +Judith did as desired, first bringing the pieces, and retiring with her +sister into their own room. Deerslayer had acquired some knowledge of most of +the Indian dialects of that region, and he knew enough of the Iroquois to +hold a dialogue in the language. Beckoning to the lad, therefore, he caused +him to + +take a seat on the chest, when he placed two of the castles suddenly before +him. Up to that moment, this youthful savage had not expressed a single +intelligible emotion, or fancy. There were many things, in and about the +place, that were novelties to him, but he had maintained his self-command +with philosophical composure. It is true, Deerslayer had detected his dark +eye scanning the defences and the arms, but the scrutiny had been made with +such an air of innocence, in such a gaping, indolent, boyish manner, that no +one but a man who had himself been taught in a similar school, would have +even suspected his object. The instant, however, the eyes of the savage fell +upon the wrought ivory, and the images of the wonderful, unknown, beasts, +surprise and admiration got the mastery of him. The manner in which the +natives of the South Sea Islands first beheld the toys of civilized life has +been often described, but the reader is not to confound it with the manner of +an American Indian, under similar circumstances. In this particular case, the +young Iroquois or Huron, permitted an exclamation of rapture to escape him, +and then he checked himself like one who had been guilty of an indecorum. +After this, his eyes ceased to wander, but became riveted on the elephants, +one of which, after a short hesitation, he even presumed to handle. +Deerslayer did not interrupt him for quite ten minutes, knowing that the lad +was taking such note of the curiosities, as would enable him to give the most +minute and accurate description of their appearance, to his seniors, on his +return. When he thought sufficient time had been allowed to produce the +desired effect, the hunter laid a finger on the naked knee of the youth and +drew his attention to himself. + +"Listen-" he said-"I want to talk with my young friend from the Canadas. Let +him forget that wonder for a minute." + +"Where t'other pale brother?" demanded the boy, looking up and letting the +idea that had been most prominent in his mind, previously to the introduction +of the chess men, escape him involuntarily. + +"He sleeps, -or if he is'n't fairly asleep, he is in the room, where the men +do sleep-" returned Deerslayer. "How did my young friend know there was +another?" + +"See him from the shore. Iroquois have got long eyes- see beyond the clouds- +see the bottom of the Great Spring!" + +"Well, the Iroquois are welcome. Two pale faces are prisoners in the camp of +your fathers, boy." + +The lad nodded, treating the circumstance with great apparent indifference; +though a moment after, he laughed as if exulting in the superior address of +his own tribe. + +"Can you tell me, boy, what your chiefs intend to do with these captyves, or +have'n't they yet made up their minds?" + +The lad looked, a moment, at the hunter with a little surprise. Then he +coolly put the end of his fore finger on his own head, just above the left +ear, and passed it round his crown with an accuracy and readiness that showed +how well he had been drilled in the peculiar art of his race. + +"When-" demanded Deerslayer, whose gorge rose at this cool demonstration of +indifference to human life. "And why not take them to your wigwams?" +"Road too long, and full of pale faces. Wigwam full, and scalps sell high. +Small scalp, much gold." + +"Well that explains it-yes, that does explain it. There's no need of being +any plainer. Now, you know, lad, that the oldest of your prisoners, is the +father of these two young women, and the other is the suitor of one of them. +The gals nat'rally wish to save the scalps of such fri'nds, and they will +give them two ivory creaturs, as ransom. One for each scalp. Go back and tell +this to your chiefs, and bring me the answer before the sun sets. + +The boy entered zealously into this project, and with a sincerity that left +no doubt of his executing his commission with intelligence and promptitude. +For a moment he forgot his love of honor, and all his clannish hostility to +the British and their Indians, in his wish to have such a treasure in his +tribe, and Deerslayer was satisfied with the impression he had made. It is +true the lad proposed to carry one of the elephants with him, as a specimen +of the other, but to this his brother negotiator was too sagacious to +consent; well knowing that it might never reach its destination if confided +to such hands. This little difficulty was soon arranged, and the boy prepared +to depart. As he stood on the platform, ready to step aboard of the raft, he +hesitated, and turned short with a proposal to borrow a canoe, as the means +most likely to shorten the negotiations. Deerslayer quietly refused the +request, and, after lingering a little longer, the boy rowed slowly away from +the castle, taking the direction of a thicket on the shore, that lay less +than half a mile distant. Deerslayer seated himself on a stool, and watched +the progress of the ambassador, sometimes closely scanning the whole line of +shore, as far as eye could reach, and then placing an elbow on a knee, he +remained a long time with his chin resting on the hand. + +During the interview between Deerslayer and the lad, a different scene took +place in the adjoining room. Hetty had enquired for the Delaware, and being +told why and where he remained concealed, she joined him. The reception +which Chingachgook gave his visiter was respectful and gentle. He understood +her character, and, no doubt, his disposition to be kind to such a being was +increased by the hope of learning some tidings of his betrothed. As soon as +the girl entered, she took a seat, and invited the Indian to place himself +near her; then she continued silent, as if she thought it decorous for him to +question her, before she consented to speak on the subject she had on her +mind. But, as Chingachgook did not understand this feeling, he remained +respectfully attentive to any thing she might be pleased to tell him. + +"You are Chingachgook, -the Great Serpent of the Delawares, ar'n't you?" the +girl at length commenced, in her own simple way losing her self-command in +the desire to proceed, but anxious first to make sure of the individual. +"Chingachgook," returned the Delaware with grave dignity. "That say Great +Sarpent, in Deerslayer tongue." + +"Well, that is my tongue. Deerslayer, and father, and Judith, and I, and poor +Hurry Harry-do you know Henry March, Great Serpent? I know you do'n't, +however, or he would have spoken of you, too." + +"Did any tongue name Chingachgook, Drooping-Lily"? for so the chief had named +poor Hetty. "Was his name sung by a little bird among Iroquois?" + +Hetty did not answer at first, but, with that indescribable feeling that +awakens sympathy and intelligence among the youthful and unpractised of her +sex, she hung her head, and the blood suffused her cheek ere she found her +tongue. It would have exceeded her stock of intelligence to explain this +embarrassment, but, though poor Hetty could not reason, on every emergency, +she could always feel. The colour slowly receded from her cheeks, and the +girl looked up archly at the Indian, smiling with the innocence of child, +mingled with the interest of a woman. + +"My sister, the Drooping Lily hear such bird!" Chingachgook added, and this +with a gentleness of tone and manner that would have astonished those who +sometimes heard the discordant cries that often came from the same throat; +these transitions from the harsh and guttural, to the soft and melodious not +being infrequent in ordinary Indian dialogues. "My sister's ears were open- +has she lost her tongue?" + +"You are Chingachgook-you must be; for there is no other red man here, and +she thought Chingachgook would come." + +"Chin - gach - gook -" pronouncing the name slowly, and dwelling on each +syllable-"Great Sarpent, Yengeese * tongue." + +"Chin- gach- gook-" repeated Hetty, in the same deliberate manner. "Yes, so +Hist called it, and you must be the chief." + +"Wah - ta! - Wah -" added the Delaware. + +"Wah - ta! - Wah, or Hist - oh! - Hist. I think Hist prettier than Wah, and +so I call her Hist." + +"Wah! very sweet in Delaware ears!" + +"You make it sound differently from me. But, never mind; I did hear the bird +you speak of sing, Great Serpent." + +"Will my sister say words of song. What she sing most-how she look - often +she laugh?" + + + (("it is singular there should be any question concerning the origin of +the well known sobriquet of "Yankees." Nearly all the old writers, +who speak of the Indians first known to the Colonists, make them pronounce +the word "English," as "Yengeese." Even at this day, it is a provincialism of +New England to say "English" instead of "Inglish" and there is a close +conformity of sound between "English" and "Yengeese," more especially if the +latter word, as was probably the case, be pronounced short. The transition +from "Yengeese,' thus pronounced, to "Yankees' is quite easy. If the former +is pronounced "Yangis" it is almost identical with "Yankees," and Indian +words have seldom been spelt as they are pronounced. Thus the scene of this +tale is spelt "Otsego," and is properly pronounced "Otsago." The liquids of +the Indians would easily convert "En" into "Yen." [1841]) + +"She sang Chin-gach-gook oftener than any thing else; and she laughed +heartily, when I told how the Iroquois waded into the water after us, and +could'n't catch us. I hope these logs have'n't ears, Serpent!" + +"No fear logs; fear sister next room-No fear Iroquois; Deerslayer stuff his +eyes and ears, with strange beast." + +"I understand you, Serpent, and I understood Hist. Sometimes I think I'm not +half as feeble minded as they say I am. Now, do you look up at the roof, and +I'll tell you all. But you frighten me you look so eager, when I speak of +Hist." + +The Indian controlled his looks, and affected to comply with the simple +request of the girl. + +"Hist told me to say, in a very low voice, that you must'n't trust the +Iroquois in any thing. They are more artful than any Indians she knows. Then +she says that there is a large bright star that comes over the hill, about an +hour after dark, - (Hist had pointed out the planet Jupiter, without knowing +it) - and just as that star comes in sight, she will be on the point, where I +landed last night, and that you must come for her, in a canoe." + +"Good-Chingachgook understand well enough, now; but he understand better if +my sister sing him, ag'in." + +Hetty repeated her words, more fully explaining what star was meant, and +mentioning the part of the point where he was to venture ashore. She now +proceeded in her own unsophisticated way to relate her intercourse with the +Indian maid, and to repeat several of her expressions and opinions that gave +great delight to the heart of her betrothed. She particularly renewed her +injunctions to be on their guard against treachery, a warning that was +scarcely needed, however, as addressed to men as wary as those to whom it was +sent. She also explained, with sufficient clearness, for on all such subjects +the mind of the girl seldom failed her, the present state of the enemy, and +the movements they had made since morning. Hist had been on the raft with +her, until it quitted the shore, and was now somewhere in the woods, opposite +to the castle, and did not intend to return to the camp, until night +approached; when she hoped to be able to slip away from her companions, as +they followed the shore on their way home, and conceal herself on the point. +No one appeared to suspect the presence of Chingachgook, though it was +necessarily known that an Indian had entered the Ark, the previous night, +and it was suspected that he had since appeared in, and about the castle, in +the dress of a pale-face. Still some little doubt existed on the latter +point, for, as this was the season when white men might be expected to +arrive, there was some fear that the garrison of the castle was increasing by +these ordinary means. All this had Hist communicated to Hetty while the +Indians were dragging them along shore, the distance, which exceeded six +miles, affording abundance of time. + +"Hist do'n't know, herself, whether they suspect her, or not; or, whether +they suspect you, but she hopes neither is the case. And now, Serpent, since +I have told you so much from your betrothed," continued Hetty, unconsciously +taking one of the Indian's hands, and playing with the fingers, as a child is +often seen to play with those of a parent, "you must let me tell you +something from myself. When you marry Hist, you must be kind to her, and +smile on her, as you do now on me, and not look cross as some of the chiefs +do at their squaws. Will you promise this?" + +"Alway good to Wah! - too tender to twist hard; else she break." + +"Yes, and smile, too; you do'n't know how much a girl craves smiles from them +she loves. Father scarce smiled on me once, while I was with him-and, Hurry- +yes- Hurry talked loud and laughed, but I do'n't think he smiled once either. +You know the difference between a smile and a laugh?" + +"Laugh, best. Hear Wah! laugh, think bird sing!" + +"I know that; her laugh is pleasant, but you must smile. And then, Serpent, +you must'n't make her carry burthens and hoe corn, as so many Indians do; but +treat her more as the pale faces treat their wives." + +"Wah-ta!-Wah no pale face-got red skin; red heart, red feelin's. All red; no +pale. Must carry papoose." + +"Every woman is willing to carry her child," said Hetty smiling, "and there +is no harm in that. But you must love Hist, and be gentle, and good to her; +for she is gentle and good herself." + +Chingachgook gravely bowed, and then he seemed to think this part of the +subject might be dismissed. Before there was time for Hetty to resume her +communications, the voice of Deerslayer was heard calling on his friend, in +the outer room. At this summons the Serpent arose to obey, and Hetty joined +her sister. + + + + +Chapter XIV. + +"'A stranger animal,' cries one, +'Sure never liv'd beneath the sun; +A lizard's body lean and long, +A fish's head, a serpent's tongue, +Its foot, with triple claw disjoined; +And what a length of tail behind!'" + +James Merrick, "The Chameleon," 11.21-26. + + + + +THE first act of the Delaware, on rejoining his friend, was to proceed +gravely to disencumber himself of his civilized attire, and to stand forth an +Indian warrior again. The protest of Deerslayer was met by his communicating +the fact that the presence of an Indian in the hut, was known to the +Iroquois, and that maintaining the disguise would be more likely to direct +suspicions to his real object, than if he came out openly as a member of a +hostile tribe. When the latter understood the truth, and was told that he had +been deceived in supposing the chief had succeeded in entering the Ark +undiscovered, he cheerfully consented to the change, since further attempt at +concealment was useless. A gender feeling than the one avowed, however, lay +at the bottom of the Indian's desire to appear as a son of the forest. He had +been told that Hist was on the opposite shore, and nature so far triumphed +over all distinctions of habit, and tribes and people, as to reduce this +young savage warrior to the level of a feeling which would have been found in +the most refined inhabitant of a town, under similar circumstances. There +was a mild satisfaction in believing that she he loved could see him, and as +he walked out on the platform in his scanty, native attire, an Apollo of the +wilderness, a hundred of the tender fancies that fleet through lovers' +brains, beset his imagination and softened his heart. +All this was lost on Deerslayer, who was no great adept in the mysteries of +Cupid, but whose mind was far more occupied with the concerns that forced +themselves on his attention, than with any of the truant fancies of love. He +soon recalled his + +companion, therefore, to a sense of their actual condition, by summoning him +to a sort of council of war, in which they were to settle their future +course. In the dialogue that followed, the parties mutually made each other +acquainted with what had passed in their several interviews. Ghingachgook was +told the history of the treaty about the ransom, and Deerslayer heard the +whole of Hetty's communications. The latter listened with generous interest +to his friend's hopes, and promised cheerfully all the assistance he could +lend. +"Tis our main ar'n'd, Sarpent, as you know, this battling for the castle and +old Hutter's darters, coming in as a sort of accident. Yes-yes- I'll be +actyve in helping little Hist, who's not only one of the best and handsomest +maidens of the tribe, but the very best and handsomest. I've always +encouraged you, chief, in that liking, and it's proper, too, that a great and +ancient race like your'n shouldn't come to an end. If a woman of red skin +and red gifts could get to be near enough to me to wish her for a wife, I'd +s'arch for just such another, but that can never be; no, that can never be. +I'm glad Hetty has met with Hist, howsever, for though the first is a little +short of wit and understanding, the last has enough for both. Yes, Sarpent-" +laughing heartily-"put 'em together, and two smarter gals is'n't to be found +in all York Colony!" + +"I will go to the Iroquois camp," returned the Delaware, gravely. "No one +knows Chingachgook but Wah1, and a treaty for lives and scalps should be made +by a chiefi Give me the strange beasts, and let me take a canoe." + +Deerslayer dropped his head, and played with the end of a fish-pole in the +water, as he sate dangling his legs over the edge of the platform, like a man +who was lost in thought, by the sudden occurrence of a novel idea. Instead of +directly answering the proposal of his friend, he began to soliloquize, a +circumstance however that in no manner rendered his words more true, as he +was remarkable for saying what he thought, whether the remarks were addressed +to himself, or to any one else. + +"Yes- yes-" he said- "this must be what they call love! I've heard say that +it sometimes upsets reason altogether, leaving a young man as helpless, as +to calculation and caution, as a brute beast. To think that the Sarpent +should be so lost to + + +season, and cunning, and wisdom! We must, sartainly, manage to get Hist off, +and have 'em married as soon as we get back to the tribe, or this war will be +of no more use to the chief, than a hunt a little oncommon extr'ornary. Yes- +yes-he'll never be the man he was, till this matter is off his mind, and he +comes to his senses like all the rest of mankind. Sarpent, you can't be in +airnest, and therefore I shall say but little to your offer. But you're a +chief, and will soon be sent out on the warpath at head of the parties, and +I'll just ask if you'd think of putting your forces into the inimy's hands, +afore the battle is fou't?" + +"Wah!" ejaculated the Indian. + +"Ay - Wah! - I know well enough it's Wah!, and altogether Wab! - Ra'ally, +Sarpent, I'm consamed and mortified about you! I never heard so weak an idee +come from a chief, and he, too, one that's already got a name for being wise, +young and inexper'enced as he is. Canoe you sha'n't have, so long as the +v'ice of fri'ndship and warning can count for any thing." + +"My pale-face friend is right. A cloud came over the face of Chingachgook, +and weakness got into his mind, while his eyes were dim. My brother has a +good memoi-y for good deeds, and a weak memory for bad. He will forget." + +"Yes, that's easy enough. Say no more about it chief, but if another of them +clouds blow near you, do your endivours to get out of its way. Clouds are bad +enough in the weather, but when they come to the reason, it gets to be +serious. Now, sit down by me here, and let us calculate our movements a +little, for we shall soon either have a truce and a peace, or we shall come +to an ac"yve, and bloody war. You see the vagabonds can make logs sarve their +turn, as well as the best raftsmen on the rivers, and it would be no great +expl'ite for them to invade us in a body. I've been thinking of the wisdom of +putting all old Tom's stores into the Ark, of barring and locking up the +Castle, and of taking to the Ark, altogether. That is moveable, and by +keeping the sail up, and shifting places, we might worry through a great many +nights, without them Canada wolves finding a way into our sheep fold!" + +Chingachgook listened to this plan, with approbation. Did the negotiation +fail, there was now little hope that the night would pass without an assault, +and the enemy had sagacity enough to understand that, in carrying the castle, +they would probably become masters of all it contained, the offered ransom +included, and still retain the advantages they had hitherto gained. Some +precaution of the sort appeared to be absolutely necessary, for now the +numbers of the Iroquois were known, a night attack could scarcely be +successfully met. It would be impossible to prevent the enemy from getting +possession of the canoes and the Ark, and the latter itself would be a hold +in which the assailants would be as effectually protected against bullets as +were those in the building. For a few minutes, both the men thought of +sinking the Ark, in the shallow water, of bringing the canoes into the house, +and of depending altogether on the castle for protection. But reflection +satisfied them that, in the end, this expedient would fail. It was so easy to +collect logs on the shore, and to construct a raft of almost any size, that +it was certain the Iroquois, now they had turned their attention to such +means, would resort to them seriously, so long as there was the certainty of +success by perseverance. After deliberating maturely, and placing all the +considerations fairly before them, the two young beginners in the art of +forest warfare, settled down into the opinion that the Ark offered the only +available means of security. This decision was no sooner come to, than it was +communicated to Judith. The girl had no serious objection to make, and all +four set about the measures necessary to carrying the plan into execution. +The reader will readily understand that Floating Tom's worldly goods were of +no great amount. A couple of beds, some wearing apparel, the arms and +ammunition, a few cooking utensils, with the mysterious and but half +examined chest formed the principal items. These were all soon removed, the +Ark having been hauled on the eastern side of the building, so that the +transfer could be made without being seen from the shore. It was thought +unnecessary to disturb the heavier and coarser articles of furniture, as they +were not required in the Ark, and were of but little value in themselves. As +great caution was necessary in removing the different objects, most of which +were passed out of a window with a view to conceal what was going on, it +required two or three hours before all could be effected. By the expiration +of that time, the raft made its appearance, moving from the shore. Deerslayer +immediately had recourse to the glass, by the aid of which he perceived that +two warriors were on it, though they appeared to be unarmed. The progress of +the raft was slow, a circumstance that formed one of the great advantages +that would be possessed by the scow, in any future collision between them, +the movements of the latter being comparatively swift and light. As there was +time to make the dispositions for the reception of the two dangerous +visiters, every thing was prepared for them, long before they had got near +enough to be hailed. The Serpent, and the girls retired into the building, +where the former stood near the door, well provided with rifles, while +Judith watched the proceedings without through a loop. As for Deerslayer, he +had brought a stool to the edge of the platform, at the point towards which +the raft was advancing, and taken his seat with his rifle leaning carelessly +between his legs. + +As the raft drew nearer, every means possessed by the party in the castle was +resorted to, in order to ascertain if their visiters had any fire arms. +Neither Deerslayer nor Chingachgook could discover any, but Judith, +unwilling to trust to simple eye-sight, thrust the glass through the loop, +and directed it towards the hemlock boughs that lay between the two logs of +the raft, forming a sort of flooring, as well as a seat for the use of the +rowers. When the heavy moving craft was within fifty feet of him, Deerslayer +hailed the Hurons, directing them to cease rowing, it not being his intention +to permit them to land. Compliance, of course, was necessary, and the two +grim-looking warriors instantly quitted their seats, though the raft +continued slowly to approach, until it had driven in much nearer to the +platform. + +"Are ye chiefs?" demanded Deerslayer with dignity-"Are ye chiefs? -Or have +the Mingos sent me warriors without names, on such an ar'n'd? If so, the +sooner ye go back, the sooner them will be likely to come that a warrior can +talk with." +"Hugh!" exclaimed the elder of the two on the raft, rolling his glowing eyes +over the different objects that were visible in and about the Castle, with a +keenness that showed how little escaped him. "My brother is very proud, but +Rivenoak (we use the literal translation of the term, writing as we do in +English) is a name to make a Delaware turn pale." + +"That's true, or it's a lie, Rivenoak, as it may be; but I am not likely to +turn pale, seeing that I was born pale. What's your ar'n'd, and why do you +come among light bark canoes, on logs that are not even dug out?" + +"The Iroquois are not ducks, to walk on water! Let the pale faces give them a +canoe, and they'll come in a canoe." + +"That's more rational, than likely to come to pass. We have but four canoes, +and being four persons that's only one for each of us. We thank you for the +offer, howsever, though we ask leave not to accept it. You are welcome, +Iroquois, on your logs." + +"Thanks- My young pale face warrior- he has got a name - how do the chiefs +call him?" + +Deerslayer hesitated a moment, and a gleam of pride and human weakness came +over him. He smiled, muttered between his teeth, and then looking up +proudly, he said- "Mingo, like all who are young and actyve, I've been known +by different names, at different times. One of your warriors whose spirit +started for the Happy Grounds of your people, as lately as yesterday morning, +thought I desarved to be known by the name of Hawkeye, and this because my +sight happened to be quicker than his own, when it got to be life or death, +atween us." + +Chingachgook, who was attentively listening to all that passed, heard and +understood this proof of passing weakness in his friend, and on a future +occasion he questioned him more closely concerning the transaction on the +point, where Deerslayer had first taken human life. When he had got the +whole truth, he did not fail to communicate it to the tribe, from which time +the young hunter was universally known among the Delawares, by an appellation +so honorably earned. As this, however, was a period posterior to all the +incidents of this tale, we shall continue to call the young hunter by the +name under which he has been first introduced to the reader. Nor was the +Iroquois less struck with the vaunt of the white man. He knew of the death of +his comrade, and had no difficulty in understanding the allusion, the +intercourse between the conqueror and his victim on that occasion, having +been seen by several savages on the shore of the lake, who had been stationed +at different points just within the margin of bushes to watch the drifting +canoes, and who had not time to reach the scene of action, ere the victor had +retired. The effect on this rude being of the forest, was an exclamation of +surprise; then such a smile of courtesy, and wave of the hand, succeeded, as +would have done credit to Asiatic diplomacy. The two Iroquois spoke to each +other, in low tones, and both drew near the end of the raft that was closest +to the platform. + +"My brother, Hawkeye, has sent a message to the Hurons," resumed Rivenoak, +"and it has made their hearts very glad. They hear he has images of beasts +with two tails! Will he show them to his friends." + +"Inimies would be truer," returned Deerslayer, "but sound is n't sense, and +does little harm. Here is One of the images; I toss it to you under faith of +treaties. If it's not returned, the rifle will settle the p'int atween us." + +The Iroquois seemed to acquiesce in the conditions, and Deerslayer arose and +prepared to toss one of the elephants to the raft, both parties using all the +precaution that was necessary to prevent its loss. As practice renders men +expert in such things, the little piece of ivory was soon successfully +transferred from one hand to the other, and then followed another scene on +the raft, in which astonishment and delight got the mastery of Indian +stoicism. These two grim old warriors manifested even more feeling, as they +examined the curiously wrought chess-man, than had been betrayed by the boy; +for, in the case of the latter, recent schooling had interposed its +influence; while the men, like all who are sustained by well established +characters, were not ashamed to let some of their emotions be discovered. For +a few minutes they apparently lost the consciousness of their situation, in +the intense scrutiny they bestowed on a material so fine, work so highly +wrought, and an animal so extraordinary. The lip of the moose is, perhaps, +the nearest approach to the trunk of the elephant that is to be found in the +American forest, but this resemblance was far from being sufficiently +striking to bring the new creature within the range of their habits and +ideas, and the more they studied the image, the greater was their +astonishment. Nor did these children of the forest mistake the structure on +the back of the elephant for a part of the animal. They were familiar with +horses and oxen, and had seen towers in the Canadas, and found nothing +surprising in creatures of burthen. Still, by a very natural association, +they supposed the carving meant to represent, that the animal they saw, was +of a strength sufficient to carry a fort on its back; a circumstance that, in +no degree, lessened their wonder. + +"Has my pale face brother any more such beasts?" at last the senior of the +Iroquois asked, in a sort of petitioning manner. + +"There's more where them came from, Mingo," was the answer; "one is enough, +howsever, to buy off fifty scalps." + +"One of my prisoners is a great warrior-tall as a pine- strong as the moose- +active as a deer-fierce as the panther! Some day he'll be a great chief, and +lead the army of King George!" + +"Tut-tut-Mingo; Hurry Harry is Hurry Harry, and you'll never make more than a +corporal of him, if you do that. He's tall enough, of a sartainty; but that's +of no use, as he only hits his head ag'in the branches as he goes through the +forest. He's strong too, but a strong body is'n't a strong head, and the +king's generals are not chosen for their sinews; he's swift, if you will, but +a rifle bullet is swifter; and as for f'erceness, it's no great ricommend to +a soldier; they that think they feel the stoutest, often givin' out at the +pinch. No-no-you'll niver make Hurry's scalp pass for more than a good head +of curly hair, and a rattle pate beneath it!" + +"My old prisoner very wise - king of the lake - great warrior, wise +counsellor!" + +"Well, there's them that might gainsay all this, too, Mingo. A very wise man +would'n't be apt to be taken in so foolish a manner as befel Master Hutter, +and if he gives good counsel, he must have listened to very bad, in that +affair. There's only one king of this lake, and he's a long way off, and +is'n't likely ever to see it. Floating Tom is some such king of this region, +as the wolf that prowls through the woods, is king of the forest. A beast +with two tails is well worth two such scalps!" + +"But my brother has another beast? - He will give two -holding up as many +fingers-"for old father?" + +"Floating Tom is no father of mine, but he'll fare none the worse for that. +As for giving two beasts for his scalp, and each beast with two tails, it is +quite beyond reason. Think yourself well off, Mingo, if you make a much worse +trade." + By this time the self-command of Rivenoak had got the better of his wonder, +and he began to fall back on his usual habits of cunning, in order to drive +the best bargain he could. It would be useless to relate more than the +substance of the desultory dialogue that followed, in which the Indian +manifested no little management, in endeavoring to recover the ground lost +under the influence of surprise. He even affected to doubt whether any +original for the image of the beast existed, and asserted that the oldest +Indian had never heard a tradition of any such animal. Little did either of +them imagine, at the time, that long ere a century elapsed, the progress of +civilization would bring even much more extraordinary and rare animals into +that region, as curiosities to be gazed at by the curious, and that the +particular beast, about which the disputants contended, would be seen laying +its sides, and swimming in the very sheet of water, on which they had met. * +As is not uncommon on such occasions, one of the parties got a little warm, +in the course of the discussion, for Deerslayer met all the arguments and +prevarication of his subtle opponent, with his own cool directness of manner, +and unmoved love of truth. What an elephant was he knew little better than +the savage, but he perfectly understood that the carved pieces of ivory must +have some such value in the eyes of an Iroquois, as a bag of gold, or a +package of beaver skins would in those of a trader. Under the circumstances, +therefore, he felt it to be prudent not to concede too much at first, since +there existed a nearly unconquerable obstacle to making the transfers, even +after the contracting parties had actually agreed upon the terms. Keeping +this difficulty in view, he held the extra chessmen in reserve, as a means +of smoothing any difficulty in the moment of need. + +At length the savage pretended that further negotiation was useless, since he +could not be so unjust to his tribe as to part with the honor and emoluments +of two excellent, full grown, male, scalps for a consideration so trifling as +a toy like that he had seen, and he prepared to take his departure. Both +parties now felt as men are wont to feel, when a bargain that each is anxious +to conclude, is on the eve of being broken off, in consequence of too much +pertinacity in the way of management. The effect of the disappointment was +very different, however, on the respective individuals. Deerslayer was +mortified, and filled with regret, for he not only felt for the prisoners, +but he also felt deeply for the two girls. The conclusion of the treaty, +therefore, left him melancholy and full of regret. With the savage, his +defeat produced the desire of revenge. In a moment of excitement, he had +loudly announced his intention to say no more, and he felt equally enraged +with himself and with his cool opponent, that he had permitted a pale face to +manifest more indifference and self-command than an Indian chief. When he +began to urge his raft away from the platform, his countenance lowered, and +his eye glowed,even while he affected a smile of amity and a gesture of +courtesy, at parting. + +It took some little time to overcome the inertia of the logs, and while this +was being done by the silent Indian, Rivenoak stalked over the hemlock boughs +that lay between the logs, in sullen ferocity, eyeing keenly the while, the +hut, the platform, and the person of his late disputant. Once he spoke in +low, quick tones to his companion, and he stirred the boughs with his feet, +like an animal that is restive. At that moment, the watchfulness of +Deerslayer had a little abated, for he sat musing on the means of renewing +the negotiation without giving too much advantage to the other side. It was +perhaps fortunate +for him that the keen and bright eyes ofJudith were as vigilant as ever. At +the instant when the young man was least on his guard, and his enemy was the +most on the alert, she called out, in a warning voice, to the former, most +opportunely, giving the alarm. + +"Be on your guard, Deerslayer," the girl cried- "I see rifles with the glass, +beneath the hemlock brush, and the Iroquois is loosening them with his feet!" +It would seem that the enemy had carried their artifices so far as to employ +an agent who understood English. The previous dialogue had taken place in +his own language, but it was evident, by the sudden manner in which his feet +ceased their treacherous occupation, and in which the countenance of Rivenoak +changed from sullen ferocity to a smile of courtesy, that the call of the +girl was understood. Signing to his companion to cease his efforts to set +the logs in motion, he advanced to the end of the raft which was nearest to +the platform, and spoke. + +"Why should Rivenoak and his brother leave any cloud between them," he said. +"They are both wise, both brave, and both generous; they ought to part +friends. One beast shall be the price of one prisoner." + +"And, Mingo," answered the other, delighted to renew the negotiations on +almost any terms, and determined to clinch the bargain if possible by a +little extra liberality, "you'll see that a pale face knows how to pay a full +price, when he trades with an open heart, and an open hand. Keep the beast +that you had forgotten to give back to me, as you was about to start, and +which I forgot to ask for, on account of consarn at parting in anger. Show it +to your chiefs. When you bring us our fri'nds, two more shall be added to it +- and-" hesitating a moment in distrust of the expediency of so great a +concession; then, deciding in its favor- "and, if we see them afore the sun +sets, we may find a fourth to make up an even number." + + This settled the matter. Every gleam of discontent vanished from the dark +countenance of the Iroquois, and he smiled as graciously, if not as sweetly, +as Judith Hutter, herself. The piece already in his possession was again +examined, and an ejaculation of pleasure, showed how much he was pleased with +this unexpected termination of the affair. In point of fact, both he and +Deerslayer had momentarily forgotten what had become of the subject of their +discussion, in the warmth of their feelings, but such had not been the case +with Rivenoak's companion. This man retained the piece, and had fully made up +his mind, were it claimed under such circumstances as to render its return +necessary, to drop it in the lake, trusting to his being able to find it, +again, at some future day. This desperate expedient, however, was no longer +necessary, and after repeating the terms of agreement, and professing to +understand them, the two Indians finally took their departure, ving slowly +towards the shore. + +any faith be put in such wretches?" asked Judith, when she and Hetty had come +out on the platform, and were standing at the side of Deerslayer, watching +the dull movement of the logs. "Will they not rather keep the toy they have, +and send us off some bloody proofs of their getting the better of us in +cunning, by way of boasting? I've heard of acts as bad as this." + +"No doubt-Judith; no manner of doubt, if it was'n't for Indian natur'. But +I'm no judge of a red skin, if that two tail'd beast does'n't set the whole +tribe in some such stir, as a stick raises in a beehive! Now, there's the +Sarpent; a man with narves like flint, and no more cur'osity in every day +consarns, than is befitting prudence; why he was so overcome with the sight +of the creatur', carved as it is in bone, that I felt ashamed for him! That's +just their gifts, howsever, and one can't well quarrel with a man for his +gifts, when they are lawful. Chingachgook will soon get over his weakness, +and remember that he's a chief, and that he comes of a great stock, and has a +renowned name to support and uphold; but, as for yonder scamps, there'll be +no peace among 'em, until they think they've got possession of every thing of +the natur' of that bit of carved bone, that's to be found among Thomas +Hutter's stores!" + +"They only know of the elephants, and can have no hopes about the other +things." + +"That's true, Judith; still, covetousness is a craving feelin'! They'll say, +if the pale faces have these cur'ous beasts with two tails, who knows but +they've got some with three, or, for that matter, with four! That's what the +schoolmasters call nat'ral arithmetic, and t'will be sartain to beset the +feelin's of savages. They'll never be easy, till the truth is known." + +"Do you think, Deerslayer," inquired Hetty, in her simple and innocent +manner, "that the Iroquois wo'n't let father and Hurry go?-I read to them +several of the very best verses in the whole bible, and you see what they +have done, already." +The hunter, as he always did, listened kindly and even affectionately to +Hetty's remarks; then he mused a moment in silence. There was something like +a flush on his cheek, as he answered, after quite a minute had passed. + +"I do'n't know whether a white man ought to be ashamed, or not, to own he +can't read, but such is my case, Judith. You are skilful, I find, in all such +matters, while I have only studied the hand of God, as it is seen in the +hills and the valleys, the mountain-tops, the streams, the forests and the +springs. Much l'arning may be got in this way, as well as out of books; and, +yet, I sometimes think it is a white man's gift to read! When I hear from the +mouths of the Moravians, the words of which I-jetty speaks, they raise a +longing in my mind, and I then think I will know how to read 'em myself; but +the game in summer, and the traditions, and lessons in war, and other +matters, have always kept me behind hand." + +"Shall I teach you, Deerslayer?" asked Hetty, earnestly. "I'm weak-minded, +they say, but I can read as well as Judith. It might save your life to know +how to read the bible to the savages, and it will certainly save your soul; +for mother told me that, again and again!" + +"Thankee, Hetty-yes, thankee, with all my heart. These are like to be too +stirring times for much idleness, but, after it's peace, and I come to see +you ag'in on this lake, then I'll give myself up to it, as if 'twas pleasure +and profit, in a single business. Perhaps I ought to be ashamed, Judith, that +'tis so; but truth is truth. As for these Iroquois, tis'n't very likely +they'll forget a beast with two tails, on account of a varse or two from the +bible. I rather expect they'll give up the prisoners, and trust to some +sarcumvenion, or other, to get 'em back, ag'in, with us and all in the castle +and the Ark, in the bargain. Howsever, we must humour the vagabonds, first to +get your father and Hurry out of their hands, and next to keep the peace +atween us, until such time as the Sarpent there, can make out to get off his +betrothed wife. If there's any sudden outbreakin' of anger and ferocity, the +Indians will send off all their women and children to the camp, at once, +whereas, by keeping 'em calm and trustful, we may manage to meet Hist, at the +spot she has mentioned. Rather than have the bargain fall through, now, I'd +throw in haifa dozen of them effigy bow-and-arrow men, such as we've in +plenty in the chist." + +Judith cheerfully assented, for she would have resigned even the flowered +brocade, rather than not redeem her father and Please Deerslayer. The +prospects of success were now so encouraging, as to raise the spirits of all +in the castle, though a due watchfulness, of the movements of the enemy was +maintained. Hour passed after hour, notwithstanding, and the sun had once +more begun to fall towards the summits of the western hills, and yet no signs +were seen of the return of the raft. By dint of sweeping the shore with the +glass, Deerslayer at length discovered a place in the dense and dark woods, +where, he entertained no doubt, the Iroquois were assembled in considerable +numbers. It was near the thicket whence the raft had issued, and a little +rill that trickled into the lake, announced the vicinity of a spring. Here, +then, the savages were probably holding their consultation, and the decision +was to be made that went to settle the question of life or death for the +prisoners. There was one ground for hope in spite of the delay, however, that +Deerslayer did not fail to place before his anxious companions. It was far +more probable that the Indians had left their prisoners in the camp, than +that they had encumbered themselves by causing them to follow through the +woods, a party that was out on a merely temporary excursion. If such was the +fact, it required considerable time to send a messenger the necessary +distance, and to bring the two white men to the spot where they were to +embark. Encouraged by these reflections, a new stock of patience was +gathered, and the declension of the sun was viewed with less alarm. + +The result justified Deerslayer's conjecture. Not long before the sun had +finally disappeared, the two logs were seen coming out of the thicket, again, +and, as it drew near, Judith announced that her father and Hurry, both of +them pinioned, lay on the bushes in the centre. As before, the two Indians +were rowing. The latter seemed to be conscious that the lateness of the hour +demanded unusual exertions, and contrary to the habits of their people, who +are ever averse to toil, they labored hard at the rude substitutes for oars. +In consequence of this diligence, the raft occupied its old station, in about +half the time that had been taken in the previous visits. + +Even after the conditions were so well understood, and matters had proceeded +so far, the actual transfer of the prisoners was not a duty to be executed +without difficulty. The Iroquois were compelled to place great reliance on +the good faith of their foes, though it was reluctantly given; and was +yielded to necessity rather than to confidence. As soon as Hutter and Hurry +should be released, the party in the castle numbered + +two to one, as opposed to those on the raft, and escape by flight was out of +the question, as the former had three bark canoes, to say nothing of the +defences of the house and the Ark. All this was understood by both parties, +and it is probable the arrangement never could have been completed, had not +the honest countenance and manner of Deerslayer wrought their usual effect +on Rivenoak. + +"My brother knows I put faith in him-" said the latter, as he advanced with +Hutter, whose legs had been released to enable the old man to ascend to the +platform. "One scalp-one more beast." + +"Stop-Mingo-" interrupted the hunter- "keep your prisoner a moment. I have to +go and seek the means of payment." + +This excuse, however, though true in part, was principally a fetch. +Deerslayer left the platform, and entering the house, he directed Judith to +collect all the arms, and to conceal them in her own room. He then spoke +earnestly to the Delaware, who stood on guard as before, near the entrance of +the building, put the three remaining castles in his pocket, and returned. + +"You are welcome back, to your old abode, Master Hutter," said Deerslayer, as +he helped the other up on the platform, slily passing into the hand of +Rivenoak, at the same time, another of the castles. "You'll find your darters +right glad to see you, and here's Hetty come herself, to say as much in her +own behalf." +Here the hunter stopped speaking and broke out into a hearty fit of his +silent and peculiar laughter. Hurry's legs were just released, and he had +been placed on his feet. So tightly had the ligatures been drawn, that the +use of his limbs was not immediately recovered, and the young giant +presented, in good sooth, a very helpless and a somewhat ludicrous picture. +It was this unusual spectacle, particularly the bewildered countenance, that +excited the merriment of Deerslayer. + +'You look like a girdled pine in a clearin', Hurry Harry, that is rocking in +a gale," said Deerslayer, checking his unseasonable mirth, more from +delicacy to the others, than from any respect to the liberated captive. "I'm +glad, howsever, to see that you have'n't had your hair dressed by any of the +Iroquois barbers, in your late visit to their camp." + +"Harkee, Deerslayer," returned the other a little fiercely, "it will be +prudent for you to deal less in mirth, and more in friendship, on this +occasion. Act like a christian, for once, and not like a laughing gal, in a +country school, when the master's back is turned, and just tell me whether +there's any feet, or not, at the end of these legs of mine. I think I can see +them, but as for feelin' they might as well be down on the banks of the +Mohawk, as be where they seem to be." + +"You've come off whole, Hurry, and that's not a little," answered the other, +secretly passing to the Indian the remainder of the stipulated ransom, and +making an earnest sign, at the same moment, for him to commence his retreat. +"You've come off whole, feet and all, and are only a little numb, from a +tight fit of the withes. Natur'll soon set the blood in motion, and then you +may begin to dance, to celebrate what I call a most wonderful and onexpected +deliverance from a den of wolves." + +Deerslayer released the arms of his friends, as each landed, and the two were +now stamping and limping about on the platform, growling and uttering +denunciations, as they endeavored to help the returning circulation. They +had been tethered too long, however, to regain the use of their limbs in a +moment, and the Indians being quite as diligent on their return, as on their +advance, the raft was fully a hundred yards from the castle, when Hurry, +turning accidentally in that direction, discovered how fast it was getting +beyond the reach of his vengeance. By this time, he could move with tolerable +facility, though still numb and awkward. Without considering his own +situation, however, he seized the rifle that leaned against the shoulder of +Deerslayer, and attempted to cock and present it. The young hunter was too +quick for him. Seizing the piece he wrenched it from the hands of the giant, +not, however, until it had gone off in the struggle, when pointed directly +upward. It is probable that Deerslayer could have prevailed in such a +contest, on account of the condition of Hurry's limbs, but the instant the +gun went off, the latter yielded, and stumped towards the house, raising his +legs at each step, quite a foot from the ground, from an uncertainty of the +actual position of his feet. But he had been anticipated by Judith. The whole +stock of Hutter's arms, which had been left in the building, as a resource in +the event of a sudden outbreaking of hostilities, had been removed, and were +already secreted, agreeably to Deerslayer's directions. In consequence of +this precaution, no means offered by which March could put his designs in +execution. + +Disappointed in his vengeance, Hurry seated himself, and like Hutter, for +half an hour, he was too much occupied in endeavoring to restore the +circulation, and in regaining the use of his limbs, to indulge in any other +reflections. By the end of this time the raft had disappeared, and night was +beginning to throw her shadows once more over the whole silvan scene. Before +darkness had completely set in, and while the girls were preparing the +evening meal, Deerslayer related to Hutter an outline of events that had +taken place, and gave him a history of the means he had adopted for the +security of his children and property. + + +CHAPTER 15 +'As long as Edwarde rules thys lande, +Ne quiet you wylle ye know ; +Your sonnes and husbandes shall be slayne, +And brooked with bloode shall 'flowe.' +'You leave youre geode and lawfulle kynge, +Wbenne ynne adversity ; +Like me. untoe the true cause styckke. +And for the true cause dye.' + +Cbatterton. + + +The calm of evening was again in singular contrast, while its gathering gloom +was in as singular unison, with the passions of men. The sun was set, and the +rays of the retiring luminary had ceased to gild the edges of the few clouds +that had sufficient openings to admit the passage of its fading light. Tne +canopy overhead was heavy and dense, promising another night of darkness, but +the surface of the lake was scarcely disturbed by a ripple. There was a +little air, though it scarce deserved to be termed wind. Still, being damp +and heavy, it had a certain fore. ne party in the castle were as gloomy and +silent as the scene The two ransomed prisoners felt humbled and discoloured, +but their humility partook of the rancour of revenge. They were far more +disposed to remember the indignity with which they had been treated during +the last few hours of their captivity, than to feel grateful for the previous +indulgence. Then that keensighted monitor conscience, by reminding them of +the retributive justice of all they had endured, goaded them, rather to turn +the tables +on their enemies, than to accuse themselves. As for the other they were +thoughtful equally from regret and joy. Deerslayer and Judith felt most of +the former sensation, though from very' different causes, while Hetty for the +moment was perfectly happy. The Delaware had also lively pictures of felicity +in the +prospect of so soon regaining his betrothed. Under such circumstandes, and in +this mood, all were taking the evening meal. + +'Old Tom!' cried Hurry, bursting into a fit of boisterous laughter, "you +look'd amazin'ly like tethered bear, as you was stretched on them hemlock +boughs, and I only wonder you didn't growl more. Well, it's over, and syth's +lamentations won't mend the matter! There's the blackguard Rivenoak, he that +brought us off has an oncommon scalp, and I 'd give as much for it myself as +the Colony.much tor it myself as the Colony. Yes, l feel as rich as the +governor, in these matters now, and will lay down with them doubloon for +doubloon. Judith, darling, did you mourn for me much, when I was in the hands +of the Philipsteins.' +The last were a family of German descent on the Mohawk, to whom Hurry had a +great antipathy, and whom he had confounded with the enemies of Judea. + +"Our tears have raised the lake, Hurry March, as you might have seen by the +shore !' returned Judith, with a feigned levity that she was far from +feeling. "That Hetty and I should have grieved for father, was to be expected +; but we fairly rained tears for you.' + +"We were sorry for poor Hurry, as well as tor father, Judith !' put in her +innocent and unconscious sister. + +'True, girl, true ; but we feel sorrow for everybody that's in trouble, you +know,' returned the other in a quick, admonitory manner. and a low tone. +"Nevertheless, we are glad to see you, Master March, and out of the hands of +the Philipsteins, too." + +"Yes, they're a bad set, and so is the other brood of 'em, down on the +river. It's a wonderment to me, how you got us off, Deerslayer ; and l +forgive you the interference that prevented my doin' justice on that +vagabond, for this small service. Let us into the secret, that we may do you +the same good turn, at need. Was it by lying, or by coaxing ?' + +'By neither, Hurry, but by buying. We paid a ransom for you both, and that, +too, at a price so high, you had well be on your guard ag'in another +captyvement, lest our stock of goods shouldn't hold out.' + +'A ransom ! - Old Tom has paid the fiddler, then, for nothing of mine would +have bought off the hair, much less the skin. I didn't think men as keen set +as them vagabonds, would let a airflow up so easy, when they had him fairly +at a close hug, and Moored. But money is money, and somehow it's unnat'ral +hard to withstand. Indian! or white man. 'tis pretty much the same. It must +be owned, Judith, there's a considerable of human natur' in mankind +generally, after all !' + +Hutter now rose, and signing to Deerslayer, he led him to an inner room, +where, in answer to his questions, he first learned the price that had been +paid for his release. The old man expressed neither resentment nor surprise +at the inroad that had been made on his chest, though he did manifest some +curiosity to know how far the investigation of its contents had been carried. +He also inquired where the key had been found. The habitual frankness of +Deerslayer prevented any prevarication, and the conference soon terminated by +the return of the two to the outer room, or that which served for the double +purpose of parlour and kitchen. + +'1 wonder if it's peace or war, between us and the savages !' exclaimed +Hurry, just as Deerslayer, who had paused for a single instant, listened +attentively, and was passing through the outer door without stopping. This +givin' up captives has a friendly look, and when men have traded together, on +a fair and honourable footing, they ought to part fri'nds, for that occasion, +at least. Come back, Deerslayer, and let us have your judgment, for I'm +beginnin' to think more of you, since your late behav iour, than l used to +do.' + +There's an answer to your question, Hurry, since you're in such haste to come +ag'in to blows.' + +As Deerslayer spoke, he threw on the table, on which the other was reclining +with one elbow? a sort of miniature fagot, composed of a dozen sticks bound +tightly together with a deer- skin thong. March seized it eagerly, and +holding it close to a blazing knot of pine that lay on the hearth! and which +gave out all the light there was in the room? ascertained that the ends of +the several sticks had been dipped in blood. + +"lf this isn't plain English,' said the reckless frontier man, "it's plain +Indian ! Here's what they call a declination of war, down at York, Judith. +How did you come by this defiant, Deerslayer ?' 'Fairly enough. It lay not a +minot' since, in what you call Floatin' Tom's door yard.' How came it there ? +It never fell from the clouds, Judith, as little toads sometimes do, and then +it don't rain. You must prove t where it come from, Deerslayer, or we shall +suspect some design to skear them that would have lost their wits long ago, +if fear could drive 'em away.' + +Deerslayer had approached a window, and cast a glance out of it, on the dark +aspect of the lake. As if satisfied with what he beheld, he drew near Hurry, +and took the bundle of sticks into his own hand, examining it attentively. + +'Yes, this is an indian declination of war, sure enough,' he said, 'and it's +a proof how little you're suited to be on the path it has travelled, Harry +March, that it has got here, and you never the wiser as to the means. The +savages may have left the scalp on your head, but they must have taken off +the ears ; else you'd have heard the stirring of the water made by the lad as +he come off ag'n on his two logs. His ar'n'd was to throw these sticks at our +door, as much as to say, we've struck the war-pool since the trade, and the +next thing will be to strike you. + +' 'The prowling wolves ! But hand me that rifle, Judith, and 1'11 send an +answer back to the vagabonds through their messenger.' + +'Not while l stand by, Master March,' coolly put in Deerslayer, motioning for +the other to forbear. 'Faith is faith, whether given to a red-skin, or to a +Christian. The lad lighted a knot, and came off fairly, under its blaze, to +give us this warning ; and no man here should harm him, while empl'yed on +such an ar'n'd. There's no use in words, for the boy is too cunning to leave +the knot burning, now his business is done and the night is already too dark +for a rifle to have any sartainty. + + 'That may be true enough, as to a gun, but there's virtue still in a canoe,' +answered Hurry, passing towards the door with enormous strides, carrying a +rifle in his hands. "T'he being doesn't live that shall stop me from +following and bringing back that riptyle's scalp. The more on 'em that you +crush in the egg, the fewer there'll be to dart at you in the woods !' + +Judith trembled like the aspen, she scarce knew why herself, though there was +the prospect of a scene of violence ; for if Hurry was fierce and overbearing +in the consciousness of his Vast strength, Deerslayer had about him the calm +determination that promises greater perseverance, and a resolution more +likely to effect its object. It was the stern, resolute eye of the latter, +rather than the noisy vehemence of the first, that excited her apprehensions. +Hurry soon reached the spot where the canoe Was fastened, but not before +Deerslayer had spoke in a quick, earnest voice to the Serpent, in Delaware. +The latter had been the frst, in truth, to hear the sounds of the oars, and +he nae gone upon the platform in jealous watchfulness. The light satisfied +him that a message was coming, and when the boy cast his bundle of sticks at +his feet, it neither moved his anger. nor induced surprise. He merely stood +at watch, rifle in hand, to make certain that no treachery lay behind the +defiance. As Deerslayer now called to him, he stepped into the canoe, and +quick as thought removed the paddles. Hurry was furious when he found that he +was deprived of the means of proceeding. He frst approached the Indian with +loud menaces, and even Deerslayer stood aghast at the probable consequences. +March shook his sledge-hammer fists, and flourished his arms, as he drew neat +the Indian, and all expected he would attempt to fell the Delaware to the +earth ; one of them, at least, was well award that such an experiment would +be followed by immediate bloodshed. But even Hurry was awed by the stern +composure of the chief, and he, too, knew that such a man was not to be +outraged with impunity ; he, therefore, turned to vent his rage on +Deerslayer, where he foresaw no consequences so terrible What might have been +the result of this second demonstration if completed, is unknown, since it +was never made. + +"Hurry," said a gentle, soothing voice at his elbow, "it's wicked to be so +angry, and God will not overlook it. The Iroquois treated you well, and they +didn't take your scalp, though you and father wanted to take theirs.' + +The influence of mildness on passion is well known. Hetty, too, had earned a +sort of consideration, that had never before been enjoyed by her, through the +self-devotion and decision of her recent conduct. Perhaps her established +mental imbecility by removing all distrust of a wish to control aided her +influence. Let the cause be as questionable as it might, the effect we +sufficiently certain. Instead of throttling his old fellow-traveler, Hurry +turned to the girl, and poured out a portion o discontent, if none of his +anger, in her attentive ears. + +"Tis too bad, Hetty !' he exclaimed ; "as bad as a county gaol or a lack of +beaver, to get a creator' into your very trap '' then to see it get off. As +much as six firrst quality skins, in valie, has paddled off on them clumsy +logs, when twenty strokes of a well-turned paddle, would overtake 'em. I say +in valie, for as to the boy in the way of natur', he is only a boy, and is +worth +neither more nor less than one. Deerslayer. you've been ontru to your fri'nds +in letting such a chance slip through my fingers well as your own.' + +The answer was given quietly, but with a voice as steady as a fearless +nature, and the consciousness of rectitude could make It. "I should have been +untrue to the right, had I done otherwise,' returned the Deerslayer, steadily +; "and neither you, nor any other man has authority to demand that much of +me. The lad came on a lawful business, and the meanest red-skin that roams +the woods, would be ashamed of not respecting his ar'n'd. But he' now far +beyond your reach, Master March, and there's little use in talking, like a +couple of women, of what can no longer be helped.' + +So saying, Deerslayer turned away, like one resolved to waste no more words +on the subject, while Hutter pulled Harry by the sleeve, and led him into the +ark. There they sat long in private conference. In the mean time, the Indian +and his friend had their secret consultation; for, though it wanted some +three or four hours to the rising of the star, the former could not abstain +from canvassing his scheme, and from opening his heart to the other. Judith, +too, yielded to her softer feelings, and listened to the whole of Hetty's +artless narrative of what occurred after she landed. The woods had few +terrors for either of these girls, educated as they had been, and accustomed. +as they were to look out daily at their rich expanse or to wander beneath +their dark shades ; but the elder sister felt that she would have hesitated +about thus venturing alone into an Iroquois camp. Concerning Hist, Hetty was +not very communicative. She spoke of her kindness, and gentleness and of the +meeting in the forest; but the secret of Chingachgook was guarded with a +shrewdness and fidelity, that many a sharper-witted girl might have failed to +display. + +At length the several conferences were broken up by the reappearance of +Hutter on the platform. Here he assembled the Whole party, and communicated +as much of his intentions as he deemed expedient. Of the arrangement made by +Deerslayer, to Abandon the castle during the night and to take refuge in the +ark, he entirely approved. It struck him as it had the others, as toe only +effectual means of escaping destruction. Now that the savages had turned +their attention to the construction of rafts, no doubt could exist of their, +at least, making an attempt to carry the building, and the message of the +bloody sticks sufficiently showed their confidence in their own success. In +short, the old man viewed the night as critical, and he called on all to t +ready as soon as possible, in order to abandon the dwellings uporarily at +least, if not forever. + +These communications made, everything proceeded promptly and with +intelligence ; the castle was secured in the manner +ready described, the canoes were withdrawn from the dock kd fastened to the +ark by the side of the other ; the few necessaries that had been left in the +house, were transferred to the cabin, the fire was extinguished and all +embarked. + +The vicinity of the hills, with their drapery of pines, had the fact to +render nights that were obscure, darker than common on the lake. As usual, +however, a belt of comparative light was retched through the centre of the +sheet, while it was within the dadoes of the mountains, that the gloom rested +most heavily on the water. Thee island, or castle, stood in this belt of +imperative light, but still the night was so dark, as to cover the aperture +of the ark. At the distance of an observer on the shore, her movements could +not be seen at all, more particularly as a background of dark hillside tilled +up the perspective of every view that was taken diagonally or directly across +the water. The prevailing wind on the lakes of that region is west, but owing +to be avenues formed by the mountains, it is frequently impossible to tell +the true direction of the currents, as they often vary within, short +distances, and brief differences of time. This is truer in light fluctuating +puffs of air, than in steady breezes; thou the squalls of even the latter are +familiarly known to be uncertain and baffling in all mountainous regions and +narrow raters. On the present occasion, Hutter himself. (as he shoved the ark +from her berth, at the side of the platform,) was at a loss to pronounce +which way the wind blew. In common, this difficulty was solved by the clouds, +which, floating high above no hill tops, as a matter of course obeyed the +currents; but now the whole vault of heaven seemed a mass of gloomy wall. Not +an opening of any son was visible, and Chingachgook we already trembling lest +the non-appearance of the star might prevent his betrothed from being +punctual to her appointment. Under these circumstances, Hutter hoisted his +sail, seemingly with the sole intention of getting away from the castle, as +it might be dangerous to remain much longer in its vicinity. The air soon +filled the cloth, and when the scow was got under command, and the sail was +properly trimmed, it was found that the direction was southerly, inclining +towards the eastern shore. No better course offering for the purposes of the +party, the singular craft was suffered to skim the surface of the water in +this direction for more than hour, when a change in the currents of the air +drove them over towards the camp. + +Deerslayer watched all the movements of Hutter and Harry with jealous +attention. At first, he did not know whether to ascribe the course they held +to accident, or to design ; but he now began to suspect the latter. Familiar +as Hutter was with the lake, it was easy to deceive one who had little +practice on the water; and let his intentions be what they might, it was +evident, ere two hours had elapsed, that the ark had got sufficient space to +be within a hundred rods of the shore, directly abreast of the known position +of the camp. For a considerable time previously to reaching this point, +Hurry, who had some knowledge of the Algonquin language, had been in close +conference with the Indian, and the result was now announced by the latter to +Deerslayer, who had been a cold, not to say distrusted, looker-on of all that +passed. + +"My old father, and my young brother, the Big Pine,' - for so the Delaware +had named March - "want to see Huron scalps at their belts,' said +Chingachgook to his friend. "There is room for some on the girdle of the +Sarpent, and his people will look for them when he goes back to his village. +Their eyes must not be left long in a fog, but they must see what they look +for. I know that my brother has a white hand ; he will not strike even the +dead. He will wait for us ; when we come back, he will not hide his face from +shame for his friend. The great Serpent of the Mohicans must be worthy to go +on the war-path with Hawkeye.' + +"Ay, ay, Sarpent, I see how it is ; that name's to stick, and in time I shall +get to be known by it instead of Deerslayer ; well, if such honours will +come, the humblest of us all must be willing to abide by 'em. As for your +looking for scalps, it belongs to your gifts, and I see no harm in it. Be +merciful. Sarpent, howsever ; be merciful, I beseech of you. It surely can do +no harm to a red-skin's honour to show a little mare. As for the Old man, the +father of two young women, who might ripen better feelin's in his heart, and +Harry March, here, who, pine as he is, might better bear the fruit of a more +christianized tree, as + + + + +CHAPTER 16 + +"I hear thee babbling to the vale +Of sunshine and of flowers, +But unto me thou bring'st a tale +Of visionary hours.' + + Wordsworth. + + +One discovery mentioned at the close of the preceding chapter, was of great +moment in the eyes of Deerslayer and his friend. In the First place, there +was the danger, almost the certainty, that Huger and Hurry would make a fresh +attempt on this camp, should they awake and ascertain its position. Then +there was the increased risk of landing to bring off Hist; and there were the +general uncertainty and additional hazards that must follow from the +circumstance that their enemies had begun to change their positions. As the +Delaware was aware that the hour was near when he ought to repair to the +rendezvous, he no longer thought of trophies torn from his foes, and one of +the first things arranged between him and his associate, was to permit the +two others to sleep on, lest they should disturb the execution of their plans +by substituting some of their own. ne ark moved slowly, and it would have +taken fully a quarter of an hour to reach the point, at the rate at which +they were going, thus affording time for a little forethought. The Indians, +in the wish to conceal their fire from those who were thought to be still in +the castle. had placed it so near the southern side of the point, as to +render it extremely difficult to shut it in by the bushes, though Deerslayer +varied the direction of the scow both to the right and to the left, in the +hope of being able to effect that object. + +'There's one advantage, Judith, in Ending that fire so near the water,' he +said, while executing these little manœuvres, since it shows the Mingos +believe we are in the hut, and our coming on 'em from this quarter, will be +an unlooked for event. But it's lucky Harry March and your father are asleep, +else we should have 'em prowling after scalps ag'in. Ha! there - the bushes +are beginning to shut in the fire - and now it can't be seen at all !' +Deerslayer waited a little to make certain that he had at last gained the +desired position, when he gave the signal agreed on, and Chingachgook let go +the grapnel, and lowered the sail. The situation in which the ark now lay had +its advantages and its disadvantages. The fire had been hid by sheering +towards the shore, and the latter was nearer, perhaps, than was desirable. +Still, the water was known to be very deep further off in the lake, and +anchoring in deep water, under the circumstances in which the party was +placed, was to be avoided, if possible. It was also believed no raft could be +within mites ; and though the trees in the darkness appeared almost to +overhang the scow, it would not be easy to get off to her without using a +boat. The intense darkness that prevailed so close in with the forest, too, +served as an effectual screen, and so long as care was had not to make a +noise, there was little or no danger of being detected. All these things +Deerslayer pointed out to Judith, instructing her as to the course she was to +follow in the event of an alarm ; for it was thought to the last degree +inexpedient to arouse the sleepers, unless it might be in the greatest +emergency. + +"And now, Judith, as we understand one another, it is time the Sarpent and I +had taken to the canoe," the hunter concluded. 'The star has not risen yet, +it's true, but it soon must, though none of us are likely to be any the wiser +for it to-night, on account of the clouds. Howsever, Hist has a ready mind, +and she's one of them that doesn't always need to have a thing afore her, to +see it. "I'll warrant you she'll not be either two minutes or two feet out of +the way, unless them jealous vagabonds, the Mingos, have taken the alarm, and +put her as a stool-pigeon to catch us, or have hid her away, in order to +prepare her mind for a Huron instead of a Mohican husband.' + +'Deerslayer,' interrupted the girl, earnestly ; this is a most dangerous +service ; why do you go on it, at all ?' + +"Anan ! - Why you know, gal, we go to bring off Hist, the Sarpent's betrothed +- the maid he means to marry, as soon as we get back to the tribe." + +"That is all right for the indian - but you do not mean to marry Hist - you +are not betrothed, and why should two risk their lives and liberties, to do +that which one can just as well perform ?' + +"Ah- now l understand you, Judith - yes, now I begin to take the idee. You +think as Hist is the Sarpent's betrothed, as they call it, and not mine, it's +altogether his affair ; and as one man can paddle a canoed he ought to be +left to go after his gal alone ! But you forget this is our ar'n'd here, on +the lake, and it would not tell well to forget an ar'n'd just as the pinch +came. Allen, if love does count for so much with some people, particularly +with young women, fri'ndship counts for some- thing, too, with other some. l +dares to say, the Delaware can paddle a canoe by himself, and can bring off +Hist by himself, and perhaps he would like that quite as well, as to have me +with him ; but he couldn't sarcumvent sarcumventions, or stir up an +ambushment, or light with the savages, and get his sweetheart at the same +time, as well by himself as if he had a fri'nd with him to depend on, even if +that fri'nd is no better than myself. No - no - Judith, you wouldn't desert +one that counted on you, at such a moment, and you can't, in reason, expect +me to do it. + +"I fear - I believe you are right, Deerslayer, and yet I wish you were not to +go ! Promise me one thing, at least, and that is, not to trust yourself among +the savages, or to do anything more than to save the girl. That will be +enough for once, and with that you ought to be satisfied.' + +"Lord bless you! gal; one would thik it was Hetty that;s talking, and not the +quick-witted, and wonderful Judith Hutter! But fright makes the wise silly, +and the strong weak. Yes, I've seen proofs of that, time and ag'in ! Well, +it's kind and softhearted in you, Judith, to feel this consign for a fellow +creator', and I shall always say that you are kind and of true feelings, let +them that envy your good looks, tell as many idle stories of you as they +may.' + +'Deerslayer !' hastily said the girl, interrupting him, though nearly choked +by her own emotions ; "do you believe all you hear about a poor, motherless +girl ? Is the foul tongue of Harry Hurry to blast my life ?' + +'Not it, Judith - not it. I've told Hurry it wasn't manful to backbite them +he couldn't win by fair means ; and that even an indian is always tender, +touching a young woman's good name.' + + 'lf I had a brother, he wouldn't dare to do it !' exclaimed Judith, with +eyes flashing lire. "But, Ending me without any protector but an old man, +whose ears are getting to be as dull as his feelings, he has his way as he +pleases !' + +"Not exactly that, Judith ; no, not exactly that, neither ! No man, brother +or stranger, would stand by and see as fair a gal as yourself hunted down, +without saying a word in her behalf. Hurry's in 'arnest in wanting to make +you his wife, and the little he does let out ag'in you, comes more from +jealousy, like, than from any thing else. Smile on him when he awakes, and +squeeze his hand only half as hard as you squeezed mine a bit ago, and my +life on it, the poor fellow will forget every thing but your comeliness. Hot +words don't always come from the heart, but oftener from the stomach, than +anywhere else. Try him, Judith, when he awakes, and see the virtue of a +smile.' + +Deerslayer laughed, in his own manner, as he concluded, and then he intimated +to the patient-looking, but really impatient Chingachgook, his readiness to +proceed. As the young man entered the canoe, the girl stood immoveable as +stone, lost in the musings that the language and manner of the other were +likely to produce. The simplicity of the hunter had completely put her at +fault ; for, in her narrow sphere, Judith was an expert manager of the other +sex ; though in the present instance she was far more actuated by impulses, +in all she had said and done, than by calculation. We shall not deny that +some of Judith's reflections were bitter, though the sequel of the tale must +be referred to, in order to explain how merited, or how keen were her +sufferings. + +Chingachgook, and his pale-face friend, set forth on their hazardous and +delicate enterprise, with a coolness and method that would have done credit +to men who were on their twentieth. instead of being on their first, war- +path. As suited his relation to the pretty fugitive, in whose service they +were engaged, the Indian took his place in the head of the canoe ; while +Deerslayer guided its movements in the stern. By this arrangement, the former +would be the first to land, and of course? the first to meet his mistress. +The latter had taken his post, without comment, but in secret influenced by +the reflection that one who had so much at stake as the indian, might not +possibly guide the canoe with the same steadiness and intelligence, as +another who had more command of his feelings. From the instant they left thc +side of the ark, the movements of the two adventurers were like the +manoeuvred of highly-drilled soldiers, who, for the first time were called on +to meet the enemy in the held. As yet, Chingachgook had never fired a shot in +anger, and the debut of his companion in warfare, is known to the reader. It +is true, the indian had been hanging about his enemy's camp for a few hours, +on his first arrival, and he had even once entered it, as related in the last +chapter, but no consequences had followed either experiment. Now, it was +certain that an important result was to be effected, or a mortifying failure +was to ensue. The rescue, or the continued captivity of Hist, depended on the +enterprise. In a word, it was virtually the maiden expedition of these two +ambitious young forest soldiers ; and while one of them set forth, impelled +by sentiments that usually carry men so far, both had all their feelings of +pride and manhood enlisted in their success. + +Instead of steering in a direct line to the point, then distant from the ark +less than a quarter of a mile, Deerslayer laid the head of his canoe +diagonally towards the centre of the lake, with a view to obtain a position, +from which he might approach the shore, having his enemies in his front only. +The spot where +Hetty had landed, and where Hist had promised to meet them, moreover, was on +the upper side of the projection, rather than on the lower ; and to reach it, +would have required the two adventurers to double nearly the whole point, +close in with the shore, had not this preliminary step been taken. So well +was the +necessity for this measure understood, that Chingachgook quietly paddled on, +although it was adopted without consulting him, and apparently was taking him +in a direction nearly opposite to that one might think he most wished to go. +A few +minutes sufficed, however, to carry the canoe the necessary distance, when +both the young men ceased paddling as it were by instinctive consent, and the +boat became stationary. The darkness increased rather than diminished, but it +was still possible, from the place where the adventurers lay, to distinguish +the outlines of the mountains. In vain did the Delaware turn his head +eastward, to catch a glimpse of the promised star ; for, notwithstanding the +clouds broke a little near the horizon, in that quarter of the heavens, the +curtain continued so far drawn as effectually to conceal all behind it. In +front, as was known by +the formation of land above and behind it. lay the point, at the distance of +about a thousand feet. No signs of the castle could Fe seen, nor could any +movement in that quarter of the lake reach the ear. The latter circumstance +might have been equally owing to the distance, which was several mites, or to +the fact that nothing was in motion. As for the ark, though scarcely farther +from the canoe than the point, it lay so completely buried in the shadows of +the shore, that it would not have been visible even had there been many +degrees more of light than actually existed. + +The adventurers now held a conference in low voices, consult- ing together as +to the probable time. Deerslayer thought it wanted yet some minutes to the +rising of the star, while the impatience of the chief caused him to fancy the +night further advanced, and to believe that his betrothed was already waiting +his appearance on the shore. As might have been expected, the opinion of the +latter prevailed, and his friend disposed himself to steer for the place of +rendezvous. ne utmost skill and precaution now became necessary in the +management of the canoe. ne paddles were lifted, and returned to the water in +a noiseless manner ; and when within a hundred yards of the beach, +Chingachgook took in his, altogether laying his hand on his rifle in its +stead. As they got still more within the belt of darkness that girded the +wolds, it was seen that they were steering too far north, and the course was +altered accordingly. ne canoe now seemed to move by instinct, so cautious and +deliberate were all its motions. Still it continued to advance, until its +bows grated on the gravel of the beach, at the precise spot where Hetty had +landed, and whence her voice had issued, the previous night, as the ark was +passing. There was, as usual, a narrow strand, but bushes fringed the wolds, +and in most places overhung the water. + +Chingachgook stepped upon the beach, and cautiously examined it, for some +distance, on each side of the canoe. In order to do this, he was often +obliged to wade to his knees in the lake, but no Hist rewarded his search. +When he returned, he found his friend also on the shore. They next conferred +in whispers, the Indian apprehending that they must have mistaken the place +of rendezvous. But Deerslayer thought it was probable they had mistaken the +hour. While he was yet speaking, he grasped the arm of the Delaware, caused +him to turn his head in the direction of the lake, and pointed towards the +summits of the eastern mountains. ne clouds had broken a little, apparently +behind rather than above the hills, and the evening star was glittering among +the branches of a pine. This was every way a flattering omen, and the young +men leaned on their rifles, listening intently! for the sound of approaching +footsteps. Voices they often heard, and mingled with them were the suppressed +cries of children, and the low but sweet laugh of indian women. As the native +Americans are habitually cautious, and seldom break out in loud conversation, +the adventurers knew by these facts, that they must be very near the +encampment. It was easy to perceive that there was a fire within the wolds, +by the manner in which some of the upper branches of the trees were +illuminated. but it was not possible, where they stood, to ascertain exactly +how near it was to themselves. Once or twice, it seemed as if stragglers from +around the fired were approaching the place of rendezvous ; but these sounds +were either altogether illusion, or those who had drawn near, returned again +without coming to the shore. A quarter of an hour was passed in this state of +intense expectation and anxiety, when Deerslayer proposed that they should +circle the point in the canoe ; and by getting a position close in, where the +camp could be seen, reconnoitre the Indians, and thus enable themselves to +form some plausible conjectures for the non-appearance of Hist. The Delaware, +however, resolutely refused to quit the spot, reasonably enough offering as a +reason, the disappointment of the girl, should she arrive in his absence. +Deerslayer felt for his friend's concern, and offered to make the circuit of +the point by himself, leaving the latter concealed in the bushes to await the +occurrence of any fortunate event that might favour his views. With this +understanding, then, the parties separated. + +As soon as Deerslayer was at his post again, in the stern of the canoe, he +left the shore with the same precautions, and in the same noiseless manner, +as he had approached it. On this occasion he did not go far from the land, +the bushes affording a sufficient cover, by keeping as close in as possible. +Indeed, it would not have been easy to devise any means more favourable to +reconnoitring round an indian camp, than those afforded by the actual state +of things. The formation of the point permitted the place to be circled on +three of its sides, and the progress of the boat was so noiseless as to +remove any apprehensions from an alarm through sound. The most practised and +guarded foot might stir a bunch of leaves, or snap a dried stick in the dark, +but a bark canoe could be made to float over the surface of smooth water, +almost with the instinctive readiness, and certaininly with the noiseless +movements of an aquatic bird. + +Deerslayer had got nearly in a line between the camp and the ark, before he +caught a glimpse of the fire. This came upon him suddenly, and a little +unexpectedly, at first causing an alarm, lest he had incautiously ventured +within the circle of light it cast. But perceiving at a second glance, that +he was certainly safe from detection, so long as the Indians kept near the +centre of the illumination, he brought the canoe to a state of rest, in the +most favourable position he could find, and commenced his observations. + +We have written much, but in vain, concerning this extraordinary being, if +the reader requires now to be told, that, untutored as he was in the learning +of the world, and simple as he ever showed himself to be in all matters +touching the subtleties of conventional taste, he was a man of strong, +native, poetical feeling. He loved the wolds for their freshness, their +sublime solitudes, their vastness, and the impress that they everywhere bore +of the divine hand of their creator. He seldom moved through them, without- +pausing to dwell on some peculiar beauty that gave him pleasure, though +seldom attempting to investigate the causes ; and never did a day pass +without his communing in spirit, and this, too, without the aid of forms or +language, with the infinite source of all he saw, felt, and beheld. Thus +consti- tuted, in a moral sense, and of a steadiness that no danger could +appal, or any crisis disturb, it is not surprising that the hunted felt a +pleasure at looking on the scene he now beheld, that momentarily caused him +to forget the object of his visit. This , will more fully appear when we +describe the scene. .: The canoe lay in front of a natural vista, not only +through the bushes that lined the shore, but of the trees also, that afforded +a clear view of the camp. It was by means of this same opening that the +light had been first seen from the ark. In consequence t f their recent +change of ground, the Indians had not yet retired to to their huts, but had +been delayed by their preparations, which t included lodging as well as food. +A large fire had been made, as ) much to answer the purpose of torches as for +the use of their simple cookery ; and at this precise moment it was blazing +high and bright, having recently received a large supply of dried brush. the +effect was to illuminate the arches of the forest, and to render the whole +area occupied by the camp as light as if hundreds of tapers were burning. +Most of the toil had ceased, and even the hungriest child had satisfied its +appetite. In a word, the time was that moment of relaxation and general +indolence which is apt to succeed a hearty meal. and when the labours of the +day have ended. ne hunters and the fishermen had been ttally successful ; and +food, that one great requisite of savage life, being abundant, every other +care appeared to have subsided in the sense of enjoyment dependent on this +all-important fact. + +Deerslayer saw at a glance that many of the warriors were absent. His +acquaintance Rivenoak, however, was present, being seated in the foreground +of a picture that Salvator Rosa would have delighted to draw, his swarthy +features illuminated as much by pleasure as by the torchlike flame, while he +showed another of the tribe one of the elephants that had caused so much +sensation among his people. A boy was looking over his shoulder, in dull +curiosity, completing the group. More in the background eight or ten warriors +lay half recumbent on the ground, or sat with their backs reclining against +trees, so many types of indolent repose. Their arms were near them all, +sometimes leaning against the same trees as themselves, or were lying across +their bodies in careless preparation. But the group that most attracted the +attention of Deerslayer was that composed of the women and children. A1l the +females appeared to be collected together, and, almost as a matter of course, +their young were near them. The former laughed and chatted in their rebuked +and quiet manner, though one who knew the habits of the people might have +detected that every thing was not going on in its usual train. Most of the +young women seemed to be light-hearted enough ; but one old hag was seated +apart with a watchful soured aspect, which the hurter at once knew betokened +that some duty of an unpleasant character had been assigned her by the +chiefs. What that duty was, he had no means of knowing ; but he felt +satisfied it must be, in some measure connected with her own sex, the aged +among the women generally being chosen for such offices and no other. + +As a matter of course, Deerslayer looked eagerly and anxiously for the form +of Hist. She was nowhere risibles though tee light penetrated to considerable +distances in all directions around the fire. Once or twice he started, as he +thought he recognized her laugh; but his ears were deceived by the soft +melody that is so common to the indian female voice. At length the old woman +spoke loud and angrily, and then he caught a glimpse of one or two dark +figures in the back-ground of trees, which turned as if obedient to the +rebuke, and walked more within the circle of the light. A young warrior's +form first came fairly into view; then followed two youthful females, one of +whom proved to be the Delaware girl. Deerslayer now comprehended it all. Hist +was watched, possibly by her young companion, certainly by the old woman. The +youth was probably some suitor of either her or her companion; but even his +discretion was distrusted under the influence of his admiration. ne known +vicinity of those who might be supposed to be her friends, and the arrival of +a strange red-man on the lake had induced more than the usual care, and the +girl had not been able to slip away from those who watched her? in order to +keep her appointment. Deerslayer traced her uneasiness, by her attempting +once or twice to look up through the branches of the trees, as if +endeavouring to get glimpses of the star she had herself named as the sign +for meeting. All was vain however, and after strolling about the camp a +little longer, in affected indifference, the two girls quitted their male +escort, and took seats among their own sex. As soon as this was done, the old +sentinel changed her place to one more agreeable to herself, a certain proof +that she had hitherto been exclusively on watch. + +Deerslayer now felt greatly at a loss how to proceed. He well knew that +Chingachgook could never be persuaded to return to the ark, without making +some desperate effort for the recovery of his mistress, and his own generous +feelings well disposed him to aid in such an undertaking. He thought he saw +the signs of an intention among the females to retire for the night; and +should he remain, and the fire continue to give out its light, he might +discover the particular hut or arbour under which Hist reposed ; a +circumstance that would be of infinite use in their future proceedings. +Should he remain, however, much longer where he was, there was great danger +that the impatience of his friend would drive him into some act of +imprudence. At each instant, indeed, he expected to see the swarthy form of +the Delaware appearing in the background, like the tiger prowling around the +fold. Taking all things into consideration, therefore, he came to the +conclusion it would be better to rejoin his friend, and endeavour to temper +his impetuosity by some of his own coolness and discretion. It required but a +minute or two to put this plan in execution, the canoe returning to the +strand some ten or fifteen minutes after it had left it. + +Contrary to his expectations, perhaps, Deerslayer found the Indian at his +post, from which he had not stirred, fearful that his betrothed might arrive +during his absence. A conference followed, in which Chingachgook was made +acquainted with the state of things in the camp. When Hist named the point as +the place of meeting, it was with the expectation of making her escape from +the old position, and of repairing to a spot that she expected to find +without any occupants; but the sudden change of localities had disconcerted +all her plans. A much greater degree of vigilance than had been previously +required was now emissary; and the circumstance that an aged woman was on +watch, also denoted some special grounds of alarm. All these considerations, +and many more that will readily suggest them- selves to the reader? were +briefly discussed before the young men came to any decision. The occasion, +however, being one that required act: instead of words, the course to be +pursued was soon chosen. + +Disposing of the canoe in such a manner that Hist must see it, should she +come to the place of meeting previously to their return, the young men looked +to their arms. and prepared to enter the wood. The whole projection into the +lake contained about two acres of land; and the part that formed the point, +and on which the camp was placed, did not compose a surface of more than half +that size. It was principally covered with oaks, which, as is usual in the +American forests, grew to a great height without throwing out a branch, and +then arched in a dense and rich foliage. Beneath, except the fringe of thick +bushes along the shore, there was very little underbrush; though, in +consequence of their shape, the trees were closer together than is common in +regions where the axe has been freely used, resembling tall, straight, rustic +columns, upholding the usual canopy of leaves. The surface of the land was +tolerably even, but it had a small rise near its centre, which divided it +into a northern and southern half. On the latter, the Hurons had built their +fire, profiting by the formation to conceal it from their enemies, who, it +will be remembered, were supposed to be in the castle, which bore northerly. +A brook also came brawling down the sides of the adjacent hills, and found +its way into the lake on the southern ' Side of the point. It had cut for +itself a deep passage through Some of the higher portions of the ground, and, +in later days, When this spot has become subjected to the uses of +civilization, by its windings and shaded banks, it has become no mean +accessory in contributing to the beauty of the place. This brook lay west of +the encampment, and its waters found their way into the great reservoir of +that region on the same side, and quite near to the spot chosen for the fire. +All these peculiarities, so far as circumstances allowed, had been noted by +Deerslayer, and explained to his friend. + +The reader will understand that the little rise in the ground, that lay +behind the Indian encampment, greatly favoured the secret advance of the two +adventurers. It prevented the light of the fire diffusing itself on the +ground directly in the rear, although the land fell away towards the water, +so as to leave what might be termed the left, or eastern flank of the +position unprotected by this covering. We have said unprotected , though that +is not properly the word since the knoll behind the huts and the Ere, offered +a cover for those who were now stealthily approaching, rather than any +protection to the Indians. Deerslayer did not break through the fringe of +bushes immediately abreast of the canoe, which might have brought him too +suddenly within the influence of the light, since the hillock did not extend +to the water; but he followed the beach northerly: until he had got nearly on +the opposite side of the tongue of land, which brought him under the shelter +of the low acclivity, and consequently more in the shadow. . + +As soon as the friends emerged from the bushes, they stopped to reconnoitre. +The fire was still blazing behind the little ridge casting its light upward, +into the tops of the trees, producing an l effect that was more pleasing than +advantageous. Still the glare had its uses; for, while the background was in +obscurity, the foreground was in strong light; exposing the savages and +concealing their foes. Profiting by the latter circumstance, '1 evinced +cautiously towards the ridge, Deerslayer dfc young men a in front, for he +insisted on this arrangement, lest the Delaw should be led by his feelings +into some indiscretion. It required but a moment to reach the foot of the +little ascent, and commenced the most critical part of the enterprise. Moving +with exceeding caution, and trailing his rifle, both to keep its barrel out +of view, and in readiness for service, the hunter put before foot, until he +had got sufficiently high to over-look summit, his own head being alone +brought into the ' Chingachgook was at his side and both paused to take +another close examination of the camp. In order, however, to protect +themselves against any straggler in the rear, they placed their bodies +against the trunk of an oak, standing on the side next the fire. + +The view that Deerslayer now obtained of the camp, was exactly the reverse of +that he had perceived from the water. The dim figures which he had formerly +discovered must have been on the summit of the ridge, a few feet in advance +of the spot where he was now posted. The lire was still blazing brightly and +around it were seated on logs, thirteen warriors, which accounted for all +whom he had seen from the canoe. They were conversing, with much earnestness +among themselves, the image of the elephant passing from hand to hand. The +first burst of savage wonder had abated, and the question now under +discussion, was the probable existence, the history and the habits of so +extraordinary an animal. We have not leisure to record the opinions of these +rude men on a subject so consonant to their lives and experience; but little +is hazarded in saying that they were quite as plausible, and far more +ingenious, than half the conjectures that precede the demonstrations of +science. However much they may have been at fault, as to their conclusions +and inferences, it is certain that they discussed the questions with a +zealous and most undivided attention. For the time being, all else was +forgotten, and our adventurers could not have approached at a more fortunate +instant. + +The females were collected near each other, much as Deer slayer had last seen +them, nearly in a line between the place where he now stood and the fire. The +distance from the oak against which the young men leaned, and the warriors, +was about thirty yards; the women may have been half that number of yards +nigher. The latter, indeed, were so near as to make the utmost +circumspection, as to motion and noise, indispensable. Although they +conversed in their low, soft voices, it was Possible, in the profound +stillness of the wolds, even to catch Passages of the discourse; and the +light-hearted laugh that escaped the girls, might occasionally have reached +the canoe. Deerslayer felt the tremolo that passed through the frame of his +friend when the latter first caught the sweet sounds that issued from the +plump, pretty lips of Hist. He even laid a hand on the shoulder of the +Indian, as a sort of admonition to command himself. As the conversation grew +more earnest, each leaned forward to listen. + +"The Hurons have more curious beasts than that,' said one of the girls, +contemptuously, for, like the men, they conversed of the elephant and his +qualities. 'The Delawares will think this creature wonderful, but tomorrow no +Huron tongue will talk of it. Our young men will End him if the animals dare +to come near our wigwams !' + +This was, in fact, addressed to Wah-ta -Wah, though she who spoke uttered her +words with an assumed diffidence and humility, that prevented her looking at +the other. + +The Delawares are so far from letting such creatures come into their +country,' returned Hist, "that no one has even seen their images there ! +Their young men would frighten away the images as well as the beasts.' + +"The Delaware young men! - the nation is women - even the deer walk when they +hear their hunters coming! Who has ever heard the name of a young Delaware +warrior ?' + +This was said in good-humour, and with a laugh; but it was +also said bitingly. That Hist so felt it, was apparent by the spirit +betrayed in her answer. + +'Who has ever heard the name of a young Delaware ?' she repeated earnestly. +Tamenund, himself, though now as old as the pines on the hill, or as the +eagles in the air, was once young; his name was heard from the great salt +lake, to the sweet waters of the west. What is the family of Uncas? Where is +another as +great, though the palefaces have ploughed up its grates, and trodden on its +bones ? Do the eagles fly as high, is the deer as swift or the panther as +brave ? Is there no young warrior of that Let the Huron maidens open their +eyes wider, and they may see one called Chingachgook, who is as stately as a +young ash, and as tough as the hickory.' + +As the girl used her figurative language and told her companions to topes +their eyes, and they would see' the Delaware, Deerslayer thrust his angers +into the sides of his friend, and indulged in a fit of his hearty, benevolent +laughter, tne other smiled ; but the language of the speaker was too +flattering, and +the tones of her voice too sweet for him to be led away by any accidental +coincidence, however ludicrous. The speech of Hist produced a retort, and the +dispute, though conducted in good-humour, and without any of the coarse +violence of tone and gesture that often impairs the charms of the sex in what +is called civilized life, grew warm and slightly clamorous. In the midst of +this scene, the Delaware caused his friend to stoop, so as completely to +conceal himself, and then he made a noise so closely resembling the little +chirrup of the smallest species of the American squirrel, that Deerslayer +himself, though he had heard the imitation a hundred times, actually thought +it came from one of the little animals skipping about, over his head. ne +sound is so familiar in the woods, that none of the Hurons paid it the least +attention. Hist, however, instantly ceased talking, and sat motionless. Still +she had sufficient self-command to abstain from turning her head. She had +heard the signal by which her lover so often called her from the wigwam to +the stolen interview, and it came over her senses and her heart, as the +serenade affects the maiden in the land of song. + +From that moment, Chingachgook felt certain that his presence was known. This +was effecting much, and he could now hope for a bolder line of conduct on the +part of his mistress than she might dare to adopt under an uncertainty of his +situation. It left no doubt of her endeavouring to aid him in his effort to +release her. Deerslayer arose as soon as the signal was given, and though he +had never held that sweet communion which is known only to lovers, he was not +slow to detect the great change that had come over the manner of the girl. +She still affected to dispute, though it was no longer with spirit and +ingenuity, but what she said was uttered more as a lure to draw her +antagonists on to an easy conquest, than with any hopes of succeeding +herself. Once or twice, it is true, her native readiness suggested a retort, +or an argument that raised a laugh, and gave her a. momentary advantage; but +these little sallies, the offspring of mother-wit, served the better to +conceal her real feelings, and to give to the triumph of the other party a +more natural air than it might have possessed without them. At length the +disputants became wearied, and they rose in a body as if about to separate. +It was now that Hist, for the first time, ventured to turn her face in the +direction whence the signal had come. In doing this, her movements were +natural, but guarded, and she stretched her arm and yawned, as if overcome +with a desire to sleep. The Chirrup was again heard, and the girl felt +satisfied as to the Position of her lover, though the strong light in which +she herself Was placed, and the comparative darkness in which the adventurers +stood, prevented her from seeing their heads, the only portions of their +forms that appeared above the ridge at all. The tree against which they were +posted had a dark shadow cast upon it by the intervention of an enormous pine +that grew +between it and the fire, a circumstance which alone would have rendered +objects within its cloud invisible at any distance. This Deerslayer well +knew, and it was one of the reasons why he had +selected this particular tree. + +The moment was near when it became necessary for Hist to act. She was to +sleep in a small hut, or bower, that had been built near where she stood, and +her companion was the aged hag already mentioned. Once within the hut, with +this sleepless old woman stretched across the entrance, as was her nightly +pratice, the hope of escape was nearly destroyed, and she might at any moment +be summoned to her bed. Luckily, at this instant, one of the warriors called +to the old woman by name, and bade her bring him water to drink. There was a +delicious spring on the northern side of the point, and the hag took a gourd +from a branch, and summoning Hist to her side, she moved towards the summit +of the ridge, intending to descend and cross the point to the natural +fountain. All this was seen and understood by the adventurers, and they fell +back into the obscurity, concealing their persons by trees, until the two +females had passed them. In walking, Hist was held tightly by the hand. As +she moved by the tree that hid Chingachgook and his friend: the former felt +for his tomahawk, with the intention to bury it in the brain of the woman. +But the other saw the hazard of such a measure, since a single scream might +bring all the warriors upon them, and he was averse to the act on +considerations of humanity. His hand, therefore, prevented the blow. Still as +the two moved past, the chirrup was repeated, and the Huron woman stopped and +faced the tree whence the sounds seemed to proceed, standing, at the moment, +within six feet of her enemies. She expressed her surprise that a squirrel +should be in motion at so late an hour, and said it boded evil. Hist answered +that she had heard the same squirrel three times within the last twenty +minutes, and that she supposed it was waiting to obtain ' +some of the crumbs left from the late supper. This explanation appeared +satisfactory, and they moved towards the spring, the men following stealthily +and closely. The gourd was filled, and the old woman was hurrying back, her +hand still grasping the wrist of the girl, when she was suddenly seized so +violently by the throat as to cause her to release her captive, and to +prevent her making any other sound than a sort of gurgling, suffocating else. +The Serpent passed his arm round the waist of his mistress and dashed through +the bushes with her, on the north side of the point. Here he immediately +turned along the beach, and ran towards the canoe. A more direct course could +have been taken, +but it might have led to a discovery of the place of embarking. + +Deerslayer kept playing on the throat of the old woman like tile keys of an +organ, occasionally allowing her to breathe, and then compressing his angers +again nearly to strangling. The brief intervals for breath, however, were +well improved, and the hag succeeded in letting out a screech or two that +served to alarm the camp. Tne tramp of the warriors, as they sprang from the +fire, was plainly audible, and, at the next moment three or four of them +appeared on the top of the ridge, drawn against the hack-ground of light, +resembling the dim shadows of the phantasmagoria. It was now quite time for +the hunter to retreat. +Tripping up the heels of his captive, and giving her throat a parting +squeeze, quite as much in resentment at her indomitable efforts to sound the +alarm as from any policy, he left her on her back, and moved towards the +bushes, his rifle at a poise, and his head over his shoulders, like a lion at +bay. + + + + + + +Chapter 17 + +There, ye wise saints, behold your light, your star, +Ye would be dupes and victims and ye are. +Is it enough? or, must I, while a thrill +Lives in your sapient bosoms, cheat you still?" + +Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh, "The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan, + + +The fire, the canoe, and the spring, near which Deerslayer commenced his +retreat, would have stood in the angles of a triangle of tolerably equal +sides. The distance from the fire to the boat was a little less than the +distance from the fire to the spring, while the distance from the spring to +the boat, was about equal to that between the two points first named. This, +however, was in straight lines, a means of escape to which the fugitives +could not resort. They were obliged to have recourse to a detour in order to +get the cover of the bushes, and to follow the curvature of the beach. Under +these disadvantages, then, the hunter commenced his retreat, disadvantages +that he felt to be so much the greater from his knowledge of the habits of +all Indians, who rarely fail in cases of sudden alarms, more especially when +in the midst of cover, immediately to throw out flankers, with a view to meet +their foes at all points, and if possible to turn their rear. That some such +course was now adopted he believed from the tramp of feet, which not only +came up the ascent, as related, but were also heard, under the first impulse, +diverging not only towards the hill in the rear, but towards the extremity of +the point, in a direction opposite to that he was about to take himself. +Promptitude, consequently became a matter of the last importance, as the +parties might meet on the strand, before the fugitive could reach the canoe. + +Notwithstanding the pressing nature of the emergency, Deerslayer hesitated a +single instant, ere he plunged into the bushes that lined the shore. His +feelings had been awakened by the whole scene, and a sternness of purpose had +come over him, to which he was ordinarily a stranger. Four dark figures +loomed on the ridge, drawn against the brightness of the fire, and an enemy +might have been sacrificed at a glance. The Indians had paused to gaze into +the gloom, in search of the screeching hag, and with many a man less given to +reflection than the hunter, the death of one of them would have been +certain. Luckily he was more prudent. Although the rifle dropped a little +towards the foremost of his pursuers, he did not aim or fire, but disappeared +in the cover. To gain the beach, and to follow it round to the place where +Chingachgook was already in the canoe, with Hist, anxiously waiting his +appearance, occupied but a moment. Laying his rifle in the bottom of the +canoe, Deerslayer stooped to give the latter a vigorous shove from the shore, +when a powerful Indian leaped through the bushes, alighting like a panther on +his back. Every thing was now suspended by a hair; a false step ruining all. +With a generosity that would have rendered a Roman illustrious throughout all +time, but which, in the career of one so simple and humble, would have been +forever lost to the world but for this unpretending legend, Deerslayer threw +all his force into a desperate effort, shoved the canoe off with a power that +sent it a hundred feet from the shore, as it might be in an instant, and fell +forward into the lake, himself, face downward; his assailant necessarily +following him. + +Although the water was deep within a few yards of the beach, it was not more +than breast high, as close in, as the spot where the two combatants fell. +Still this was quite sufficient to destroy one who had sunk, under the great +disadvantages in which Deerslayer was placed. His hands were free, however, +and the savage was compelled to relinquish his hug, to keep his own face +above the surface. For half a minute there was a desperate struggle, like the +floundering of an alligator that has just seized some powerful prey, and then +both stood erect, grasping each other's arms, in order to prevent the use of +the deadly knife, in the darkness. What might have been the issue of this +severe personal struggle cannot be known, for half a dozen savages came +leaping into the water to the aid of their friend, and, Deerslayer yielded +himself a prisoner, with a dignity that was as remarkable as his self- +devotion. + +To quit the lake and lead their new captive to the fire, occupied the +Indians but another minute. So much engaged were they all with the struggle +and its consequences, that the canoe was unseen, though it still lay so near +the shore as to render every syllable that was uttered, perfectly +intelligible to the Delaware and his betrothed; and the whole party left the +spot, some continuing the pursuit after Hist, along the beach, though most +proceeded to the light. Here Deerslayer's antagonist so far recovered his +breath and his recollection, for he had been throttled nearly to +strangulation, as to relate the manner in which the girl had got off. It was +now too late to assail the other fugitives, for no sooner was his friend led +into the bushes, than the Delaware placed his paddle into the water, and the +light canoe glided noiselessly away, holding its course towards the centre of +the lake, until safe from shot, after which it sought the Ark.When Deerslayer +reached the fire, he found himself surrounded by no less than eight grim +savages, among whom was his old acquaintance Rivenoak. As soon as the latter +caught a glimpse of the captive's countenance, he spoke apart to his +companions, and a low, but general exclamation of pleasure and surprise +escaped them. They knew that the conqueror of their late friend, he who had +fallen on the opposite side of the lake, was in their hands, and subject to +their mercy, or vengeance. There was no little admiration mingled in the +ferocious looks that were thrown on the prisoner; an admiration that was as +much excited by his present composure, as by his past deeds. This scene may +be said to have been the commencement of the great and terrible reputation +that Deer-slayer, or Hawkeye, as he was afterwards called, enjoyed among all +the tribes of New York and Canada; a reputation that was certainly more +limited in its territorial and numerical extent, than those which are +possessed in civilized life, but which was compensated for what it wanted in +these particulars, perhaps, by its greater justice, and the total absence of +mystification and management. + +The arms of Deerslayer were not pinioned, and he was left the free use of his +hands, his knife having been first removed. The only precaution that was +taken to secure his person was untiring watchfulness, and a strong rope of +bark that passed from ancle to ancle, not so much to prevent his walking, as +to place an obstacle in the way of his attempting to escape by any sudden +leap. Even this extra provision against flight was not made, until the +captive had been brought to the light, and his character ascertained. It was, +in fact, a compliment to his prowess, and he felt proud of the distinction. +That he might be bound when the warriors slept he thought probable, but to be +bound in the moment of capture, showed that he was already, and thus early, +attaining a name. While the young Indians were fastening the rope, he +wondered if Chingachgook would have been treated in the same manner, had he +too fallen into the hands of the enemy. Nor did the reputation of the young +pale face rest altogether on his success in the previous combat, or in his +discriminating and cool manner of managing the late negotiation, for it had +received a great accession by the occurrences of the night. Ignorant of the +movements of the Ark, and of the accident that had brought their fire into +view, the Iroquois attributed the discovery of their new camp to the +vigilance of so shrewd a foe. The manner in which he ventured upon the point, +the abstraction or escape of Hist, and most of all the self-devotion of the +prisoner, united to the readiness with which he had sent the canoe adrift, +were so many important links in the chain of facts, on which his growing +fame was founded. Many of these circumstances had been seen, some had been +explained, and all were understood. + +While this admiration, and these honors were so unreservedly bestowed on +Deerslayer, he did not escape some of the penalties of his situation. He was +permitted to seat himself on the end of a log, near the fire, in order to dry +his clothes, his late adversary standing opposite, now holding articles of +his own scanty vestments to the heat, and now feeling his throat, on which +the marks of his enemy's fingers were still quite visible. The rest of the +warriors consulted together, near at hand, all those who had been out having +returned to report that no signs of any other prowlers near the camp were to +be found. In this state of things, the old woman, whose name was Shebear, in +plain English, approached Deerslayer, with her fists clenched and her eyes +flashing fire. Hitherto, she had been occupied with screaming, an employment +at which she had played her part with no small degree of success, but having +succeeded in effectually alarming all within reach of a pair of lungs that +had been strengthened by long practice, she next turned her attention to the +injuries her own person had sustained in the struggle. These were in no +manner material, though they were of a nature to arouse all the fury of a +woman who had long ceased to attract by means of the gentler qualities, and +who was much disposed to revenge the hardships she had so long endured, as +the neglected wife and mother of savages, on all who came within her power. +If Deerslayer had not permanently injured her, he had temporarily caused her +to suffer, and she was not a person to overlook a wrong of this nature, on +account of its motive. + +"Skunk of the pale-faces -" commenced this exasperated and semi-poetic fury, +shaking her fist under the nose of the impassable hunter, "you are not even +a woman. Your friends the Delawares are only women, and you are their sheep. +Your own people will not own you, and no tribe of red men would have you in +their wigwams; you skulk among petticoated warriors. You slay our brave +friend who has left us? - No- his great soul scorned to fight you, and left +his body rather than have the shame of slaying you! But the blood that you +spilt when the spirit was not looking on, has not sunk into the ground. It +must be buried in your groans. What music do I hear? Those are not the +wailings of a red man! - no red warrior groans so much like a hog. They come +from a pale face throat - a Yengeese bosom, and sound as pleasant as girls +singing - Dog - skunk - wood-chuck - mink - hedge-hog- pig-toad-spider- +yengee -" + +Here the old woman having expended her breath, and exhausted her epithets, +was fain to pause a moment, though both her fists were shook 'in the +prisoner's face, and the whole of her wrinkled countenance was filled with +fierce resentment. Deerslayer looked upon these impotent attempts to arouse +him, as indifferently as a gentleman in our own state of society, regards the +vituperative terms of a blackguard: the one party feeling that the tongue of +an old woman could never injure a warrior, and the other knowing that +mendacity and vulgarity can only permanently affect those who resort to their +use; but he was spared any further attack at present, by the interposition +of Rivenoak, who shoved aside the hag, bidding her quit the spot, and +prepared to take his seat at the side of his prisoner. The old woman +withdrew, but the hunter well understood that he was to be the subject of all +her means of annoyance, if not of positive injury, so long as he remained in +the power of his enemies, for nothing rankles so deeply as the consciousness +that an attempt to irritate has been met by contempt, a feeling that is +usually the most passive of any that is harbored in the human breast. +Rivenoak quietly took the seat we have mentioned, and, after a short pause, +he commenced a dialogue, which we translate as usual, for the benefit of +those readers who have not studied the North American languages. + +"My paleface friend is very welcome," said the Indian, with a familiar nod, +and a smile so covert that it required all Deer-slayer's vigilance to detect, +and not a little of his philosophy to detect unmoved-"he is welcome. The +Hurons keep a hot fire to dry the white man's clothes by." + +"I thank you, Huron-or Mingo, as I most like to call you-" returned the +other-"I thank you for the welcome, and I thank you for the fire. Each is +good in its way, and the last is very good, when one has been in a spring as +cold as the Glimmerglass. Even Huron warmth may be pleasant, at such a time, +to a man with a Delaware heart." + +"The paleface-but my brother has a name? So great a warrior would not have +lived without a name?" + +"Mingo," said the hunter, a little of the weakness of human nature exhibiting +itself in the glance of his eye, and the colour on his cheek-"Mingo, your +brave, called me Hawkeye, I suppose on account of a quick and sartain aim, +when he was lying with his head in my lap, afore his spirit started for the +Happy Hunting Grounds." + +"Tis a good name! The hawk is sure of his blow. Hawkeye is not a woman; why +does he live with the Delawares?" + +"I understand you, Mingo, but we look on all that as a sarcumvention of some +of your subtle devils, and deny the charge. Providence placed me among the +Delawares young, and, 'bating what christian usages demand of my colour and +gifts, I hope to live and die in their tribe. Still I do not mean to throw +away altogether, my natyve rights, and shall strive to do a pale face's duty, +in red skin society." + +"Good; a Huron is a red skin, as well as a Delaware. Hawkeye is more of a +Huron than of a woman." + +"I suppose you know, Mingo, your own meaning; if you do'n't I make no +question t'is well known to Satan. But if you wish to get any thing out of +me, speak plainer, for bargains can not be made blindfolded, or tongue tied." + +"Good; Hawkeye has not a forked tongue, and he likes to say what he thinks. +He is an acquaintance of the Muskrat;" this was the name by which all the +Indians designated Hutter-"and has lived in his wigwam. But he is not a +friend. He wants no scalps, like a miserable Indian, but fights like a stout- +hearted pale face. The Muskrat is neither white, nor red. Neither a beast nor +a fish. He is a water snake; sometimes in the spring and sometimes on the +land. He looks for scalps, like an out-cast. Hawkeye can go back and tell him +how he has outwitted the Hurons, how he has escaped, and when his eyes are +in a fog, when he ca'n't see as far as from his cabin to the shore, then +Hawkeye can open the door for the Hurons. And how will the plunder be +divided? Why, Hawkeye, will carry away the most, and the Hurons will take +what he may choose to leave behind him. The scalps can go to Canada, for a +pale-face has no satisfaction in them." + +"Well, well, Rivenoak-for so I hear 'em tarm you-This is plain English, +enough, though spoken in Iroquois. I understand all you mean, now, and must +say it out-devils even Mingo deviltry! No doubt, twould be easy enough to go +back and tell the Muskrat, that I had got away from you, and gain some +credit, too, by the expl'ite." + +"Good. That is what I want the paleface to do." + +"Yes - yes - That's plain enough. I know what you want me to do, without more +words. When inside the house, and eating the Muskrat's bread, and laughing +and talking with his pretty darters, I might put his eyes into so thick a +fog, that he could'n't even see the door, much less the land." + +"Good! Hawkeye should have been born a Huron! His blood is not more than half +white!" +"There you're out, Huron; yes,' there you're as much out, as if you mistook a +wolf for a catamount. I'm white in blood, heart, natur' and gifts, though a +little red skin in feelin's and habits. But when old Hutters eyes are well +be-fogged, and his pretty darters perhaps in a deep sleep, and Hurry Harry, +the Great Pine as you Indians tarm him, is dreaming of any thing but +mischief, and all suppose Hawkeye is acting as a faithful sentinel, all I +have to do is set a torch somewhere in sight for a signal, open the door, +andet in the Hurons, to knock 'em all on the head." + +"Surely my brother is mistaken he cannot be white! He is worthy to be a great +chief among the Hurons!" + +"That is true enough, I dares to say, if he could do all this. Now, harkee, +Huron, and for once hear a few honest words from the mouth of a plain I am I +am christian born, and them that come of such a stock and that listen to the +words that were spoken to their fathers and will be spoken to their children, +until 'arth, and all it holds perishes, can never lend themselves to such +wickedness Sarcumventions in war, may be, and are, lawful; but +sarcumventions, and deceit, and treachery, among fri'inds are fit only for +the pale-face devils. I know that there are white men enough, to give you +this wrong idee of our natur', but suchre ontrue to their blood and gifts, +and ought to be, if they are not, out casts and vagabonds. No upright pale- +face could do what you wish, and to be as plain with you as I wish to be in +my judgment no upright Delaware either. With a Mingo it may be different." + +The Huron listened to this rebuke with obvious disgust, but he had his ends +in view and was too wily to lose all chance of effecting them, by a +precipitate avowal of resentment. Affecting to smile, he seemed to listen +eagerly, and he then pondered on what he had heard. + +"Does Hawkeye love the Muskrat he abruptly demanded. "Or does he love his +daughters +"Neither, Mingo. Old Tom is not a man to gain my love, and, as for the +darters, the are comely enough to gain the liking of any young man but +here's reason ag'in any very great love for either. Hetty is a god soul, but +natur' has laid a heavy hand on her mind, poor thing + +"And the Wild Rose!" exclaimed the Huron- for the fame of Judith's beauty had +spread among those who could travel the wilderness, as well as the highway by +means of old eagles' nests, rocks, and riven trees known to them by report +and tradition, as well as among the white borderers, "And the Wild Rose; is +she not sweet enough to be put in the bosom of my brother?" + +Deerslayer had far too much of the innate gentleman to insinuate aught +against the fair fame of one who, by nature and position was so helpless, and +as he did not choose to utter an untruth, he preferred being silent. The +Huron mistook the motive, and supposed that disappointed affection lay at the +bottom of his reserve. Still bent on corrupting, or bribing his captive, in +order to obtain possession of the treasures with which his imagination filled +the Castle, he persevered in his attack. + +"Hawkeye is talking with a friend," he continued. "He knows that Rivenoak is +a man of his word, for they have traded together, and trade opens the soul. +My friend has come here, on account of a littlie string held by a girl, that +can pull the whole body of the sternest warrior?" + +"You are nearer the truth, now, Huron, than you've been afore, since we began +to talk. This is true. But one end of that string was not fast to my heart, +nor did the Wild Rose hold the other." + +"This is wonderful! Does my brother love in his head, and not in his heart? +And can the Feeble Mind pull so hard against so stout a warrior?" + +"There it is ag'in; sometimes right, and sometimes wrong! The string you +mean, is fast to the heart of a great Delaware; one of Mohican stock in fact, +living among the Delawares since the disparsion of his own people, and of the +family of Uncas - Chingachgook by name, or Great Sarpent. He has come here, +led by the string, and I've followed, or rather come afore, for I got here +first, pulled by nothing stronger than fri'ndship; which is strong enough for +such as are not niggardly of their feelin's, and are willing to live a little +for their fellow creatur's, as well as for themselves." + +"But a string has two ends - one is fast to the mind of a Mohican; and the +other?"- "Why the other was here close to the fire, half an hour since. Wah- +ta!-Wah held it in her hand, if she did'n't hold it to her heart." + +"I understand what you mean, my brother," returned the Indian gravely, for +the first time catching a direct clue to the adventures of the evening. "The +Great Serpent, being strongest, pulled the hardest, and Hist was forced to +leave us. + +"I do'n't think there was much pulling about it," answered the other, +laughing, always in his silent manner, with as much heartiness as if he were +not a captive, and in danger of torture or death-"I do'n't think there was +much pulling about it; no I do'n't. Lord help you, Huron! He likes the gal, +and the gal hikes him, and it surpassed Huron sarcumventions to keep two +young people, apart, where there was so strong a feelin' to bring 'em +together." + +"And Hawkeye and Chingachgook came into our camp on this errand, only?" + +"That's a question that'll answer itself, Mingo! Yes, if a question could +talk it would answer itself, to your parfect satisfaction. For what else +should we come? And yet, it Is'n't exactly so, neither; for we did'n't come +into your camp at all, but only as far as that pine, there, that you see on +the other side of the ridge, where we stood watching your movements, and +conduct, as long as we liked. When we were ready, the Sarpent gave his +signal, and then all went just as it should, down to the moment when yonder +vagabond leaped upon my back. Sartain; we come for that, and for no other +purpose, and we got what we come for; there's no use in pretending +otherwise. Hist is off with a man who's the next thing to her husband, and +come what will to me, that's one good thing detarmined." + +"What sign, or signal, told the young maiden that her lover was nigh?" asked +the Huron with more curiosity than it was usual for him to betray. + +Deerslayer laughed again, and seem'd to enjoy the success of the exploit, +with as much glee, as if he had not been its victim. + +"Your squirrels are great gadabouts, Mingo," he cried still laughing-"yes, +they're sartainly, great gadabouts! When other folk's squirrels are at home +and asleep, yourn keep in motion among the trees, and chirrup and sing, in a +way that even a Delaware gal can understand their musick! Well, there's four +legged squirrels, and there's two legged squirrels, and give me the last, +when there's a good tight string atween two hearts. If one brings 'em +together, t'other tells when to pull hardest!" + +The Huron look'd vexed, though he succeeded in suppressing any violent +exhibition of resentment. He now quitted his prisoner, and joining the rest +of the warriors, he communicated the substance of wheat he had learned. As +in his own case, admiration was mingled with anger, at the boldness and +success of their enemies. Three or four of them ascended the little acclivity +and gazed at the tree where it was understood the adventurers had posted +themselves, and one even descended to it, and examined for foot prints +around its roots, in order to make sure that the statement was true. The +result confirmed the story of the captive, and they all returned to the fire, +with increased wonder and respect. The messenger who had arrived with some +communication from the party above, while the two adventurers were watching +the camp, was now despatched with some answer, and doubtless bore with him +the intelligence of all that had happened. + +Down to this moment, the young Indian who had been seen walking in company +with Hist and another female, had made no advances to any communication with +Deerslayer. He had held himself aloof from his friends even, passing near the +bevy of younger women, who were clustering together, apart as usual, and +conversed in low tones on the subject of the escape of their late companion. +Perhaps it would be true to say, that these last were pleased as well as +vexed at what had just occur-red. Their female sympathies were with the +lovers, while their pride was bound up in the success of their own tribe. It +is possible too, that the superior personal advantages of Hist, rendered her +dangerous to some of the younger part of the group, and they were not sorry +to find she was no longer in the way of their own ascendency. On the whole, +however, the better feeling was most prevalent, for neither the wild +condition in which they lived, the clannish prejudices of tribes, nor their +hard fortunes as Indian women , could entirely conquer the inextinguishable +leaning of their sex to the affections. One of the girls even laughed at the +disconsolate look of the swain who might fancy himself deserted, a +circumstance that seemed suddenly to arouse his energies, and induce him to +move towards the log, on which the prisoner was still seated, drying his +clothes. + +"This is Gatamount!" said the Indian, striking his hand boastfully on his +naked breast, as he uttered the words in a manner to show how much weight he +expected them to carry. +"This is Hawkeye -" quietly returned Deerslayer, adopting the name by which +he +knew he would be known in future, among all the tribes of the Iroquois. "My +sight is keen- is my brother's leap long?" + +"From here to the Delaware villages. Hawkeye has stolen my wife - he must +bring her back, or his scalp will hang on a pole, and dry in my wigwam." + +"Hawkeye has stolen nothing, Huron. He does'n't come of a thieving breed, nor +has he thieving gifts. Your wife, as you call Wah-ta!-Wah, will never be the +wife of any red skin of the Canadas; her mind is in the cabin of a Delaware, +and her body has gone to find it. The catamount is actyve I know, but its +legs can't keep pace with a woman's wishes." + +"The Serpent of the Delawares is a dog-he is a poor bull-pout, that keeps in +the water; he is afraid to stand on the hard earth, like a brave Indian!" + +"Well, well, Huron, that's pretty impudent, considering it's not an hour +since the Sarpent stood within a hundred feet of you, and would have tried +the toughness of your skin with a rifle bullet, when I pointed .you out to +him, had'n't I laid the weight of a little judgment on his hand. You may take +in timersome gals in the settlements, with your catamount whine, but the ears +of a man can tell truth from ontruth." + +"Hist laughs at him! She sees he is lame, and a poor hunter, and he has never +been on a war path. She will take a man for a husband, and not a fish." + +"How do you know that, Catamount; how do you know that," returned Deerslayer +laughing. "She has gone into the lake, you see, and may be she prefars a +trout to a mongrel cat. As for war paths, neither the Sarpent nor I, have +much exper'ence, we are ready to own, but if you do n't call this one, you +must tarm it, what the gals in the settlements tarm it, the high road to +matrimony. Take my advice Catamount, and s'arch for a wife among the Huron +women; you'll never get one, with a willing mind, from among the Delawares." + +Catamount's hand felt for his tomahawk, and when thee fingers reached the +handle, they worked convulsively, as if their owner hesitated between policy +and resentment. At this critical moment Rivenoak approached, and by a gesture +of authority, induced the young man to retire, assuming his former position, +himself, on thee log, at the side of Deerslayer. Here he continued silent for +a little time, maintaining the grave reserve of an Indian chief. + +"Hawkeye is right-" the Iroquois at length began; "his sight is so strong +that he can see truth in a dark night, and our eyes have been blinded. He is +an owl, darkness hiding nothing from him. He ought not to strike his friends. +He is right." + +"I'm glad you think so, Mingo," returned the other, "for a traitor, in my +judgment, is worse than a coward. I care as little for the Muskrat, as one +pale face ought to care for another, but I care too much for him, to ambush +him in the way you wished. In short, according to my idees, any +sarcumventions, except open-war sarcumventions, are ag'in both law, and what +we whites call 'gospel', too." + +"My pale-face brother is right; he is no Indian, to forget his Manitou and +his colour. The Hurons know that they have a great warrior for their +prisoner, and they will treat him as one. If he is to be tortured, his +torments shall be such as no common man can bear; if he is to be treated as +a friend, it will be the friendship of chiefs." + +As the Huron uttered this extraordinary assurance of consideration, his eye +furtively glanced at the countenance of his listener, in order to discover +how he stood the compliment, though his gravity and apparent sincerity would +have prevented any man but one practised in artifices, from detecting his +motives. Deerslayer belonged to the class of the unsuspicious, and +acquainted with the Indian notions of what constitutes respect, in matters +connected with the treatment of captives, he felt his blood chill at the +announcement, even while he maintained an aspect so steeled that his quick +sighted enemy could discover in it, no signs of weakness. + +"God has put me in your hands, Huron," the captive at length answered, "and I +suppose you will act your will on me. I shall not boast of what I can do, +under torment, for I've never been tried, and no man can say 'till he has +been; but I'll do my endivours not to disgrace the people among whom I got my +training. Howsever, I wish you now to bear witness that I'm altogether of +white blood, and, in a nat'ral way of white gifts too; so, should I be +overcome and forget myself, I hope you'll lay the fault where it properly +belongs, and, in no manner put it on the Delawares, or their allies and +friends the Mohicans. We're all created with more or less weakness, and I'm +afeard it's a pale face's to give in, under great bodily torment, when a red +skin will sing his songs, and boast of his deeds in the very teethe of his +foes." + +"We shall see. Hawkeye has a good countenance, and he is tough-But why should +he be tormented, when the Hurons love him? - He is not born their enemy, and +the death of one warrior will not cast a cloud between them forever." + +"So much the better, Huron; so much the better. Still I do'n't wish to owe +any thing to a mistake about each other's meaning. It is so much the better +that you bear no malice for thee loss of a warrior who fell in war, and yet +it is ontrue that there is no inmity - lawful inmity I mean - atween us. So +far as I have red skin feelin's at all, I've Delaware feelin's, and I leave +you to judge for yourself how far they are likely to be fri'ndly to the +Mingos"- Deerslayer ceased, for a sort of spectre stood before him, that put +a stop to his words, and, indeed, caused him for a moment to doubt the +fidelity of his boasted vision. Hetty Hutter was standing at the side of the +fire as quietly as if she belonged to the tribe. + +As the hunter and the Indian sat watching the emotions that were betrayed in +each other's countenance, the girl had approached unnoticed, doubtless +ascending from the beach on the southern side of the point, or that next to +the spot where the Ark had anchored, and had advanced to the fire with the +fearlessness that belonged to her simplicity, and which was certainly +justified by the treatment formerly received from the Indians. As soon as +Rivenoak perceived the girl, she was recognised, and calling to two or three +of the younger wariors, thee chief sent them out to reconnoitre, lest her +appearance should be the forerunner of another attack. He then motioned to +Hetty to draw near. + +"I hope your visit is a sign that the Sarpent and Hist are in safety, Hetty," +said Deerslayer, as soon as the girl had complied with the Huron's request. +"I do'n't think you'd come ashore ag'in, on the ar'n'd that brought you here +afore." + +"Judith told me to come this time, Deerslayer," Hetty replied, ."she paddled +me ashore herself, in a canoe as soon as the Serpent had shown her Hist, and +told his story. How handsome Hist is to-night, Deerslayer, and how much +happier she looks than when she was with the Hurons!" + +"That's natur' gal; yes, that may be set down as human natur'. She's with her +betrothed, and no longer fears a Mingo husband. In my judgment, Judith, +herself, would lose most of her beauty if she thought she was to bestow it +all on a Mingo! Content is a great fortifier of good looks, and I'll warrant +you, Hist is contented enough, now she is out of the hands of these +miscreants, and with her chosen warrior! Did you say that Judith told you to +come ashore - why should your sister do that?" + +"She bid me come to see you, and to try and persuade the savages to take more +elephants to let you off, but I've brought the bible with me - that will do +more than all the elephants in father's chest!" + +"And your father, good little Hetty-and Hurry; did they know of your ar'n'd?" + +"Not they. Both are asleep, and Judith and the Serpent thought it best they +should not be woke, lest they might want to come again after scalps, when +Hist had told them how few warriors, and how many women and children there +were in the camp. Judith would give me no peace, 'till I had come ashore to +see wheat had happened to you." + +"Well, that's remarkable as consarns Judith! Whey should she feel so much +unsartainty about me? - Ah - - I see how it is , now; yes, I see into the +whole matter, now. You must understand, Hetty, that your sister is oneasy +lest Harry March should wake, and come blundering here into the hands of the +inimy ag'in, under some idee that, being a travelling comrade, he ought to +help me in this matter! Hurry is a blunderer, I will allow, but I do n't +think he'd risk as much for my sake, as he would for his own." + +"Judith do n't care for Hurry, though Hurry cares for her," replied Hetty +innocently, but quite positively. + +"I've heard you say as much as that afore; yes, I've heard that from you, +afore, gal, and yet it is'n't true. One don't live in a tribe, not to see +something of the way in which liking works in a woman's heart. Though no way +given to marrying myself, i've been a looker on among the Delawares, and this +is a matter in which pale-face and red skin gifts are all as one as the +same. When the feelin' begins, the young woman is thoughtful, and has no +eyes or ears onless for the warrior that has taken her fancy; then follows +melancholy and sighing, and such sort of actions; after which, especially if +matters don't come to plain discourse, she often flies round to back biting +and fault finding, blaming the youth for the very things she likes best in +him. Some young creatur's are forward in this way of showing their love, and +I'm of opinion, Judith is one of 'em. Now, I've heard her as much as deny +that Hurry was good-looking, and the young woman who could do that, must be +far gone indeed!" + +"Thee young woman who liked Hurry would own that he is handsome. I think +Hurry very handsome, Deerslayer, and I'm sure every body must think so, that +has eyes. Judith do n't like Harry March, and that's the reason she finds +fault with him." + +"Well - well - my good little Hetty, have it your own way. If we should talk +from now 'till winter, each would think as at present, and there's no use in +words. I must believe that Judith is much wrapped up in Hurry, and that, +sooner or later, she'll have him; and this, too, all the more from the manner +in which she abuses him; and I dare to say, you think just the contrary. But +mind what I now tell you, gal, and pretend not to know it-" continued this +being, who was so obtuse on a point on which men are usually quick enough to +make discoveries, and so acute in matters that would baffle the observation +of much the greater portion of mankind, "I see how it is, with them +vagabonds. Rivenoak has left us, you see, and is talking yonder with his +young men, and though too far to be heard, I can see what he is telling them. +Their orders is to watch your movements, and to find where thee canoe is to +meet you, to take you back to the 'Ark, and then to seize all and what they +can. I'm sorry Judith sent you, for I suppose she wants you to go back +ag'in." + +"All that's settled, Deerslayer," returned the girl, in a low, confidential +and meaning manner, "and you may trust me to out-wit the best Indian of them +all. I know lam feeble minded, but I've got some sense, and you'll see how +I'll use it, in getting back, when my errand is done!" + +"Ahs! me, poor girl; I'm afeard all that's easier said than done. They're a +venomous set of riptyles and their p'ison's none the milder, for the loss of +Hist. Well, I'm glad the Sarpent was the one to get off with the gal, for now +there'll be two happy at least, whereas had he fallen into thee hands of thee +Mingos, there'd been two miserable, and another far from feelin' as a man +likes to feel." + +"Now you put me in mind of a part of my errand, that I had almost forgotten, +Deerslayer. Judith told me to ask you, what you thought the Hurons would do +with you, if you could'n't be bought off, and what she had best do to serve +you. Yes, this was the most important part of the errand - what she had best +do, in Order to serve you?" + +"That's as you think, Hetty; but it's no matter. Young women are apt to lay +most stress on wheat most touches their feelin's; but no matter; have it your +own way, so you be but careful not to let the vagabonds get the mastery of a +canoe. When you get back to the Ark, tell 'em to keep close, and to keep +moving too, most especially at night. Many hours can't go by, without the +troops on the river hearing of this party, and then your fri'nds may look for +relief. Tis but a day's march from the nearest garrison, and true soldiers +will never lie idle with the foe in their neighborhood. This is my advice, +and you may say to your father and Hurry, that scalp-hunting will be a poor +business now, as the Mingos are up and awake, and nothing can save 'em, 'till +the troops come, except keeping a good belt of water atween 'em and the +savages." + +"What shall I tell Judith about you, Deerslayer; 1 know she will send me back +again, if I don't bring her the truth about you." + +"Then tell her the truth. I see no reason Judith Hutter should n't hear the +truth about me, as well as a lie. I'm a captyve in Indian hands, and +Providence only knows what will come of it! Harkee, Hetty-" dropping his +voice and speaking still more confidentially, "you are a little weak minded, +it must be allowed, but you know something of Injins. Here I am in their +hands, after having slain one of their stoutest warriors, and they've been +endivouring to work upon me through fear of consequences, to betray your +father, and all in the Ark. I understand the blackguards as well as if they'd +told it all out plainly, with their tongues. They hold up avarice afore me, +on one side, and fear on t'other, and think honesty will give way, atween 'em +both. But let your father and Hurry know, 'tis all useless; as for the +Sarpent, he knows it already." + +"But what shall I tell Judith?- She will certainly send me back, if I don't +satisfy her mind." + +"Well, tell Judith the same. No doubt the savages will try the torments, to +make me give in, and to revenge the loss of their warrior, but I must hold +out ag'in nat'ral weakness in the best manner I can. You may tell Judith to +feel no consarn on my account- it will come hard I know, seeing that a white +man's gifts don't run to boasting and singing under torment, for he generally +feels smallest when he suffers most-but you may tell her not to have any +consarn. I think I shall make out to stand it, and she may rely on this, let +me give in, as much as I may, and prove completely that I am white, by +wailings, and howlings, and even tears, yet I'll never fall so far as to +betray my fri'nds. When it gets to burning holes in the flesh, with heated +ramrods, and to hacking the body, and tearing the hair out by the roots, +natur' may get the upperhand, so far as groans, and complaints are consarned, +but there the triumph of the vagabonds will ind; nothing short of god's +abandoning him to the devils, can make an honest man ontrue to his colour and +duty. + +Hetty listened with great attention, and her mild but speaking countenance +manifested a strong sympathy in the anticipated agony of the supposititious +sufferer. At first she seemed at a loss how to act; then, taking a hand of +Deerslayer's she affectionately recommended to him to borrow her bible, and +to read it, while the savages were inflicting their torments. When the other +honestly admitted that it exceeded his power to read, she even volunteered to +remain with him, and to perform this holy office in person. Thee offer was +gently declined, and Rivenoak being about to join them, Deerslayer requested +the girl to leave him, first enjoining her again, to tell those in the Ark to +have full confidence in his fidelity. Hetty now walked away, and approached +the group of females, with as much confidence and self-possession, as if she +were a native of the tribe. On the other hand thee Huron resumed his seat by +the side of his prisoner the one continuing to ask questions with all the +wily ingenuity of a practised Indian counsellor, and thee other baffling him +by thee very means that are known to be the most efficacious in defeating the +finesse of the more pretending diplomacy of civilisation or by confining his +answers to the truth, and thee truth only. + + + + + + +Chapter XVIII + +"Thus died she; never more on her +Shall sorrow light, or shame. She was not made +Through years or moons the inner weight to bear, +Which colder hearts endure till they are laid +By age in earth; her days and pleasure were +Brief but delightful - such as had not stayed +Long with her destiny; but she sleeps well +By the sea-shore whereon she loved to dwell." + +Byron. Don Juan,IV,lxxi. + +The young men who had been sent out to reconnoitre, on the sudden appearance +of Hetty soon returned to report their want of success in making any +discovery. One of them had even been along the beach as far as the spot +opposite to the ark, but the darkness had completely concealed that vessel +from his notice. Others had examined in different directions, and everywhere +the stillness of night was added to the silence and solitude of the woods. + +It was consequently believed that the girl had come alone, as on her former +visit, and on some similar errand. The Iroquois were ignorant that the ark +had left the castle, and there were movements projected, if not in the course +of actual execution, by this time, which also greatly added to the sense of +security. A watch was set, therefore, and all but the sentinels disposed +themselves to sleep. Sufficient care was had to the safe keeping of the +captive, +without inflicting on him any unnecessary suffering; and, as for Hetty, she +was permitted to find a place among the Indian girls in the best manner she +could. She did not find the friendly offices of Hist, though her character +not only bestowed impunity from pain and captivity, but it procured for her a +consideration and an attention that placed her, on the score of comfort, +quite on a level with the wild but gentle beings around her. She was supplied +with +a skin, and made her own bed on a pile of boughs a little apart from the +huts. Here she was soon in a profound sleep, like all around her. + +There were now thirteen men in the party, and three kept watch at a time. One +remained in shadow, not far from the fire. however. His duty was to guard the +captive, to take care that the fire neither blazed up so as to illuminate the +spot, nor yet become wholly extinguished, and to keep an eye generally or the +state of the camp. Another passed from one beach to the other, crossing the +base of the point, while the third kept moving slowly around the strand on +its outer +extremity, to prevent a repetition of the surprise that had already taken +place that night. This arrangement was far from being usual among savages, +who ordinarily rely more on the secrecy of their movements, than or vigilance +of this nature; but it had been called for by the peculiarity of the +circumstances in which the Hurons were now placed. Their position was known +to their foes, and it could not easily be changed at an hour which demanded +rest. Perhaps, too, they placed most of their confidence on the knowledge of +what they believed to be passing higher up the lake, and which, it was +thought would fully occupy the whole of the pale-faces, who were at liberty, +with their solitary Indian ally. It was, also, probable Rivenoak was aware, +that, in holding his captive, he had in his own hands the most dangerous of +all his enemies. + +The precision with which those accustomed to watchfulness, or lives of +disturbed rest, sleep, is not the least of the phenomena of our mysterious +being. The head is no sooner on the pillow than consciousness is lost; and +yet, at a necessary hour, the mind appears to arouse the body, as promptly as +if it had stood entinel the while over it. There can be no doubt that they +who are thus roused, awake by the influence of thought over matter, though +the mode in which +this influence is exercised must remain hidden from our curiosity until it +shall be explained, should that hour ever arrive, by the entire enlightenment +of the soul on the subject of all human mysteries. Thus it was with Hetty +Hutter. Feeble as the immaterial portion of her existence was thought to be, +it was sufficiently active to cause her to open her eyes at midnight. At that +hour she awoke, and leaving her bed of skin and boughs she walked innocently +and openly to the embers of the fire, stirring the latter, as the coolness of +the night and the woods, in connection with an exceedingly unsophisticated +bed, had a little chilled her. As the flame shot up, it lighted the swarthy +countenance of the Huron on watch, whose dark eyes glistened under its light +like the balls of the panther that is pursued to his den with burning brands. +But Hetty felt no fear, and she approached the spot where the Indian stood. +Her movements were so natural, and so perfectly devoid of any of the +stealthiness of cunning or deception, that he imagined she had merely arisen +on account of the coolness of the night, a common occurrence in a bivouac, +and the one of all others, +perhaps, the least likely to excite suspicion. Hetty spoke to him, but he +understood no English. She then gazed near a minute at the sleeping captive, +and moved slowly away in a sad and melancholy manner. The girl took no pains +to conceal her movements. Any ingenious expedient of this nature, quite +likely exceeded her powers; still her step was habitually light, and scarcely +audible. As she took the direction of the extremity of the point, or the +place where she had landed in the first adventure, and where Hist had +embarked, the sentinel saw her light form gradually disappear in the gloom +without uneasiness or changing his own position. He knew that others were on +the look-out, and he did not believe that one who had twice come into the +camp voluntarily, and had already left it openly, would take refuge in +flight. In short, the conduct of the girl excited no more attention that that +of any person of feeble intellect would excite in civilized society, while +her person met with more consideration and respect. + +Hetty certainly had no very distinct notions of the localities, but she found +her way to the beach, which she reached on the same side of the point as that +on which the camp had been made. By following the margin of the water, taking +a northern direction, she soon encountered the Indian who paced the strand as +sentinel. This was a young warrior, and when he heard her light tread coming +along the gravel, he approached swiftly, though with any thing but menace in +his manner. The darkness was so intense that it was not easy to discover +forms within the shadows of the woods at the distance of twenty feet, and +quite impossible to distinguish persons until near enough to touch them. The +young Huron manifested disappointment when he found whom he had met; +for, truth to say, he was expecting his favourite, who had promised to +relieve the ennui of a midnight watch with her presence. This man was also +ignorant of English, but he was at no loss to understand why the girl should +be up at that hour. Such things were usual in an Indian village and camp, +where sleep is as irregular as the meals. Then poor Hetty's known imbecility +as in most things connected with the savages, stood her friend on this +occasion. Vexed at his disappointment, and impatient of the presence of one +he thought an intruder the young warrior signed for the girl to move forward, +holding the direction of the beach. Hetty complied; but, as she walked away, +she spoke aloud in +English in her usual soft tones, which the stillness of the night made +audible at some little distance. 'If you took me for a Huron girl, warrior,' +she said, 'I don't wonder you are so little pleased. I am Hetty Hutter, +Thomas Hutter's daughter, and have never met any man at night, for mother +always said it was wrong, and modest young women should never do it; modest +young women of the pale-faces, I mean; for customs are different in different +parts of the world, I know. No, no; I'm Hetty Hutter, and wouldn't meet even +Harry Hurry, though he should fall down on his knees and ask me! mother said +it was wrong.' + +By the time Hetty had said this, she reached the place where the +canoes had come ashore, and, owing to the curvature of the land and the +bushes, would have been completely hid from the sight of the sentinel, had it +been broad day. But another footstep had caught the lover's ear, and he was +already nearly beyond the sound of the girl's silvery voice. Still Hetty, +bent only on her own thoughts and purposes, continued to speak, though the +gentleness of her tones +prevented the sounds from penetrating far into the woods. On the water they +were more widely diffused 'Here I am, Judith,' she added, 'and there is no +one near me. The Huron on watch has gone to meet his sweetheart, who is an +Indian girl you know, and never had a Christian mother to tell her how wrong +it is to meet a man at night -' + +Hetty's voice was hushed by a 'hist!' that came from the Water, and then she +caught a dim view of the canoe, which approached noiselessly, and soon grated +on the shingle with its bow. The moment the weight of Hetty was felt in the +light craft, the canoe withdrew, stern foremost, as if possessed of life and +Volition until it was a hundred yards from the shore. Then it turned, and, +making a +wide sweep, as much to prolong the passage as to get beyond the sound of +voices, it held its way towards the ark. For several minutes nothing was +uttered; but, believing herself to be in a favourable position to confer with +her sister, Judith, who alone sat in the stern, managing the canoe with a +skill little short of that of a man, began a discourse which she had been +burning to commence ever since they had quitted the point. + +'Here we are safe, Hetty,' she said, 'and may talk without the fear of being +overheard. You must speak low, however, for sounds are heard far on the water +in a still night. I was so close to the point some of the time while you were +on it, that I have heard the voices of the warriors, and I heard your shoes +on the gravel of the beach, even before you spoke.' + +'I don't believe, Judith, the Hurons know I have left them.' 'Quite likely +they do not, for a lover makes a poor sentry, unless it be to watch for his +sweetheart! But tell me, Hetty, did you see and speak with Deerslayer?' + +'Oh, yes - there he was seated near the fire, with his legs tied, though they +left his arms free, to move them as he pleased.' 'Well, what did he tell you, +child? Speak quick; I am dying to know what message he sent me.' + +'What did he tell me? why, what do you think, Judith; he told me that he +couldn't read! Only think of that! a white man, and not know how to read his +Bible even! He never could have had a mother, sister!' + +'Never mind that, Hetty. All men can't read; though mother knew so much and +taught us so much, father knows very little about books, and he can barely +read the Bible you know.' + +'Oh! I never thought fathers could read much, but mothers ought all to read, +else how can they teach their children? Depend on it, Judith, Deerslayer +could never have had a mother, else he would know how to read.' + +'Did you tell him I sent you ashore, Hetty, and how much concern I feel for +his misfortune?' asked the other, impatiently. + +'I believe I did, Judith; but you know I am feeble-minded, and I may have +forgotten. I did tell him you brought me ashore. And he told me a great deal +that I was to say to you, which I remember well, for it made my blood run +cold to hear him. He told me to say that his friends - I suppose you are one +of them, sister?' + +'How can you torment me thus, Hetty! Certainly, I am one of the truest +friends he has on earth.' + +'Torment you! yes, now I remember all about it. I am glad you used that word, +Judith, for it brings it all back to my mind. Well, he said he might be +tormented by the savages, but he would try to bear it as becomes a Christian +white man, and that no one need be afeard - why does Deerslayer call it +afeard, when mother always taught us to say afraid?' + +'Never mind, dear Hetty, never mind that, now,' cried the other almost +gasping for breath. 'Did Deerslayer really tell you that he thought the +savages would put him to the torture? Recollect now, well, Hetty, for this is +a most awful and serious thing.' + +'Yes he did; and I remember it by your speaking about my tormenting you. Oh! +I felt very sorry for him, and Deerslayer took all so quietly and without +noise! Deerslayer is not as handsome as Harry Hurry, Judith, but he is more +quiet.' + +'He's worth a million Hurrys! yes, he's worth all the young men who +ever came upon the lake put together,' said Judith, with an energy +and positiveness that caused her sister to wonder. 'He is true. - +There is no lie about Deerslayer. You, Hetty, may not know what a +merit it is in a man to have truth, but when you get - no - I hope you +will never know it. Why should one like you be ever made to learn +the hard lesson to distrust and hate!' + +Judith bowed her face, dark as it was, and unseen as she must have +been, by any eye but that of Omniscience, between her hands, and +groaned. This sudden paroxysm of feeling, however, lasted but for a +moment, and she continued more calmly, still speaking frankly to her +sister, whose intelligence, and whose discretion in any thing that +related to herself, she did not in the least distrust. Her voice, +however, was low and husky, instead of baying its former clearness +and animation. + +'It is a hard thing to fear truth, Hetty,' she said, 'and yet do I more +dread Deerslayer's truth, than any enemy! One cannot tamper with +such truth - so much honesty - such obstinate uprightness! But we are +not altogether unequal, sister - Deer-slayer and I? He is not altogether +my superior ?' + +It was not usual for Judith so far to demean herself as to appeal to +Hetty's judgment. Nor did she often address her by the title of sister, +a distinction that is commonly given by the junior to the senior, even +where there is perfect equality in all other respects. As trifling +departures from habitual deportment oftener strike the imagination +than more important changes, Hetty perceived the circumstances, +and wondered at them in her own simple way. Her ambition was a +little quickened, and the answer was as much out of the usual course +of things, as the question; the poor girl attempting to refine beyond +her strength. + +'Superior, Judith!' she repeated with pride. 'In what can +Deerslayer be your superior? Are you not mother's child - and +does he know how to read - and wasn't mother before any woman +in all this part of the world? I should think, so far from supposing +himself your superior, he would hardly believe himself mine. You +are handsome, and he is ugly -' + +'No, not ugly, Hetty,' interrupted Judith. 'Only plain. But his honest +face has a look in it, that is far better than beauty. In my eyes, Deerslayer +is handsomer than Harry Hurry.' + +'Judith Hutter! you frighten me. Hurry is the handsomest mortal in the world +- even handsomer than you are yourself; because a man's good looks, you +know, are always better than a woman's good looks.' + +This little innocent touch of natural taste did not please the elder sister +at the moment, and she did not scruple to betray it. 'Hetty, you now speak +foolishly, and had better say no more, on this subject,' she answered. +'Hurry is not the handsomest mortal in the world, by many; and there are +officers in the garrisons - ' Judith stammered at the words - 'there are +officers in the garrisons, near us, far comelier than he. But, why do you +think me the equal of Deerslayer - speak of that, for I do not like to hear +you show so much admiration of a man like Hurry Harry, who has neither +feelings, manners, nor conscience. You are too good for him, and he ought to +be told it, at once.' + +'I! Judith, how you forget! Why I am not beautiful, and am +feeble-minded.' + +'You are good, Hetty, and that is more than can be said of Henry March. He +may have a face, and a body, but he has no heart. But enough of this, for the +present. Tell me what raises me to an equality with Deerslayer.' + +'To think of you asking me this, Judith! He can't read, and you can. He don't +know how to talk, but speaks worse than Hurry even; - for, sister, Harry +doesn't always pronounce his words right! Did you ever notice that ?' + +'Certainly, he is as coarse in speech as in every thing else. But, I fear +you flatter me, Hetty, when you think I can be justly called the equal of a +man like Deerslayer. It is true, I have been better taught; in one sense am +more comely; and perhaps might look higher; but then his truth - his truth - +makes a fearful difference between us! Well, I will talk no more of this; and +we will bethink us of the means of getting him out of the hands of the +Hurons. We have father's chest in the ark, Hetty, and might try the +temptation of more elephants; though I fear such baubles will not buy the +liberty of a man like Deerslayer. I am afraid father and Hurry will not be +as willing to ransom Deerslayer, as Deerslayer was to ransom them!' + +'Why not, Judith? Hurry and Deerslayer are friends, and friends should +always help one another.' + +'Alas! poor Hetty, you little know mankind! Seeming friends are often more to +be dreaded than open enemies; particularly by females. But you'll have to +land in the morning, and try again what can be done for Deerslayer. Tortured +he shall not be, while Judith Hutter lives, and can find means to prevent +it.' The conversation now grew desultory, and was drawn out, until the +elder sister had extracted from the younger every fact that the feeble +faculties of the latter permitted her to retain, and to communicate. +When Judith was satisfied - though she could never be said to be satisfied, +whose feelings seemed to be so interwoven with all that related to the +subject, as to have excited a nearly inappeasable curiosity - but, when +Judith could think of no more questions to ask, without resorting to +repetition, the canoe was paddled towards the scow. The intense darkness of +the night, and the deep shadows which the hills and forest cast upon the +water, rendered it difficult to find the vessel, anchored, as it had been, as +close to the shore as a regard to safety rendered prudent. Judith was expert +in the management of a bark canoe, the lightness of which demanded skill +rather than strength; and she forced her own little vessel swiftly over the +water, the moment she had ended her conference with Hetty, and had come to +the determination to return. Still no ark was seen. Several times the sisters +fancied they saw it, looming up in the obscurity, like a low black rock; but +on each occasion it was found to be either an optical illusion, or some swell +of the foliage on the shore. After a search that lasted half an hour, the +girls were forced to the unwelcome conviction that the ark had departed. Most +young women would have felt the awkwardness of their situation, in a physical +sense, under the circumstances in which the sisters were left, more than any +apprehensions of a different nature. Not so with Judith, however; and even +Hetty felt more concern about the motives that might have influenced her +father and Hurry, than any fears for her own safety. + +'It cannot be, Hetty,' said Judith, when a thorough search had satisfied them +both that no ark was to be found; 'it cannot be that the Indians have rafted, +or swum off and surprised our friends as they slept ?' + +'I don't believe that Hist and Chingachgook would sleep until they had told +each other all they had to say after so long a separation – do you, sister ?' + +'Perhaps not, child. There was much to keep them awake, but one Indian may +have been surprised even when not asleep, especially as his thoughts may have +been on other things. Still we should have heard a noise; for in a night like +this, an oath of Harry Hurry's would have echoed in the eastern hills like a +clap of thunder.' + +'Hurry is sinful and thoughtless about his words, Judith,' Hetty meekly and +sorrowfully answered. + +'No - no; 'tis impossible the ark could be taken and I not hear the noise. It +is not an hour since I left it, and the whole time I have been attentive to +the smallest sound. And yet, it is not easy to believe a father would +willingly abandon his children!' + + 'Perhaps father has thought us in our cabin asleep, Judith, and has moved +away to go home. You know we often move the ark in the night.' + +'This is true, Hetty, and it must be as you suppose. There is a little more +southern air than there was, and they have gone up the lake -' Judith +stopped, for, as the last word was on her tongue, the scene was suddenly +lighted, though only for a single instant, by a flash. The crack of a rifle +succeeded, and then followed the roll of the echo along the eastern +mountains. Almost at the same moment a piercing female cry rose in the air in +a prolonged shriek. The awful stillness that succeeded was, if possible, more +appalling than the fierce and sudden interruption of the deep silence of +midnight. Resolute as she was both by nature and habit, Judith scarce +breathed, while poor Hetty hid her face and trembled. + +'That was a woman's cry, Hetty,' said the former solemnly, 'and it was a cry +of anguish! If the ark has moved from this spot it can only have gone north +with this air, and the gun and shriek came from the point. Can any thing have +befallen Hist?' + +'Let us go and see, Judith; she may want our assistance - for, besides +herself, there are none but men in the ark.' + +It was not a moment for hesitation, and ere Judith had ceased speaking her +paddle was in the water. The distance to the point, in a direct line, was not +great, and the impulses under which the girls worked were too exciting to +allow them to waste the precious moments in useless precautions. They paddled +incautiously for them, but the same excitement kept others from noting their +movements. Presently a glare of light caught the eye of Judith through an +opening in the bushes, and steering by it, she so directed the canoe as to +keep it visible, while she got as near the land as was either prudent or +necessary. + +The scene that was now presented to the observation of the girls was within +the woods, on the side of the declivity so often mentioned, and in plain view +from the boat. Here all in the camp were collected, some six or eight +carrying torches of fat-pine, which cast a strong but funereal light on all +beneath the arches of the forest. With her back supported against a tree, and +sustained on one side by the young sentinel whose remissness had suffered +Hetty to escape, sat the female whose expected visit had produced his +delinquency. By the glare of the torch that was held near her face, it was +evident that she was in the agonies of death, while the blood that trickled +from her bared bosom betrayed the nature of the injury she had received. The +pungent, peculiar smell of gunpowder, too, was still quite perceptible in the +heavy, damp night air. There could be no question that she had been shot. +Judith understood it all at a glance. The streak of light had appeared on the +water a short distance from the point, and either the rifle had been +discharged from a canoe hovering near the land, or it had been fired from the +ark in passing. An incautious exclamation, or laugh, may have produced the +assault, for it was barely possible that the aim had been assisted by any +other agent than sound. As to the effect, that was soon still more apparent, +the head of the victim dropping, and the body sinking in death. Then all the +torches but one were extinguished - a measure of prudence; and the melancholy +train that bore the body to the camp was just to be distinguished by the +glimmering light that remained. Judith sighed heavily and shuddered, as her +paddle again dipped, and the canoe moved cautiously around the point. A sight +had afflicted her senses, and now haunted her imagination, that was still +harder to be borne, than even the untimely fate and passing agony of the +deceased girl. + +She had seen, under the strong glare of all the torches, the erect form of +Deerslayer, standing with commiseration, and as she thought, with shame, +depicted on his countenance, near the dying female. He betrayed neither fear +nor backwardness himself; but it was apparent by the glances cast at him by +the warriors, that fierce passions were struggling in their bosoms. All this +seemed to be unheeded by the captive, but it remained impressed on the memory +of Judith throughout the night. No canoe was met hovering near the point. A +stillness and darkness, as complete as if the silence of the forest had never +been disturbed, or the sun had never shone on that retired region, now +reigned on the point, and on the gloomy water, the slumbering woods, and +even the murky sky. No more could be done, therefore, than to seek a place +of safety; and this was only to be found in the centre of the lake. Paddling +in silence to that spot, the canoe was suffered to drift northerly, while +the girls sought such repose as their situation and feelings would permit. +dropping, and the body sinking in death. Then all the torches but one were +extinguished - a measure of prudence; and the melancholy train that bore the +body to the camp was just to be distinguished by the glimmering light that +remained. + +Judith sighed heavily and shuddered, as her paddle again dipped, +and the canoe moved cautiously around the point. A sight had +afflicted her senses, and now haunted her imagination, that was still harder +to be borne, than even the untimely fate and passing agony of the deceased +girl. She had seen, under the strong glare of all the torches, the erect form +of Deerslayer, standing with commiseration, and as she thought, with shame, +depicted on his countenance, near the dying female. He betrayed neither fear +nor backwardness himself; but it was apparent by the glances cast at him by +the warriors, that fierce passions were struggling in their bosoms. All this +seemed to be unheeded by the captive, but it remained impressed on the memory +of Judith throughout the night. No canoe was met hovering near the point. A +stillness and darkness, as complete as if the silence of the forest had never +been disturbed, or the sun had never shone on that retired region, now +reigned on the point, and on the gloomy water, the slumbering woods, and even +the murky sky. No more could be done, therefore, than to seek a place of +safety; and this was only to be found in the centre of the lake, paddling in +silence to that spot, the canoe was suffered to drift northerly, while the +girls sought such repose as their situation and feelings would permit. + + + + + +Chapter XVIX + +"Stand to your arms, and guard the door- all's lost +Unless that fearful bell be silenced soon. +The officer hath miss'd his path, or purpose, +Or met some unforeseen and hideous obstacle. +Anselmo, with thy company proceed +Straight to the tower; the rest remain with me." +Byron, Marino Faliero, lV.ii.23o-35. + + + + +The conjecture of Judith Hutter, concerning the manner in which the Indian +girl had met her death, was accurate in the main. After sleeping several +hours, her father and March awoke. This occurred a few minutes after she had +left the Ark to go in quest of her sister, and when of course Chingachgook +and his betrothed were on board. From the Delaware the old man learned the +position of the camp, and the recent events, as well as the absence of his +daughters. The latter gave him no concern, for he relied greatly on the +sagacity of the elder, and the known impunity with which the younger passed +among the savages. Long familiarity with danger, too, had blunted his +sensibilities. Nor did he seem much to regret the captivity of Deerslayer, +for, while he knew how material his aid might be in a defence, the difference +in their views on the morality of the woods, had not left much sympathy +between them. He would have rejoiced to know the position of the camp before +it had been alarmed by the escape of Hist, but it would be too hazardous now +to venture to land, and he reluctantly relinquished for the night, the +ruthless designs that cupidity and revenge had excited him to entertain. In +this mood Hutter took a seat in the head of the scow, where he was quickly +joined by Hurry, leaving the Serpent and Hist in quiet possession of the +other extremity of the vessel. + +"Deerslayer has shown himself a boy, in going among the savages at this hour, +and letting himself fall into their hands like a deer that tumbles into a +pit," growled the old man, perceiving as usual the mote in his neighbor's +eyes, while he overlooked the beam in his own; "if he is left to pay for' his +stupidity with his own flesh, he can blame no one but himself." + +"That's the way of the world, old Tom," returned Hurry. "Every man must meet +his own debts, and answer for his own sins. I'm amazed, howsever, that a lad +as skilful and watchful as Deerslayer, should have been caught in such a +trap! Didn't he know any better than to go prowling about a Huron camp, at +midnight, with no place to retreat to, but a lake; or did he think himself a +buck, that by taking to the water could throw off the scent and swim himself +out of difficulty. I had a better opinion of the boy's judgment, I'll own; +but we must overlook a little ignorance in a raw hand. I say, Master Hutter, +do you happen to know what has become of the gals - I see no signs of Judith, +or Hetty, though I've been through the Ark, and looked into all its living +creatur's." + +Hutter briefly explained the manner in which his daughters had taken to the +canoe, as it had been related by the Delaware, as well as the return of +Judith after landing her sister, and her second departure. + +"This comes of a smooth tongue, Floating Tom," exclaimed Hurry, grating his +teeth in pure resentment-"This comes of a smooth tongue, and a silly gal's +inclinations, and you had best look into the matter! You and I were both +prisoners- Hurry could recal that circumstance now - "you and I were both +prisoners and yet Judith never stirred an inch to do us any sarvice! She is +bewitched with this lank-looking Deerslayer, and he, and she, and you, and +all of us, had best look to it. I am not a man to put up with such a wrong +quietly, and I say, all the parties had best look to it! Let's up kedge, old +fellow, and move nearer to this p'int, and see how matters are getting on. + +Hutter had no objections to this movement, and the Ark was got under way, in +the usual manner; care being taken to make no noise. The wind was passing +northward, and the sail soon swept the scow so far up the lake, as to render +the dark outlines of the trees that clothed the point, dimly visible. +Floating Tom steered, and he sailed along as near the land, as the depth of +the water, and the overhanging branches would allow. It was impossible to +distinguish any thing that stood within the shadows of the shore, but the +forms of the sail and of the hut, were discerned by the young sentinel on the +beach, who has already been mentioned. In the moment of sudden surprise, a +deep Indian exclamation escaped him. In that spirit of recklessness and +ferocity that formed the essence of Hurry's character, this man dropped his +rifle and fired. The ball was sped by accident, or by that overruling +providence which decides the fates of all, and the girl fell. Then followed +the scene with the torches, which has just been described. + +At the precise moment when Hurry committed this act of unthinking cruelty, +the canoe of Judith was within a hundred feet of the spot from which the Ark +had so lately moved. Her own course has been described, and it has now become +our office to follow that of her father and his companions. The shriek +announced the effects of the random shot of March, and it also proclaimed +that the victim was a woman. Hurry himself was startled at these unlooked for +consequences, and for a moment he was sorely disturbed by conflicting +sensations. At first he laughed, in reckless and rude-minded exultation; and +then conscience, that monitor planted in our breasts by God, and which +receives its more general growth from the training bestowed in the tillage of +childhood, shot a pang to his heart. For a minute, the mind of this creature +equally of civilization and of barbarism, was a sort of chaos as to feeling, +not knowing what to think of its own act; and then the obstinacy and pride of +one of his habits, interposed to assert their usual ascendency. He struck the +butt of his rifle on the bottom of the scow, with a species of defiance, and +began to whistle a low air with an affectation of indifference. All this time +the Ark was in motion, and it was already opening the bay above the point, +and was consequently quitting the land. + +Hurry's companions did not view his conduct with the same indulgence, as that +with which he appeared disposed to regard it himself. Hutter growled out his +dissatisfaction, for the act led to no advantage, while it threatened to +render the warfare more vindictive than ever, and none censure motiveless +departures from the right, more severely than the mercenary and unprincipled. +Still he commanded himself, the captivity of Deerslayer rendering the arm of +the offender of double consequence to him at that moment. Chingachgook arose, +and for a single instant the ancient animosity of tribes was forgotten, in a +feeling of colour; but he recollected himself in season to prevent any of the +fierce consequences that, for a passing moment, he certainly meditated. Not +so with Hist. Rushing through the hut, or cabin, the girl stood at the side +of Hurry, almost as soon as his rifle touched the bottom of the scow, and +with a fearlessness that did credit to her heart, she poured out her +reproaches with the generous warmth of a woman. + +"What for you shoot?" she said. "What Huron gal do, dat you kill him? What +you t'ink Manitou say? What you t'ink Manitou, feel? What Iroquois do? No get +honour- no get camp - no get prisoner - no get battle - no get scalp - no get +not'ing at all! Blood come after blood! How you feel, your wife killed? Who +pity you, when tear come for moder, or sister? You big as great pine - Huron +gal little slender birch - why you fall on her and crush her! You t'ink Huron +forget it? No; red skin never forget! Never forget friend; never forget +enemy. Red man Manitou in dat. Why you so wicked, great pale-face?" + +Hurry had never been so daunted as by this close and warm attack of the +Indian girl. It is true that she had a powerful ally in his conscience and +while she spoke earnestly, it was in tones so feminine as to deprive him of +any pretext for unmanly anger. The softness of her voice added to the weight +of her remonstrance, by lending to the latter an air of purity and truth. +Like most vulgar minded men, he had only regarded the Indians through the +medium of their coarser and fiercer characteristics. It had never struck him +that the affections are human, that even high principles- modified by habits +and prejudices, but not the less elevated within their circle-can exist in +the savage state, and that the warrior who is most ruthless in the field, can +submit to the softest and gentlest influences, in the moments of domestic +quiet. In a word, it was the habit of his mind to regard all Indians as being +only a slight degree removed from the wild beasts that roamed the woods, and +to feel disposed to treat them accordingly, whenever interest or caprice +supplied a motive, or an impulse. Still, though daunted by these reproaches, +the handsome barbarian could hardly be said to be penitent. He was too much +rebuked by conscience to suffer an outbreak of temper to escape him, and +perhaps he felt that he had already committed an act that might justly bring +his manhood in question. Instead of resenting, or answering the simple but +natural appeal of Hist, he walked away, like one who disdained entering into +a controversy with a woman. + +In the mean while, the Ark swept onward, and by the time the scene with the +torches, was enacting beneath the trees, it had reached the open lake, +Floating Tom causing it to sheer further from the land, with a sort of +instinctive dread of retaliation. An hour now passed in gloomy silence, no +one appearing disposed to break it. Hist had retired to her pallet, and +Chingachgook lay sleeping in the forward part of the scow. Hutter and Hurry +alone remained awake, the former at the steering oar, while the latter +brooded over his own conduct, with the stubbornness of one little given to a +confession of his errors, and the secret goadings of the worm that never +dies. This was at the moment when Judith and Hetty reached the centre of the +lake, and had lain down to endeavor to sleep, in their drifting canoe. + +The night was calm, though so much obscured by clouds. The season was not one +of storms, and those which did occur in the month of June, on that embedded +water, though frequently violent were always of short continuance. +Nevertheless, there was the usual current of heavy, damp night air, which, +passing over the summits of the trees, scarcely appeared to descend as low as +the surface of the glassy lake, but kept moving a short distance above it, +saturated with the humidity that constantly arose from the woods, and +apparently never proceeding far in any one direction. The currents were +influenced by the formation of the hills, as a matter of course, a +circumstance that rendered even fresh breezes baffling, and which reduced the +feebler efforts of the night air to be a sort of capricious and fickle +sighings of the woods. Several times the head of the Ark pointed east, and +once it was actually turned towards the south, again; but, on the whole, it +worked its way north; Hutter making always a fair wind, if wind it could be +be a wish called, his principal motive appearing to keep in motion, in order +to defeat any treacherous design of his enemies. He, now, felt some little +concern about his daughters, and perhaps as much about the canoe; but, on the +whole, this uncertainty did not much disturb him, as he had the reliance +already mentioned on the intelligence of Judith. + +It was the season of the shortest nights, and it was not long before the deep +obscurity which precedes the day began to yield to the returning light. If +any earthly scene could be presented to the senses of man that might soothe +his passions and temper his ferocity, it was that which grew upon the eyes of +Hutter and Hurry, as the hours advanced, changing night to morning. There +were the usual soft tints of the sky, in which neither the gloom of darkness +nor the brilliancy of the sun prevails, and under which objects appear more +unearthly and we might add holy, than at any other portion of the twenty four +hours. The beautiful and soothing calm of even tide has been extolled by a +thousand poets, and yet it does not bring with it, the far-reaching and +sublime thoughts of the half hour that precedes the rising of a summer sun. +In the one case the panorama is gradually hid from the sight, while in the +other, its objects start out from the unfolding picture, first dim and misty; +then marked in, in solemn back ground; next seen in the witchery of an +increasing, a thing as different as possible from the decreasing twilight, +and finally mellow, distinct and luminous, as the rays of the great centre of +light diffuse themselves in the atmosphere. The hymns of birds, too, have no +moral counterpart in the retreat to the roost, or the flight to the nest, and +these invariably accompany the advent of the day, until the appearance of the +sun itself- "Bathes in deep joy, the land and sea. + +All this, however, Hutter and Hurry witnessed without experiencing any of +that calm delight, which the spectacle is wont to bring, when the thoughts +are just, and the aspirations pure. They not only witnessed it, but they +witnessed it under circumstances that had a tendency to increase its power, +and to heighten its charms. Only one solitary object became visible in the +returning light, that had received its form or uses from human taste, or +human desires which as often deform as beautify a landscape. This was the +castle, all the rest being native, and fresh from the hand of God. That +singular residence, too, was in keeping with the natural objects of the view, +starting out from the gloom, quaint, picturesque, and ornamental. +Nevertheless the whole was lost on the observers, who knew no feeling of +poetry, had lost their sense of natural devotion in lives of obdurate and +narrow selfishness, and had little other sympathy with nature, than that +which originated with her lowest wants. + +As soon as the light was sufficiently strong to. allow of a distinct view of +the lake, and more particularly of its shores, Hutter turned the head of the +Ark directly towards the castle, with the avowed intention of taking +possession, for the day at least, as the place most favorable for meeting his +daughters, and for carrying on his operations against the Indians. By this +time, Chingachgook was up, and Hist was heard stirring among the furniture of +the kitchen. The place for which they steered was distant only a mile, and +the air was sufficiently favorable to permit it to be reached by means of the +sail. At this moment, too, to render the appearances generally auspicious, +the canoe of Judith was seen floating northward in the broadest part of the +lake; having actually passed the scow in the darkness, in obedience to no +other power than that of the elements. Hutter got his glass, and took a long +and anxious survey, to ascertain if his daughters were in the light craft, or +not, and a slight exclamation like that of joy escaped him, as he caught a +glimpse of what he rightly conceived to be a part of Judith's dress above the +top of the canoe. At the next instant the girl arose, and was seen gazing +about her, like one assuring herself of her situation. A minute later, Hetty +was seen on her knees, in the other end of the canoe, repeating the prayers +that had been taught her, in childhood, by a misguided but repentant mother. +As Hutter laid down the glass, still drawn to its focus, the Serpent raised +it to his eye, and turned it towards the canoe. It was the first time he had +ever used such an instrument, and Hist understood by his "hugh!," the +expression of his face, and his entire mien, that something wonderful had +excited his admiration. It is well known that the American Indians, more +particularly those of superior characters and stations, singularly maintain +their self-possession and stoicism, in the midst of the flood of marvels that +present themselves in their occasional visits to the abodes of civilization, +and Chingachgook had imbibed enough of this impassibility to suppress any +very undignified manifestation of surprise. With Hist, however, no such law +was binding, and when her lover managed to bring the glass in a line with a +canoe, and her eye was applied to the smaller end, the girl started back in +alarm; then she clapped her hands with delight, and a laugh, the usual +attendant of untutored admiration, followed. A few minutes sufficed to enable +this quick witted girl to manage the instrument for herself, and she directed +it at every prominent object that struck her fancy. Finding a rest in one of +the windows, she and the Delaware first surveyed the lake; then the shores, +the hills, and, finally, the castle attracted their attention. After a long +steady gaze at the latter, Hist took away her eye, and spoke to her lover in +a low' earnest manner. Chingachgook immediately placed his eye to the glass, +and his look even exceeded that of his betrothed in length and intensity. +Again they spoke together, confidentially, appearing to compare opinions, +after which the glass was laid aside, and the young warrior quitted the cabin +to join Hutter and Hurry. + +The Ark was slowly but steadily advancing, and the castle was materially +within half a mile, when Ghingachgook joined the two white men in the stern +of the scow. His manner was calm, but it was evident to the others, who were +familiar with the habits of the Indians, that he had something to +communicate. Hurry was generally prompt to speak and, according to custom, he +took the lead on this occasion. + +"Out with it, red-skin," he cried, in his usual rough manner. "Have you +discovered a chip-munk in a tree, or is there a salmon-trout swimming under +the bottom of the scow? You find what a pale-face can do in the way of eyes, +now, Sarpent, and must n't wonder that they can see the land of the Indians +from afar off." + +"No good to go to Castle," put in Chingachgook with emphasis, the moment the +other gave him an opportunity of speaking. "Huron there." + +"The devil he is! - If this should turn out to be true, Floating Tom, a +pretty trap were we about to pull down on our heads! Huron, there! -Well, +this may be so; but no signs can I see of any thing, near or about the old +hut, but logs, water, and bark-bating two or three windows, and one door." + +Hutter called for the glass, and took a careful survey of the spot, before he +ventured an opinion, at all; then he somewhat cavalierly expressed his +dissent from that given by the Indian. + +"You've got this glass wrong end foremost, Delaware," continued Hurry. +"Neither the old man, nor I can see any trail in the lake." +"No trail - water make no trail," said Hist, eagerly. "Stop boat - no go too +near. Huron there! " + +"Ay, that's it! - Stick to the same tale, and more people will believe you. I +hope Sarpent, you and your gal will agree in telling the same story arter +marriage, as well as you do now. 'Huron, there!'- Whereabouts is he to be +seen-in the padlock, or the chains, or the logs. There is n't a gaol in the +colony that has a more lock up look about it, than old Tom's chiente, and, I +know something about gaols from exper'ence. " + +"No see moccasin-" said Hist, impatiently-"why no look- and see him." + +"Give me the glass, Harry," interrupted Hutter, "and lower the sail. It is +seldom that an Indian woman meddles, and when she does, there is generally a +cause for it. There is, truly, a moccasin floating against one of the piles, +and it may, or may not be a sign that the castle has n't escaped visitors, in +our absence. Moccasins are no rarities, however, for I wear 'em myself; and +Deerslayer wears 'em, and you wear 'em, March, and, for that matter so does +Hetty, quite as often as she wears shoes, though I never yet saw Judith trust +her pretty foot in a moccasin." + +Hurry had lowered the sail, and by this time the Ark was within two hundred +yards of the castle, setting in, nearer and nearer, each moment, but at a +rate too slow to excite any uneasiness. Each now took the glass in turn, and +the castle, and every thing near it, was subjected to a scrutiny still more +rigid than ever. There the moccasin lay, beyond a question, floating so +lightly, and preserving its form so well, that it was scarcely wet. It had +caught by a piece of the rough bark of one of the piles, on the exterior of +the water-palisade that formed the dock already mentioned, which circumstance +alone prevented it from drifting away before the air. There were many modes, +however, of accounting for the presence of the moccasin, without supposing it +to have been dropped by an enemy. It might have fallen from the platform, +even while Hutter was in possession of the place, and drifted to the spot +where it was now seen, remaining unnoticed until detected by the acute vision +of Hist. It might have drifted from a distance, up or down the lake, and +accidentally become attached to the pile, or palisade. It might have been +thrown from a window, and alighted in that particular place; or it might +certainly have fallen from a scout, or an assailant, during the past night, +who was obliged to abandon it, to the lake, in the deep obscurity which then +prevailed. + +All these conjectures passed from Hutter to Hurry, the former appearing +disposed to regard the omen as a little sinister, while the latter treated it +with his usual reckless disdain. As for the Indian, he was of opinion that +the moccasin should be viewed as one would regard a trail in the woods, which +might, or might not, equally, prove to be threatening. Hist, however, had +something available to propose. She declared her readiness to take a canoe, +to proceed to the palisade and bring away the moccasin, when its ornaments +would show whether it came from the Canadas or not. Both the white men were +disposed to accept this offer, but the Delaware interfered to prevent the +risk. If such a service was to be undertaken, it best became a warrior to +expose himself in its execution, and he gave his refusal to let his betrothed +proceed, much in the quiet but brief manner in which an Indian husband issues +his commands. + +"Well then, Delaware, go yourself if you're so tender of your squaw," put in +the unceremonious Hurry. "That moccasin must be had, or Floating Tom will +keep off, here, at arm's length, till the hearth cools in his cabin. It's but +a little deerskin, a'ter all, and cut this-a-way or that-a-way, it's not a +skear-crow to frighten true hunters from their game. What say you, Sarpent, +shall you or I canoe it?" + +"Let red man go. - Better eyes than pale-face- know Huron trick better, too." + +"That I'll gainsay, to the hour of my death! A white man's eyes, and a white +man's nose, and for that matter his sight and ears are all better than an +Injin's when fairly tried. Time and ag'in have I put that to the proof, and +what is proved is sartain. Still I suppose the poorest vagabond going, +whether Delaware or Huron, can find his way to yonder hut and back ag'in, and +so, Sarpent, use your paddle and welcome." + +Chingachgook was already in the canoe, and he dipped the implement the other +named into the water, just as Hurry's limber tongue ceased. Wah-ta!-Wah saw +the departure of her warrior on this occasion, with the submissive silence of +an Indian girl, but with most of the misgivings and apprehensions of her sex. +Throughout the whole of the past night, and down to the moment, when they +used the glass together in the hut, Chingachgook had manifested as much manly +tenderness towards his betrothed, as one of the most refined sentiment could +have shown under similar circumstances, but now every sign of weakness was +lost in an appearance of stern resolution. Although Hist timidly endeavored +to catch his eye, as the canoe left the side of the Ark, the pride of a +warrior would not permit him to meet her fond and anxious looks. The canoe +departed and not a wandering glance rewarded her solicitude. + +Nor were the Delaware's care and gravity misplaced, under the impressions +with which he proceeded on this enterprise. If the enemy had really gained +possession of the building, he was obliged to put himself under the very +muzzles of their rifles, as it were, and this too without the protection of +any of that cover, which forms so essential an ally in Indian warfare. It is +scarcely possible to conceive of a service more dangerous, and had the +Serpent been fortified by the experience of ten more years, or had his friend +the Deerslayer been present, it would never have been attempted; the +advantages in no degree compensating for the risk. But the pride of an Indian +chief was acted on by the rivalry of colour, and it is not unlikely that the +presence of the very creature from whom his ideas of manhood prevented his +receiving a single glance, overflowing as he was with the love she so well +merited, had no small influence on his determination. + +Chingachgook paddled steadily towards the palisades, keeping his eyes on the +different loops of the building. Each instant he expected to see the muzzle +of a rifle protruded, or to hear its sharp crack; but he succeeded in +reaching the piles in safety. Here he was, in a measure, protected, having +the heads of the palisades between him and the hut, and the chances of any +atempt on his life while thus covered, were greatly diminished. The canoe had +reached the piles with its head inclining northward, and at a short distance +from the moccasin. Instead of turning to pick up the latter, the Delaware +slowly made the circuit of the whole building, deliberately examining every +object that should betray the presence of enemies, or the commission of +violence. Not a single sign could he discover, however, to confirm the +suspicions that had been awakened. The stillness of desertion pervaded the +building; not a fastening was displaced, not a window had been broken. The +door looked as secure as at the hour when it was closed by Hutter, and even +the gate of the dock had all the customary fastenings. In short, the most +wary and jealous eye could detect no other evidence of the visit of enemies, +than that which was connected with the appearance of the floating moccasin. + +The Delaware was now greatly at a loss how to proceed. At one moment, as he +came round in front of the castle, he was on the point of stepping up on the +platform, and of applying his eye to one of the loops, with a view of taking +a direct personal inspection of the state of things within; but he hesitated. +Though of little experience in such matters, himself, he had heard so much of +Indian artifices through traditions, had listened with such breathless +interest to the narration of the escapes of the elder warriors, and, in +short, was so well schooled in the theory of his calling, that it was almost +as impossible for him to make any gross blunder on such an occasion, as it +was for a well grounded scholar, who had commenced correctly, to fail in +solving his problem in mathematics. Relinquishing the momentary intention to +land, the chief slowly pursued his course round the palisades. As he +approached the moccasin, having now nearly completed the circuit of the +building, he threw the ominous article into the canoe, by a dexterous and +almost imperceptible movement of his paddle. He was now ready to depart, but +retreat was even more dangerous than the approach, as the eye could no longer +be riveted on the loops. If there was really any one in the castle, the +motive of the Delaware in reconnoitring must be understood, and it was the +wisest way, however perilous it might be, to retire with an air of +confidence, as if all distrust were terminated by the examination. Such, +accordingly, was the course adopted by the Indian, who paddled deliberately +away, taking the direction of the Ark, suffering no nervous impulse to +quicken the motions +of his arms, or to induce him to turn even a furtive glance behind him. + +No tender wife, reared in the refinements of the highest civilization, ever +met a husband on his return from the field, with more of sensibility in her +countenance, than Hist discovered, as she saw the Great Serpent of the +Delawares, step, unharmed, into the Ark. Still she repressed her emotion, +though the joy that sparkled in her dark eyes, and the smile that lighted her +pretty mouth, spoke a language that her betrothed could understand. + +"Well, Sarpent," cried Hurry, always the first to speak, "what news from the +muskrats? Did they shew their teeth, as you surrounded their dwelling?" + +"I no like him-" sententiously returned the Delaware. "Too still. So still, +can see silence!" +"That's downright Injin-as if any thing could make less noise than nothing! +If you've no better reason than this to give, old Tom had better hoist his +sail, and go and get his breakfast under his own roof. What has become of the +moccasin?" + +"Here," returned Chingachgook, holding up his prize for the general +inspection. The moccasin was examined, and Hist confidently pronounced it to +be Huron, by the manner in which the porcupine's quills were arranged on its +front. Hutter and the Delaware, too, were decidedly of the same opinion. +Admitting all this, however, it did not necessarily follow that its owners +were in the castle. The moccasin might have drifted from a distance, or it +might have fallen from the foot of some scout, who had quitted the place when +his errand was accomplished. In short it explained nothing, while it awakened +so much distrust. + +Under the circumstances, Hutter and Hurry were not men to be long deterred +from proceeding by proofs as slight as that of the moccasin. They hoisted the +sail again, and the Ark was soon in motion, heading towards the castle. The +wind, or air continued light, and the movement was sufficiently slow, to +allow of a deliberate survey of the building, as the scow approached. The +same death-like silence reigned, and it was difficult to fancy that any thing +possessing animal life could be in or around the place. Unlike the Serpent, +whose imagination had acted through his traditions, until he was ready to +perceive an artificial, in a natural stillness, the others saw nothing to +apprehend in a tranquility that, in truth, merely denoted the repose of +inanimate objects. The accessories of the scene, too, were soothing and calm, +rather than exciting. The day had not yet advanced so far as to bring the sun +above the horizon, but the heavens, the atmosphere, and the woods and lake +were all seen under that softened light which immediately precedes his +appearance, and which perhaps is the most witching period of the four and +twenty hours. It is the moment, when every thing is distinct, even the +atmosphere seeming to possess a liquid lucidity, the hues appearing gray and +softened, with the outlines of objects defined, and the perspective just as +moral truths, that are presented in their simplicity, without the +meretricious aids of ornament, or glitter. In a word, it is the moment when +the senses seem to recover their powers, in the simplest and most accurate +forms, like the mind emerging from the obscurity of doubts, into the +tranquility and peace of demonstration. Most of the influence that such a +scene is apt to produce on those who are properly constituted in a moral +sense, was lost on Hutter and Hurry; but both the Delawares, though too much +accustomed to witness the loveliness of morning-tide, to stop to analyze +their feelings, were equally sensible of the beauties of the hour, though it +was probably in a way unknown to themselves. It disposed the young warrior to +peace, and never had he felt less longings for the glory of the combat, than +when he joined Hist in the cabin, the instant the scow rubbed against the +side of the platform. From the indulgence of such gentle emotions, however, +he was aroused by a rude summons from Hurry, who called on him to come forth, +and help to take in the sail, and to secure the Ark. + + Chingachgook obeyed, and by the time he had reached the head of the scow, +Hurry was on the platform, stamping his feet, like one glad to touch what, by +comparison, might be called terra firma, and proclaiming his indifference to +the whole Huron tribe, in his customary noisy, dogmatical, manner. Hutter had +hauled a canoe up to the head of the scow, and was already about to undo the +fastenings of the gate, in order to enter within the 'dock.' March had no +other motive in landing than a senseless bravado, and having shaken the door, +in a manner to put its solidity to the proof, he joined Hutter in the canoe, +and began to aid him in opening the gate. The reader will remember that this +mode of entrance was rendered necessary by the manner in which the owner of +this singular residence habitually secured it, whenever it was left empty; +more particularly at moments when danger was apprehended. Hutter had placed a +line in the Delaware's hand, on entering the canoe, intimating that the other +was to fasten the Ark to the platform and to lower the sail. Instead of +following these directions, however, Chingachgook left the sail standing, and +throwing the bight of the rope over the head of a pile, he permitted the Ark +to drift round, until it lay against the defences, in a position where it +could be entered only by means of a boat, or by passing along the summits of +the palisades; the latter being an exploit that required some command of the +feet, and which was not to be attempted in the face of a resolute enemy. + +In consequence of this change in the position of the scow, which was effected +before Hutter had succeeded in opening the gate of his dock, the Ark and the +Castle, lay, as sailors would express it, yard-arm and yard-arm, kept asunder +some ten or twelve feet, by means of the piles. As the scow pressed close +against the latter, their tops formed a species of breast work, that rose to +the height of a man's head, covering in a certain degree, the parts of the +scow that were not protected by the cabin. The Delaware surveyed this +arrangement with great satisfaction, and, as the canoe of Hutter passed +through the gate, into the dock, he thought that he might defend his position +against any garrison in the castle, for a sufficient time, could he but have +had the helping arm of his friend Deer-slayer. As it was, he felt +comparatively secure, and no longer suffered the keen apprehensions he had +lately experienced in behalf of Hist. + +A single shove sent the canoe from the gate, to the trap beneath the castle. +Here Hutter found all fast, neither pad lock nor chain, nor bar, having been +molested. The key was produced, the locks removed, the chain loosened, and +the trap pushed upward. Hurry now thrust his head in at the opening; the arms +followed, and the colossal legs rose without any apparent effort. At the next +instant, his heavy foot was heard stamping in the passage above; that which +separated the chambers of the father and daughters, and into which the trap +opened. He then gave a shout of triumph. + +"Come on, old Tom," the reckless woodsman called out from within the +building-"here's your tenement, safe and sound; ay, and as empty as a nut +that has passed half an hour in the paws of a squirrel! The Delaware brags of +being able to see silence; let him come here, and he may feel it, in the +bargain." + +"Any silence where you are, Hurry Harry," returned Hutter, thrusting his head +in at the hole, as he uttered the last word, which instantly caused his voice +to sound smothered to those without-"Any silence where you are, ought to be +both seen and felt, for it's unlike any other silence." + +"Come-come-old fellow; hoist yourself up, and we'll open doors and windows +and let in the fresh air to brighten up matters. Few words in troublesome +times, make men the best fri'nds. Your by her late conduct, that it wouldn't +take a speech as long as the ten commandments to send me off to the river, +leaving you and your traps, your Ark and your children, your man servants and +your maid servants, your oxen and your asses, to fight this battle with the +Iroquois, by yourselves. Open that window, Floating Tom, and I'll blunder +through and do the same job to the front door." + +A moment of silence succeeded, and a noise like that produced by the fall of +a heavy body followed. A deep execration from Hurry succeeded, and then the +whole interior of the building seemed alive. The noises that now so suddenly, +and we may add so unexpectedly even to the Delaware, broke the stillness +within, could not be mistaken. They resembled those that would be produced by +a struggle between tigers in a cage. Once or twice the Indian yell was given, +but it seemed smothered, and as if it proceeded from exhausted or compressed +throats, and, in a single instance, a deep and another shockingly revolting +execration came from the throat of Hurry. It appeared as if bodies were +constantly thrown upon the floor with violence, as often rising to renew the +struggle. Chingachgook felt greatly at a loss what to do. He had all the arms +in the Ark, Hutter and Hurry having proceeded without their rifles, but there +was no means of using them, or of passing them to the hands of their owners. +The combatants, were literally caged, rendering it almost as impossible under +the circumstances to get out, as to get into the building. Then there was +Hist to embarrass his movements, and to cripple his efforts. With a view to +relieve himself from this disadvantage, he told the girl to take the +remaining canoe, and to join Hutter's daughters, who were incautiously but +deliberately approaching, in order to save herself, and to warn the others of +their danger. But the girl positively and firmly refused to comply. At that +moment, no human power, short of an exercise of superior physical force, +could have induced her to quit the Ark. The exigency of the moment did not +admit of delay, and the Delaware seeing no possibility of serving his +friends, cut the line and by a strong shove forced the scow some twenty feet, +clear of the piles. Here he took the sweeps and succeeded in getting a short +distance to windward, if any direction could be thus termed in so light an +air, but neither the time, nor his skill at the oars, allowed the distance to +be great. When he ceased rowing, the Ark might have been a hundred yards from +the platform, and half that distance to the southward of it, the sail being +lowered. Judith and Hetty had now discovered that something was wrong, and +were stationary a thousand feet farther north. + +All this while the furious struggle continued within the house. In scenes +like these, events thicken in less time than they can be related. From the +moment when the first fall was heard within the building to that when the +Delaware ceased his awkward attempts to row, it might have been three or four +minutes, but it had evidently served to weaken the combatants. The oaths and +execrations of Hurry were no longer heard, and even the struggles had lost +some of their force and fury. Nevertheless they still continued with unabated +perseverance. At this instant the door flew open, and the fight was +transferred to the platform, the light and the open air. A Huron had undone +the fastenings of the door, and three or four of his tribe rushed after him +upon the. narrow space, as if glad to escape from some terrible scene within. +The body of another followed, pitched headlong through the door, with +terrific violence. Then March appeared, raging like a lion at bay, and for an +instant free'd from his numerous enemies. Hutter was already a captive and +bound. There was now a pause in the struggle, which resembled a lull in a +tempest. The necessity of breathing was common to all, and the combatants +stood watching each other, like mastiffs that have been driven from their +holds, and are waiting for a favorable opportunity of renewing them. We shall +profit by this pause to relate the manner in which the Indians had obtained +possession of the castle, and this the more willingly because it may be +necessary to explain to the reader why a conflict which had been so close and +fierce, should have also been so comparatively bloodless. + +Rivenoak and his companion, particularly the latter who had appeared to be a +subordinate and occupied solely with his raft, had made the closest +observations in their visits to the castle. Even the boy had brought away +minute and valuable information. By these means the Hurons obtained a general +idea of the manner in which the place was constructed and secured, as well as +of details that enabled them to act intelligently in the dark. +Notwithstanding the care that Hutter had taken to drop the Ark on the east +side of the building when he was in the act of transferring the furniture +from the former to the latter, he had been watched in a way to render the +precaution useless. Scouts were on the look-out on the eastern, as well as on +the western, shore of the lake, and the whole proceeding had been noted. As +soon as it was dark, rafts like that already described, approached from both +shores to reconnoitre, and the Ark had passed within fifty feet of one of +them, without its being discovered; the men it held lying at their length on +the logs, so as to blend themselves and their slow moving machine with the +water. When these two sets of adventurers drew near the castle they +encountered each other, and after communicating their respective +observations, they unhesitatingly approached the building. As had been +expected, it was found empty. The rafts were immediately sent for a +reinforcement to the shore, and two of the savages remained to profit by +their situation. These men succeeded in getting on the roof, and by removing +some of the bark, in entering what might be termed the garret. Here they were +found by their companions. Hatchets now opened a hole through the squared +logs of the upper floor, through which no less than eight of the most +athletic of the Indians dropped into the rooms beneath. Here they were left, +well supplied with arms and provisions, either to stand a siege, or to make a +sortie, as the case might require. The night was passed in sleep, as is usual +with Indians in a state of inactivity. The returning day brought them a view +of the approach of the Ark through the loops, the only manner in which light +and air were now admitted, the windows being closed most effectually with +plank, rudely fashioned to fit. As soon as it was ascertained that the two +white men were about to enter by the trap, the chief who directed the +proceedings of the Hurons took his measures accordingly. He removed all the +arms from his own people, even to the knives, in distrust of savage ferocity +when awakened by personal injuries, and he hid them where they could not be +found, without a search. Ropes of bark were then prepared, and taking their +stations in the three different rooms, they all waited for the signal to fall +upon their intended captives. As soon as the party had entered the building, +men without replaced the bark of the roof, removed every sign of their visit, +with care, and then departed for the shore. It was one of these who had +dropped his moccasin, which he had not been able to find, again, in the dark. +Had the death of the girl been known, it is probable nothing could have saved +the lives of Hurry and Hutter but that event occurred after the ambush was +laid, and at a distance of several miles from the encampment near the castle +Such were the means that had been employed to produce the state of things we +shall continue to describe. + + + + + +Chapter XX + + + +"Now all is done that man can do, And all is done in vain! +My love! my native land, adieu +For I must cross the main, My dear, +For I must cross the main." + +Robert Burns, "It was a' for our Rightfu' King," II. 7-12. + +THE LAST CHAPTER we left the combatants breathing in their narrow lists. +Accustomed to the rude sports of wrestling, and jumping, then so common in +America, more especially on the frontiers, Hurry possessed an advantage, in +addition to his prodigious strength, that had rendered the struggle less +unequal than it might otherwise appear to be. This alone had enabled him to +hold out so long, against so many enemies, for the Indian is by no means +remarkable for his skill, or force, in athletic exercises. As yet, no one had +been seriously hurt, though several of the savages had received severe falls, +and he, in particular, who had been thrown bodily upon the platform, might be +said to be temporarily hors de combat. Some of the rest were limping, and +March himself had not entirely escaped from bruises, though want of breath +was the principal loss that both sides wished to repair. + +Under circumstances like those in which the parties were placed, a truce, let +it come from what cause it might, could not well be of long continuance. The +arena was too confined, and the distrust of treachery, too great, to admit of +this. Contrary to what might be expected, in his situation, Hurry was the +first to recommence hostilities. Whether this proceeded from policy, an idea +that he might gain some advantage by making a sudden and unexpected assault +or was the fruit of irritation and his undying hatred of an Indian, it is +impossible to say. His onset was furious, however, and at first it carried +all before it. He seized the nearest Huron by the waist, raised him entirely +from the platform, and hurled him into the water, as if he had been a child. +In half a minute, two more were at his side, one of whom received a grave +injury by the friend who had just preceded him. But four enemies remained, +and, in a hand to hand conflict, in which no arms were used but those which +nature had furnished, Hurry believed himself fully able to cope with that +number of redskins + +"Hurrah! Old Tom," he shouted-"The rascals are taking to the lake, and I'll +soon have 'em all swimming!" As these words were uttered a violent kick in +the face sent back the injured Indian, who had caught at the edge of the +platform. and was endeavoring to raise himself to its level, helplessly and +hopelessly into the water. When the affray was over, his dark body was seen, +through the limpid element of the Glimmerglass, lying, with outstretched +arms, extended on the bottom of the shoal on which the Castle stood, clinging +to the sands and weeds, as if life were to be retained by this frenzied grasp +of death. A blow sent into the pit of another's stomach doubled him up like a +worm that had been trodden on, and but two able bodied foes remained to be +dealt with. One of these, however, was not only the largest and strongest, of +the Hurons, but he was also the most experienced of their warriors present, +and that one whose sinews were the best strung in fights, and by marches on +the warpath. This man fully appreciated the gigantic strength of his +opponent, and had carefully husbanded his own. He was also equipped in the +best manner for such a conflict, standing in nothing but his breech-cloth, +the model of a naked and beautiful statue of agility and strength. To grasp +him required additional dexterity and unusual force. Still Hurry did not +hesitate, but the kick that, had actually destroyed one fellow creature was +no sooner given, than he closed in with this formidable antagonist, +endeavoring to force him into the water, also. The struggle that succeeded +was truly frightful. So fierce did it immediately become, and so quick and +changeful were the evolutions of the athletes, that the remaining savage had +no chance for interfering, had he possessed the desire; but wonder and +apprehension held him spell bound. He was an inexperienced youth, and his +blood curdled as he witnessed the fell strife of human passions, exhibited +too, in an unaccustomed form. + +Hurry first attempted to throw his antagonist. With this view he seized him +by the throat, and an arm, and tripped with the quickness and force of an +American borderer. The effect was frustrated by the agile movements of the +Huron, who had clothes to grasp by, and whose feet avoided the attempt with a +nimbleness equal to that with which it was made. Then followed a sort of +mêlée, if such a term can be applied to a struggle between two, in which no +efforts were strictly visible, the limbs and bodies of the combatants +assuming so many attitudes and contortions, as to defeat observation. This +confused but fierce rally lasted less than a minute, however; when, Hurry, +furious at having his strength baffled y the agility and nakedness of his +foe, made a desperate effort, which sent the Huron from him, hurling his body +violently against the logs of the hut. The concussion was so great +momentarily to confuse the latter's faculties. The pain, too, orted a deep +groan; an unusual concession to agony, to ape a red man in the heat of +battle. Still he rushed forward gain, to meet his enemy, conscious that his +safety rested on it's resolution. Hurry now seized the other by the waist, +raised him bodily from the platform, and fell with his own great weight on +the form beneath. This additional shock so stunned the sufferer, that his +gigantic white opponent now had him completely at his mercy. Passing his +hands around the throat of his victim, he compressed them with the strength +of a vice, fairly doubling the head of the Huron over e edge of the platform, +until the chin was uppermost, with the infernal strength he expended. An +instant sufficed to show the consequences. The eyes of the sufferer seemed to +start forward, his tongue protruded, and his nostrils dilated nearly to +splitting. At this instant a rope of bark, having an eye, was passed +dexterously within the two arms of Hurry, the end threaded the eye, forming a +noose, and his elbows were drawn together behind his back, with a power that +all his gigantic strength could not resist. Reluctantly, even under such +circumstances, did the exasperated borderer see his hands drawn from their +deadly grasp, for all the evil passions ;Were then in the ascendant. Almost +at the same instant, a similar fastening secured his ancles, and his body was +rolled to 4the centre of the platform as helplessly, and as cavalierly, as if +it Were a log of wood. His rescued antagonist, however, did not rise, for +while he began again to breathe, his head still hung helplessly over the edge +of the logs, and it was thought at first that his neck was dislocated. He +recovered gradually only, and it was hours before he could walk. Some fancied +that neither his body, nor his mind, ever totally recovered from this near +approach to death. + +Hurry owed his defeat and capture to the intensity with which he had +concentrated all his powers, on his fallen foe While thus occupied, the two +Indians he had hurled into the water mounted to the heads of the piles, along +which they passed, and joined their companion on the platform. The latter had +so far rallied his faculties as to have gotten the ropes, which were in +readiness for use as the others appeared, and they were applied in the manner +related, as Hurry lay pressing his enemy down with his whole weight, intent +only on the horrible office of strangling him. Thus were the tables turned, +in a single moment; he who had been so near achieving a victory that would +have been renowned for ages, by means of traditions, throughout all that +region, lying, helpless, bound and a captive. So fearful had been the efforts +of the pale face, and so prodigious the strength he exhibited, that even as +he lay, tethered like a sheep before them, they regarded him with respect, +and not without dread. The helpless body of their stoutest warrior was still +stretched on the platform, and, as they cast their eyes towards the lake, in +quest of the comrade that had been hurled into it so unceremoniously, and of +whom they had lost sight in the confusion of the fray, they perceived his +lifeless form clinging to the grass on the bottom, as already described. +These several circumstances contributed to render the victory of the Hurons +almost as astounding to themselves, as a defeat. + +Chingachgook, and his betrothed, witnessed the whole of this struggle from +the Ark. When the three Hurons were about to pass the cords around the arms +of the prostrate Hurry, the Delaware sought his rifle, but, before he could +use it, the white man was bound, and the mischief was done. He might still +bring down an enemy, but to obtain the scalp was impossible, and the young +chief, who would so freely risk his own life, to obtain such a trophy, +hesitated about taking that of a foe, without such an object in view. A +glance at Hist, and the recollection of what might follow, checked any +transient wish or revenge. The reader has been told that Chingachgook could +scarcely be said to know how to manage the oars of the Ark at all, however +expert he might be in the use the paddle. Perhaps there is no manual labor, +at which men are so bungling and awkward, as in their first attempts to pull +oar, even the experienced mariner, or boat man, breaking down in his efforts +to figure with the celebrated rullock of the gondollier In short it is, +temporarily, an impracticable thing for a new beginner to succeed with a +single oar, but, in this case it was necessary to handle two, at the same +time, and those of great size. Sweeps, or large oars, however, are sooner +rendered of use by the raw hand, than lighter implements, and this was the +reason that the Delaware had succeeded in moving the Ark as well as he did, +in a first trial. That trial, notwithstanding, sufficed to produce distrust, +and he was fully aware of the critical situation in which Hist and himself +were now placed, should the Hurons take to the canoe that was still lying +beneath the trap, and come against them. At the moment he thought of putting +Hist into the canoe in his own possession, and of taking to the eastern +mountain, in the hope of reaching the Delaware villages by direct flight. But +many considerations suggested themselves to put a stop to this indiscreet +step. It was almost certain that scouts watched the lake on both sides, and +no canoe could possibly approach shore without being seen from the hills. +Then a trail could not be concealed from Indian eyes, and the strength of +Hist was unequal to a flight sufficiently sustained, to outstrip the pursuit +of trained warriors. This was a part of America in which the Indians did not +know the use of horses, and every thing would depend on the physical energies +of the fugitives. Last, but far from being least, were the thoughts connected +with the situation of Deerslayer, a friend who was not to be deserted in his +extremity. + +Hist in some particulars, reasoned, and even felt, differently though she +arrived at the same conclusions. Her own anger disturbed her less than her +concern for the two sisters, whose behalf her womanly sympathies were now +strongly enlisted The canoe of the girls, by the time the struggle on the +platform had ceased, was within three hundred yards of the castle, and here +Judith ceased paddling, the evidences strife first becoming apparent to the +eyes. She and Hetty were standing erect, anxiously endeavoring to ascertain +what had occurred, but unable to satisfy their doubts from the circum stance +that the building, in a great measure, concealed the scene of action. + +The parties in the Ark, and in the canoe, were indebted to the ferocity of +Hurry's attack for their momentary security In any ordinary case, the girls +would have been immediately captured, a measure easy of execution now the +savages had a canoe, were it not for the rude check the audacity of the +Hurons had received, in the recent struggle. It required some little time to +recover from the effects of this violent scene, and this so much the more, +because the principal man of the party, in the way of personal prowess at +least, had been so great a sufferer. Still it was of the last importance that +Judith and her sister should seek immediate refuge in the Ark, where the +defences offered a temporary shelter at least, and the first step was to +devise the means of inducing them to do so. Hist showed herself in the stern +of the scow, and made many gestures and signs, in vain, in order to induce +the girls to make a circuit to avoid the Castle, and to approach the Ark from +the eastward. But these signs were distrusted or misunderstood. It is +probable Judith was not yet sufficiently aware of the real state of things to +put full confidence in either party. Instead of doing as desired, she rather +kept more aloof, paddling slowly back to the north, or into the broadest part +of the lake, where she could command the widest view, and had the fairest +field for flight before her. At this instant the sun appeared above the pines +of the eastern range of mountains and a light southerly breeze arose, as was +usual enough, at that season and hour Chingachgook lost no time in hoisting +the sail. Whatever might be in reserve for him, there could be no question +that it was every way desirable to get the Ark at such a distance from the +castle, as to reduce his enemies to the necessity of approaching the former +in the canoe, which the chances of war had so inopportunely for his wishes +and security, thrown into their hands. The appearance of the opening duck +seemed first to arouse the Hurons from their apathy, and by the time the head +of the scow had fallen off before the wind, which it did unfortunately in the +wrong direction, bringing it within a few yards of the platform, Hist found +it necessary to warn &r lover of the importance of covering his person +against the rifles of his foes. This was a danger to be avoided under all +circumstances, and so much the more, because the Delaware found that Hist +would not take to the cover herself, so long as he remained exposed. +Accordingly, Chingachgook abandoned the scow to its own movements, forced +Hist into the cabin the doors of which he immediately secured, and then he +looked about him for the rifles. The situation of the parties was now so +singular as to merit a particular description. The Ark was within sixty yards +of the castle, a little to the southward, or to windward of it, with its sail +full, and the steering oar abandoned. The latter, fortunately, was loose, so +that it produced no great influence on the crab like movements of the +unwieldy craft. The sail being as sailors term it, flying, or having no +braces, the air forced the yard forward, though both sheets were fast. The +effect was threefold on a boat with a bottom that was perfectly flat, and +which drew merely some three or four inches water. It pressed the head slowly +round to leeward, it forced the whole fabric bodily in the same direction at +the e time, and the water that unavoidably gathered under the gave the scow +also a forward movement. All these changes were exceedingly slow, however, +for the wind was not only light, but it was baffling as usual, and twice or +thrice the sail shook. Once it was absolutely taken aback. + +Had there been any keel to the Ark, it would inevitably ye run foul of the +platform, bows on, when it is probable thing could have prevented the Hurons +from carrying it; more particularly as the sail would have enabled them to +approach under cover. As it was, the scow wore slowly round, barely clearing +that part of the building. The piles projecting several feet, they were not +cleared, but the head of the slow moving craft caught between two of them, by +one of its square corners, and hung. At this moment the Delaware was +vigilantly watching through a loop, for an opportunity to fire, while the +Hurons kept within the building, similarly occupied. The exhausted warrior +reclined against the hut, there having been no time to remove him, and Hurry +lay, almost as helpless as a log, tethered like a sheep on its way to the +slaughter, near the middle of the platform. Chingachgook could have slain the +first, at any moment, but his scalp would have been safe, and the young chief +disdained to strike a blow that could lead to neither honor nor advantage. + +"Run out one of the poles, Sarpent, if Sarpent you be," said Hurry, amid the +groans that the tightness of the ligatures was beginning to extort from him- +"run out one of the poles, and shove the head of the scow off, and you'll +drift clear of us-and, when you've done that good turn for yourself just +finish this gagging blackguard for me." + +The appeal of Hurry, however, had no other effect, than to draw the attention +of Hist to his situation. This quick witted creature comprehended it at a +glance. His ancles were bound with several turns of stout bark rope, and his +arms, above the elbows, were similarly secured behind his back; barely +leaving him a little play of the hands and wrists. Putting her mouth near a +loop she said in a low but distinct voice- "Why you do n't roll here, and +fall in scow? Chingachgook shoot Huron, if he chace!" + +"By the Lord, gal, that's a judgematical thought, and it shall be tried, if +the starn of your scow will come a little nearer. Put a bed at the bottom, +for me to fall on." + +This was said at a happy moment, for, tired of waiting, all the Indians made +a rapid discharge of their rifles, almost simultaneously, injuring no one; +though several bullets passed through the loops. Hist had heard part of +Hurry's words, but most of what he said was lost in the sharp reports of the +firearms. She undid the bar of the door that led to the stern of the scow, +but did not dare to expose her person. All this time, the head of the Ark +hung, but by a gradually decreasing hold as the other end swung slowly round, +nearer and nearer to the platform. Hurry, who now lay with his face towards +the Ark, occasionally writhing and turning over like one in pain, evolutions +he had performed ever since he was secured, watched every change, and, at +last, he saw that the whole vessel was free, and was beginning to grate +slowly along the sides of the piles. The attempt was desperate, but it seemed +to be the only chance for escaping torture and death, and it suited the +reckless daring of the man's character. Waiting to the last moment, in order +that the stern of the scow might fairly rub against the platform, he began to +writhe again, as if in intolerable suffering, execrating all Indians in +general, and the Hurons in particular, and then he suddenly and rapidly +rolled over and over, taking the direction of the stem of the cow. +Unfortunately, Hurry's shoulders required more space to revolve m than his +feet, and, by the time he reached the edge of the platform his direction had +so far changed as to carry him clear of the Ark altogether, and the rapidity +of his revolutions and the emergency admitting of no delay, he fell into the +water. At this instant, Chingachgook, by an understanding with his betrothed +drew the fire of the Hurons, am, not a man of whom saw the manner in which +one, horn they knew to be effectually tethered, had disappeared. But Hist 's +feelings were strongly interested in the success of so bold a scheme, and she +watched the movements of Hurry, the cat watches the mouse. The moment he was +in motion she foresaw the consequences, and this the more readily, as the +scow was now beginning to move with some steadiness, and she bethought her of +the means of saving him. With a sort of instinctive readiness, she opened the +door, at the very moment the rifles were ringing in her ears, and, protected +by the intervening cabin, she stepped into the stem of the scow, time to +witness the fall of Hurry into the lake. Her foot was unconsciously placed on +the end of one of the sheets of the sail, which was fastened aft, and +catching up all the spare rope with the awkwardness, but also with the +generous resolution, of a woman, she threw it in the direction of the +helpless Hurry. The line fell on the head and body of the sinking man and he +not only succeeded in grasping separate parts of with his hands, but he +actually got a portion of it between his teeth. Hurry was an expert swimmer, +and, tethered as he was he resorted to the very expedient that philosophy and +reflection would have suggested. He had fallen on his back, ad instead of +floundering and drowning himself by desperate efforts to walk on the water, +he permitted his body to sink as low as possible, and was already submerged, +with the exception of his face, when the line reached him. In this situation +might possibly have remained until rescued by the Hurons, using his hands as +fishes use their fins, had he received no other succour, but the movement of +the Ark soon tightened the rope, and of course he was dragged gently ahead +holding even pace with the scow. The motion aided in keeping his face above +the surface of the water, and it would have been possible for one accustomed +to endurance, to have been towed a mile in this singular but simple manner. + +It has been said that the Hurons did not observe the sudden disappearance of +Hurry. In his present situation, he was not only hid from view, by the +platform, but, as the Ark drew slowly ahead, impelled by a sail that was now +filled, he received the same friendly service from the piles. The Hurons, +indeed, were too intent on endeavoring to slay their Delaware foe, by sending +a bullet through some one of the loops or crevices of the cabin, to bethink +them at all, of one whom they fancied so thoroughly tied. Their great concern +was the manner in which the Ark rubbed past the piles, although its motion +was lessened at least one half by the friction, and they passed into the +northern end of the castle, in order to catch opportunities of firing through +the loops of that part of the building. Chingachgook was similarly occupied, +and remained as ignorant as his enemies, of the situation of Hurry. As the +Ark grated along, the rifles sent their little clouds of smoke from one cover +to the other, but the eyes and movements of the opposing parties were too +quick to permit any injury to be done. At length one side had the +mortification, and the other the pleasure of seeing the scow swing clear of +the piles altogether, when it immediately moved away, with a materially +accelerated motion, towards the north. + +Chingachgook now first learned from Hist, the critical condition of Hurry. To +have exposed either of their persons in the stern of the scow, would have +been certain death, but, fortunately, the sheet to which the man clung, led +forward to the foot of the sail. The Delaware found means to unloosen it from +the cleet aft, and Hist, who was already forward for that purpose, +immediately began to pull upon the line. At this moment Hurry was towing +fifty or sixty feet astern, with nothing but his face above water. As he was +dragged out clear of the castle and the piles, he was first perceived by the +Hurons, who raised a hideous yell, and commenced a fire on, what may very +well be termed, the floating mass. It was at same instant, that Hist began to +pull upon the line for a circumstance that probably saved Hurry's life, aided +by his own self-possession and border readiness. The first bullet struck the +water directly on the spot, where the broad chest of the young giant was +visible through the pure element might have pierced his heart, had the angle +at was fired, been less acute. Instead of penetrating the ~ever, it glanced +from its smooth surface, rose, and buried itself in the logs of the cabin, +near the spot at Chingachgook had shown himself the minute before, the line +from the cleet. A second, and a third, fourth bullet followed, all meeting +with the same resistance of the water, though Hurry sensibly the blows they +struck upon the lake so and so near his breast. Discovering their now changed +their plan, and aimed at the uncovered face but by this time Hist was pulling +on the line the target advanced and the deadly missiles still fell upon the +water. In another moment the body was dragged the tow and became concealed. +As for the Delaware and Hist, they worked perfectly covered by the cabin and +in less time than it requires to tell it, they had hauled the huge frame of +Harry to the place they occupied. Chingachgook stood in readiness with his +keen knife, and bending over the side of the scow he soon severed the bark +that bound the limbs of the borderer. To raise him high enough to reach the +edge of the boat, and to aid him in entering were less easy as Hurry's arms +were still nearly useless, but both were done in time when the liberated man +staggered forward, and fell exhausted and helpless into the bottom of the +scow. Here we shall leave him to recover his strength and the due +circulation of his blood, while we proceed with the narrative of events that +crowd upon us too fast to admit of any postponement. The moment the Hurons +lost sight of the body of Hurry, they gave a common yell of disappointment +and three of the most active of their number ran to the trap and entered the +canoe. It required some little delay, however, to embark with their weapons, +to find the paddles and, if we may use a phrase so purely technical, "to get +out of dock." By this time Hurry was in the scow, and the Delaware had his +rifles, again, in readiness. As the Ark necessarily sailed before the wind, +it had got by this time quite two hundred yards from the castle, and was +sliding away each instant, farther and farther, though with a motion so easy +as scarcely to stir the water. The canoe of the girls was quite a quarter of +a mile distant from the Ark, obviously keeping aloof, in ignorance of what +had occurred, and in apprehension of the consequences of venturing too near. +They had taken the direction of the eastern shore, endeavoring at the same +time to get to windward of the Ark, and in a manner between the two parties, +as if distrusting which was to be considered a friend, and which an enemy. +The girls, from long habit, used the paddles with great dexterity, and +Judith, in particular, had often sportively gained races, in trials of speed +with the youths that occasionally visited the lake. + +When the three Hurons emerged from behind the palisades, and found themselves +on the open lake, and under the necessity of advancing unprotected on the +Ark, if they persevered in the original design, their ardor sensibly cooled. +In a bark canoe, they were totally without cover, and Indian discretion was +entirely opposed to such a sacrifice of life as would most probably follow +any attempt to assault an enemy, entrenched as effectually as the Delaware. +Instead of following the Ark therefore, these three warriors inclined towards +the eastern shore, keeping at a safe distance from the rifles of +Chingachgook. But this manoeuvre rendered the position of the girls +exceedingly critical. It threatened to place them if not between two fires, +at least between two dangers, or what they conceived to be dangers, and, +instead of permitting the Hurons to enclose her, in what she fancied a sort +of net, Judith immediately commenced her retreat, in a southern direction, at +no very great distance from the shore. She did not dare to land; if such an +expedient were to be resorted to at all, she could only venture on it, in the +last extremity. At first the Indians paid little or no attention to the other +canoe, for, fully apprised of its contents, they deemed its capture of +comparatively little moment, while the Ark, with its imaginary treasures, the +persons of the Delaware and of Hurry, and its means of movement on a large +scale, was before them. But this Ark had its dangers as well as its +temptations, and after wasting near an hour, in vacillating evolutions, +always at a safe distance from the rifle, the Hurons seemed suddenly to take +their resolution, and began to display it by giving eager chase to the girls. + +When this last design was adopted, the circumstances of all parties, as +connected with their relative positions, were materially changed. The Ark had +sailed and drifted quite half a mile, and was nearly that distance due north +of the castle. As soon as the Delaware perceived that the girls avoided him, +unable to manage his unwieldy craft, and knowing that flight from a bark +canoe, in the event of pursuit, would be a useless expedient if attempted, he +had lowered his sail, in the hope it might induce the sisters to change their +plan, and to seek refuge in the scow. This demonstration produced no other +effect than to keep the Ark nearer to the scene of action, and to enable +those in her to become witnesses of the chase. The canoe of Judith was about +a quarter of a mile south of that of the Hurons, a little nearer to the east +shore, and about the same distance to the southward of the castle, as it was +from the hostile canoe, a circumstance which necessarily put the last nearly +abreast of Hurter's fortress. With the several parties thus situated the +chase commenced. + +At the moment when the Hurons so suddenly changed their mode of attack their +canoe was not in the best, possible, racing trim. There were but two paddles, +and the third man so much extra and useless cargo. Then the difference in +weight, between the sisters and the other two men, more especially in vessels +so extremely light, almost neutralized any +:e that might proceed from the greater strength of the and rendered the trial +of speed far from being as unequal, as it might seem. Judith did not commence +her exertions, until the near approach of the other canoe, rendered object of +the movement certain, and then she exhorted Hetty to aid her with her utmost +skill and strength. + +"Why should we run, Judith?" asked the simple minded L. "The Hurons have +never harmed me, nor do I think they ever will." + +"That may be true as to you, Hetty, but it will prove very different with me. +Kneel down and say your prayer, and then rise, and do your utmost to help +escape. Think of me, dear girl, too, as you pray." + +Judith gave these directions from a mixed feeling; first because she knew +that her sister ever sought the support of her great ally in trouble, and +next because a sensation of feebleness and dependance suddenly came over her +own proud spirit, in that moment of apparent desertion and trial. The prayer +was quickly said, however, and the canoe was soon in rapid motion. Still, +neither party resorted to their greatest exertions from the outset, both +knowing that the chase was likely to be arduous and long. Like two vessels of +war that are preparing for an encounter, they seemed desirous of first +ascertaining their respective rates of speed, in order that they might know +how to graduate their exertions, previously to the great effort. A few +minutes sufficed to show the Hurons that the girls were expert, and that it +would require all their skill and energies to overtake them. + +Judith had inclined towards the eastern shore, at the commencement of the +chase, with a vague determination of landing and flying to the woods, as a +last resort, but as she approached the land, the certainty that scouts must +be watching her movements, made her reluctance to adopt such an expedient +unconquerable. Then she was still fresh, and had sanguine hopes of being able +to tire out her pursuers. With such feelings she gave a sweep with her +paddle, and sheered off from the fringe of dark hemlocks beneath the shades +of which she was so near entering, and held her way, again, more towards the +centre of the lake. This seemed the instant favorable for the Hurons to make +their push, as it gave them the entire breadth of the sheet to do it in; and +this too in the widest part, as soon as they had got between the fugitives +and the land. The canoes now flew, Judith making up for what she wanted in +strength, by her great dexterity and self command. For half a mile the +Indians gained no material advantage, but the continuance of so great +exertions for so many minutes sensibly affected all concerned. Here the +Indians resorted to an expedient that enabled them to give one of their party +time to breathe, by shifting their paddles from hand to hand, and this too +without sensibly relaxing their efforts. + +Judith occasionally looked behind her, and she saw this expedient practised. +It caused her immediately to distrust the result, since her powers of +endurance were not likely to hold out against those of men who had the means +of relieving each other. Still she persevered, allowing no very visible +consequences immediately to follow the change. + + As yet the Indians had not been able to get nearer to the girls, than two +hundred yards, though they were what seamen would term 'in their wake'; or in +a direct line behind them, passing over the same track of water. This made +the pursuit what is technically called a "stern chase", which is proverbially +a "long chase": the meaning of which is that, in consequence of the relative +positions of the parties, no change becomes apparent except that which is a +direct gain in the nearest possible approach. "Long" as this species of chase +is admitted to be, however, Judith was enabled to perceive that the Hurons +were sensibly drawing nearer and nearer, before she had gained the centre of +the lake. She was not a girl to despair, but there was an instant when she +thought of yielding, with the wish of being carried to the camp where she +knew the Deerslayer to be a captive; but the considerations connected with +the means she hoped to be able to employ, in order to procure his release, +immediately interposed, in order to stimulate her to renewed exertions. Had +there been any one there to note the progress of the two canoes, he would +have seen that of Judith flying swiftly away from its pursuers, as -the girl +gave it freshly impelled speed, while her mind was thus dwelling on her own +ardent and generous schemes. So material, indeed, was the difference in the +rate of going between the two canoes, for the next five minutes, that the +Hurons began to be convinced all their powers must be exerted, or they would +suffer the disgrace of being baffled by women. Making a furious effort, under +the mortification of such a conviction, one of the strongest of their party +broke his paddle at the very moment when he had taken it from the hand of a +comrade, to relieve him. This at once decided the matter, a canoe containing +three men and having but one paddle, being utterly unable to overtake +fugitives like the daughters of Thomas Hutter. + +"There, Judith!" exclaimed Hetty, who saw the accident- "I hope, now, you +will own, that praying is useful! The Hurons have broke a paddle, and they +never can overtake us." + +"I never denied it, poor Hetty, and sometimes wish, in bitterness of spirit, +that I had prayed more myself, and thought less of my beauty! As you say, we +are now safe and need only go a little south, and take breath." + +This was done; the enemy giving up the pursuit, as suddenly as a ship that +has lost an important spar, the instant the accident occurred. Instead of +following Judith's canoe, which was now lightly skimming over the water +towards the south, the Hurons turned their bows towards the castle, where +they soon arrived and landed. The girls, fearful that some spare paddles +might be found in, or about the buildings, continued on, nor did they stop, +until so distant from their enemies as to give them every chance of escape, +should the chase be renewed. It would seem that the savages meditated no such +design, but at the end of an hour their canoe, filled with men, was seen +quitting the castle, and steering towards the shore. The girls were without +food, and they now drew nearer to the buildings and the Ark, having finally +made up their minds, from its manoeuvres, that the latter contained friends. + +Notwithstanding the seeming desertion of the castle, Judith approached it +with extreme caution. The Ark was now quite a mile to the northward, but +sweeping up towards the buildings, and this, too, with a regularity of motion +that satisfied Judith a white man was at the oars. When within a hundred +yards of the building, the girls began to encircle it, in order to make sure +that it was empty. No canoe was nigh, and this emboldened them, to draw +nearer and nearer, until they had gone round the piles, and reached the +platform. + +"Do you go into the house, Hetty," said Judith, "and see that the savages are +gone. They will not harm you, and if any of them are still here, you can give +me the alarm. I do not think they will fire on a poor defenceless girl, and I +at least may escape, until I shall be ready to go among them of my own +accord." + +Hetty did as desired, Judith retiring a few yards from the platform, the +instant her sister landed, in readiness for flight. But the last was +unnecessary, not a minute elapsing before Hetty returned to communicate that +all was safe. + +"I've been in all the rooms, Judith," said the latter earnestly, "and they +are empty, except father's; he is in his own chamber, sleeping, though not as +quietly as we could wish." + +"Has any thing happened to father?" demanded Judith, as her foot touched the +platform; speaking quick, for her nerves were in a state to be easily +alarmed. + +Hetty seemed concerned, and she looked furtively about her, as if unwilling +any one but a child should hear what she had to communicate, and even that +she should learn it abruptly. + +"You know how it is with father, sometimes, Judith," she said, "When +overtaken with liquor he does n't always know what he says, or does, and he +seems to be overtaken with liquor, now." + +"That is strange!-Would the savages have drunk with him, and then leave him +behind? But tis a grievous sight to a child, Hetty, to witness such a failing +in a parent, and we will not go near him 'till he wakes." + +A groan from the inner room, however, changed this resolution, and the girls +ventured near a parent, whom it was no unusual thing for them to find in a +condition that lowers a man to the level of brutes. He was seated, reclining +in a corner of the narrow room, with his shoulders supported by the angle, +and his head fallen heavily on his chest. Judith moved forward, with a sudden +impulse, and removed a canvass cap that was forced so low on his head as to +conceal his face, and indeed all but his shoulders. The instant this obstacle +was taken away, the quivering and raw flesh, the bared veins and muscles, and +all the other disgusting signs of mortality, as they are revealed by tearing +away the skin, showed he had been scalped, though still living. + + + + + +Chapter XXI. + +"Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, And o'er his cold ashes +upbraid him; +But nothing he'll reck, if they'll let him sleep on, In the grave where a +Briton has laid him." + +Charles Wolfe, "The Burial of Sir John Moore," vi. + + + + +The reader must imagine the horror that daughters would experience, at +unexpectedly beholding the shocking spectacle that was placed before the eyes +of Judith and Esther, as related in the close of the last chapter. We shall +pass over the first emotions, the first acts of filial piety, and proceed +with the narrative, by imagining rather than relating most of the revolting +features of the scene. The mutilated and ragged head was bound up, the +unseemly blood was wiped from the face of the sufferer, the other appliances +required by appearances and care were resorted to, and there was time to +enquire into the more serious circumstances of the case. The facts were never +known until years later, in all their details, simple as they were, but they +may as well be related here, as it can be done in a few words. In the +struggle with the Hurons, Hutter had been stabbed by the knife of the old +warrior, who had used the discretion to remove the arms of every one but +himself. Being hard pushed by his sturdy foe, his knife had settled the +matter. This occurred just as the door was opened, and Hurry burst out upon +the platform, as has been previously related. This was the secret of neither +party's having appeared in the subsequent struggle; Hutter having been +literally disabled, and his conqueror being ashamed to be seen with the +traces of blood about him, after having used so many injunctions to convince +his young warriors of the necessity of taking their prisoners alive. When the +three Hurons returned from the chase, and it was determined to abandon the +castle, and join the party on the land, Hutter was simply scalped, to secure +the usual trophy, and was left to die by inches, as has been done in a +thousand similar instances, by the ruthless warriors of this part of the +American continent. Had the injury of Hutter been con-fined to his head, he +might have recovered, however, for it was the blow of the knife that proved +mortal. There are moments of vivid consciousness, when the stern justice of +God stands forth in colours so prominent, as to defy any attempts to veil +them from the sight, however unpleasant they may appear, or however anxious +we may be to avoid recognising it. Such was now the fact with Judith and +Hetty, who both perceived the decrees of a retributive Providence, in the +manner of their father's suffering, as a punishment for his own recent +attempts on the Iroquois. This was seen and felt by Judith with the keenness +of perception and sensibility that were suited to her character, while the +impression made on the simpler mind of her sister was perhaps less lively, +though it might well have proved more lasting. + +"Oh! Judith-" exclaimed the weak minded girl, as soon as their first care had +been bestowed on the went for scalps, himself, and now where is his own? The +bible might have foretold this dreadful punishment!" + +"Hush-Hetty-hush, poor sister-He opens his eyes; he may hear and understand +you. Tis as you say and think, but 'tis too dreadful to speak." + +"Water-" ejaculated Hutter, as it might be by a desperate effort, that +rendered his voice frightfully deep and strong, for one as near death as he +evidently was-"Water-foolish girls -will you let me die of thirst." + +Water was brought and administered to the sufferer; the first he had tasted +in hours of physical anguish. It had the double effect of clearing his +throat, and of momentarily reviving his sinking system. His eyes opened with +that anxious, distended gaze, which is apt to accompany the passage of a soul +surprised by death, and he seemed disposed to speak. + +"Father-" said Judith, inexpressibly pained by his deplorable situation, and +this so much the more from her ignorance of what remedies ought to be +applied-"Father, can we do any thing for you?-Can Hetty and I relieve your +pain?" + +"Father!"- slowly repeated the old man. "No-Judith- no - Hetty - I'm no +father. She was your mother, but I'm no father. Look in the chest - Tis all +there - give me more water." + +The girls complied, and Judith, whose early recollections extended farther +back than her sister's, and who, on every account, had more distinct +impressions of the past, felt an uncontrollable impulse of joy, as she heard +these words. There had never been much sympathy between her reputed father +and herself, and suspicions of this very truth had often glanced across her +mind, in consequence of dialogues she had overheard between Hutter and her +mother. It might be going too far to say she had never loved him, but it is +not so to add, that she rejoiced it was no longer a duty. With Hetty the +feeling was different. Incapable of making all the distinctions of her +sister, her very nature was full of affection, and she had loved her reputed +parent, though far less tenderly than the real parent, and it grieved her, +now, to hear him declare he was not naturally entitled to that love. She felt +a double grief, as if his death and his words together, were twice depriving +her of parents. Yielding to her feelings, the poor girl went aside and wept. + +The very opposite emotions of the two girls, kept both silent for a long +time. Judith gave water to the sufferer frequently, but she forbore to urge +him with questions, in some measure out of consideration for his condition, +but, if truth must be said, quite as much, lest something he should add, in +the way of explanation, might disturb her pleasing belief that she was not +Thomas Hutter's child. At length Hetty dried her tears, and came and seated +herself on a stool by the side of the dying man, who had been placed at his +length on the floor, with his head supported by some coarse vestments that +had been left in the house. + +"Father-" she said-"you will let me call you father, though you say you are +not one - Father shall I read the bible to you -mother always said the bible +was good for people in trouble. She was often in trouble herself, and then +she made me read the bible to her- for Judith wasn't as fond of the bible as +I am-and it always did her good. Many is the time I've known mother begin to +listen with the tears streaming from her eyes, and end with smiles and +gladness. Oh! father, you don't know how much good the bible can do, for +you've never tried it -Now, I'll read a chapter, and it will soften your +heart, as it softened the hearts of thee Hurons ' + +While poor Hetty had so much reverence for, and faith in, the virtues of the +bible, her intellect was too shallow to enable her fully to appreciate its +beauties, or to fathom its profound, and sometimes mysterious wisdom. That +instinctive sense of right, which appeared to shield her from the commission +of wrong, and even cast a mantle of moral loveliness and truth around her +character, could not penetrate abstrusities, or trace the nice affinities +between cause and effect, beyond their more obvious and indisputable +connection, though she seldom failed to see all the latter, and to defer to +all their just consequences. In a word, she was one of those who feel and act +correctly, without being able to give a logical reason for it, even admitting +revelation as her authority. Her selections from the bible, therefore, were +commonly distinguished by the simplicity of her own mind, and were oftener +marked for containing images of known and palpable things, than for any of +the higher cast of moral truths with which the pages of that wonderful book +abound - wonderful, and unequalled, even without referring to its divine +origin, as a work replete with the profoundest philosophy, expressed in the +noblest language. Her mother, with a connection that will probably strike the +reader, had been fond of the book of Job, and Hetty had, in a great measure, +learned to read by the frequent lessons she had received from the different +chapters of this venerable and sublime poem - now believed to be the oldest +book in the world. On this occasion the poor girl was submissive to her +training, and she turned to that well known part of the sacred volume, with +the readiness with which the practised counsel would cite his authorities +from the stores of legal wisdom. In selecting the particular chapter, she was +influenced by the caption, and she chose that which stands in our English +version as "Job excuseth his desire of death." This she read steadily, from +beginning to end, in a sweet, low and plaintive voice; hoping devoutly that +the allegorical and abstruse sentences might convey to the heart of the +sufferer the consolation he needed. It is another peculiarity of the +comprehensive wisdom of the bible, that scarce a chapter, unless it be +strictly narration, can be turned to, that does not contain some searching +truth that is applicable to the condition of every human heart, as well as to +the +temporal state of its owner, either through the workings of that heart, or +even in a still more direct form. In this instance, the very opening sentence +- "Is there not an appointed time to man on earth?' was startling, and as +Hetty proceeded, Hutter applied, or fancied he could apply many aphorisms and +figures to his own worldly and mental condition. As life is ebbing fast, the +mind clings eagerly to hope when it is not absolutely crushed by despair. The +solemn words "I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, 0 thou preserver of +men? Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to +myself," struck Hutter more perceptibly than the others, and, though too +obscure for one of his blunted feelings and obtuse mind either to feel or to +comprehend in their fullest extent, they had a directness of application to +his own state that caused him to wince under them. + +"Don't you feel better now, father?" asked Hetty, closing the volume. "Mother +was always better when she had read the bible." + +"Water-' returned Hutter-"give me water, Judith. I wonder if my tongue will +always be so hot! Hetty, isn't there something in the bible about cooling the +tongue of a man who was burning in Hell fire?" + +Judith turned away shocked, but Hetty eagerly sought the passage, which she +read aloud to the conscience stricken victim of his own avaricious longings. +"That's it- poor Hetty- yes- that's it. My tongue wants cooling, now-what +will it be here after!" + +This appeal silenced even the confiding Hetty, for she had no answer ready +for a confession so fraught with despair. Water, so long as it could relieve +the sufferer, it was in the power of the sisters to give, and, from time to +time, it was offered to the lips of the sufferer, as he asked for it. Even +Judith prayed. As for Hetty, as soon as she found that her efforts to make +her father listen to her texts were no longer rewarded with success, she +knelt at his side, and devoutly repeated the words which the Saviour has left +behind him, as a model for human petitions. This she continued to do, at +intervals, as long as it seemed to her that the act could benefit the dying +man. Hutter, however, lingered longer than the girls had believed possible, +when they first found him. At times he spoke intelligibly, though his lips +oftener moved in utterance of sounds that carried no distinct impressions to +the mind. Judith listened intently, and she heard the words - "husband'- +"death' - "pirate" - "law' - "scalps' - and several others of similar import, +though there was no sentence to tell the precise connection in which they +were used. Still they were sufficiently expressive to be understood by one +whose ears had not escaped all the rumours that had been circulated to her +reputed father's discredit, and whose comprehension was as quick, as her +faculties were attentive. + +During the whole of the painful hour that succeeded, neither of the sisters +bethought her sufficiently of the Hurons, to dread their return. It seemed as +if their desolation and grief placed them above the danger of such an +interruption, and when the sound of oars was at length heard, even Judith, +who alone had any reason to apprehend the enemy, did not start, but at once +understood that the Ark was near. She went upon the platform fearlessly, for +should it turn out that Hurry was not there, and that the Hurons were masters +of the scow also, escape was impossible. Then she had the sort of confidence +that is inspired by extreme misery. But there was no cause for any new alarm, +Chingachgook, Hist, and Hurry all standing in the open part of the scow, +cautiously examining the building to make certain of the absence of the +enemy. They, too, had seen the departure of the Hurons, as well as the +approach of the canoe of the girls to the castle, and presuming on the latter +fact, March had swept the scow up to the platform. A word sufficed to explain +that there was nothing to be apprehended, and the Ark was soon moored in her +old berth. + +Judith said not a word concerning the condition of her father, but Hurry knew +her too well, not to understand that something was more than usually wrong. +He led the way, though with less of his confident bold manner than usual, +into the house, and penetrating to the inner room, found Hutter lying on his +back, with Hetty sitting at his side, fanning him with pious care. The events +of the morning had sensibly changed the manner of Hurry. Notwithstanding his +skill as a swimmer, and the readiness with which he had adopted the only +expedient that could possibly save him, the helplessness of being in the +water, bound hand and foot, had produced some such effect on him, as the near +approach of punishment is known to produce on most criminals, leaving a vivid +impression of the horrors of death upon his mind, and this too in connection +with a picture of bodily helplessness; the daring of this man being far more +the offspring of vast physical powers, than of the energy of the will, or +even of natural spirit. Such heroes invariably lose a large portion of their +courage with the failure of their strength, and, though Hurry was now +unfettered and as vigorous as ever events were too recent to permit the +recollection of his late deplorable condition to be at all weakened. Had he +lived a century, the occurrences of the few momentous minutes during which he +was in the lake, would have produced a chastening effect on his character, if +not always on his manner. + +Hurry was not only shocked when he found his late associate in this desperate +situation, but he was greatly surprised. During the struggle in the building, +he had been far too much occupied himself, to learn what had befallen his +comrade, and, as no deadly weapon had been used in his particular case, but +every effort had been made to capture him without injury, he naturally +believed that Hutter had been overcome, while he owed his own escape to his +great bodily strength, and to a fortunate concurrence of extraordinary +circumstances. Death, in the silence and solemnity of a chamber, was a +novelty to him. Though accustomed to scenes of violence, he had been unused +to sit by the bedside, and watch the slow beating of the pulse, as it +gradually grew weaker and weaker. Notwithstanding the change in his feelings, +the manners of a life could not be altogether cast aside in a moment, and the +unexpected scene extorted a characteristic speech from the borderer. + +"How now! old Tom,' he said, "have the vagabonds got you at an advantage, +where you're not only down, but are likely to be kept down! I thought you a +captyve it's true, but never sup-posed you so hard run as this!' + +Hutter opened his glassy eyes, and stared wildly at the speaker. A flood of +confused recollections rushed on his wavering mind, at the sight of his late +comrade. It was evident that he struggled with his own images, and knew not +the real from the unreal. + +"Who are you?' he asked in a husky whisper, his failing strength refusing to +aid him in a louder effort of his voice. + +"Who are you?-You look like the mate of 'The Snow'-he was a giant, too, and +near overcoming us.' + +"I'm your mate, Floating Tom, and your comrade, but have nothing to do with +any snow. It's summer now , and Harry March always quits the hills, as soon +after the frosts set in, as is convenient. + +"I know you - Hurry Skurry - I'll sell you a scalp! - a sound one, and of a +full grown man - What'1l you give?' + +"Poor Tom! That scalp business hasn't turned out at all profitable, and I've +pretty much concluded to give it up; and to follow a less bloody calling.' +"Have you got any scalp? Mine's gone - How does it feel to have a scalp? - I +know how it feels to lose one - Fire and flames about the brain-and, a +wrenching at the heart- no-no-kill first, Hurry, and scalp, afterwards.' + +"What does the old fellow mean, Judith? He talks like one +that is getting tired of the business as well as myself. Why have 'you bound +up his head; or, have the savages tomahawked him about the brains.' + +"They have done that for him, which you and he, Harry March, would have so +gladly done for them. His skin and hair have been torn from his head to gain +money from the governor of Canada, as you would have torn theirs from the +heads of the Hurons, to gain money from the governor of York.' + +Judith spoke with a strong effort to appear composed, but it was neither in +her nature, nor in the feeling of the moment to speak altogether without +bitterness. The strength of her emphasis, indeed, as well as her manner +caused Hetty to look up reproachfully. + +"These are high words to come from Thomas Hutter's darter, as Thomas Hutter +lies dying before her eyes,' retorted Hurry. + +"God be praised for that! - whatever reproach it may bring on my poor mother, +I am not Thomas Hutter's daughter.' + +"Not Thomas Hutter's darter! - Don't disown the old fellow in his last +moments, Judith, for that's a sin the Lord will never overlook. If you're not +Thomas Hutter's darter, whose darter be you?' + +This question rebuked the rebellious spirit of Judith, for, in getting rid of +a parent, whom she felt it was a relief to find she might own she had never +loved, she overlooked the important circumstance that no substitute was ready +to supply his place. + +"I cannot tell you, Harry, who my father was,' she answered more mildly; "I +hope he was an honest man, at least. ' + +"Which is more than you think was the case, with old Hutter? Well, Judith, +I'll not deny that hard stories were in circulation consarning Floating Tom, +but who is there that doesn't get a scratch, when an inimy holds the rake? +There's them that say hard things of me, and even you, beauty as you be, +don't always escape." + +This was said with a view to set up a species of community of character +between the parties, and, as the politicians are wont to express it, with +ulterior intentions. What might have been the consequences with one of +Judith's known spirit, as well as her assured antipathy to the speaker, it is +not easy to say, for, just then, Hutter gave unequivocal signs that his last +moment was nigh. Judith and Hetty had stood by the dying bed of their mother, +and neither needed a monitor to warn them of the crisis, and every sign of +resentment vanished from the face of the first. Hutter opened his eyes, and +even tried to feel about him with his hands, a sign that sight was failing. A +minute later, his breathing grew ghastly; a pause totally without respiration +followed; and, then, succeeded the last, long drawn sigh, on which the spirit +is supposed to quit the body. This sudden termination of the life of one who +had hitherto filled so important a place in the narrow scene on which he had +been an actor, put an end to all discussion. + +The day passed by without further interruption, the Hurons, though possessed +of a canoe, appearing so far satisfied with their success as to have +relinquished all immediate designs on the castle. It would not have been a +safe undertaking, indeed, to approach it under the rifles of those it was now +known to contain, and it is probable that the truce was more owing to this +circumstance than to any other. In the mean while the preparations were made +for the interment of Hutter. To bury him on the land was impracticable, and +it was Hetty's wish that his body should lie by the side of that of her +mother, in the lake. She had it in her power to quote one of his speeches, in +which he himself had called the lake the "family burying around.' and luckily +this was done without the knowledge of her sister, who would have opposed the +plan, had she known it, with unconquerable disgust. But Judith had not +meddled with the arrangement, and every necessary disposition was made +without her privity or advice. + +The hour chosen for the rude ceremony, was just as the sun was setting, and a +moment and a scene more suited to paying the last offices to one of calm and +pure spirit could not have been chosen. There are a mystery and a solemn +dignity in death, that dispose the living to regard the remains of even a +malefactor with a certain degree of reverence. All worldly distinctions have +ceased; it is thought that the veil has been removed, and that the character +and destiny of the departed are now as much beyond human opinions, as they +are beyond human ken. In nothing is death more truly a leveller than in this, +since, while it may be impossible absolutely to confound the great with the +low, the worthy with the unworthy, the mind feels it to be arrogant to assume +a right to judge of those who are believed to be standing at the judgment +seat of God. When Judith was told that all was ready, she went upon the +platform, passive to the request of her sister, and then she first that had +been taken from the fire place, were enclosed with it, took heed of the +arrangement. The body was in the scow, enveloped in a sheet, and quite a +hundred weight of stones, +in order that it might sink. No other preparation seemed to be thought +necessary, though Hetty carried her bible beneath her arm. + +When all were on board the Ark, the singular habitation of the man whose body +it now bore to its final abode, was set in motion. Hurry was at the oars. In +his powerful hands, indeed, they seemed little more than a pair of sculls, +which were wielded without effort, and, as he was expert in their use, the +Delaware remained a passive spectator of the proceedings. The progress of the +Ark had something of the stately solemnity of a funeral procession, the dip +of the oars being measured, and the movement slow and steady. The wash of the +water, as the blades rose and fell, kept time with the efforts of Hurry, and +might have been likened to the measured tread of mourners. Then the tranquil +scene was in beautiful accordance with a rite that ever associates with +itself the idea of God. At that instant, the lake had not even a single +ripple, on its glassy surface, and the broad panorama of woods seemed to look +down on the holy tranquillity of the hour and ceremony in melancholy +stillness. Judith was affected to tears, and even Hurry, though he hardly +knew why, was troubled. Hetty preserved the outward signs of tranquillity, +but her inward grief greatly surpassed that of her sister, since her +affectionate heart loved more from habit and long association, than from the +usual connections of sentiment and taste. She was sustained by religious +hope, however, which in her simple mind usually occupied the space that +worldly feelings filled in that of Judith, and she was not without an +expectation of witnessing some open manifestation of divine power, on an +occasion so solemn. Still she was neither mystical nor exaggerated; her +mental imbecility denying both. Nevertheless her thoughts had generally so +much of the purity of a better world about them that it was easy for her to +forget earth altogether, and to think only of heaven. Hist was serious, +attentive and interested, for she had often seen the interments of the pale- +faces, though never one that promised to be as peculiar as this; while the +Delaware, though grave, and also observant, in his demeanor was stoical and +calm. + +Hetty acted as pilot, directing Hurry how to proceed, to find that spot in +the lake, which she was in the habit of terming "mother's grave.' The reader +will remember that the castle stood near the southern extremity of a shoal +that extended near half a mile northerly, and it was at the farthest end of +this shallow water that Floating Tom had seen fit to deposit the remains of +his wife and child. His own were now in the course of being placed at their +side. Hetty had marks on the land by which she usually found the spot, +although the position of the buildings, the general direction of the shoal, +and the beautiful transparency of the water all aided her, the latter even +allowing the bottom to be seen. By these means the girl was enabled to note +their progress, and at the proper time, she approached March, whispering- +"Now, Hurry you can stop rowing. We have passed the stone on the bottom, and +mother's grave is near. ' + +March ceased his efforts, immediately dropping the kedge, and taking the warp +in his hand, in order to check the scow. The Ark turned slowly round, under +this restraint, and when looking over the scow, and gazing through the water +at the body. "He was a brave companion on a scout, and a notable hand with +traps. Don't weep, Judith, don't be overcome Hetty, for the righteousest of +us all must die; and when the time comes, lamentations and tears can't bring +the dead to life. Your father will be a loss to you, no doubt; most fathers +are a loss, especially to onmarried darters; but there's a way to cure that +evil, and you're both too young and handsome to live long without finding it +out. When it's agreeable to hear what an honest and on-pretending man has to +say, Judith, I should like to talk a little with you, apart. ' + +Judith had scarce attended to this rude attempt of Hurry's at consolation, +although she necessarily understood its general drift, and had a tolerably +accurate notion of its manner. She was weeping at the recollection of her +mother's early tenderness, and painful images of long forgotten lessons and +neglected precepts were crowding her mind. The words of Hurry, however, +recalled her to the present time, and abrupt and unseasonable as was their +import, they did not produce those signs of distaste that one might have +expected from the girl's character. On the contrary, she appeared to be +struck with some sudden idea, gazed intently for a moment at the young man, +dried her eyes, and led the way to the other end of the scow, signifying her +wish for him to follow. Here she took a seat and motioned for March to place +himself at her side. The decision and earnestness with which all this was +done, a little intimidated her companion, and Judith found it necessary to +open the subject herself. + +"You wish to speak to me of marriage, Harry March,' she said, "and I have +come here, over the grave of my parents, as it might be- no- no- over the +grave of my poor, dear- dear, mother, to hear what you have to say.' +"This is oncommon, and you have a skearful way with you, this evening, +Judith,' answered Hurry, more disturbed than he would have cared to own, "but +truth is truth, and it shall come out, let what will follow. You well know, +gal, that I've long thought you the comeliest young woman my eyes ever +beheld, and that I've made no secret of that fact, either here on the lake, +out among the hunters and trappers, or in the settlements. ' + +"Yes-yes, I've heard this before, and I suppose it to be true, ' answered +Judith with a sort of feverish impatience. + +"When a young man holds such language of any particular young woman, it's +reasonable to calculate he sets store by her.' + +"True - true, Hurry - all this you've told me, again and again.' + +"Well, if it's agreeable, I should think a woman coul'n't hear it too often. +They all tell me this is the way with your sex, that nothing pleases them +more than to repeat over and over, for the hundredth time, how much you like +'em, unless it be to talk to 'em of their good looks!' + +"No doubt-we like both, on most occasions, but this is an uncommon moment, +Hurry, and vain words should not be too freely used. I would rather hear you +speak plainly.' + +"You shall have your own way, Judith, and I some suspect you always will. +I've often told you that I not only like you better than any other young +woman going, or, for that matter, better than all the young women going, but +you must have obsarved, Judith, that I've never asked you, in up and down +tarms, to marry me. + +"I have observed both,' returned the girl, a smile struggling about her +beautiful mouth, in spite of the singular and engrossing intentness which +caused her cheeks to flush and lighted her eyes with a brilliancy that was +almost dazzling -"I have observed both, and have thought the last remarkable +for a man of Harry March's decision and fearlessness. ' + +"There's been a reason, gal, and it's one that troubles me even now-nay, +don't flush up so, and look fiery like, for there are thoughts which will +stick long in any man's mind, as there be words that will stick in his +throat-but, then, ag'in, there's feelin's that will get the better of 'em +all, and to these feelin's I find I must submit. You've no longer a father, +or a mother, Judith, and it's morally unpossible that you and Hetty could +live here, alone, allowing it was peace and the Iroquois was quiet; but, as +matters stand, not only would you starve, but you'd both be prisoners, or +scalped, afore a week was out. It's time to think of a change and a husband, +and, if you'll accept of me, all that's past shall be forgotten, and there's +an end on't ' + +Judith had difficulty in repressing her impatience until this rude +declaration and offer were made, which she evidently wished to hear, and +which she now listened to with a willingness that might well have excited +hope. She hardly allowed the young man to conclude, so eager was she to bring +him to the point, and so ready to answer. + +"There - Hurry - that's enough-" she said, raising a hand as if to stop him- +"I understand you as well, as if you were to talk a month. You prefer me to +other girls, and you wish me to become your wife.' + +"You put it in better words than I can do, Judith, and I wish you to fancy +them said, just as you most like to hear ~em. ' + +"They're plain enough, Harry, and 'tis fitting they should be so. This is no +place to trifle or deceive in. Now, listen to my answer, which shall be, in +every tittle, as sincere as your offer. There is a reason, March, why I +should never- "I suppose I understand you, Judith, but if I'm willing to +overlook that reason, it's no one's consarn but mine - Now, don't brighten up +like the sky at sundown, for no offence is meant, and none should be taken. ' + +"I do not brighten up, and will not take offence," said Judith, struggling to +repress her indignation, in a way she had never found it necessary to exert +before. "There is a reason why I should not, cannot, ever be your wife, +Hurry, that you seem to overlook, and which it is my duty now to tell you, as +plainly as you have asked me to consent to become so. I do not, and I am +certain that I never shall, love you well enough to marry you. No man can +wish for a wife who does not prefer him to all other men, and when I tell you +this frankly, I suppose you yourself will thank me for my sincerity.' + +"Ah! Judith, them flaunting, gay, scarlet-coated officers of the garrisons, +have done all this mischief' + +"Hush, March; do not calumniate a daughter over her mother's grave! Do not, +when I only wish to treat you fairly, give me reason to call for evil on your +head in bitterness of heart! Do not forget that I am a woman, and that you +are a man; and that I have neither father, nor brother, to revenge your +words!" +"Well, there is something in the last, and I'll say no more. Take time, +Judith, and think better on this.' + +"I want no time-my mind has long been made up, and I have only waited for you +to speak plainly, to answer plainly. We now understand each other, and there +is no use in saying any more. ' +' +The impetuous earnestness of the girl awed the young man, for never before +had he seen her so serious and determined. In most of their previous +interviews she had met his advances with evasion , or sarcasm, but these +Hurry had mistaken for female coquetry, and had supposed might easily be +converted into consent. The struggle had been with himself, about offering, +nor had he ever seriously believed it possible that Judith would refuse to +become the wife of the handsomest man on all that frontier. Now that the +refusal came, and that in terms so decided, as to put all cavilling out of +the question, if not absolutely dumbfounded, he was so much mortified and +surprised, as to feel no wish to attempt to change her resolution. + +"The Glimmerglass has now no great call for me,' he ex-claimed~ after a +minutes silence. "Old Tom is gone, the Hurons are as plenty on the shore, as +pigeons in the woods, and altogether it is getting to be an onsuitable place. +' + +"Then leave it. You see it is surrounded by dangers, and there is no reason +why you should risk your life for others. Nor do I know that you can be of +any service to us. Go, tonight; ' we'll never accuse you of having done any +thing forgetful, or unmanly.' + +"If I do go, 'twill be with a heavy heart on your account , Judith; I would +rather take you with me.' + +"That is not to be spoken of any longer March; but, I will +land you in one of the canoes, as soon as it is dark and you can +strike a trail for the nearest garrison. When you reach the fort , +if you send a party- ' + + Judith smothered the words, for she felt that it was humiliating to be thus +exposing herself to the comments and reflections of one who was not disposed +to view her conduct in, connection with all in those garrisons, with an eye +of favor. Hurry however, caught the idea, and, without perverting it, as the +girl dreaded, he answered to the purpose. + +"I understand what you would say, and why you don't say it.' he replied. "If +I get safe to the fort. a party shall start on the trail of these vagabonds, +and I'll come with it, myself, for I should like to see you, and Hetty, in a +place of safety, before we part forever.' + +"Ah, Harry March, had you always spoken thus, felt thus, my feelings towards +you might have been different!' + +"Is it too late, now, Judith? I'm rough and a woodsman, but we all change +under different treatment from what we have been used to.' + +"It is too late, March. I can never feel towards you, or any other man but +one, as you would wish to have me. There, I've said enough, surely, and you +will question me no further. As soon as it is dark, I, or the Delaware will +put you on the shore. You will make the best of your way to the Mohawk, and +the nearest garrison, and send all you can to our assistance. And, Hurry, we +are now friends, and I may trust in you, may I not?' + +"Sartain, Judith; though our fri'ndship would have been all the warmer, could +you look upon me, as I look upon you. ' + +Judith hesitated, and some powerful emotion was struggling within her. Then, +as if determined to look down all weaknesses, and accomplish her purposes, at +every hazard, she spoke more plainly. + +"You will find a captain of the name of Warley at the nearest post," she +said, pale as death, and even trembling as she spoke; "I think it likely he +will wish to head the party, but I would greatly prefer it should be another. +If Captain Warley can be kept back, 't would make me very happy!' + +"That's easier said than done, Judith, for these officers do pretty much as +they please. The Major will order, and captains, and lieutenants, and ensigns +must obey. I know the officer you mean, a red faced, gay, oh! be joyful sort +of a gentleman, who swallows madeira enough to drown the Mohawk, and yet a +pleasant talker. All the gals in the valley admire him, and they say he +admires all the gals. I don't wonder he is your dislike, Judith, for he's a +very gin'ral lover, if he isn't a gin'ral officer." + +Judith did not answer, though her frame shook, and her colour changed from +pale to crimson, and from crimson back again to the hue of death. + + +trail of these vagabonds, and I'll come with it, myself, for I should like to +see you, and Hetty, in a place of safety, before we part forever.' + +"Ah, Harry March, had you always spoken thus, felt thus, my feelings towards +you might have been different!' + +"Is it too late, now, Judith? I'm rough and a woodsman, but we all change +under different treatment from what we have been used to.' + +"It is too late, March. I can never feel towards you, or any other man but +one, as you would wish to have me. There, I've said enough, surely, and you +will question me no further. As soon as it is dark, I, or the Delaware will +put you on the shore. You will make the best of your way to the Mohawk, and +the nearest garrison, and send all you can to our assistance. And, Hurry, we +are now friends, and I may trust in you, may I not?' + +"Sartain, Judith; though our fri'ndship would have been all the warmer, could +you look upon me, as I look upon you. ' + +Judith hesitated, and some powerful emotion was struggling within her. Then, +as if determined to look down all weaknesses, and accomplish her purposes, at +every hazard, she spoke more plainly. + +"You will find a captain of the name of Warley at the nearest post," she +said, pale as death, and even trembling as she spoke; "I think it likely he +will wish to head the party, but I would greatly prefer it should be another. +If Captain Warley can be kept back, 't would make me very happy!' + +"That's easier said than done, Judith, for these officers do pretty much as +they please. The Major will order, and captains, and lieutenants, and ensigns +must obey. I know the officer you mean, a red faced, gay, oh! be joyful sort +of a gentleman, who swallows madeira enough to drown the Mohawk, and yet a +pleasant talker. All the gals in the valley admire him, and they say he +admires all the gals. I don't wonder he is your dislike, Judith, for he's a +very gin'ral lover, if he isn't a gin'ral officer." + +Judith did not answer, though her frame shook, and her colour changed from +pale to crimson, and from crimson back again to the hue of death. + +"Alas! my poor mother!" she ejaculated mentaally instead of utterint it +aloud, "We are over thy grave, but litttle dost thou know how much thy +lessons have been forgotten; thy care neglected; thy love defeated!" + +As this goading of the worm that never dies was felt, she arose and signified +to Hurry, that she had no more to communicate. + + + + +Chapter XXII. + +"- That point +In misery, which makes the oppressed man +Regardless of his own life, makes him too +Lord of the oppressor's.-" + +Coleridge, Remorse, V.i.201-04. + + + +All this time Hetty had remained seated in the head of the scow, looking +sorrowfully into the water which held the body of her mother, as well as that +of the man whom she had been taught to consider her father. Hist stood near +her in gentle quiet, but had no consolation to offer in words. The habits of +her people taught her reserve in this respect, and the habits of her sex +induced her to wait patiently for a moment when she might manifest some +soothing sympathy by means of acts, rather than of speech. Chingachgook held +himself a little aloof, in grave reserve, looking like a warrior, but feeling +like a man. + +Judith joined her sister with an air of dignity and solemnity it was not her +practice to show, and, though the gleamings of anguish were still visible on +her beautiful face, when she spoke it was firmly and without tremor. At that +instant Hist and the Delaware withdrew, moving towards Hurry, in the other +end of the boat. + +"Sister," said Judith kindly, "I have much to say to you; we will get into +this canoe, and paddle off to a distance from the Ark - The secrets of two +orphans ought not to be heard by every ear. + +"Certainly, Judith, by the ears of their parents? Let Hurry lift the grapnel +and move away with the Ark, and leave us here, near the graves of father and +mother, to say what we may have to say. " + +"Father!" repeated Judith slowly, the blood for the first time since her +parting with March mounting to her cheeks-"He was no father of ours, Hetty! +That we bad from his own mouth, and in his dying moments." + +"Are you glad, Judith, to find you had no father! He took care of us, and fed +us, and clothed us, and loved us; a father could have done no more. I do'n't +understand why he was'n't a father." + +"Never mind, dear child, but let us do as you have said. It may be well to +remain here, and let the Ark move a little away. Do you prepare the canoe, +and I will tell Hurry and the Indians our wishes." + +This was soon and simply done, the Ark moving, with measured strokes of the +sweeps a hundred yards from the spot, leaving the girls floating, seemingly +in air, above the place of the dead; so buoyant was the light vessel that +held them, and so limpid the element by which it was sustained. + +"The death of Thomas Hutter," Judith commenced, after a short pause had +prepared her sister to receive her communications, "has altered all our +prospects, Hetty. If he was not our father, we are sisters, and must feel +alike and live together." + +"How do I know, Judith, that you would n't be as glad to find I am not your +sister, as you are in finding that Thomas Hutter, as you call him, was not +your father. I am only half witted, and few people like to have half-witted +relations; and then I'm not handsome-at least, not as handsome as you- and +you may wish a handsomer sister." + +"No-no-Hetty. You and you only are my sister-my heart, and my love for you +tell me that-and mother was my mother- of that too am I glad, and proud; for +she was a mother to be proud of-but father was not father!" + +"Hush, Judith! His spirit may be near; it would grieve it to hear his +children talking so, and that, too, over his very grave. Children should +never grieve parents, mother often told me, and especially when they are +dead!" + +"Poor Hetty! They are happily removed beyond all cares on our account. +Nothing that I can do or say, will cause mother any sorrow now-there is some +consolation in that, at least! -and nothing +you can say or do will make her smile, as she used to smile on your good +conduct when living." + +"You do n't know that, Judith. Spirits can see, and mother may see as well as +any spirit. She always told us that God saw all we did, and that we should do +nothing to offend him; and now she has left us, I strive to do nothing that +can displease her. Think how her spirit would mourn and feel sorrow, Judith, +did it see either of us doing what is not right; and spirits may see, after +all; especially the spirits of parents that feel anxious about their +children.~ + +"Hetty - Hetty - you know not what you say!" murmured Judith, almost livid +with emotion - "The dead cannot see, and know nothing of what passes, here! +But, we will not talk of this any longer. The bodies of Mother and Thomas +Hutter lie together in the lake, and we will hope that the spirits of both +are with God. That we, the children of one of them, remain on earth is +certain; it is now proper to know what we are to do in future." + +"If we are not Thomas Hutter's children, Judith, no one will dispute our +right to his property. We have the castle and the Ark, and the canoes, and +the woods, and the lakes, the same as when he was living, and what can +prevent us from staying here, and passing our lives just as we ever have +done." + +"No-no-poor sister-this can no longer be. Two girls would not be safe here, +even should these Hurons fail in getting us into their power. Even father had +as much as he could sometimes do, to keep peace upon the lake, and we should +fail altogether. We must quit this spot, Hetty, and remove into the +settlements." + +"I am sorry you think so, Judith," returned Hetty, dropping her head on her +bosom, and looking thoughtfully down at the spot where the funeral pile of +her mother could just be seen. "I am very sorry to hear it. I would rather +stay here, where, if I was n't born, I've passed my life. I do n't like the +settlements - they are full of wickedness and heart burnings, while God +dwells unoffended in these hills! I love the trees, and the mountains, and +the lake, and the springs; all that his bounty has given us, and it would +grieve me sorely, Judith, to be forced to quit them. You are handsome, and +not at all half-witted, and one day you will marry, and then you wiil have a +husband, and I a brother to take care of us, if women can't really take care +of themselves in such a place as this." + +"Ah! if this could be so, Hetty, then, indeed, I could now be a thousand +times happier in these woods, than in the settlements. Once, I did not feel +thus, but now I do. Yet where is the man to turn this beautiful place into +such a garden of Eden, for us?" + +"Harry March loves you, sister," returned poor Hetty, unconsciously picking +the bark off the canoe as she spoke. "He would be glad to be your husband, +I'm sure, and a stouter and a braver youth is not to be met with the whole +country round." + +"Harry March and I understand each other, and no more need be said about him. +There is one-but no matter. It is all in the hands of providence, and we must +shortly come to some conclusion about our future manner of living. Remain +here - that is, remain here, alone, we cannot - and perhaps no occasion will +ever offer for remaining in the manner you think of. It is time, too, Hetty, +we should learn all we can concerning our relations and family. It is not +probable we are altogether without relations, and they may be glad to see us. +The old chest is now our property, and we have a right to look into it, and +learn all we can by what it holds. Mother was so very different from Thomas +Hutter, that, now I know we are not his children, I burn with a desire to +know whose children we can be. There are papers in that chest, I am certain, +and those papers may tell us all about our parents and natural +friends." + +"Well, Judith, you know best, for you are cleverer than common, mother always +said, and I am only half-witted. Now father and mother are dead, I do n't +much care for any relation but you, and do n't think I could love them I +never saw, as well as I ought. If you do n't like to marry Hurry, I do n't +see who you can choose for a husband, and then I fear we shall have to quit +the lake, after all." + +"What do you think of Deerslayer, Hetty?" asked Judith, bending forward like +her unsophisticated sister, and endeavoring to conceal her embarrassment in a +similar manner. -"Would he not make a brother-in-law to your liking?" + +"Deerslayer!" repeated the other, looking up in unfeigned surprise. "Why, +Judith, Deerslayer is n't, in the least, comely, and is altogether unfit for +one like you!" + +"He is not ill-looking, Hetty, and beauty in a man is not of much matter." + +"Do you think so, Judith? - I know that beauty is of no great matter, in man +or woman, in the eyes of God, for mother has often told me so, when she +thought I might have been sorry I was not as handsome as you, though she need +n't have been uneasy on that account, for I never coveted any thing that is +yours, sister;-but, tell me so she did-still, beauty is very pleasant to the +eye, in both! I think, if I were a man, I should pine more for good looks, +than I do as a girl. A handsome man is a more pleasing sight, than a handsome +woman." + +"Poor child! - You scarce know what you say, or what you mean! Beauty in our +sex is something, but in men, it passes for little. To be sure, a man ought +to be tall, but others are tall, as well as Hurry; and active-and I think I +know those that are more active; - and strong; well, he has n't all the +strength in the world - and brave - I am certain I can name a youth who is +braver!" + +"This is strange, Judith! - I did n't think the earth held a handsomer, or a +stronger, or a more active or a braver man than Hurry Harry! I'm sure, I +never met his equal, in either of these things. " + +"Well-well-Hetty-say no more of this. I dislike to hear you talking in this +manner. Tis not suitable to your innocence, and truth, and warm-hearted +sincerity-. Let Harry March go. He quits us to-night, and no regret of mine +will follow him, unless it be that he has staid so long, and to so little +purpose." + +"Ah! Judith; that is what I've long feared-and I did so hope he might be my +brother-in-law!" + +"Never mind it now. Let us talk of our poor mother-and of Thomas Hutter." + +"Speak kindly then, sister, for you can't be quite certain that spirits do +n't both hear and see. If father was n't father, he was good to us, and gave +us food and shelter. We can't put any stones over their graves, here in the +water, to tell people all this, and so we ought to say it with our tongues." + +"They will care little for that, girl. 'Tis a great consolation to know, +Hetty, that if mother ever did commit any heavy fault when young, she lived +sincerely to repent of it; no doubt her sins were forgiven her." + +"Tis n't right, Judith, for children to talk of their parents' sins. We had +better talk of our own." + +"Talk of your sins, Hetty! - If there ever was a creature on earth without +sin, it is you! I wish I could say, or think the same of myself; but we shall +see. No one knows what changes affection for a good husband, can make in a +woman's heart. I do n't think, child, I have even now the same love for +finery I once had." + +"It would be a pity, Judith, if you did think of clothes, over your parents' +graves! We will never quit this spot, if you say so, and will let Hurry go +where he pleases." + +"I am willing enough to consent to the last, but cannot answer for the first, +Hetty. We must live, in future, as becomes respectable young women, and +cannot remain here, to be the talk and jest of all the rude and foul tongu'd +trappers and hunters that may come upon the lake. Let Hurry go by himself, +and then I'll find the means to see Deerslayer, when the future shall be soon +settled. Come, girl, the sun has set, and the Ark is drifting away from us; +let us paddle up to the scow, and consult with our friends. This night I +shall look into the chest, and to-morrow shall determine what we are to do. +As for the Hurons, now we can use our stores without fear of Thomas Hutter, +they will be easily bought off. Let me get Deerslayer once out of their +hands, and a single hour shall bring things to an understanding." + +Judith spoke with decision, and she spoke with authority, a habit she had +long practised towards her feeble-minded sister. But, while thus accustomed +to have her way, by the aid of manner and a readier command of words, Hetty +occasionally checked her impetuous feelings and hasty acts by the aid of +those simple moral truths, that were so deeply engrafted in all her own +thoughts and feelings; shining through both, with a mild and beautiful +lustre, that threw a sort of holy halo around so much of what she both said +and did. On the present occasion, this healthful ascendancy of the girl of +weak intellect, over her of a capacity that, in other situations, might have +become brilliant and admired, was exhibited in the usual simple and earnest +manner. + +"You forget, Judith, what has brought us here," she said reproachfully. "This +is mother's grave, and we have just laid the body of father by her side. We +have done wrong to talk so much of ourselves at such a spot, and ought now to +pray God to forgive us, and ask him to teach us where we are to go, and what +we are to do." + +Judith involuntarily laid aside her paddle, while Hetty dropped on her knees, +and was soon lost in her devout but simple petitions. Her sister did not +pray. This she had long ceased to do directly, though anguish of spirit +frequently wrung from her mental and hasty appeals to the great source of +benevolence for support, if not for a change of spirit. Still she never +beheld Hetty on her knees, that a feeling of tender recollection, as well as +of profound regret at the deadness of her own heart, did not come over her. +Thus had she herself done in childhood, and even down to the hour of her ill +fated visits to the garrisons, and she would willingly have given worlds, at +such moments, to be able to exchange her present sensations, for the +confiding faith, those pure aspirations, and the gentle hope that shone +through every lineament and movement of her, otherwise, less favored sister. +All she could do, however, was to drop her head to her bosom, and assume in +her attitude some of that devotion in which her stubborn spirit refused to +unite. +When Hetty rose from her knees, her countenance had a - glow and serenity +that rendered a face that was always agreeable, positively handsome. Her mind +was at peace, and her conscience acquitted her, of a neglect of duty. + +"Now, you may go, if you want to, Judith," she said, ~for God has been kind +to me, and lifted a burden off my heart. Mother had many such burdens, she +used to tell me, and she always took them off in this way. Tis the only way, +sister, such things can be done. You may raise a stone, or a log, with your +hands; but the heart must be lightened by prayer. I do n't think you pray as +often as you used to do, when younger, Judith!" + +"Never mind-never mind, child-" answered the other huskily-"'tis no matter, +now. Mother is gone, and Thomas Hutter is gone, and the time has come when we +must think and act for ourselves." + +As the canoe moved slowly away from the place, under the gentle impulsion of +the elder sister's paddle, the younger sat musing, as was her wont, whenever +her mind was perplexed by any idea more abstract and difficult of +comprehension than common. + +"I don't know what you mean by 'future', Judith," she at length, suddenly +observed. "Mother used to call Heaven the future, but you seem to think it +means next week, or tomorrow!" + +"It means both, dear sister- every thing that is yet to come, whether in this +world or another. It is a solemn word, Hetty, and most so, I fear, to them +that think the least about it. Mother's future is eternity; ours may yet mean +what will happen while we live in this world - Is not that a canoe just +passing behind the castle-here, more in the direction of the point, I mean; +it is hid, now; but certainly I saw a canoe stealing behind the logs!" + +"I've seen it some time," Hetty quietly answered, for the Indians had few +terrors for her, "but I didn't think it right to talk about such things over +mother's grave! The canoe came from the camp, Judith, and was paddled by a +single man. He seemed to be Deerslayer, and no Iroquois." + +"Deerslayer!" returned the other, with much of her native impetuosity-"That +cannot be! Deerslayer is a prisoner, and I have been thinking of the means of +setting him free. Why did you fancy it Deerslayer, child?" + +"You can look for yourself, sister, for there comes the canoe in sight, +again, on this side of the hut." + +Sure enough, the light boat had passed the building, and was now steadily +advancing towards the Ark; the persons on board of which were already +collecting in the head of the scow, to receive their visiter. A single glance +sufficed to assure Judith that her sister was right, and that Deerslayer was +alone in the canoe. His approach was so calm and leisurely, however, as to +fill her with wonder, since a man who had effected his escape from enemies, +by either artifice or violence, would not be apt to move with the steadiness +and deliberation with which his paddle swept the water. By this time the day +was fairly departing, and objects were already seen dimly under the shores. +In the broad lake, however, the light still lingered, and around the +immediate scene of the present incidents, which was less shaded than most of +the sheet, being in its broadest part, it cast a glow that bore some faint +resemblance to the warm tints of an Italian or Grecian sunset. The logs of +the hut and Ark had a sort of purple hue, blended with the growing obscurity, +and the bark of the hunter's boat was losing its distinctness in colours +richer, but more mellowed, than those it showed under a bright sun. As the +two canoes approached each other- for Judith and her sister had plied their +paddles so as to intercept the unexpected visiter ere he reached the Ark-even +Deerslayer's sun-burned countenance wore a brighter aspect than common, under +the pleasing tints that seemed to dance in the atmosphere. Judith fancied +that delight at meeting her had some share in this unusual and agreeable +expression. She was not aware that her own beauty appeared to more advantage +than common, from the same natural cause, nor did she understand, what it +would have given her so much pleasure to know, that the young man actually +thought her, as she drew nearer, the loveliest creature of her sex, his eyes +had ever dwelt +on. + +"Welcome- welcome, Deerslayer!" exclaimed the girl, as the canoes floated at +each other's side; "we have had a melancholy-a frightful day-but your return +is, at least, one misfortune the less! Have the Hurons become more human, and +let you go; or have you escaped from the wretches, by your own courage and +skill?" + +"Neither, Judith-neither one nor t'other. The Mingos are Mingos still, and +will live and die Mingos; it is not likely their natur's will ever undergo +much improvement. Well! They've their gifts, and we've our'n, Judith, and it +does'n't much become either to speak ill of what the Lord has created; +though, if the truth must be said, I find it a sore trial to think kindly, or +to talk kindly of them vagabonds. As for outwitting them, that might have +been done, and it was done, too, atween the Sarpent, yonder, and me, when we +were on the trail of Hist-" here the hunter stopped to laugh in his own +silent fashion - "but it's no easy matter to sarcumvent the sarcumvented. +Even the fa'ans get to know the tricks of the hunters afore a single season +is over, and an Indian whose eyes have once been opened by a sarcumvention +never shuts them ag'in in precisely the same spot. I've known whites to do +that, but never a red skin. What they l'arn comes by practice, and not by +books, and of all schoolmasters exper'ence gives lessons that are the longest +remembered." + +"All this is true, Deerslayer, but if you have not escaped from the savages, +how came you here?" + +"That's a nat'ral question, and charmingly put. You are wonderful handsome +this evening, Judith, or, Wild Rose, as the Sarpent calls you, and I may as +well say it, since I honestly think it! You may well call them Mingos, +savages too, for savage enough do they feel, and savage enough will they act, +if you once give them an opportunity. They feel their loss here, in the late +skrimmage, to their hearts' cores, and are ready to revenge it on any +creatur' of English blood that may fall in their way. Nor, for that matter do +I much think they would stand at taking their satisfaction out of a Dutch +man." + +"They have killed father; that ought to satisfy their wicked cravings for +blood," observed Hetty reproachfully. + +"I know it, gal - I know the whole story - partly from what I've seen from +the shore, since they brought me up from the point, and partly from their +threats ag'in myself, and their other discourse. Well, life is unsartain at +the best, and we all depend on the breath of our nostrils for it, from day to +day. If you've lost a staunch fri'nd, as I make no doubt you have, Providence +will raise up new ones in his stead, and since our acquaintance has begun in +this oncommon manner, I shall take it as a hint that it will be a part of my +duty in futur', should the occasion offer, to see you don't suffer for want +of food in the wigwam. I can't bring the dead to life, but as to feeding the +living, there's few on all this frontier can outdo me, though I say it in the +way of pity and consolation, like, and in no particular, in the way of +boasting." + +"We understand you, Deerslayer," returned Judith, hastily, "and take all that +falls from your lips, as it is meant, in kindness and friendship. Would to +Heaven all men had tongues as true, and hearts as honest!" + +"In that respect men do differ, of a sartainty, Judith. I've known them that +was n't to be trusted any farther than you can see them; and others ag'in +whose messages, sent with a small piece of wampum, perhaps, might just as +much be depended on, as if the whole business was finished afore your face. +Yes, Judith, you never said truer word, than when you said some men might be +depended on, and other some might not." + +"You are an unaccountable being, Deerslayer," returned the girl, not a little +puzzled with the childish simplicity of character that the hunter so often +betrayed-a simplicity so striking that it frequently appeared to place him +nearly on a level with the fatuity of poor Hetty, though always relieved by +the beautiful moral truth that shone through all that this unfortunate girl +both said and did-"You are a most unaccountable man, and I often do not know +how to understand you. But never mind, just now; you have forgotten to tell +us by what means you are here." + +"I! -Oh' That's not very onaccountable, if I am myself, Judith. I'm out on +furlough." + +"Furlough! - That word has a meaning among the soldiers that I understand; +but I cannot tell what it signifies when used by a prisoner." + +"It means just the same. You're right enough; the soldiers do use it, and +just in the same way as I use it. A furlough is when a man has leave to quit +a camp, or a garrison for a sartain specified time; at the end of which he is +to come back and shoulder his musket, or submit to his torments, just as he +may happen to be a soldier, or a captyve. Being the last, I must take the +chances of a prisoner." + +"Have the Hurons suffered you to quit them in this manner, without watch or +guard." + +"Sartain - I woul'n't have come in any other manner, unless indeed it had +been by a bold rising, or a sarcumvention." + +"What pledge have they that you will ever return?" + +"My word," answered the hunter simply. "Yes, I own I gave 'em that, and big +fools would they have been to let me come without it! Why in that case, I +should n't have been obliged to go back and ondergo any deviltries their fury +may invent, but might have shouldered my rifle, and made the best of my way +to the Delaware villages. But, Lord! Judith, they know'd this, just as well +as you and I do, and would no more let me come away, without a promise to go +back, than they would let the wolves dig up the bones of their fathers!" + +"Is it possible you mean to do this act of extraordinary self-destruction and +recklessness?" + +"Anan!" + +"I ask if it can be possible that you expect to be able to put yourself again +in the power of such ruthless enemies, by keeping your word." + +Deerslayer looked at his fair questioner for a moment, with stern +displeasure. Then the expression of his honest and guileless face suddenly +changed, lighting as by a quick illumination of thought, after which he +laughed in his ordinary manner. + +"I didn't understand you, at first, Judith; no, I did n't! You believe that +Chingachgook and Hurry Harry won't suffer it; but you do n't know mankind +thoroughly yet, I see. The Delaware would be the last man on 'arth to offer +any objections to what he knows is a duty, and, as for March, he doesn't care +enough about any creatur' but himself to spend many words on such a subject. +If he did, 'twould make no great difference howsever; but not he, for he +thinks more of his gains than of even his own word. As for my promises, or +your'n, Judith, or any body else's, they give him no consarn. Don't be under +any oneasiness, therefore, gal; I shall be allowed to go back according to +the furlough; and if difficulties was made, I've not been brought up, and +edicated as one may say, in the woods, without knowing how to look 'em down." + +Judith made no answer for some little time. All her feelings as a woman, and +as a woman who, for the first time in her life was beginning to submit to +that sentiment which has so much influence on the happiness or misery of her +sex, revolted at the cruel fate that she fancied Deerslayer was drawing down +upon himself, while the sense of right, which God has implanted in every +human breast, told her to admire an integrity as indomitable and as +unpretending as that which the other so unconsciously displayed. Argument, +she felt would be useless, nor was she, at that moment, disposed to lessen +the dignity and high principle that were so striking in the intentions of the +hunter, by any attempt to turn him from his purpose. That something might yet +occur to supersede the necessity for this self immolation she tried to hope, +and then she proceeded to ascertain the facts in order that her own conduct +might be regulated by her knowledge of circumstances. + +"When is your furlough out, Deerslayer," she asked, after both canoes were +heading towards the Ark, and moving, with scarcely a perceptible effort of +the paddles, through the water. + +"To-morrow noon; not a minute afore; and you may depend on it, Judith, I +shan't quit what I call christian company, to go and give myself up to them +vagabonds, an instant sooner than is downright necessary. They begin to fear +a visit from the garrisons, and would n't lengthen the time a moment, and +it's pretty well understood atween us, that, should I fail in my ar'n'd, the +torments are to take place when the sun begins to fall, that they may strike +upon their home trail as soon as it is dark." + +This was said solemnly, as if the thought of what was believed to be in +reserve duly weighed on the prisoner's mind, and yet so simply, and without a +parade of suffering, as rather to repel than to invite any open +manifestations of sympathy. + +"Are they bent on revenging their losses?" Judith asked faintly, her own high +spirit yielding to the influence of the other's quiet but dignified integrity +of purpose. + +"Downright, if I can judge of Indian inclinations, by the symptoms. They +think howsever I don't suspect their designs, I do believe, but one that has +lived so long among men of red skin gifts, is no more likely to be misled in +Injin feelin's, than a true hunter is like to lose his trail, or a stanch +hound his scent. My own judgment is greatly ag'in my own escape, for I see +the women are a good deal enraged on behalf of Hist, though I say it, +perhaps, that shouldn't say it, seein' that I had a considerable hand myself +in getting the gal off. Then there was a cruel murder in their camp last +night, and that shot might just as well have been fired into my breast. +Howsever, come what will, the Sarpent and his wife will be safe, and that is +some happiness in any case." + +"Oh! Deerslayer, they will think better of this, since they have given you +until to-morrow noon to make up your mind!" + +"I judge not, Judith; yes, I judge not. An Injin is an Injin, gal, and it's +pretty much hopeless to think of swarving him, when he's got the scent and +follows it with his nose in the air. The Delawares, now, are a half +christianized tribe-not that I think such sort of christians much better than +your whole blooded onbelievers-but, nevertheless, what good half +christianizing can do to a man, some among 'em have got, and yet revenge +clings to their hearts like the wild creepers here to the tree! Then, I slew +one of the best and boldest of their warriors, they say, and it is too much +to expect that they should captivate the man who did this deed, in the very +same scouting on which it was performed, and they take no account of the +matter. Had a month, or so, gone by, their feelin's would have been softened +down, and we might have met in a more friendly way, but it is, as it is, +Judith, this is talking of nothing but myself, and my own consarns, when you +have had trouble enough, and may want to consult a fri'nd a little about your +own matters. Is the old man laid in the water, where I should think his body +would like to rest?" + +"It is, Deerslayer," answered Judith, almost inaudibly. "That duty has just +been performed. You are right in thinking that I wish to consult a friend; +and that friend is yourself. Hurry Harry is about to leave us; when he is +gone, and we have got a little over the feelings of this solemn office, I +hope you will give me an hour alone. Hetty and I are at a loss what to do." + +"That's quite nat'ral, coming as things have, suddenly and fearfully. But +here's the Ark, and we'll say more of this, when there is a better +opportunity. + + + + + +Chapter XXIII. + +"The winde is great upon the highest hilles; +The quiet life is in the dale below; +Who tread on ice shall slide against their willes; +They want not cares, that curious arts should know. +Who lives at ease and can content him so, +Is perfect wise, and sets us all to schoole: +Who hates this lore may well be called a foole." + +Thomas Churchyard, "Shore's Wife," xlvii. + + +The meeting between Deerslayer and his friends in the Ark was grave and +anxious. The two Indians, in particular, read in his manner that he was not a +successful fugitive, and a few sententious words sufficed to let them +comprehend the nature of what their friend had termed his 'furlough.' +Chingachgook immediately became thoughtful, while Hist, as usual, had no +better mode of expressing her sympathy than by those little attentions which +mark the affectionate manner of woman. + +In a few minutes, however, something like a general plan for the proceedings +of the night was adopted, and to the eye of an uninstructed observer things +would be thought to move in their ordinary train. It was now getting to be +dark, and it was decided to sweep the Ark up to the castle, and secure it in +its ordinary berth. This decision was come to, in some measure on account of +the fact that all the canoes were again in the possession of their proper +owners, but principally, from the security that was created by the +representations of Deerslayer. He had examined the state of things among the +Hurons, and felt satisfied that they meditated no further hostilities during +the night, the loss they had met having indisposed them to further exertions +for the moment. Then, he had a proposition to make; the object of his visit; +and, if this were accepted, the war would at once terminate between the +parties; and it was improbable that the Hurons would anticipate the failure +of a project on which their chiefs had apparently set their hearts, by having +recourse to violence previously to the return of their messenger. As soon as +the Ark was properly secured, the different members of the party occupied +themselves in their several peculiar manners, haste in council, or in +decision, no more characterizing the proceedings of these border whites, than +it did those of their red neighbors. The women busied themselves in +preparations for the evening meal, sad and silent, but ever attentive to the +first wants of nature. Hurry set about repairing his moccasins, by the light +of a blazing knot; Chingachgook seated himself in gloomy thought, while +Deerslayer proceeded, in a manner equally free from affectation and concern, +to examine 'Killdeer', the rifle of Hutter that has been already mentioned, +and which subsequently became so celebrated, in the hands of the individual +who was now making a survey of its merits. The piece was a little longer than +usual, and had evidently been turned out from the work shops of some +manufacturer of a superior order. It had a few silver ornaments, though, on +the whole, it would have been deemed a plain piece by most frontier men, its +great merit consisting in the accuracy of its bore, the perfection of the +details, and the excellence of the metal. Again and again did the hunter +apply the breech to his shoulder, and glance his eye along the sights, and as +often did he poise his body and raise the weapon slowly, as if about to catch +an aim at a deer, in order to try the weight, and to ascertain its fitness +for quick and accurate firing. All this was done, by the aid of Hurry's +torch, simply, but with an earnestness and abstraction that would have been +found touching by any spectator who happened to know the real situation of +the man. + +"Tis a glorious we'pon, Hurry!" Deerslayer at length exclaimed, "and it may +be thought a pity that it has fallen into the hands of women. The hunters +have told me of its expl'ites, and by all I have heard, I should set it down +as sartain death in exper'enced hands. Hearken to the tick of this lock-a +wolf trap has'n't a livelier spring; pan and cock speak together, like two +singing masters undertaking a psalm in meetin'. I never did see so true a +bore, Hurry, that's sartain!" + +"Ay, Old Tom used to give the piece a character, though he was n't the man to +particularize the ra'al natur' of any sort of tire arms, in practise," +returned March, passing the deer's thongs through the moccasin with the +coolness of a cobbler. "He was no marksman, that we must all allow; but he +had his good p'ints, as well as his bad ones. I have had hopes that Judith +might consait the idee of giving Killdeer to me." + +"There's no saying what young women may do, that's a truth, Hurry, and I +suppose you're as likely to own the rifle as another. Still, when things are +so very near perfection, it's a pity not to reach it entirely." + +"What do you mean by that? - Would not that piece look as well on my +shoulder, as on any man's?" + +"As for looks, I say nothing. You are both good-looking, and might make what +is called a good-looking couple. But the true p'int is as to conduct. More +deer would fall in one day, by that piece, in some man's hands, than would +fall in a week in vour'n, Hurry! I've seen you try; yes, remember the buck +t'other day." + +"That buck was out of season, and who wishes to kill venison out of season. I +was merely trying to frighten the creatur', and I think you will own that he +was pretty well skeared, at any rate." + +"Well, well, have it as you say. But this is a lordly piece, and would make a +steady hand and quick eye the King of the Woods!" + +"Then keep it, Deerslayer, and become King of the Woods," said Judith, +earnestly, who had heard the conversation, and whose eye was never long +averted from the honest countenance of the hunter. "It can never be in better +hands than it is, at this moment, and there I hope it will remain these fifty +years. + +"Judith you can't be in 'arnest!" exclaimed Deerslayer, taken so much by +surprise, as to betray more emotion than it was usual for him to manifest on +ordinary occasions. "Such a gift would be fit for a ra'al King to make; yes, +and for a ra'al King to receive." + +"I never was more in earnest, in my life, Deerslayer, and I am as much in +earnest in the wish as in the gift." + +"Well, gal, well; we'll find time to talk of this ag'in. You must n't be down +hearted, Hurry, for Judith is a sprightly young woman, and she has a quick +reason; she knows that the credit of her father's rifle is safer in my hands, +than it can possibly be in yourn; and, therefore, you must n't be down +hearted. In other matters, more to your liking, too, you'll find she'll give +you the preference." + +Hurry growled out his dissatisfaction, but he was too intent on quitting the +lake, and in making his preparations, to waste his breath on a subject of +this nature. Shortly after, the supper was ready, and it was eaten in silence +as is so much the habit of those who consider the table as merely a place of +animal refreshment. On this occasion, however, sadness and thought +contributed their share to the general desire not to converse, for Deerslayer +was so far an exception to the usages of men of his cast, as not only to wish +to hold discourse on such occasions, but as often to create a similar desire +in his companions. + +The meal ended, and the humble preparations removed, the whole party +assembled on the platform to hear the expected intelligence from Deerslayer +on the subject of his visit. It had been evident he was in no haste to make +his communication, but the feelings of Judith would no longer admit of delay. +Stools were brought from the Ark and the hut, and the whole six placed +themselves in a circle, near the door, watching each other's countenances, as +best they could, by the scanty means that were furnished by a lovely star- +light night. Along the shores, beneath the mountains, lay the usual body of +gloom, but in the broad lake no shadow was cast, and a thousand mimic stars +were dancing in the limpid element, that was just stirred enough by the +evening air to set them all in motion. + +"Now, Deerslayer," commenced Judith, whose impatience resisted further +restraint-"now, Deerslayer, tell us all the Hurons have to say, and the +reason why they have sent you on parole, to make us some offer." + +"Furlough, Judith; furlough is the word; and it carries the same meaning with +a captyve at large, as it does with a soldier who has leave to quit his +colors. In both cases the word is past to come back, and now I remember to +have heard that's the ra'al signification; 'furlough' meaning a 'word' passed +for the doing of any thing of the like. Parole I rather think is Dutch, and +has something to do with the tattoos of the garrisons. But this makes no +great difference, since the vartue of a pledge lies in The the idee, and not +in the word. Well, then, if the message must be given, it must; and perhaps +there is no use in putting it off. Hurry will soon be wanting to set out on +his journey to the river, and the stars rise and set, just as if they cared +for neither Injin nor message. Ah's! me; Tis n't a pleasant, and I know it's +a useless ar'n'd, but it must be told." + +"Harkee, Deerslayer," put in Hurry, a little authoritatively- "You're a +sensible man in a hunt, and as good a fellow on a march, as a sixty-miler-a- +day could wish to meet with, but you're oncommon slow about messages; +especially them that you think won't be likely to be well received. When a +thing is to be told, why tell it; and do n't hang back like a Yankee lawyer +pretending he can't +understand a Dutchman's English, just to get a double fee out of him." + +"I understand you, Hurry, and well are you named to-night, seeing you've no +time to lose. But let us come at once to the p'int, seeing that's the object +of this council- for council it may be called, though women have seats among +us. The simple fact is this. When the party came back from the castle, the +Mingos held a council, and hitter thoughts were uppermost, as was plain to be +seen by their gloomy faces. No one likes to be beaten, and a red skin, as +little as a pale face. Well, when they had smoked upon it, and made their +speeches, and their council fire had burnt low, the matter came out. It seems +the elders among 'em consaited I was a man to be trusted on a furlough- +They're wonderful obsarvant, them Mingos; that their worst mimics must allow- +but they consaited I was such a man; and it is n't often-" added the hunter, +with a pleasing consciousness that his previous life justified this implicit +reliance on his good faith-"it is'n't often they consait any thing so good of +a pale face; but so they did with me, and, therefore, they did n't hesitate +to speak their minds, which is just this: - You see the state of things. The +lake, and all on it, they fancy, lie at their marcy. Thomas Hutter is +deceased, and, as for Hurry, they've got the idee he has been near enough to +death to-day, not to wish to take another look at him, this summer. +Therefore, they account all your forces as reduced to Chingachgook and the +two young women, and, while they know the Delaware to be of a high race, and +a born warrior, they know he's now on his first war path. As for the gals, of +course they set them down much as they do women in gin'ral." + +"You mean that they despise us!" interrupted Judith, with eyes that flashed +so brightly as to be observed by all present. + +"That will be seen in the end They hold that all on the lake lies at their +marcy, and, therefore, they send by me this belt of wampum," showing the +article in question to the Delaware, as he spoke, "with these words. 'Tell +the Sarpent, they say, that he has done well for a beginner; he may now +strike across the mountains, for his own villages, and no one shall look for +his trail. If he has found a scalp, let him take it with him, for the Huron +braves have hearts, and can feel for a young warrior who does n't wish to go +home empty-handed. If he is nimble, he is welcome to lead out a party in +pursuit. Hist, howsever, must go back to the Hurons, for, when she left there +in the night, she carried away, by mistake, that which does n't belong to +her-" +"That can't be true!" said Hetty earnestly. "Hist is no such girl, but one +that gives every body his due-" + +How much more she would have said, in remonstrance, cannot be known, inasmuch +as Hist, partly laughing, and partly hiding her face in shame, past her own +hand across the speaker's mouth, in a way to check the words. + +"You do n't understand Mingo messages, poor Hetty -"resumed Deerslayer, +"which seldom mean what lies exactly uppermost. Hist has brought away with +her the inclinations of a young Huron, and they want her back again, that the +poor young man may find them where he last saw them! The Sarpent they say is +too promising a young warrior not to find as many wives as he wants, but this +one he cannot have. That's their meaning, and nothing else, as I understand +it." + +"They are very obliging and thoughtful, in supposing a young woman can forget +all her own inclinations in order to let this unhappy youth find his!" said +Judith, ironically; though her manner became more bitter as she proceeded. "I +suppose a woman is a woman, let her colour be white, or red, and your chiefs +know little of a woman's heart, Deerslayer, if they think it can ever forgive +when wronged, or ever forget when it fairly loves. + +"I suppose that's pretty much the truth, with some women, Judith, though I've +known them that could do both. The next message is to you. They say the +Muskrat, as they called your father, has dove to the bottom of the lake; that +he will never come up again, and that his young will soon be in want of +wigwams if not of food. The Huron huts they think, are better than the huts +of York, and they wish you to come and try them. Your colour is white, they +own, but they think young women who've lived so long in the woods, would lose +their way in the clearin's. A great warrior among them, has lately lost his +wife, and he would be glad to put the Wild Rose on her bench at his fireside. +As for the Feeble Mind, she will always be honored and taken care of by red +warriors. Your father's goods they think ought to go to enrich the tribe, but +your own property, which is to include every thing of a female natur', will +go like that of all wives, into the wigwam of the husband. Moreover, they've +lost a young maiden by violence, lately, and 'twill take two pale faces to +fill her seat." + +"And do you bring such a message to me.~" exclaimed Judith, though the tone +in which the words were uttered, had more in it of sorrow than of anger. "Am +I a girl to be an Indian's slave?" + +"If you wish my honest thoughts on this p'int, Judith, I shall answer that I +do n't think you'll, willingly, ever become any man's slave; red-skin or +white. You're not to think hard, howsever, of my bringing the message, as +near as I could, in the very words in which it was given to me. Them was the +conditions on which I got my furlough, and a bargain is a bargain, though it +is made with a vagabond. I've told you what they've said, but I've not yet +told you what I think you ought, one and all, to answer." + +"Ay; let's hear that, Deerslayer," put in Hurry. "My cur'osity is up on that +consideration, and I should like, right well, to hear your idees of the +reasonableness of the reply. For my part, though, my own mind is pretty much +settled, on the p'int of my own answer, which shall be made known as soon as +necessary. + +"And so is mine, Hurry, on all the different heads, and on no one is it more +sartainly settled that on yourn. If I was you, I should say-'Deerslayer, tell +them scamps, they don't know Harry March! He is human; and having a white +skin, he has also a white natur', which natur' won't let him desart females +of his own race and gifts, in their greatest need. So set me down as one that +will refuse to come into your treaty, though you should smoke a hogshead of +tobacco over it.' " + +March was a little embarrassed at this rebuke, which was uttered with +sufficient warmth of manner, and with a point that left no doubt of the +meaning. Had Judith encouraged him, he would not have hesitated about +remaining to defend her and her sister, but under the circumstances, a +feeling of resentment rather urged him to abandon them. At all events, there +was not a sufficiency of chivalry in Hurry Harry to induce him to hazard the +safety of his own erson, unless he could see a direct connection between the +probable consequences and his own interests. It is no wonder, therefore, that +his answer partook equally of his intention,and of the reliance he so +boastingly placed on his gigantic strength, which if i did not always make +him outrageous, usually made him impudent, as respects those with whom he +conversed. + +"Fair woods make long friendships, Master Deerslayer," he said a little +nemacingly. "You're but a stripling and you know by exper'ence, what you are +in the hands of a may. As you're not me, but only a go between, sent by the +savages to us christians, you may tell your emply'ers that they do know Harry +March, which is a proof of their sense, as well as his. He's human enough to +follow human natur', and that tells him to see the folly of one man's +fighting a whole tribe. If females desart him, they must expect to be +desarted by him, whether they're of his own gifts, or another man's figts. +Should Judith see fit to change her mind, she's welcome to my company to the +river, and Hetty with her; but shouldn't she come to this conclusion,, I +start as soon as I think the cncmy's scouts are beginning to nestle +themselves in among the brush and leaves, for the night." + +"Judith will not change her mind, and she does not ask your company, Master +March," returned the girl, with spirit. + +"That p'int's settled, then,' resumed Deerslayer, unmoved by the other's +warmth. "Hurry Harry must act for himself, and do that which will be most +likely to suit his own fancy. The course he means to take will give him an +easy race, if it don't give him an easy conscience. Next comes the question +with Hist - what say you gal? - Will you desart your duty, too, and go back +to the Mingos and take a Huron husband, and all not for the love of the man +you're tomarry, but for the love of your own scalp + +"Why you talk so to Hist!" demanded the girl half-offended. "You t'ink a red- +skin girl made like captain's lady, to laugh and joke with any officer that +come." + +"What I think, Hist, is neither here nor there, in this matter. I must carry +back your answer, and in order to do so it is necessary that you should lend +it. A faithful messenger gives his ar'n'd, word for word." + +Hist no longer hesitated to speak her mind fully. In the excitement she rose +from her bench, and naturally recurring to that language in which she +expressed herself the most readily, she delivered her thoughts and +intentions, beautifully and with dignity, in the tongue of her own people. + +"Tell the Hurons, Deerslayer," she said, 'that they are as ignorant as moles; +they do n't know the wolf from the dog. Among my people, the rose dies on the +stem where it budded, the tears of the child fall on the graves of its +parents; the corn grows where the seed has been planted. The Delaware girls +are not messengers to be sent, like belts of wampum, from tribe to tribe. +They are honeysuckles, that are sweetest in their own woods; their own young +men carry them away in their bosoms, because they are fragrant; they are +sweetest when plucked from their native stems. Even the robin and the martin +come back, year after year, to their old nests; shall a woman be less true +hearted than a bird? Set the pine in the clay and it will turn yellow; the +willow will not flourish on the hill; the tamarack is healthiest in the +swamp; the tribes of the sea love best to hear the winds that blow over the +salt water. As for a Huron youth, what is he to a maiden of the Lenni Lenape. +He may be fleet, but her eyes to not follow him in the race; they look back +towards the lodges of the Delawares. He may sing a sweet song for the girls +of Canada, but there is no music for Wah, but in the tongue she has listened +to from childhood. Were the Huron born of the people that once owned the +shores of the salt lake, it would be in vain, unless he were of the family of +Uncas. The young pine will rise to be as high as +any of its fathers. Wah-ta!-Wah has but one heart, and it can love but one +husband." + +Deerslayer listened to this characteristic message, which was given with an +earnestness suited to the feelings from which it sprung, with undisguised +delight, meeting the ardent eloquence of the girl, as she concluded, with one +of his own heartfelt, silent, and peculiar fits of laughter. + +'That's worth all the wampum in the woods!" he exclaimed. "You don't +understand it, I suppose, Judith, but if you'll look into your feelin's, and +fancy that an inimy had sent to tell you to give up the man of your ch'ice, +and to take up with another that was n't the man of your ch'ice, you'll get +the substance of it, I'll warrant! Give me a woman for ra'al eloquence, if +they'll only make up their minds to speak what they feel. By speakin', I do +n't mean chatterin', howsever; for most of them will do that by the hour; but +comm' out with their honest, deepest, feelin's in proper words. And now, +Judith, having got the answer of a red skin girl, it is fit I should get that +of a pale face, if, indeed, a countenance that is as blooming as your'n can +in any wise, so be tarmed. You are well named the Wild Rose, and so far as +colour goes, Hetty ought to be called the Honeysuckle." + +'Did this language come from one of the garrison gallants, I should deride +it, Deerslayer, but coming from you, I know it can be depended on," returned +Judith, deeply gratified by his unmeditated and characteristic compliments. +"It is too soon, however, to ask my answer; the Great Serpent has not yet +spoken." + +'The Sarpent! Lord; I could carry back his speech without hearing a word of +it! I did n't think of putting the question to him at all, I will allow; +though 'twould be hardly right either, seeing that truth is truth, and I'm +bound to tell these Mingos the fact and nothing else. So, Chingachgook, let +us hear your mind on this matter-are you inclined to strike across the hills +towards your village, to give up Hist to a Huron, and to tell the chiefs at +home, that, if they're actyve and successful, they may possibly get on the +end of the Iroquois trail some two or three days a'ter the iniiny has got off +of it?" + +Like his betrothed, the young chief arose, that his answer might be given +with due distinctness and dignity. Hist had spoken with her hands crossed +upon her bosom, as if to suppress the emotions within, but the warrior +stretched an arm before him with a calm energy that aided in giving emphasis +to his expressions. +"Wampum should be sent for wampum," he said; "a message must be answered by a +message. Hear what the Great Serpent of' the Delawares has to say to the +pretended wolves from the great lakes, that are howling through our woods. +They are no wolves; they are dogs that have come to get their tails and ears +cropped by the hands of the Delawares. They are good at stealing young women; +bad at keeping them. Chingachgook takes his own where he finds it; he asks +leave of' no cur from the Canadas. If' he has a tender feeling in his heart, +it is no business of the Hurons. He tells it to her who most likes to know +it; he will not bellow it in the forest, for the ears of those that only +understand yells of terror. What passes in his lodge is not for the chiefs of +his own people to know; still less for Mingo rogues-" + +"Call 'em vagabonds, Sarpent-" interrupted Deerslayer, unable to restrain his +delight-"yes, just call 'em up-and-down vagabonds, which is a word easily +intarpreted, and the most hateful of' all to their ears, it's so true. Never +fear me; I'll give em your message, syllable for syllable, sneer for sneer, +idee for idee, scorn for scorn, and they desarve no better at your hands- +only call 'em vagabonds, once or twice, and that will set the sap mounting in +'em, from their lowest roots to the uppermost branches!" + +"Still less for Mingo vagabonds," resumed Chingachgook, quite willingly +complying with his friend's request. "Tell the Huron dogs to howl louder, if +they wish a Delaware to find them in the woods, where they burrow like foxes, +instead of hunting like warriors. When they had a Delaware maiden in their +camp, there was a reason for hunting them up; now they will be forgotten +unless they make a noise. Chingachgook do n t like the trouble of going to +his villages for more warriors; he can strike their run-a-way trail; unless +they hide it under ground, he will follow it to Canada alone. He will keep +Wah-ta!-Wah with him to cook his game; they two will be Delawares enough to +scare all the Hurons back to their own country ." + +"That's a grand despatch, as the officers call them things!" cried +Deerslayer; 'twill set all the Huron blood in motion; most particularily that +part where he tells 'em Hist, too, will keep on their heels, 'till they're +fairly driven out of the country. Ahs! me; big words ain't always big deeds, +notwithstanding! The Lord send that we be able to be only one half as good as +we promise to be! And now, Judith, it's your turn to speak, for them +miscreants will expect an answer from each person, poor Hetty, perhaps, +excepted." + +"And why not Hetty, Deerslayer? She often speaks to the purpose; the Indians +may respect her words, for they feel for people in her condition." + +"That is true, Judith, and quick-thoughted in you. The redskins do respect +misfortunes of all kinds, and Hetty's in particular. So, Hetty, if you have +any thing to say, I'll carry it to the Hurons as faithfully as if it was +spoken by a schoolmaster, or a missionary. + +The girl hesitated a moment, and then she answered in her own gentle, soft, +tones, as earnestly as any who had preceded her. + +"The Hurons can't understand the difference between white people and +themselves," she said, 'or they would n't ask Judith and me to go and live in +their villages. God has given one country to the red men and another to us. +He meant us to live apart. Then mother always said that we should never dwell +with any but christians, if possible, and that is a reason why we can't go. +This lake is ours, and we wo'n't leave it. Father and mother's graves are in +it, and even the worst Indians love to stay near the graves of their fathers. +I will come and see them, again, if they wish me to, and read more out of the +bible to them, but I can't quit father's and mother's graves." + +"That will do-that will do, Hetty, just as well as if you sent them a message +twice as long," interrupted the hunter. "I'll tell 'em all you've said, and +all you mean, and I'll answer for it, that they'll be easily satisfied. Now, +Judith, your turn comes next, and then this part of my ar'n'd will be +tarminated, for the night." + +Judith manifested a reluctance to give her reply, that had awakened a little +curiosity in the messenger. Judging from her known spirit, he had never +supposed the girl would be less true her feelings and principles than Hist, +or Hetty, and yet there was a visible wavering of purpose that rendered him +slightly uneasy. Even now when directly required to speak, she seemed to +hesitate, nor did she open her lips, until the profound silence told her how +anxiously her words were expected. Then, indeed, she spoke, but it was +doubtingly and with reluctance. + +"Tell me, first - tell us, first, Deerslayer," she commenced, repeating the +words merely to change the emphasis-"what effect will our answers have on +your fate? If you are to be the sacrifice of our spirit, it would have been +better had we all been more wary as to the language we use. What, then, are +likely to be the consequences to yourself?" + +"Lord, Judith, you might as well ask me which way the wind will blow next +week, or what will be the age of the next deer that will be shot! I can only +say that their faces look a little dark upon me, but it does n't thunder +every time a black cloud rises, nor does every puff of wind blow up rain. +That's a question, therefore, much more easily put than answered." + +"So is this message of the Iroquois to me," answered Judith rising, as if she +had determined on her own course for the present. "My answer shall be given, +Deerslayer, after you and I have talked together alone, when the others have +laid themselves down for the night." + +There was a decision in the manner of the girl, that disposed Deerslayer to +comply, and this he did the more readily as the delay could produce no +material consequences, one way or the other. The meeting now broke up, Hurry +announcing his resolution to leave them speedily. During the hour that was +suffered to intervene, in order that the darkness might deepen, before the +frontier-man took his departure, the different individuals occupied +themselves in their customary modes, the hunter, in particular, passing most +of the time in making further enquiries into the perfection of the rifle +already mentioned. + +The hour of nine soon arrived, however, and then it had been determined that +Hurry should commence his journey. Instead of making his adieus frankly, and +in a generous spirit, the little he thought it necessary to say was uttered +sullenly and in coldness. Resentment at what he considered Judith's +obstinacy, was blended with mortification at the career he had since reaching +the lake, and, as is usual with the vulgar and narrow-minded, he was more +disposed to reproach others with his failures, than to censure himself. +Judith gave him her hand, but it was quite as much in gladness, as with +regret, while the two Delawares were not sorry to find he was leaving them. +Of the whole party, Hetty alone betrayed any real feeling. Bashfulness, and +the timidity of her sex and character, kept even her aloof, so that Hurry +entered the canoe, where Deerslayer was already waiting for him, before she +ventured near enough to be observed. Then, indeed, the girl came into the +Ark, and approached its end, just as the little bark was turning from it, +with a movement so light and steady as to be almost imperceptible. An impulse +of feeling now overcame her timidity, and Hetty spoke. + +"Goodbye Hurry-" she called out, in her sweet voice- "good bye, dear Hurry. +Take care of yourself in the woods, and don't stop once, 'till you reach the +garrison. The leaves on the trees are scarcely plentier than the Hurons round +the lake, and they'll not treat a strong man like you, as kindly as they +treat me." + +The ascendency which March had obtained over this feebleminded, but right- +thinking, and right-feeling girl, arose from a law of nature. Her senses had +been captivated by his personal advantages, and her moral communications with +him had never been sufficiently intimate to counteract an effect that must +have been otherwise lessened, even with one whose mind was as obtuse as her +own. Hetty's instinct of right, if such a term can be applied to one who +seemed taught by some kind spirit how to steer her course with unerring +accuracy, between good and evil, would have revolted at Hurry's character, on +a thousand points, had there been opportunities to enlighten her, but while +he conversed and trifled with her sister, at a distance from herself, his +perfection of form and feature had been left to produce their influence on +her simple imagination, and naturally tender feelings, without suffering by +the alloy of his opinions and coarseness. It is true, she found him rough and +rude; but her father was that, and most of the other men she had seen, and +that which she believed to belong to all of the sex, struck her less +unfavorably in Hurry's character, than it might otherwise have done. Still, +it was not absolutely love that Hetty felt for Hurry, nor do we wish so to +portray it, but merely that awakening sensibility and admiration, which, +under more propitious circumstances, and always supposing no untoward +revelations of character on the part of the young man, had supervened to +prevent it, might soon have ripened into that engrossing feeling. She felt +for him an incipient tenderness, but scarcely any passion. Perhaps the +nearest approach to the latter, that Hetty had manifested, was to be seen in +the sensitiveness which had caused her to detect March's predilection for her +sister, for, among Judith's many admirers, this was the only instance in +which the dull mind of the girl had been quickened into an observation of the +circumstances. + +Hurry received so little sympathy at his departure, that the gentle tones of +Hetty, as she thus called after him, sounded soothingly. He checked the +canoe, and with one sweep of his powerful arm brought it back to the side of +the Ark. This was more than Hetty, whose courage had risen with the departure +of her hero, expected, and she now shrunk timidly back at this unexpected +return. + +"You're a good gal, Hetty, and I can't quit you without shaking hands," said +March kindly. "Judith, a'ter all, is n't worth as much as you, though she may +be a trifle better looking. As to wits, if honesty and fair dealing with a +young man is a sign of sense in a young woman, you're worth a dozen Judiths; +ay, and for that matter, most young women of my acquaintance." + +"Don't say any thing against Judith, Harry," returned Hetty imploringly. +"Father's gone, and mother's gone, and nobody's left but Judith and me, and +it is n't right for sisters to speak evil, or to hear evil of each other. +Father's in the lake, and so is mother, and we should all fear God, for we do +n't know when we may be in the lake, too." + +"That sounds reasonable, child, as does most you say. Well, if we ever meet +ag'in, Hetty, you'll find a fri'nd in me, let your sister do what she may. I +was no great fri'nd of your mother I'll allow, for we did n't think alike on +most p'ints, but then your father, Old Tom, and I, fitted each other as +remarkably as a buckskin garment will fit any reasonable-built man. I've +always been unanimous of opinion that Old Floating Tom Hutter, at the bottom, +was a good fellow, and will maintain that ag'in all inimies for his sake, as +well as for your'n." + +"Good bye, Hurry," said Hetty, who now wanted to hasten the young man off, as +ardently as she had wished to keep him only the moment before, though she +could give no clearer account of the latter than of the former feeling; "good +bye, Hurry; take care of yourself in the woods; do n't halt 'till you reach +the garrison. I'll read a chapter in the bible for you, before I go to bed, +and think of you in my prayers. + +This was touching a point on which March had no sympathies, and without more +words, he shook the girl cordially by the hand, and re-entered the canoe. In +another minute the two adventurers were a hundred feet from the Ark, and half +a dozen had not elapsed before they were completely lost to view. Hetty +sighed deeply, and rejoined her sister and Hist. + +For some time Deerslayer and his companion paddled ahead in silence. It had +been determined to land Hurry at the precise point where he is represented, +in the commencement of our tale, as having embarked, not only as a place +little likely to be watched by the Hurons, but because he was sufficiently +familiar with the signs of the woods, at that spot, to thread his way through +them in the dark. Thither, then, the light craft proceeded, being urged as +diligently, and as swiftly, as two vigorous and skilful canoe-men could force +their little vessel through, or rather over, the water. Less than a quarter +of an hour sufficed for the object, and, at the end of that time, being +within the shadows of the shore, and quite near the point they sought, each +ceased his efforts in order to make their parting communications out of ear +shot of any straggler who might happen to be in the neighborhood. + +"You will do well to persuade the officers at the garrison to lead out a +party ag'in these vagabonds, as soon as you git in, Hurry," Deerslayer +commenced; "and you'll do better if you volunteer to guide it up yourself. +You know the paths, and the shape of the lake, and the natur' of the land, +and can do it better than a common, gin'ralizing scout. Strike at the Huron +camp first, and follow the signs that will then show themselves. A few looks +at the hut and the Ark will satisfy you, as to the state of the Delaware and +the women, and, at any rate, there'll be a fine opportunity to fall on the +Mingo trail, and to make a mark on the memories of the blackguards that +they'll be apt to carry with 'em a long time. It won't be likely to make much +difference with me, since that matter will be detarmined afore tomorrow's sun +has set, but it may make a great change in Judith and Hetty's hopes and +prospects!" + +"And as for yourself, Nathaniel," Hurry enquired with more interest than he +was accustomed to betray in the welfare of others-"And, as for yourself, what +do you think is likely to turn up. + +"The Lord, in his wisdom, only can tell, Henry March! The clouds look black +and threatening, and I keep my mind in a state to meet the worst. Vengeful +feelin's are uppermost in the hearts of the Mingos, and any little +disapp'intment about the plunder, or the prisoners, or Hist, may make the +torments sartan. The Lord, in his wisdom, can only detarmine my fate, or +yourn!" + +"This is a black business, and ought to be put a stop to in some way or +other-" answered Hurry, confounding the distinctions between right and wrong, +as is usual with selfish and vulgar men. "I heartily wish old Hutter and I +had scalped every creatur' in their camp, the night we first landed with that +capital object! Had you not held back, Deerslayer, it might have been done, +and then you would n't have found yourself, at the last moment, in the +desperate condition you mention." + +"Twould have been better had you said, you wished you had never attempted to +do what it little becomes any white man's gifts to undertake; in which case, +not only might we have kept from coming to blows, but Thomas Hutter would now +have been living, and the hearts of the savages would be less given to +vengeance. The death of that young woman, too, was on-called for, Henry +March, and leaves a heavy load on our names if not on our consciences!" + +This was so apparent, and it seemed so obvious to Hurry himself, at the +moment, that he dashed his paddle into the water, and began to urge the canoe +towards the shore, as if bent only on running away from his own lively +remorse. His companion humoured this feverish desire for change, and, in a +minute or two, the bows of the boat grated lightly on the shingle of the +beach. To land, shoulder his pack and rifle, and to get ready for his march +occupied Hurry but an instant, and with a growling adieu, he had already +commenced his march, when a sudden twinge of feeling brought him to a dead +stop, and immediately after to the other's side. + +"You cannot mean to give yourself up ag'in to them murdering savages, +Deerslayer!" he said, quite as much in angry remonstrance, as with generous +feeling. "Twould be the act of a madman or a fool!" + +"There's them that thinks it madness to keep their words, and there's them +that don't, Hurry Harry. You may be one of the first, but I'm one of the +last. No red skin breathing shall have it in his power to say, that a Mingo +minds his word more than a man of white blood and white gifts, in any thing +that consarns me. I'm out on a furlough, and if I've strength and reason, +I'll go in on a furlough afore noon to-morrow!" + +"What's an Injin, or a word passed, or a furlough taken from creatur's like +them, that have neither souls, nor reason!" + +"If they've got neither souls nor reason, you and I have both, Henry March, +and one is accountable for the other. This furlough is not, as you seem to +think, a matter altogether atween me and the Mingos, seeing it is a solemn +bargain made atween me and God. He who thinks that he can say what he +pleases, in his distress, and that twill all pass for nothing, because 'tis +uttered in the forest, and into red men's ears, knows little of his +situation, and hopes, and wants. The woods are but the ears of the Almighty, +the air is his breath, and the light of the sun is little more than a glance +of his eye. Farewell, Harry; we may not meet ag'in, but I would wish you +never to treat a furlough, or any other solemn thing, that your christian God +has been called on to witness, as a duty so light that it may be forgotten +according to the wants of the body, or even accordin' to the cravings of the +spirit." + +March was now glad again to escape. It was quite impossible that he could +enter into the sentiments that ennobled his companion, and he broke away from +both with an impatience that caused him secretly to curse the folly that +could induce a man to rush, as it were, on his own destruction. Deerslayer, +on the contrary, manifested no such excitement. Sustained by his principles, +inflexible in the purpose of acting up to them, and superior to any unmanly +apprehension, he regarded all before him, as a matter of course, and no more +thought of making any unworthy attempt to avoid it, than a Mussulman thinks +of counteracting the decrees of Providence. He stood calmly on the shore, +listening to the reckless tread with which Hurry betrayed his progress +through the bushes, shook his head in dissatisfaction at the want of caution, +and then stepped quietly into his canoe. Before he dropped the paddle again +into the water, the young man gazed about him, at the scene presented by the +star-lit night. This was the spot where he had first laid his eyes on the +beautiful sheet of water on which he floated. If it was then glorious in the +bright light of a summer's noon-tide, it was now sad and melancholy under the +shadows of night. The mountains rose around it like black barriers to exclude +the outer world, and the gleams of pale light that rested on the broader +parts of the basin, were no bad symbols of the faintness of the hopes that +were so dimly visible in his own future. Sighing heavily, he pushed the canoe +from the land, and took his way, back, with steady diligence towards the Ark +and the castle. + + + + + +Chapter XXIV + +"Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame; +Thy private feasting to a public fast; +Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name; +Thy sugar'd tongue to bitter worm wood taste: +Thy violent vanities can never last." + +Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 11. 890-94. + +Judith was waiting the return of Deerslayer on the platform, with stifled +impatience, when the latter reached the hut. Hist and Hetty were both in a +deep sleep, on the bed usually occupied by the two daughters of the house, +and the Delaware was stretched on the floor of the adjoining room, his rifle +at his side, and a blanket over him, already dreaming of the events of the +last few days. There was a lamp burning in the Ark, for the family was +accustomed to indulge in this luxury on extraordinary occasions, and +possessed the means, the vessel being of a form and material to render it +probable it had once been an occupant of the chest. + +As soon as the girl got a glimpse of the canoe, she ceased her hurried walk +up and down the platform, and stood ready to receive the young man, whose +return she had now been anxiously expecting for some time. She helped him to +fasten the canoe, and by aiding in the other little similar employ ments, +manifested her desire to reach a moment of liberty as soon as possible. When +this was done, in answer to an inquiry of his, she informed him of the manner +in which their com panions had disposed of themselves. He listened +attentively, for the manner of the girl was so earnest and impressive as to +apprise him that she had something on her mind of more than common concern. + +"And now, Deerslayer," Judith continued, "you see I have lighted the lamp, +and put it in the cabin of the Ark. That is never done with us, unless on +great occasions, and I consider this night as the most important of my life. +Will you follow me and see what I have to show you-hear what I have to say." +The hunter was a little surprised, but, making no objec tions, both were soon +in the scow, and in the room that contamed the light. Here two stools were +placed at the side of the chest, with the lamp on another, and a table near +by to receive the different articles as they might be brought to view. This +arrangement had its rise in the feverish impatience of the girl, which could +brook no delay that it was in her power to obviate. Even all the padlocks +were removed, and it only re mained to raise the heavy lid, again, to expose +all the treasures of this long secreted hoard. + +"I see, in part, what all this means," observed Deerslayer- "yes, I see +through it, in part. But why is not Hetty present; now, Thomas Hurter is +gone, she is one of the owners of these cur'osities, and ought to see them +opened and handled." + +"Hetty sleeps-" answered Judith, huskily. "Happily for her, fine clothes and +riches have no charms. Besides she has this night given her share of all that +the chest may hold, to me, that I may do with it as I please." + +"Is poor Hetty composs enough for that, Judith?" de manded the just-minded +young man. "It's a good rule and a righteous one, never to take when them +that give don't know the valie of their gifts; and such as god has visited +heavily in their wits, ought to be dealt with as carefully as children that +have n't yet come to their understandings." + +Judith was hurt at this rebuke, coming from the person it did, but she would +have felt it far more keenly had not her conscience fully acquitted her of +any unjust intentions to wards her feeble-minded but confiding sister. It was +not a moment, however, to betray any of her usual mountings of the spirit, +and she smothered the passing sensation in the de sire to come to the great +object she had in view. + +"Hetty will not be wronged," she mildly answered; "she even knows not only +what I am about to do, Deerslayer, but why I do it. So take your seat, raise +the lid of the chest, and this time we will go to the bottom. I shall be +disappointed if something is not found to tell us more of the history of +Thomas Hurter and my mother." + +"Why Thomas Hutter, Judith, and not your father? The I dead ought to meet +with as much reverence as the living!" + +"I have long suspected that Thomas Hutter was not my father, though I did +think he might have been Hetty's, but now we know he was the father of +neither. He acknowledged that much in his dying moments. I am old enough to +remember better things than we have seen on this lake, though they are so +faintly impressed on my memory, that the earlier part of my life seems like a +dream." + +"Dreams are but miserable guides when one has to detar mine about realities, +Judith," returned the other, admonish ingly. "Fancy nothing, and hope nothing +on their account, though I've known chiefs that thought 'em useful." + +"I expect nothing for the future, from them, my good friend, but cannot help +remembering what has been. This is idle, however, when half an hour of +examination may tell us all, or even more than I want to know." + +Deerslayer, who comprehended the girl's impatience, now took his seat, and +proceeded once more to bring to light the different articles that the chest +contained. As a matter of course, all that had been previously examined were +found where they had been last deposited, and they excited much less +interest, or comment, than when formerly exposed to view. Even Judith laid +aside the rich brocade with an air of indifference, for she had a far higher +aim before her than the indulgence of vanity, and was impatient to come at +the still hidden, or rather unknown, treasures. + +"All these we have seen before," she said, "and will not stop to open. The +bundle under your hand, Deerslayer, is a fresh one; that we will look into. +God send it may contain something to tell poor Hetty and myself, who we +really are!" + +"Ay, if some bundles could speak, they might tell wonderful secrets," +returned the young man deliberately undoing the folds of another piece of +course canvass, in order to come at the contents of the roll that lay on his +knees: "though this doesn't seem to be one of that family, seeing 'tis +neither more nor less than a sort of flag, though of what nation, it passes +my l'arnin' to say." + +"That flag must have some meaning to it-" Judith hurriedly interposed. "Open +it wider, Deerslayer, that we may see the colours." + +"Well, I pity the ensign that has to shoulder this cloth, and to parade it +about on the field. Why 'tis large enough, Judith,to make a dozen of them +colours the King's officers set so much store by These can be no ensign's +colours, but a gin'ral's!" + +"A ship might carry it, Deerslayer, and ships I know do use such things. Have +you never heard any fearful stories about Thomas Hurter's having once been +concerned with the peo ple they call buccaneers?" + +"Buck-ah-near! Not I-not I-I never heard him mentioned as good at a buck far +off, or near by. Hurry Harry did till me something about its being supposed +that he had formerly, in some way or other, dealings with sartain sea rob +bers, but, Lord, Judith, it can't surely give you any satisfaction to make +out that ag'in your mother's own hus band, though he isn't your father." + +"Any thing will give me satisfaction that tells me who I am, and helps to +explain the dreams of childhood. My mother's husband! Yes, he must have been +that, though why a woman like her, should have chosen a man like him, is more +than mortal reason can explain. You never saw mother, Deerslayer, and can't +feel the vast, vast difference there was between them!" + +"Such things do happen, howsever;-yes, they do happen; though why providence +lets them come to pass, is more than I understand. I've knew the f'ercest +warriors with the gentlest wives of any in the tribe, and awful scolds fall +to the lot of Injins fit to be missionaries." + +"That was not it, Deerslayer; that was not it. Oh! if it should prove that- +no; I can not wish she should not have been his wife at all. That no daughter +can wish for her own mother! Go on, now, and let us see what the square +looking bundle holds." + +Deerslayer complied, and he found that it contained a small trunk of pretty +workmanship, but fastened. The next point was to find a key; but, search +proving ineffectual, it was determined to force the lock. This Deerslayer +soon effected by the aid of an iron instrument, and it was found that the +interior was nearly filled with papers. Many were letters; some fragments of +manuscripts, memorandums, accounts, and other similar documents. The hawk +does not pounce upon the chicken with a more sudden swoop, than Judith sprang +forward to seize this mine of hitherto concealed knowledge. Her education, as +the reader will have perceived, was far superior to her situation in life, +and her eye glanced over page after page of the letters, with a readiness +that her schooling supplied, and with an avidity that found its origin in her +feelings. At first, it was evident that the girl was gratified; and we may +add with reason, for the letters written by females, in innocence and +affection, were of a character to cause her to feel proud of those with whom +she had every reason to think she was closely connected by the ties of blood. +It does not come within the scope of our plan to give more of these epistles, +however, than a general idea of their contents, and this will best be done by +describing the effect they produced on the manner, appearance, and feeling of +her who was so eagerly perusing them. + +It has been said, already, that Judith was much gratified with the letters +that first met her eye. They contained the correspondence of an affectionate +and inteffigent mother, to an absent daughter, with such allusions to the +answers, as served, in a great measure, to fill up the vacuum left by the +replies. They were not without admonitions and warnings, however, and Judith +felt the blood mounting to her temples, and a cold shudder succeeding, as she +read one in which the propriety of the daughter's indulging in as much +intimacy, as had evidently been described in one of the daughter's own +letters, with an officer "who came from Europe, and who could hardly be +supposed to wish to form an honorable connection in America," was rather +coldly commented on by the mother. What rendered it singular, was the fact +that the signatures had been carefully cut from every one of these letters, +and wherever a name occurred in the body of the epistles, it had been erased +with so much diligence as to render it impossible to read it. They had all +been enclosed in envelopes, according to the fashion of the age, and not an +address either was to be found. Still the letters themselves had been +religiously pre served, and Judith thought she could discover traces of tears +remaining on several. She now remembered to have seen the little trunk in her +mother's keeping, previously to her death, and she supposed it had first been +deposited in the chest, along with the other forgotten, or concealed objects, +when the letters could no longer contribute to that parent's grief or +happiness. + +Next came another bundle, and these were filled with the protestations of +love, written with passion certainly, but also with that deceit which men so +often think it justifiable to use to the other sex. Judith had shed tears +abundantly over the first packet, but now she felt a sentiment of indignation +and pride better sustaining her. Her hand shook, however, and cold shivers +again passed through her frame, as she discovered a few points of strong +resemblance between these letters and some it had been her own fate to +receive. Once, indeed, she laid the packet down, bowed her head to her knees, +and seemed nearly convulsed. All this time Deerslayer sat a silent, but +attentive observer of every thing that passed. As Judith read a letter, she +put it into his hands to hold, until she could peruse the next; but this +served in no degree to enlighten her companion, as he was totally unable to +read. Nevertheless he was not entirely at fault, in discovering the passions +that were contending in the bosom of the fair creature by his side, and, as +occasional sentences escaped her in murmurs, he was nearer the truth, in his +divinations, or conjectures, than the girl would have been pleased at +discovering. + +Judith had commenced with the earliest letters, luckily for a ready +comprehension of the tale they told, for they were carefully arranged in +chronological order, and to any one who would take the trouble to peruse +them, would have revealed a sad history of gratified passion, coldness, and +finally of aversion. As she obtained the clue to their import, her impatience +would not admit of delay, and she soon got to glancing her eyes over a page, +by way of coming at the truth, in the briefest manner possible. By adopting +this expedient, one to which all who are eager to arrive at results, without +encumbering themselves with details, are so apt to resort, Judith made a +rapid progress in these melancholy revelations of her mother's failing and +punishment. She saw that the period of her own birth was distinctly referred +to, and even learned that the homely name she bore, was given her by the +father, of whose person she retained so faint an impression as to resemble a +dream. This name was not obliterated from the text of the letters, but stood +as if nothing was to be gained by erasing it. Hetty's birth was mentioned +once, and in that instance the name was the mother's, but ere this period was +reached came the signs of coldness, shadowing forth the desertion that was so +soon to follow. It was in this stage of the correspondence that her mother +had recourse to the plan of copying her own epistles. They were but few, but +were eloquent with the feelings of blighted affection, and contrition. Judith +sobbed over them, until again and again she felt compelled to lay them aside +from sheer physical in a inability to see; her eyes being literally obscured +with tears. Still she returned to the task, with increasing interest, and +finally succeeded in reaching the end of the latest communication that had +probably ever passed between her parents. + +All this occupied fully an hour, for near a hundred letters were glanced at, +and some twenty had been closely read. The truth now shone clear upon the +acute mind of Judith, so far as her own birth and that of Hetty, were +concerned. She sickened at the conviction, and for the moment the rest of the +world seemed to be cut off from her, and she had now additional reasons for +wishing to pass the remainder of her life on the lake, where she had already +seen so many bright and so many sorrowing days. + +There yet remained more letters to examine. Judith found these were a +correspondence between her mother and Thomas Hovey. The originals of both +parties were carefully arranged, letter and answer, side by side; and they +told the early history of the connection between the ill-assorted pair far +more plainly than Judith wished to learn it. Her mother made the advances +towards a marriage, to the surprise, not to say horror of her daughter, and +she actually found a relief when she discovered traces of what struck her as +insanity- or a morbid desperation, bordering on that dire calamity- in the +earlier letters of that ill-fated woman. The answers of Hovey were coarse and +illiterate, though they manifested a sufficient desire to obtain the hand of +a woman of singular personal attractions, and whose great error he was +willing to overlook for the advantage of possessing one, every way so much +his superior, and, who, it also appeared was not altogether destitute of +money. The remainder of this part of the correspondence was brief, and it was +soon confined to a few communications on business, in which the miserable +wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a world, +which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one of the +parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression had +escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that had +induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that feeling of +resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on themselves, +by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they have +suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend this +sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which permitted +such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy. + +There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the +loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation +offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among +which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the +proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black +lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the +papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of +residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses, +had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of +the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased. +Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were, +defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits +for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's +manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical +facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood +sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess +any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her +companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it +might yet contain something of importance. + +"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if +there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've +got through with the reading of communications on business, in which the +miserable wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a +world, which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one +of the parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression +had escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that +had induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that +feeling of resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on +themselves, by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they +have suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend +this sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which +permitted such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy. + +There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the +loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation +offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among +which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the +proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black +lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the +papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of +residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses, +had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of +the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased. +Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were, +defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits +for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's +manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical +facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood +sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess +any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her +companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it +might yet contain something of importance. + +"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if +there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've +got through with the reading of much as if the bargain was made, and +Rivenoak, or any of the other vagabonds, was here to accept and close the +treaty, there's two principal reasons why it can never come to pass, which +may be as well told at once, in order no onlikely ex pectations may be raised +in you, or any onjustiflable hopes in me." + +"What reason can there be, if Hetty and I are willing to part with the +trifles for your sake, and the savages are willing to receive them?" + +"That's it, Judith-you've got the idees, but they're a little out of their +places, as if a hound should take the back'ard instead of the leading scent. +That the Mingos will be willing to receive them things, or any more like 'em, +you may have to offer is probable enough, but whether they'll pay valie for +'em, is quite another matter. Ask yourself, Judith, if any one should send +you a message to say that, for such or such a price, you and Hetty might have +that chist and all it holds, whether you'd think it worth your while to waste +many words on the bargain?" + +"But this chest and all it holds, are already ours; there is no reason why we +should purchase what is already our own." + +"Just so the Mingos caculate! They say the chist is theirn, already; or, as +good as theirn, and they'll not thank anybody for the key." + +"I understand you, Deerslayer; surely we are yet in posses sion of the lake, +and we can keep possession of it, until Hurry sends troops to drive off the +enemy. This we may certainly do, provided you will stay with us, instead of +going back and giving yourself up a prisoner, again, as you now seem deter +mined on". + +"That Hurry Harry should talk in thisaway, is nat'ral, and according to the +gifts of the man. He knows no better, and, therefore, he is little likely to +feel, or to act any better; but, Judith, I put it to your heart and +conscience-would you, could you think of me as favorably, as I hope and +believe you now do, was I to forget my furlough and not go back to the camp?" + +"To think more favorably of you than I now do, Deerslayer, would not be easy; +but I might continue to think as favor ably-at least it seems so-I hope I +could, for, a world would n't tempt me to let you do any thing that might +change my real opinion of you." + +"Then do n't try to entice me to overlook my furlough, gal! -A furlough is a +sacred thing among warriors and men that carry their lives in their hands, as +we of the forests do, and what a grievous disapp'intment would it be to old +Tamenund, and to Uncas, the father of the Sarpent, and to my other fri'nds in +the tribe, if I was so to disgrace myself, on my very first war-path? This +you will pairceive, moreover, Judith, is without laying any stress on nat'ral +gifts, and a white man's duties, to say nothing of conscience. The last is +king with me, and I try never to dispute his orders." + +"I believe you are right, Deerslayer," returned the girl, after a little +reflection and in a saddened voice: "a man like you, ought not to act, as the +selfish and dishonest would be apt to act; you must, indeed, go back. We will +talk no more of this, then. Should I persuade you to any thing for which you +would be sorry hereafter, my own regret would not be less than yours. You +shall not have it to say, Judith-I scarce know by what name to call myself, +now!" + +"And why not?-Why not, gal? Children take the names of their parents, +nat'rally, and by a sort of gift, like, and why should n't you and Hetty do, +as others have done afore ye? Hutter was the old man's name, and Hurter +should be the name of his darters; -at least until you are given away in +lawful and holy wedlock." + +"I am Judith, and Judith only," returned the girl posi tively-"until the law +gives me a right to another name. Never will I use that of Thomas Hurter +again; nor, with my consent, shall Hetty! Hurter was not even his own name, I +find, but had he a thousand rights to it, it would give none to me. He was +not my father, thank heaven; though I may have no reason to be proud of him +that was!" + +"This is strange!" said Deerslayer, looking steadily at the excited girl, +anxious to know more, but unwilling to inquire into matters that did not +properly concern him; "yes, this is very strange and oncommon! Thomas Hurter +was n't Thomas Hurter, and his darters were n't his darters! Who, then, could +Thomas Hurter be, and who are his darters?" + +"Did you never hear any thing whispered against the former life of this +person, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith- "Passing, as I did, for his child, such +reports reached even me." + +"I'll not deny it, Judith; no, I'll not deny it. Sartain things have been +said, as I've told you, but I'm not very credible as to reports. Young as I +am, I've lived long enough to l'am there's two sorts of characters in the +world-them that is 'arned by deeds, and them that is 'arned by tongues, and +so I prefar to see and judge for myself, instead of letting every jaw that +chooses to wag become my judgment. Hurry Harry spoke pretty plainly of the +whole family, as we journeyed this-a-way, and he did hint something +consarning Thomas Hutter's having been a free-liver on the water, in his +younger days. By free-liver, I mean that he made free to live on other men's +goods." + +"He told you he was a pirate-there is no need of mincing matters between +friends. Read that, Deerslayer, and you will see that he told you no more +than the truth. This Thomas Hovey was the Thomas Hutter you knew, as is seen +by these letters." + +As Judith spoke, with a flushed cheek and eyes dazzling with the brilliancy +of excitement, she held the newspaper towards her companion, pointing to the +proclamation of a Colonial Governor, already mentioned. + +"Bless you, Judith!" answered the other laughing, "you might as well ask me +to print that-or, for that matter to write it. My edication has been +altogether in the woods; the only book I read, or care about reading, is the +one which God has opened afore all his creatur's in the noble forests, broad +lakes, rolling rivers, blue skies, and the winds and tempests, and sunshine, +and other glorious marvels of the land! This book I can read, and I find it +full of wisdom and knowledge." + +"I crave your pardon, Deerslayer," said Judith, earnestly, more abashed than +was her wont, in finding that she had in advertently made an appeal that +might wound her compan ion's pride. "I had forgotten your manner of life, and +least of all did I wish to hurt your feelings." + +"Hurt my feelin's?-Why should it hurt my feelin's to ask me to read, when I +can't read. I'm a hunter-and I may now begin to say a warrior, and no +missionary, and therefore books and papers are of no account with such as I- +No, no-Judith," and here the young man laughed cordially, "not even for wads, +seeing that your true deerkiller always uses the hide of a fa'a'n, if he's +got one, or some other bit of leather suitably prepared. There's some that do +say, all that stands in print is true, in which case I'll own an unl'arned +man must be somewhat of a loser; nevertheless, it can't be truer than that +which God has printed with his own hand, in the sky, and the woods, and the +rivers, and the springs." + +"Well, then, Hutter, or Hovey, was a pirate, and being no father of mine, I +cannot wish to call him one. His name shall no longer be my name." +"If you dislike the name of that man, there's the name of your mother, +Judith. Hem may sarve you just as good a turn." + +"I do not know it. I've look'd through those papers, Deer-slayer, in the hope +of finding some hint, by which I might discover who my mother was, but there +is no more trace of the past, in that respect, than the bird leaves in the +air." + +"That's both oncommon, and onreasonable. Parents are bound to give their +offspring a name, even though they give 'em nothing else. Now I come of a +humble stock, though we have white gifts and a white narur', but we are not +so poorly off, as to have no name. Bumppo we are called, and I've heard it +said-" a touch of human vanity glowing on his cheek, "that the time has been +when the Bumppos had more standing and note among mankind, than they have +just now." + +"They never deserved them more, Deerslayer, and the name is a good one; +either Herty, or myself, would a thousand times rather be called Hetty +Bumppo, or Judith Bumppo, than to be called Hetty or Judith Hutter." + +"That's a moral impossible," returned the hunter, good humouredly, "onless +one of you should so far demean herself as to marry me." + +Judith could not refrain from smiling, when she found how simply and +naturally the conversation had come round to the very point at which she had +aimed to bring it. Although far from unfeminine or forward, either in her +feelings, or her habits, the girl was goaded by a sense of wrongs not +altogether merited, incited by the hopelessness of a future that seemed to +contain no resting place, and still more influenced by feelings that were as +novel to her, as they proved to be active and engrossing. The opening was too +good, therefore, to be neglected, though she came to the subject with much of +the indirectness and perhaps, justifiable, address of a woman. + +"I do not think Hetty will ever marry, Deerslayer," she said, "and if your +name is to be borne by either of us, it must be borne by me." + +"There's been handsome women too, they tell me, among the Bumppos, Judith, +afore now, and should you take up with the name, oncommon as you be, in this +particular, them that knows the family won't be altogether surprised." + +"This is not talking as becomes either of us, Deerslayer, for whatever is +said on such a subject, between man and woman, should be said seriously, and +in sincerity of heart. Forgetting the shame that ought to keep girls silent, +until spoken to, in most cases, I will deal with you as frankly as I know one +of your generous nature will most like to be dealt by. Can you- do you think, +Deerslayer, that you could be happy with such a wife as a woman like myself +would make?" + +"A woman like you, Judith! But where's the sense in trifling about such a +thing?-A woman like you, that is handsome enough to be a captain's lady, and +fine enough, and so far as I know edicated enough, would be little apt to +think of be coming my wife. I suppose young gals that feel themselves to be +smart, and know themselves to be handsome, find a sartain satisfaction in +passing their jokes ag'in them that's neither, like a poor Delaware hunter." + +This was said good naturedly, but not without a betrayal of feeling which +showed that some thing like mortified sensibility was blended with the reply. +Nothing could have occurred more likely to awaken all Judith's generous +regrets, or to aid her in her purpose, by adding the stimulant of a +disinterested desire to atone, to her other impulses, and cloaking all under +a guise so winning and natural, as greatly to lessen the unpleasant feature +of a forwardness unbecoming the sex. + +"You do me injustice if you suppose I have any such thought, or wish," she +answered, earnestly. "Never was I more serious in my life, or more willing to +abide by any agreement, that we may make to-night. I have had many suit ors, +Deerslayer-nay, scarce an unmarried trapper or hunter has been in at the Lake +these four years, who has not offered to take me away with him, and I fear +some that were married, too-" + +"Ay, I'll warrant that!" interrupted the other-"I'll warrant all that! Take +'em as a body, Judith, 'arth don't hold a set of men more given to +theirselves, and less given to God and the law." + +"Not one of them would I-could I listen to; happily for myself perhaps, has +it been that such was the case. There have been well looking youths among +them too, as you may have seen in your acquaintance, Henry March." + +"Yes, Harry is sightly to the eye, though, to my idees, less so to the +judgment. I thought, at first, you meant to have him, Judith, I did; but +afore he went, it was easy enough to verify that the same lodge would n't be +big enough for you both." + +"You have done me justice in that at least, Deerslayer. Hurry is a man I +could never marry, though he were ten times more comely to the eye, and a +hundred times more stout of heart, than he really is." + +"Why not, Judith, why not? I own I'm cur'ous to know why a youth like Hurry +should n't find favor with a maiden like you?" + +"Then you shall know, Deerslayer," returned the girl, gladly availing herself +of the opportunity of indirectly extol ling the qualities which had so +strongly interested her in her listener; hoping by these means covertly to +approach the sub ject nearest her heart. "In the first place, looks in a man +are of no importance with a woman, provided he is manly, and not disfigured, +or deformed." + +"There I can't altogether agree with you," returned the other thoughtfully, +for he had a very humble opinion of his own personal appearance; "I have +noticed that the comeliest warriors commonly get the best-looking maidens of +the tribe, for wives, and the Sarpent, yonder, who is sometimes won derful in +his paint, is a gineral favorite with all the Delaware young women, though he +takes to Hist, himself, as if she was the only beauty on 'arth!" + +"It may be so with Indians; but it is different with white girls. So long as +a young man has a straight and manly frame, that promises to make him able to +protect a woman, and to keep want from the door, it is all they ask of the +figure. Giants like Hurry may do for grenadiers, but are of little account as +lovers. Then as to the face, an honest look, one that answers for the heart +within, is of more value than any shape or colour, or eyes, or teeth, or +trifles like them. The last may do for girls, but who thinks of them at all, +in a hunter, or a warrior, or a husband? -If there are women so silly, Judith +is not among them." + +"Well, this is wonderful! I always thought that handsome liked handsome, as +riches love riches!" + +"It may be so with you men, Deerslayer, but it is not always so with us +women. We like stout-hearted men, but we wish to see them modest; sure on a +hunt, or the war-path, ready to die for the right, and unwilling to yield to +the wrong. Above all we wish for honesty-tongues that are not used to say +what the mind does not mean, and hearts that feel a little for others, as +well as for themselves. A true-hearted girl could die for such a husband! +while the boaster, and the double-tongued suitor gets to be as hateful to the +sight, as he is to the mind." + +Judith spoke bitterly, and with her usual force, but her listener was too +much struck with the novelty of the sensations he experienced to advert to +her manner. There was something so soothing to the humility of a man of his +temperament, to hear qualities that he could not but know he possessed +himself, thus highly extolled by the loveliest female he had ever beheld, +that, for the moment, his faculties seemed suspended in a natural and +excusable pride. Then it was that the idea of the possibility of such a +creature as Judith becoming his companion for life, first crossed his mind. +The image was so pleasant, and so novel, that he continued completely +absorbed by it, for more than a minute, totally regardless of the beautiful +reality that was seated before him, watching the expression of his upright +and truth-teffing countenance with a keenness that gave her a very fair, if +not an absolutely accurate clue to his thoughts. Never before had so pleasing +a vision floated before the mind's eye of the young hunter, but, accustomed +most to practical things, and little addicted to submitting to the power of +his imagination, even while possessed of so much true poetical feeling in +connection with natural objects in particular, he soon recovered his reason, +and smiled at his own weakness, as the fancied picture faded from his mental +sight, and left him the simple, untaught, but highly moral being he was, +seated in the Ark of Thomas Hurter, at midnight, with the lovely countenance +of its late owner's reputed daughter, beaming on him with anxious scrutiny, +by the light of the solitary lamp. + +"You're wonderful handsome, and enticing, and pleasing to look on, Judith!" +he exclaimed, in his simplicity, as fact resumed its ascendency over fancy. +"Wonderful! I do n't remember ever to have seen so beautiful a gal, even +among the Delawares; and I'm not astonished that Hurry Harry went away soured +as well as disapp'inted!" + +"Would you have had me, Deerslayer, become the wife of such a man as Henry +March?" + +"There's that which is in his favor, and there's that which is ag'in him. To +my taste, Hurry would n't make the best of husbands, but I fear that the +tastes of most young women, hereaway, would n't be so hard upon him." + +"No-no-Judith without a name, would never consent to be called Judith March! +Any thing would be better than that." + +"Judith Bumppo would n't sound as well, gal; and there's many names that +would fall short of March, in pleasing the ear." + +"Ah! Deerslayer, the pleasantness of the sound, in such cases, does n't come +through the ear, but through the heart. Every thing is agreeable, when the +heart is satisfied. Were Natty Bumppo, Henry March, and Henry March, Natty +Bumppo, I might think the name of March better than it is; or were he, you, I +should fancy the name of Bumppo, horrible!" + +"That's just it-yes, that's the reason of the matter. Now, I'm nat'rally +avarse to sarpents, and I hate even the word, which, the missionaries tell +me, comes from human natur', on account of a sartain sarpent at the creation +of the 'arth, that outwitted the first woman; yet, ever since Chingachgook +them! Two good hours have you been looking at them bits of papers!" + +"They tell me of my parents, Deerslayer, and have settled my plans for life. +A girl may be excused who reads about her own father and mother, and that too +for the first time in her life. I am sorry to have kept you waiting." + +"Never mind me, gal, never mind me. It matters little whether I sleep or +watch; but, though you be pleasant to look at, and are so handsome, Judith, +it is not altogether agreeable to sit so long to behold you shedding tears. I +know that tears do n't kill, and that some people are better for shedding a +few, now and then, especially women, but I'd rather see you smile, any time, +Judith, than see you weep." + +This gallant speech was rewarded with a sweet, though a melancholy smile, and +then the girl again desired her companion to finish the examination of the +chest. The search necessarily continued some time, during which Judith +collected her thoughts, and regained her composure. She took no part in the +search, leaving every thing to the young man, looking listlessly, herself, at +the different articles that came uppermost. Nothing further of much interest, +or value, however, was found. A sword or two, such as were then worn by +gentlemen, some buckles of silver, or so richly plated as to appear silver, +and a few handsome articles of female dress composed the principal +discoveries. It struck both Judith and the Deer-slayer notwithstanding, that +some of these things might be made useful in effecting a negotiation with the +Iroquois, though the latter saw a difficulty in the way that was not so +apparent to the former. The conversation was first renewed in connection with +this point. + +"And now, Deerslayer," said Judith, "we may talk of yourself, and of the +means of getting you out of the hands of the Hurons. Any part, or all of what +you have seen in the chest will be cheerfully given by me and Hetty, to set +you at liberty." + +"Well, that's ginerous-yes, 'tis downright free-hearted, and free-handed, and +ginerous. This is the way with women; when they take up a fri'ndship, they do +nothing by halves, but are as willing to part with their property, as if it +had no valie in their eyes. Howsever, while I thank you both, just as natur' +gives in the free air, and the forest-now, if both these men stood here, as +suitors for your feelin's, which do you think would win your favor?" + +Judith's fine face flushed, for the picture that her compan. ion had so +simply drawn of a gay officer of the garrisons had once been particularly +grateful to her imagination, though experience and disappointment had not +only chilled all her affections, but given them a backward current, and the +passing image had a momentary influence on her feelings; but the mounting +colour was succeeded by a paleness so deadly, as to make her appear ghastly. + +"As God is my judge," the girl solemnly answered, "did both these men stand +before me, as I may say one of them does, my choice, if I know my own heart, +would be the latter. I have no wish for a husband who is any way better than +myself." + +"This is pleasant to listen to, and might lead a young man in time, to forget +his own onworthiness, Judith! Howsever, you hardly think all that you say. A +man like me is too rude and ignorant for one that has had such a mother to +teach her. Vanity is nat'ral, I do believe, but vanity like that, would +surpass reason." + +"Then you do not know of what a woman's heart is capable! Rude you are not, +Deerslayer, nor can one be called ignorant that has studied what is before +his eyes as closely as you have done. When the affections are concerned, all +things appear in their pleasantest colors, and trifles are overlooked, or are +forgotten. When the heart feels sunshine, nothing is gloomy, even dull +looking objects, seeming gay and bright, and so it would be between you and +the woman who should love you, even though your wife might happen, in some +matters, to possess what the world calls the advantage over you." +"Judith, you come of people altogether above mine, in the world, and onequal +matches, like onequal fri'ndships can't often tarminate kindly. I speak of +this matter altogether as a fanciful thing, since it's not very likely that +you, at least, would be apt to treat it as a matter that can ever come to +pass." + + +Judith fastened her deep blue eyes on the open, frank countenance of her +companion, as if she would read his soul. Nothing there betrayed any covert +meaning, and she was obliged to admit to herself, that he regarded the +conversation as argumentative, rather than positive, and that he was still +without any active suspicion that her feelings were seriously involved in the +issue. At first, she felt offended; then she saw the injustice of making the +self-abasement and modesty of the hunter a charge against him, and this novel +difficulty gave a piquancy to the state of affairs that rather increased her +interest in the young man. At that critical instant, a change of plan flashed +on her mind, and with a readiness of invention that is peculiar to the quick- +witted and ingenious, she adopted a scheme by which she hoped effectually to +bind him to her person. This scheme partook equally of her fertility of +invention, and of the decision and boldness of her character. That the +conversation might not terminate too abruptly, however, or any suspicion of +her design exist, she answered the last remark of Deerslayer, as earnestly +and as truly, as if her original intention remained unaltered. + +"I, certainly, have no reason to boast of parentage, after what I have seen +this night," said the girl, in a saddened voice. "I had a mother, it is true; +but of her name even, I am ignorant-and, as for my father, it is better, +perhaps, that I should never know who he was, lest I speak too bitterly of +him!" + +"Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her hand kindly, and with a manly sincerity +that went directly to the girl's heart, "tis better to say no more to-night. +Sleep on what you've seen and felt; in the morning things that now look +gloomy, may look more che'rful. Above all, never do any thing in bitterness, +or because you feel as if you'd like to take revenge on yourself, for other +people's backslidings. All that has been said, or done, atween us, this +night, is your secret, and shall never be talked of by me, even with the +Sarpent, and you may be sartain if he can't get it out of me no man can. If +your parents have been faulty, let the darter be less so; remember that +you're young, and the youthful may always hope for better times; that you're +more quick-witted than usual, and such gin'rally get the better of +difficulties, and that, as for beauty, you're oncommon, which is an advantage +with all. It is time to get a little rest, for to-morrow is like to prove a +trying day to some of us." + +Deerslayer arose as he spoke, and Judith had no choice but to comply. The +chest was closed and secured, and they parted in silence, she to take her +place by the side of Hist and Hetty, and he to seek a blanket on the floor of +the cabin he was in. It was not five minutes crc the young man was in a deep +sleep, but the girl continued awake for a long time. She scarce knew whether +to lament, or to rejoice, at having failed in making herself understood. On +the one hand, were her womanly sensibilities spared; on the other was the +disappointment of defeated, or at least of delayed expectations, and the +uncertainty of a future that looked so dark. Then came the new resolution, +and the bold project for the morrow, and when drowsiness finally shut her +eyes, they closed on a scene of success and happiness, that was pictured by +the fancy, under the influence of a sanguine temperament, and a happy +invention. + + + + +Chapter XXIV + +"Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame; +Thy private feasting to a public fast; +Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name; +Thy sugar'd tongue to bitter worm wood taste: +Thy violent vanities can never last." + +Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 11. 890-94. + +Judith was waiting the return of Deerslayer on the platform, with stifled +impatience, when the latter reached the hut. Hist and Hetty were both in a +deep sleep, on the bed usually occupied by the two daughters of the house, +and the Delaware was stretched on the floor of the adjoining room, his rifle +at his side, and a blanket over him, already dreaming of the events of the +last few days. There was a lamp burning in the Ark, for the family was +accustomed to indulge in this luxury on extraordinary occasions, and +possessed the means, the vessel being of a form and material to render it +probable it had once been an occupant of the chest. + +As soon as the girl got a glimpse of the canoe, she ceased her hurried walk +up and down the platform, and stood ready to receive the young man, whose +return she had now been anxiously expecting for some time. She helped him to +fasten the canoe, and by aiding in the other little similar employments, +manifested her desire to reach a moment of liberty as soon as possible. When +this was done, in answer to an inquiry of his, she informed him of the manner +in which their companions had disposed of themselves. He listened +attentively, for the manner of the girl was so earnest and impressive as to +apprise him that she had something on her mind of more than common concern. + +"And now, Deerslayer," Judith continued, "you see I have lighted the lamp, +and put it in the cabin of the Ark. That is never done with us, unless on +great occasions, and I consider this night as the most important of my life. +Will you follow me and see what I have to show you-hear what I have to say." + +The hunter was a little surprised, but, making no objections, both were soon +in the scow, and in the room that contamed the light. Here two stools were +placed at the side of the chest, with the lamp on another, and a table near +by to receive the different articles as they might be brought to view. This +arrangement had its rise in the feverish impatience of the girl, which could +brook no delay that it was in her power to obviate. Even all the padlocks +were removed, and it only re mained to raise the heavy lid, again, to expose +all the treasures of this long secreted hoard. + +"I see, in part, what all this means," observed Deerslayer- "yes, I see +through it, in part. But why is not Hetty present; now, Thomas Hurter is +gone, she is one of the owners of these cur'osities, and ought to see them +opened and handled." + +"Hetty sleeps-" answered Judith, huskily. "Happily for her, fine clothes and +riches have no charms. Besides she has this night given her share of all that +the chest may hold, to me, that I may do with it as I please." + +"Is poor Hetty composs enough for that, Judith?" demanded the just-minded +young man. "It's a good rule and a righteous one, never to take when them +that give don't know the valie of their gifts; and such as god has visited +heavily in their wits, ought to be dealt with as carefully as children that +have n't yet come to their understandings." + +Judith was hurt at this rebuke, coming from the person it did, but she would +have felt it far more keenly had not her conscience fully acquitted her of +any unjust intentions to wards her feeble-minded but confiding sister. It was +not a moment, however, to betray any of her usual mountings of the spirit, +and she smothered the passing sensation in the de sire to come to the great +object she had in view. + +"Hetty will not be wronged," she mildly answered; "she even knows not only +what I am about to do, Deerslayer, but why I do it. So take your seat, raise +the lid of the chest, and this time we will go to the bottom. I shall be +disappointed if something is not found to tell us more of the history of +Thomas Hurter and my mother." + +"Why Thomas Hutter, Judith, and not your father? The I dead ought to meet +with as much reverence as the living!" + +"I have long suspected that Thomas Hutter was not my father, though I did +think he might have been Hetty's, but now we know he was the father of +neither. He acknowledged that much in his dying moments. I am old enough to +remember better things than we have seen on this lake, though they are so +faintly impressed on my memory, that the earlier part of my life seems like a +dream." + +"Dreams are but miserable guides when one has to detar mine about realities, +Judith," returned the other, admonish ingly. "Fancy nothing, and hope nothing +on their account, though I've known chiefs that thought 'em useful." + +"I expect nothing for the future, from them, my good friend, but cannot help +remembering what has been. This is idle, however, when half an hour of +examination may tell us all, or even more than I want to know." + +Deerslayer, who comprehended the girl's impatience, now took his seat, and +proceeded once more to bring to light the different articles that the chest +contained. As a matter of course, all that had been previously examined were +found where they had been last deposited, and they excited much less +interest, or comment, than when formerly exposed to view. Even Judith laid +aside the rich brocade with an air of indifference, for she had a far higher +aim before her than the indulgence of vanity, and was impatient to come at +the still hidden, or rather unknown, treasures. + +"All these we have seen before," she said, "and will not stop to open. The +bundle under your hand, Deerslayer, is a fresh one; that we will look into. +God send it may contain something to tell poor Hetty and myself, who we +really are!" + +"Ay, if some bundles could speak, they might tell wonderful secrets," +returned the young man deliberately undoing the folds of another piece of +course canvass, in order to come at the contents of the roll that lay on his +knees: "though this doesn't seem to be one of that family, seeing 'tis +neither more nor less than a sort of flag, though of what nation, it passes +my l'arnin' to say." + +"That flag must have some meaning to it-" Judith hurriedly interposed. "Open +it wider, Deerslayer, that we may see the colours." + +"Well, I pity the ensign that has to shoulder this cloth, and to parade it +about on the field. Why 'tis large enough, Judith,to make a dozen of them +colours the King's officers set so much store by These can be no ensign's +colours, but a gin'ral's!" + +"A ship might carry it, Deerslayer, and ships I know do use such things. Have +you never heard any fearful stories about Thomas Hurter's having once been +concerned with the peo ple they call buccaneers?" + +"Buck-ah-near! Not I-not I-I never heard him mentioned as good at a buck far +off, or near by. Hurry Harry did till me something about its being supposed +that he had formerly, in some way or other, dealings with sartain sea rob +bers, but, Lord, Judith, it can't surely give you any satisfaction to make +out that ag'in your mother's own hus band, though he isn't your father." + +"Any thing will give me satisfaction that tells me who I am, and helps to +explain the dreams of childhood. My mother's husband! Yes, he must have been +that, though why a woman like her, should have chosen a man like him, is more +than mortal reason can explain. You never saw mother, Deerslayer, and can't +feel the vast, vast difference there was between them!" + +"Such things do happen, howsever;-yes, they do happen; though why providence +lets them come to pass, is more than I understand. I've knew the f'ercest +warriors with the gentlest wives of any in the tribe, and awful scolds fall +to the lot of Injins fit to be missionaries." + +"That was not it, Deerslayer; that was not it. Oh! if it should prove that- +no; I can not wish she should not have been his wife at all. That no daughter +can wish for her own mother! Go on, now, and let us see what the square +looking bundle holds." + +Deerslayer complied, and he found that it contained a small trunk of pretty +workmanship, but fastened. The next point was to find a key; but, search +proving ineffectual, it was determined to force the lock. This Deerslayer +soon effected by the aid of an iron instrument, and it was found that the +interior was nearly filled with papers. Many were letters; some fragments of +manuscripts, memorandums, accounts, and other similar documents. The hawk +does not pounce upon the chicken with a more sudden swoop, than Judith sprang +forward to seize this mine of hitherto concealed knowledge. Her education, as +the reader will have perceived, was far superior to her situation in life, +and her eye glanced over page after page of the letters, with a readiness +that her schooling supplied, and with an avidity that found its origin in her +feelings. At first, it was evident that the girl was gratified; and we may +add with reason, for the letters written by females, in innocence and +affection, were of a character to cause her to feel proud of those with whom +she had every reason to think she was closely connected by the ties of blood. +It does not come within the scope of our plan to give more of these epistles, +however, than a general idea of their contents, and this will best be done by +describing the effect they produced on the manner, appearance, and feeling of +her who was so eagerly perusing them. + +It has been said, already, that Judith was much gratified with the letters +that first met her eye. They contained the correspondence of an affectionate +and inteffigent mother, to an absent daughter, with such allusions to the +answers, as served, in a great measure, to fill up the vacuum left by the +replies. They were not without admonitions and warnings, however, and Judith +felt the blood mounting to her temples, and a cold shudder succeeding, as she +read one in which the propriety of the daughter's indulging in as much +intimacy, as had evidently been described in one of the daughter's own +letters, with an officer "who came from Europe, and who could hardly be +supposed to wish to form an honorable connection in America," was rather +coldly commented on by the mother. What rendered it singular, was the fact +that the signatures had been carefully cut from every one of these letters, +and wherever a name occurred in the body of the epistles, it had been erased +with so much diligence as to render it impossible to read it. They had all +been enclosed in envelopes, according to the fashion of the age, and not an +address either was to be found. Still the letters themselves had been +religiously pre served, and Judith thought she could discover traces of tears +remaining on several. She now remembered to have seen the little trunk in her +mother's keeping, previously to her death, and she supposed it had first been +deposited in the chest, along with the other forgotten, or concealed objects, +when the letters could no longer contribute to that parent's grief or +happiness. + +Next came another bundle, and these were filled with the protestations of +love, written with passion certainly, but also with that deceit which men so +often think it justifiable to use to the other sex. Judith had shed tears +abundantly over the first packet, but now she felt a sentiment of indignation +and pride better sustaining her. Her hand shook, however, and cold shivers +again passed through her frame, as she discovered a few points of strong +resemblance between these letters and some it had been her own fate to +receive. Once, indeed, she laid the packet down, bowed her head to her knees, +and seemed nearly convulsed. All this time Deerslayer sat a silent, but +attentive observer of every thing that passed. As Judith read a letter, she +put it into his hands to hold, until she could peruse the next; but this +served in no degree to enlighten her companion, as he was totally unable to +read. Nevertheless he was not entirely at fault, in discovering the passions +that were contending in the bosom of the fair creature by his side, and, as +occasional sentences escaped her in murmurs, he was nearer the truth, in his +divinations, or conjectures, than the girl would have been pleased at +discovering. + +Judith had commenced with the earliest letters, luckily for a ready +comprehension of the tale they told, for they were carefully arranged in +chronological order, and to any one who would take the trouble to peruse +them, would have revealed a sad history of gratified passion, coldness, and +finally of aversion. As she obtained the clue to their import, her impatience +would not admit of delay, and she soon got to glancing her eyes over a page, +by way of coming at the truth, in the briefest manner possible. By adopting +this expedient, one to which all who are eager to arrive at results, without +encumbering themselves with details, are so apt to resort, Judith made a +rapid progress in these melancholy revelations of her mother's failing and +punishment. She saw that the period of her own birth was distinctly referred +to, and even learned that the homely name she bore, was given her by the +father, of whose person she retained so faint an impression as to resemble a +dream. This name was not obliterated from the text of the letters, but stood +as if nothing was to be gained by erasing it. Hetty's birth was mentioned +once, and in that instance the name was the mother's, but ere this period was +reached came the signs of coldness, shadowing forth the desertion that was so +soon to follow. It was in this stage of the correspondence that her mother +had recourse to the plan of copying her own epistles. They were but few, but +were eloquent with the feelings of blighted affection, and contrition. Judith +sobbed over them, until again and again she felt compelled to lay them aside +from sheer physical in a inability to see; her eyes being literally obscured +with tears. Still she returned to the task, with increasing interest, and +finally succeeded in reaching the end of the latest communication that had +probably ever passed between her parents. +All this occupied fully an hour, for near a hundred letters were glanced at, +and some twenty had been closely read. The truth now shone clear upon the +acute mind of Judith, so far as her own birth and that of Hetty, were +concerned. She sickened at the conviction, and for the moment the rest of the +world seemed to be cut off from her, and she had now additional reasons for +wishing to pass the remainder of her life on the lake, where she had already +seen so many bright and so many sorrowing days. + +There yet remained more letters to examine. Judith found these were a +correspondence between her mother and Thomas Hovey. The originals of both +parties were carefully arranged, letter and answer, side by side; and they +told the early history of the connection between the ill-assorted pair far +more plainly than Judith wished to learn it. Her mother made the advances +towards a marriage, to the surprise, not to say horror of her daughter, and +she actually found a relief when she discovered traces of what struck her as +insanity- or a morbid desperation, bordering on that dire calamity- in the +earlier letters of that ill-fated woman. The answers of Hovey were coarse and +illiterate, though they manifested a sufficient desire to obtain the hand of +a woman of singular personal attractions, and whose great error he was +willing to overlook for the advantage of possessing one, every way so much +his superior, and, who, it also appeared was not altogether destitute of +money. The remainder of this part of the correspondence was brief, and it was +soon confined to a few communications on business, in which the miserable +wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a world, +which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one of the +parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression had +escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that had +induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that feeling of +resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on themselves, +by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they have +suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend this +sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which permitted +such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy. +There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the +loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation +offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among +which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the +proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black +lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the +papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of +residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses, +had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of +the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased. +Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were, +defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits +for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's +manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical +facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood +sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess +any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her +companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it +might yet contain something of importance. + +"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if +there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've +got through with the reading of communications on business, in which the +miserable wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a +world, which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one +of the parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression +had escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that +had induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that +feeling of resentment which so often tempts the injured to inifict wrongs on +themselves, by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they +have suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend +this sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which +permitted such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy. + +There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the +loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation +offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among +which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the +proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black +lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the +papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of +residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses, +had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of +the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased. +Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were, +defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits +for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's +manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical +facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood +sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess +any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her +companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it +might yet contain something of importance. + +"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if +there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've +got through with the reading of much as if the bargain was made, and +Rivenoak, or any of the other vagabonds, was here to accept and close the +treaty, there's two principal reasons why it can never come to pass, which +may be as well told at once, in order no onlikely ex pectations may be raised +in you, or any onjustiflable hopes in me." + +"What reason can there be, if Hetty and I are willing to part with the +trifles for your sake, and the savages are willing to receive them?" + +"That's it, Judith-you've got the idees, but they're a little out of their +places, as if a hound should take the back'ard instead of the leading scent. +That the Mingos will be willing to receive them things, or any more like 'em, +you may have to offer is probable enough, but whether they'll pay valie for +'em, is quite another matter. Ask yourself, Judith, if any one should send +you a message to say that, for such or such a price, you and Hetty might have +that chist and all it holds, whether you'd think it worth your while to waste +many words on the bargain?" + +"But this chest and all it holds, are already ours; there is no reason why we +should purchase what is already our own." + +"Just so the Mingos caculate! They say the chist is theirn, already; or, as +good as theirn, and they'll not thank anybody for the key." + +"I understand you, Deerslayer; surely we are yet in posses sion of the lake, +and we can keep possession of it, until Hurry sends troops to drive off the +enemy. This we may certainly do, provided you will stay with us, instead of +going back and giving yourself up a prisoner, again, as you now seem deter +mined on". + +"That Hurry Harry should talk in thisaway, is nat'ral, and according to the +gifts of the man. He knows no better, and, therefore, he is little likely to +feel, or to act any better; but, Judith, I put it to your heart and +conscience-would you, could you think of me as favorably, as I hope and +believe you now do, was I to forget my furlough and not go back to the camp?" + +"To think more favorably of you than I now do, Deerslayer, would not be easy; +but I might continue to think as favor ably-at least it seems so-I hope I +could, for, a world would n't tempt me to let you do any thing that might +change my real opinion of you." + +"Then do n't try to entice me to overlook my furlough, gal! -A furlough is a +sacred thing among warriors and men that carry their lives in their hands, as +we of the forests do, and what a grievous disapp'intment would it be to old +Tamenund, and to Uncas, the father of the Sarpent, and to my other fri'nds in +the tribe, if I was so to disgrace myself, on my very first war-path? This +you will pairceive, moreover, Judith, is without laying any stress on nat'ral +gifts, and a white man's duties, to say nothing of conscience. The last is +king with me, and I try never to dispute his orders." + +"I believe you are right, Deerslayer," returned the girl, after a little +reflection and in a saddened voice: "a man like you, ought not to act, as the +selfish and dishonest would be apt to act; you must, indeed, go back. We will +talk no more of this, then. Should I persuade you to any thing for which you +would be sorry hereafter, my own regret would not be less than yours. You +shall not have it to say, Judith-I scarce know by what name to call myself, +now!" + +"And why not?-Why not, gal? Children take the names of their parents, +nat'rally, and by a sort of gift, like, and why should n't you and Hetty do, +as others have done afore ye? Hutter was the old man's name, and Hurter +should be the name of his darters; -at least until you are given away in +lawful and holy wedlock." + +"I am Judith, and Judith only," returned the girl positively-"until the law +gives me a right to another name. Never will I use that of Thomas Hutter +again; nor, with my consent, shall Hetty! Hurter was not even his own name, I +find, but had he a thousand rights to it, it would give none to me. He was +not my father, thank heaven; though I may have no reason to be proud of him +that was!" + +"This is strange!" said Deerslayer, looking steadily at the excited girl, +anxious to know more, but unwilling to inquire into matters that did not +tproperly concern him; "yes, this is very strange and oncommon! Thomas Hutter +was n't Thomas Hutter, and his darters were n't his darters! Who, then, could +Thomas Hurter be, and who are his darters?" + +"Did you never hear any thing whispered against the former life of this +person, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith- "Passing, as I did, for his child, such +reports reached even me." + +"I'll not deny it, Judith; no, I'll not deny it. Sartain things have been +said, as I've told you, but I'm not very credible as to reports. Young as I +am, I've lived long enough to l'am there's two sorts of characters in the +world-them that is 'arned by deeds, and them that is 'arned by tongues, and +so I prefar to see and judge for myself, instead of letting every jaw that +chooses to wag become my judgment. Hurry Harry spoke pretty plainly of the +whole family, as we journeyed this-a-way, and he did hint something +consarning Thomas Hutter's having been a free-liver on the water, in his +younger days. By free-liver, I mean that he made free to live on other men's +goods." + +"He told you he was a pirate-there is no need of mincing matters between +friends. Read that, Deerslayer, and you will see that he told you no more +than the truth. This Thomas Hovey was the Thomas Hutter you knew, as is seen +by these letters." + +As Judith spoke, with a flushed cheek and eyes dazzling with the brilliancy +of excitement, she held the newspaper towards her companion, pointing to the +proclamation of a Colonial Governor, already mentioned. + +"Bless you, Judith!" answered the other laughing, "you might as well ask me +to print that-or, for that matter to write it. My edication has been +altogether in the woods; the only book I read, or care about reading, is the +one which God has opened afore all his creatur's in the noble forests, broad +lakes, rolling rivers, blue skies, and the winds and tempests, and sunshine, +and other glorious marvels of the land! This book I can read, and I find it +full of wisdom and knowledge." + +"I crave your pardon, Deerslayer," said Judith, earnestly, more abashed than +was her wont, in finding that she had in advertently made an appeal that +might wound her compan ion's pride. "I had forgotten your manner of life, and +least of all did I wish to hurt your feelings." + +"Hurt my feelin's?-Why should it hurt my feelin's to ask me to read, when I +can't read. I'm a hunter-and I may now begin to say a warrior, and no +missionary, and therefore books and papers are of no account with such as I- +No, no-Judith," and here the young man laughed cordially, "not even for wads, +seeing that your true deerkiller always uses the hide of a fa'a'n, if he's +got one, or some other bit of leather suitably prepared. There's some that do +say, all that stands in print is true, in which case I'll own an unl'arned +man must be somewhat of a loser; nevertheless, it can't be truer than that +which God has printed with his own hand, in the sky, and the woods, and the +rivers, and the springs." + +"Well, then, Hurter, or Hovey, was a pirate, and being no father of mine, I +cannot wish to call him one. His name shall no longer be my name." +"If you dislike the name of that man, there's the name of your mother, +Judith. Hem may sarve you just as good a turn." + +"I do not know it. I've look'd through those papers, Deer-slayer, in the hope +of finding some hint, by which I might discover who my mother was, but there +is no more trace of the past, in that respect, than the bird leaves in the +air." + +"That's both oncommon, and onreasonable. Parents are bound to give their +offspring a name, even though they give 'em nothing else. Now I come of a +humble stock, though we have white gifts and a white narur', but we are not +so poorly off, as to have no name. Bumppo we are called, and I've heard it +said-" a touch of human vanity glowing on his cheek, "that the time has been +when the Bumppos had more standing and note among mankind, than they have +just now." + +"They never deserved them more, Deerslayer, and the name is a good one; +either Herty, or myself, would a thousand times rather be called Hetty +Bumppo, or Judith Bumppo, than to be called Hetty or Judith Hutter." + +"That's a moral impossible," returned the hunter, good humouredly, "onless +one of you should so far demean herself as to marry me." + +Judith could not refrain from smiling, when she found how simply and +naturally the conversation had come round to the very point at which she had +aimed to bring it. Although far from unfeminine or forward, either in her +feelings, or her habits, the girl was goaded by a sense of wrongs not +altogether merited, incited by the hopelessness of a future that seemed to +contain no resting place, and still more influenced by feelings that were as +novel to her, as they proved to be active and engrossing. The opening was too +good, therefore, to be neglected, though she came to the subject with much of +the indirectness and perhaps, justifiable, address of a woman. + +"I do not think Hetty will ever marry, Deerslayer," she said, "and if your +name is to be borne by either of us, it must be borne by me." + +"There's been handsome women too, they tell me, among the Bumppos, Judith, +afore now, and should you take up with the name, oncommon as you be, in this +particular, them that knows the family won't be altogether surprised." + +"This is not talking as becomes either of us, Deerslayer, for whatever is +said on such a subject, between man and woman, should be said seriously, and +in sincerity of heart. Forgetting the shame that ought to keep girls silent, +until spoken to, in most cases, I will deal with you as frankly as I know one +of your generous nature will most like to be dealt by. Can you- do you think, +Deerslayer, that you could be happy with such a wife as a woman like myself +would make?" + +"A woman like you, Judith! But where's the sense in trifling about such a +thing?-A woman like you, that is handsome enough to be a captain's lady, and +fine enough, and so far as I know edicated enough, would be little apt to +think of be coming my wife. I suppose young gals that feel themselves to be +smart, and know themselves to be handsome, find a sartain satisfaction in +passing their jokes ag'in them that's neither, like a poor Delaware hunter." + +This was said good naturedly, but not without a betrayal of feeling which +showed that some thing like mortified sensibility was blended with the reply. +Nothing could have occurred more likely to awaken all Judith's generous +regrets, or to aid her in her purpose, by adding the stimulant of a +disinterested desire to atone, to her other impulses, and cloaking all under +a guise so winning and natural, as greatly to lessen the unpleasant feature +of a forwardness unbecoming the sex. + +"You do me injustice if you suppose I have any such thought, or wish," she +answered, earnestly. "Never was I more serious in my life, or more willing to +abide by any agreement, that we may make to-night. I have had many suit ors, +Deerslayer-nay, scarce an unmarried trapper or hunter has been in at the Lake +these four years, who has not offered to take me away with him, and I fear +some that were married, too-" + +"Ay, I'll warrant that!" interrupted the other-"I'll warrant all that! Take +'em as a body, Judith, 'arth don't hold a set of men more given to +theirselves, and less given to God and the law." + +"Not one of them would I-could I listen to; happily for myself perhaps, has +it been that such was the case. There have been well looking youths among +them too, as you may have seen in your acquaintance, Henry March." + +"Yes, Harry is sightly to the eye, though, to my idees, less so to the +judgment. I thought, at first, you meant to have him, Judith, I did; but +afore he went, it was easy enough to verify that the same lodge would n't be +big enough for you both." + +"You have done me justice in that at least, Deerslayer. Hurry is a man I +could never marry, though he were ten times more comely to the eye, and a +hundred times more stout of heart, than he really is." + +"Why not, Judith, why not? I own I'm cur'ous to know why a youth like Hurry +should n't find favor with a maiden like you?" + +"Then you shall know, Deerslayer," returned the girl, gladly availing herself +of the opportunity of indirectly extol ling the qualities which had so +strongly interested her in her listener; hoping by these means covertly to +approach the sub ject nearest her heart. "In the first place, looks in a man +are of no importance with a woman, provided he is manly, and not disfigured, +or deformed." +"There I can't altogether agree with you," returned the other thoughtfully, +for he had a very humble opinion of his own personal appearance; "I have +noticed that the comeliest warriors commonly get the best-looking maidens of +the tribe, for wives, and the Sarpent, yonder, who is sometimes won derful in +his paint, is a gineral favorite with all the Delaware young women, though he +takes to Hist, himself, as if she was the only beauty on 'arth!" + +"It may be so with Indians; but it is different with white girls. So long as +a young man has a straight and manly frame, that promises to make him able to +protect a woman, and to keep want from the door, it is all they ask of the +figure. Giants like Hurry may do for grenadiers, but are of little account as +lovers. Then as to the face, an honest look, one that answers for the heart +within, is of more value than any shape or colour, or eyes, or teeth, or +trifles like them. The last may do for girls, but who thinks of them at all, +in a hunter, or a warrior, or a husband? -If there are women so silly, Judith +is not among them." + +"Well, this is wonderful! I always thought that handsome liked handsome, as +riches love riches!" + +"It may be so with you men, Deerslayer, but it is not always so with us +women. We like stout-hearted men, but we wish to see them modest; sure on a +hunt, or the war-path, ready to die for the right, and unwilling to yield to +the wrong. Above all we wish for honesty-tongues that are not used to say +what the mind does not mean, and hearts that feel a little for others, as +well as for themselves. A true-hearted girl could die for such a husband! +while the boaster, and the double-tongued suitor gets to be as hateful to the +sight, as he is to the mind." + +Judith spoke bitterly, and with her usual force, but her listener was too +much struck with the novelty of the sensations he experienced to advert to +her manner. There was something so soothing to the humility of a man of his +temperament, to hear qualities that he could not but know he possessed +himself, thus highly extolled by the loveliest female he had ever beheld, +that, for the moment, his faculties seemed suspended in a natural and +excusable pride. Then it was that the idea of the possibility of such a +creature as Judith becoming his companion for life, first crossed his mind. +The image was so pleasant, and so novel, that he continued completely +absorbed by it, for more than a minute, totally regardless of the beautiful +reality that was seated before him, watching the expression of his upright +and truth-teffing countenance with a keenness that gave her a very fair, if +not an absolutely accurate clue to his thoughts. Never before had so pleasing +a vision floated before the mind's eye of the young hunter, but, accustomed +most to practical things, and little addicted to submitting to the power of +his imagination, even while possessed of so much true poetical feeling in +connection with natural objects in particular, he soon recovered his reason, +and smiled at his own weakness, as the fancied picture faded from his mental +sight, and left him the simple, untaught, but highly moral being he was, +seated in the Ark of Thomas Hurter, at midnight, with the lovely countenance +of its late owner's reputed daughter, beaming on him with anxious scrutiny, +by the light of the solitary lamp. + +"You're wonderful handsome, and enticing, and pleasing to look on, Judith!" +he exclaimed, in his simplicity, as fact resumed its ascendency over fancy. +"Wonderful! I do n't remember ever to have seen so beautiful a gal, even +among the Delawares; and I'm not astonished that Hurry Harry went away soured +as well as disapp'inted!" + +"Would you have had me, Deerslayer, become the wife of such a man as Henry +March?" + +"There's that which is in his favor, and there's that which is ag'in him. To +my taste, Hurry would n't make the best of husbands, but I fear that the +tastes of most young women, hereaway, would n't be so hard upon him." + +"No-no-Judith without a name, would never consent to be called Judith March! +Any thing would be better than that." + +"Judith Bumppo would n't sound as well, gal; and there's many names that +would fall short of March, in pleasing the ear." + +"Ah! Deerslayer, the pleasantness of the sound, in such cases, does n't come +through the ear, but through the heart. Every thing is agreeable, when the +heart is satisfied. Were Natty Bumppo, Henry March, and Henry March, Natty +Bumppo, I might think the name of March better than it is; or were he, you, I +should fancy the name of Bumppo, horrible!" + +"That's just it-yes, that's the reason of the matter. Now, I'm nat'rally +avarse to sarpents, and I hate even the word, which, the missionaries tell +me, comes from human natur', on account of a sartain sarpent at the creation +of the 'arth, that outwitted the first woman; yet, ever since Chingachgook +them! Two good hours have you been looking at them bits of papers!" + +"They tell me of my parents, Deerslayer, and have settled my plans for life. +A girl may be excused who reads about her own father and mother, and that too +for the first time in her life. I am sorry to have kept you waiting." + +"Never mind me, gal, never mind me. It matters little whether I sleep or +watch; but, though you be pleasant to look at, and are so handsome, Judith, +it is not altogether agreeable to sit so long to behold you shedding tears. I +know that tears do n't kill, and that some people are better for shedding a +few, now and then, especially women, but I'd rather see you smile, any time, +Judith, than see you weep." + +This gallant speech was rewarded with a sweet, though a melancholy smile, and +then the girl again desired her companion to finish the examination of the +chest. The search necessarily continued some time, during which Judith +collected her thoughts, and regained her composure. She took no part in the +search, leaving every thing to the young man, looking listlessly, herself, at +the different articles that came uppermost. Nothing further of much interest, +or value, however, was found. A sword or two, such as were then worn by +gentlemen, some buckles of silver, or so richly plated as to appear silver, +and a few handsome articles of female dress composed the principal +discoveries. It struck both Judith and the Deer-slayer notwithstanding, that +some of these things might be made useful in effecting a negotiation with the +Iroquois, though the latter saw a difficulty in the way that was not so +apparent to the former. The conversation was first renewed in connection with +this point. + +"And now, Deerslayer," said Judith, "we may talk of yourself, and of the +means of getting you out of the hands of the Hurons. Any part, or all of what +you have seen in the chest will be cheerfully given by me and Hetty, to set +you at liberty." + +"Well, that's ginerous-yes, 'tis downright free-hearted, and free-handed, and +ginerous. This is the way with women; when they take up a fri'ndship, they do +nothing by halves, but are as willing to part with their property, as if it +had no valie in their eyes. Howsever, while I thank you both, just as natur' +gives in the free air, and the forest-now, if both these men stood here, as +suitors for your feelin's, which do you think would win your favor?" + +Judith's fine face flushed, for the picture that her compan. ion had so +simply drawn of a gay officer of the garrisons had once been particularly +grateful to her imagination, though experience and disappointment had not +only chilled all her affections, but given them a backward current, and the +passing image had a momentary influence on her feelings; but the mounting +colour was succeeded by a paleness so deadly, as to make her appear ghastly. + +"As God is my judge," the girl solemnly answered, "did both these men stand +before me, as I may say one of them does, my choice, if I know my own heart, +would be the latter. I have no wish for a husband who is any way better than +myself." + +"This is pleasant to listen to, and might lead a young man in time, to forget +his own onworthiness, Judith! Howsever, you hardly think all that you say. A +man like me is too rude and ignorant for one that has had such a mother to +teach her. Vanity is nat'ral, I do believe, but vanity like that, would +surpass reason." + +"Then you do not know of what a woman's heart is capable! Rude you are not, +Deerslayer, nor can one be called ignorant that has studied what is before +his eyes as closely as you have done. When the affections are concerned, all +things appear in their pleasantest colors, and trifles are overlooked, or are +forgotten. When the heart feels sunshine, nothing is gloomy, even dull +looking objects, seeming gay and bright, and so it would be between you and +the woman who should love you, even though your wife might happen, in some +matters, to possess what the world calls the advantage over you." +"Judith, you come of people altogether above mine, in the world, and onequal +matches, like onequal fri'ndships can't often tarminate kindly. I speak of +this matter altogether as a fanciful thing, since it's not very likely that +you, at least, would be apt to treat it as a matter that can ever come to +pass." + + +Judith fastened her deep blue eyes on the open, frank countenance of her +companion, as if she would read his soul. Nothing there betrayed any covert +meaning, and she was obliged to admit to herself, that he regarded the +conversation as argumentative, rather than positive, and that he was still +without any active suspicion that her feelings were seriously involved in the +issue. At first, she felt offended; then she saw the injustice of making the +self-abasement and modesty of the hunter a charge against him, and this novel +difficulty gave a piquancy to the state of affairs that rather increased her +interest in the young man. At that critical instant, a change of plan flashed +on her mind, and with a readiness of invention that is peculiar to the quick- +witted and ingenious, she adopted a scheme by which she hoped effectually to +bind him to her person. This scheme partook equally of her fertility of +invention, and of the decision and boldness of her character. That the +conversation might not terminate too abruptly, however, or any suspicion of +her design exist, she answered the last remark of Deerslayer, as earnestly +and as truly, as if her original intention remained unaltered. + +"I, certainly, have no reason to boast of parentage, after what I have seen +this night," said the girl, in a saddened voice. "I had a mother, it is true; +but of her name even, I am ignorant-and, as for my father, it is better, +perhaps, that I should never know who he was, lest I speak too bitterly of +him!" + +"Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her hand kindly, and with a manly sincerity +that went directly to the girl's heart, "tis better to say no more to-night. +Sleep on what you've seen and felt; in the morning things that now look +gloomy, may look more che'rful. Above all, never do any thing in bitterness, +or because you feel as if you'd like to take revenge on yourself, for other +people's backslidings. All that has been said, or done, atween us, this +night, is your secret, and shall never be talked of by me, even with the +Sarpent, and you may be sartain if he can't get it out of me no man can. If +your parents have been faulty, let the darter be less so; remember that +you're young, and the youthful may always hope for better times; that you're +more quick-witted than usual, and such gin'rally get the better of +difficulties, and that, as for beauty, you're oncommon, which is an advantage +with all. It is time to get a little rest, for to-morrow is like to prove a +trying day to some of us." + +Deerslayer arose as he spoke, and Judith had no choice but to comply. The +chest was closed and secured, and they parted in silence, she to take her +place by the side of Hist and Hetty, and he to seek a blanket on the floor of +the cabin he was in. It was not five minutes crc the young man was in a deep +sleep, but the girl continued awake for a long time. She scarce knew whether +to lament, or to rejoice, at having failed in making herself understood. On +the one hand, were her womanly sensibilities spared; on the other was the +disappointment of defeated, or at least of delayed expectations, and the +uncertainty of a future that looked so dark. Then came the new resolution, +and the bold project for the morrow, and when drowsiness finally shut her +eyes, they closed on a scene of success and happiness, that was pictured by +the fancy, under the influence of a sanguine temperament, and a happy +invention. + + + + +Chapter XXIV + +"Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame; +Thy private feasting to a public fast; +Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name; +Thy sugar'd tongue to bitter worm wood taste: +Thy violent vanities can never last." + +Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 11. 890-94. + +Judith was waiting the return of Deerslayer on the platform, with stifled +impatience, when the latter reached the hut. Hist and Hetty were both in a +deep sleep, on the bed usually occupied by the two daughters of the house, +and the Delaware was stretched on the floor of the adjoining room, his rifle +at his side, and a blanket over him, already dreaming of the events of the +last few days. There was a lamp burning in the Ark, for the family was +accustomed to indulge in this luxury on extraordinary occasions, and +possessed the means, the vessel being of a form and material to render it +probable it had once been an occupant of the chest. + +As soon as the girl got a glimpse of the canoe, she ceased her hurried walk +up and down the platform, and stood ready to receive the young man, whose +return she had now been anxiously expecting for some time. She helped him to +fasten the canoe, and by aiding in the other little similar employ ments, +manifested her desire to reach a moment of liberty as soon as possible. When +this was done, in answer to an inquiry of his, she informed him of the manner +in which their companions had disposed of themselves. He listened +attentively, for the manner of the girl was so earnest and impressive as to +apprise him that she had something on her mind of more than common concern. + +"And now, Deerslayer," Judith continued, "you see I have lighted the lamp, +and put it in the cabin of the Ark. That is never done with us, unless on +great occasions, and I consider this night as the most important of my life. +Will you follow me and see what I have to show you-hear what I have to say." +The hunter was a little surprised, but, making no objec tions, both were soon +in the scow, and in the room that contamed the light. Here two stools were +placed at the side of the chest, with the lamp on another, and a table near +by to receive the different articles as they might be brought to view. This +arrangement had its rise in the feverish impatience of the girl, which could +brook no delay that it was in her power to obviate. Even all the padlocks +were removed, and it only re mained to raise the heavy lid, again, to expose +all the treasures of this long secreted hoard. + +"I see, in part, what all this means," observed Deerslayer- "yes, I see +through it, in part. But why is not Hetty present; now, Thomas Hurter is +gone, she is one of the owners of these cur'osities, and ought to see them +opened and handled." + +"Hetty sleeps-" answered Judith, huskily. "Happily for her, fine clothes and +riches have no charms. Besides she has this night given her share of all that +the chest may hold, to me, that I may do with it as I please." + +"Is poor Hetty composs enough for that, Judith?" de manded the just-minded +young man. "It's a good rule and a righteous one, never to take when them +that give don't know the valie of their gifts; and such as god has visited +heavily in their wits, ought to be dealt with as carefully as children that +have n't yet come to their understandings." + +Judith was hurt at this rebuke, coming from the person it did, but she would +have felt it far more keenly had not her conscience fully acquitted her of +any unjust intentions to wards her feeble-minded but confiding sister. It was +not a moment, however, to betray any of her usual mountings of the spirit, +and she smothered the passing sensation in the de sire to come to the great +object she had in view. + +"Hetty will not be wronged," she mildly answered; "she even knows not only +what I am about to do, Deerslayer, but why I do it. So take your seat, raise +the lid of the chest, and this time we will go to the bottom. I shall be +disappointed if something is not found to tell us more of the history of +Thomas Hurter and my mother." + +"Why Thomas Hutter, Judith, and not your father? The I dead ought to meet +with as much reverence as the living!" + +"I have long suspected that Thomas Hurter was not my father, though I did +think he might have been Hetty's, but now we know he was the father of +neither. He acknowledged that much in his dying moments. I am old enough to +remember better things than we have seen on this lake, though they are so +faintly impressed on my memory, that the earlier part of my life seems like a +dream." + +"Dreams are but miserable guides when one has to detar mine about realities, +Judith," returned the other, admonishingly. "Fancy nothing, and hope nothing +on their account, though I've known chiefs that thought 'em useful." + +"I expect nothing for the future, from them, my good friend, but cannot help +remembering what has been. This is idle, however, when half an hour of +examination may tell us all, or even more than I want to know." + +Deerslayer, who comprehended the girl's impatience, now took his seat, and +proceeded once more to bring to light the different articles that the chest +contained. As a matter of course, all that had been previously examined were +found where they had been last deposited, and they excited much less +interest, or comment, than when formerly exposed to view. Even Judith laid +aside the rich brocade with an air of indifference, for she had a far higher +aim before her than the indulgence of vanity, and was impatient to come at +the still hidden, or rather unknown, treasures. + +"All these we have seen before," she said, "and will not stop to open. The +bundle under your hand, Deerslayer, is a fresh one; that we will look into. +God send it may contain something to tell poor Hetty and myself, who we +really are!" +"Ay, if some bundles could speak, they might tell wonderful secrets," +returned the young man deliberately undoing the folds of another piece of +course canvass, in order to come at the contents of the roll that lay on his +knees: "though this doesn't seem to be one of that family, seeing 'tis +neither more nor less than a sort of flag, though of what nation, it passes +my l'arnin' to say." + +"That flag must have some meaning to it-" Judith hurriedly interposed. "Open +it wider, Deerslayer, that we may see the colours." + +"Well, I pity the ensign that has to shoulder this cloth, and to parade it +about on the field. Why 'tis large enough, Judith,to make a dozen of them +colours the King's officers set so much store by These can be no ensign's +colours, but a gin'ral's!" + +"A ship might carry it, Deerslayer, and ships I know do use such things. Have +you never heard any fearful stories about Thomas Hurter's having once been +concerned with the people they call buccaneers?" + +"Buck-ah-near! Not I-not I-I never heard him mentioned as good at a buck far +off, or near by. Hurry Harry did till me something about its being supposed +that he had formerly, in some way or other, dealings with sartain sea rob +bers, but, Lord, Judith, it can't surely give you any satisfaction to make +out that ag'in your mother's own husband, though he isn't your father." + +"Any thing will give me satisfaction that tells me who I am, and helps to +explain the dreams of childhood. My mother's husband! Yes, he must have been +that, though why a woman like her, should have chosen a man like him, is more +than mortal reason can explain. You never saw mother, Deerslayer, and can't +feel the vast, vast difference there was between them!" + +"Such things do happen, howsever; -yes, they do happen; though why providence +lets them come to pass, is more than I understand. I've knew the f'ercest +warriors with the gentlest wives of any in the tribe, and awful scolds fall +to the lot of Injins fit to be missionaries." + +"That was not it, Deerslayer; that was not it. Oh! if it should prove that- +no; I can not wish she should not have been his wife at all. That no daughter +can wish for her own mother! Go on, now, and let us see what the square +looking bundle holds." + +Deerslayer complied, and he found that it contained a small trunk of pretty +workmanship, but fastened. The next point was to find a key; but, search +proving ineffectual, it was determined to force the lock. This Deerslayer +soon effected by the aid of an iron instrument, and it was found that the +interior was nearly filled with papers. Many were letters; some fragments of +manuscripts, memorandums, accounts, and other similar documents. The hawk +does not pounce upon the chicken with a more sudden swoop, than Judith sprang +forward to seize this mine of hitherto concealed knowledge. Her education, as +the reader will have perceived, was far superior to her situation in life, +and her eye glanced over page after page of the letters, with a readiness +that her schooling supplied, and with an avidity that found its origin in her +feelings. At first, it was evident that the girl was gratified; and we may +add with reason, for the letters written by females, in innocence and +affection, were of a character to cause her to feel proud of those with whom +she had every reason to think she was closely connected by the ties of blood. +It does not come within the scope of our plan to give more of these epistles, +however, than a general idea of their contents, and this will best be done by +describing the effect they produced on the manner, appearance, and feeling of +her who was so eagerly perusing them. + +It has been said, already, that Judith was much gratified with the letters +that first met her eye. They contained the correspondence of an affectionate +and intelligent mother, to an absent daughter, with such allusions to the +answers, as served, in a great measure, to fill up the vacuum left by the +replies. They were not without admonitions and warnings, however, and Judith +felt the blood mounting to her temples, and a cold shudder succeeding, as she +read one in which the propriety of the daughter's indulging in as much +intimacy, as had evidently been described in one of the daughter's own +letters, with an officer "who came from Europe, and who could hardly be +supposed to wish to form an honorable connection in America," was rather +coldly commented on by the mother. What rendered it singular, was the fact +that the signatures had been carefully cut from every one of these letters, +and wherever a name occurred in the body of the epistles, it had been erased +with so much diligence as to render it impossible to read it. They had all +been enclosed in envelopes, according to the fashion of the age, and not an +address either was to be found. Still the letters themselves had been +religiously pre served, and Judith thought she could discover traces of tears +remaining on several. She now remembered to have seen the little trunk in her +mother's keeping, previously to her death, and she supposed it had first been +deposited in the chest, along with the other forgotten, or concealed objects, +when the letters could no longer contribute to that parent's grief or +happiness. + +Next came another bundle, and these were filled with the protestations of +love, written with passion certainly, but also with that deceit which men so +often think it justifiable to use to the other sex. Judith had shed tears +abundantly over the first packet, but now she felt a sentiment of indignation +and pride better sustaining her. Her hand shook, however, and cold shivers +again passed through her frame, as she discovered a few points of strong +resemblance between these letters and some it had been her own fate to +receive. Once, indeed, she laid the packet down, bowed her head to her knees, +and seemed nearly convulsed. All this time Deerslayer sat a silent, but +attentive observer of every thing that passed. As Judith read a letter, she +put it into his hands to hold, until she could peruse the next; but this +served in no degree to enlighten her companion, as he was totally unable to +read. Nevertheless he was not entirely at fault, in discovering the passions +that were contending in the bosom of the fair creature by his side, and, as +occasional sentences escaped her in murmurs, he was nearer the truth, in his +divinations, or conjectures, than the girl would have been pleased at +discovering. + +Judith had commenced with the earliest letters, luckily for a ready +comprehension of the tale they told, for they were carefully arranged in +chronological order, and to any one who would take the trouble to peruse +them, would have revealed a sad history of gratified passion, coldness, and +finally of aversion. As she obtained the clue to their import, her impatience +would not admit of delay, and she soon got to glancing her eyes over a page, +by way of coming at the truth, in the briefest manner possible. By adopting +this expedient, one to which all who are eager to arrive at results, without +encumbering themselves with details, are so apt to resort, Judith made a +rapid progress in these melancholy revelations of her mother's failing and +punishment. She saw that the period of her own birth was distinctly referred +to, and even learned that the homely name she bore, was given her by the +father, of whose person she retained so faint an impression as to resemble a +dream. This name was not obliterated from the text of the letters, but stood +as if nothing was to be gained by erasing it. Hetty's birth was mentioned +once, and in that instance the name was the mother's, but ere this period was +reached came the signs of coldness, shadowing forth the desertion that was so +soon to follow. It was in this stage of the correspondence that her mother +had recourse to the plan of copying her own epistles. They were but few, but +were eloquent with the feelings of blighted affection, and contrition. Judith +sobbed over them, until again and again she felt compelled to lay them aside +from sheer physical in a inability to see; her eyes being literally obscured +with tears. Still she returned to the task, with increasing interest, and +finally succeeded in reaching the end of the latest communication that had +probably ever passed between her parents. + +All this occupied fully an hour, for near a hundred letters were glanced at, +and some twenty had been closely read. The truth now shone clear upon the +acute mind of Judith, so far as her own birth and that of Hetty, were +concerned. She sickened at the conviction, and for the moment the rest of the +world seemed to be cut off from her, and she had now additional reasons for +wishing to pass the remainder of her life on the lake, where she had already +seen so many bright and so many sorrowing days. + +There yet remained more letters to examine. Judith found these were a +correspondence between her mother and Thomas Hovey. The originals of both +parties were carefully arranged, letter and answer, side by side; and they +told the early history of the connection between the ill-assorted pair far +more plainly than Judith wished to learn it. Her mother made the advances +towards a marriage, to the surprise, not to say horror of her daughter, and +she actually found a relief when she discovered traces of what struck her as +insanity- or a morbid desperation, bordering on that dire calamity- in the +earlier letters of that ill-fated woman. The answers of Hovey were coarse and +illiterate, though they manifested a sufficient desire to obtain the hand of +a woman of singular personal attractions, and whose great error he was +willing to overlook for the advantage of possessing one, every way so much +his superior, and, who, it also appeared was not altogether destitute of +money. The remainder of this part of the correspondence was brief, and it was +soon confined to a few communications on business, in which the miserable +wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a world, +which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one of the +parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression had +escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that had +induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that feeling of +resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on themselves, +by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they have +suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend this +sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which permitted +such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy. + +There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the +loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation +offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among +which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the +proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black +lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the +papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of +residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses, +had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of +the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased. +Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were, +defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits +for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's +manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical +facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood +sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess +any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her +companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it +might yet contain something of importance. + +"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if +there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've +got through with the reading of communications on business, in which the +miserable wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a +world, which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one +of the parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression +had escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that +had induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that +feeling of resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on +themselves, by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they +have suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend +this sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which +permitted such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy. + +There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the +loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation +offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among +which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the +proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black +lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the +papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of +residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses, +had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of +the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased. +Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were, +defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits +for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's +manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical +facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood +sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess +any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her +companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it +might yet contain something of importance. + +"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if +there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've +got through with the reading of much as if the bargain was made, and +Rivenoak, or any of the other vagabonds, was here to accept and close the +treaty, there's two principal reasons why it can never come to pass, which +may be as well told at once, in order no onlikely expectations may be raised +in you, or any onjustiflable hopes in me." + +"What reason can there be, if Hetty and I are willing to part with the +trifles for your sake, and the savages are willing to receive them?" + +"That's it, Judith-you've got the idees, but they're a little out of their +places, as if a hound should take the back'ard instead of the leading scent. +That the Mingos will be willing to receive them things, or any more like 'em, +you may have to offer is probable enough, but whether they'll pay valie for +'em, is quite another matter. Ask yourself, Judith, if any one should send +you a message to say that, for such or such a price, you and Hetty might have +that chist and all it holds, whether you'd think it worth your while to waste +many words on the bargain?" + +"But this chest and all it holds, are already ours; there is no reason why we +should purchase what is already our own." + +"Just so the Mingos caculate! They say the chist is theirn, already; or, as +good as theirn, and they'll not thank anybody for the key." + +"I understand you, Deerslayer; surely we are yet in posses sion of the lake, +and we can keep possession of it, until Hurry sends troops to drive off the +enemy. This we may certainly do, provided you will stay with us, instead of +going back and giving yourself up a prisoner, again, as you now seem deter +mined on". + +"That Hurry Harry should talk in thisaway, is nat'ral, and according to the +gifts of the man. He knows no better, and, therefore, he is little likely to +feel, or to act any better; but, Judith, I put it to your heart and +conscience-would you, could you think of me as favorably, as I hope and +believe you now do, was I to forget my furlough and not go back to the camp?" + +"To think more favorably of you than I now do, Deerslayer, would not be easy; +but I might continue to think as favor ably-at least it seems so-I hope I +could, for, a world would n't tempt me to let you do any thing that might +change my real opinion of you." + +"Then do n't try to entice me to overlook my furlough, gal! -A furlough is a +sacred thing among warriors and men that carry their lives in their hands, as +we of the forests do, and what a grievous disapp'intment would it be to old +Tamenund, and to Uncas, the father of the Sarpent, and to my other fri'nds in +the tribe, if I was so to disgrace myself, on my very first war-path? This +you will pairceive, moreover, Judith, is without laying any stress on nat'ral +gifts, and a white man's duties, to say nothing of conscience. The last is +king with me, and I try never to dispute his orders." + +"I believe you are right, Deerslayer," returned the girl, after a little +reflection and in a saddened voice: "a man like you, ought not to act, as the +selfish and dishonest would be apt to act; you must, indeed, go back. We will +talk no more of this, then. Should I persuade you to any thing for which you +would be sorry hereafter, my own regret would not be less than yours. You +shall not have it to say, Judith-I scarce know by what name to call myself, +now!" +"And why not?-Why not, gal? Children take the names of their parents, +nat'rally, and by a sort of gift, like, and why should n't you and Hetty do, +as others have done afore ye? Hutter was the old man's name, and Hurter +should be the name of his darters; -at least until you are given away in +lawful and holy wedlock." +"I am Judith, and Judith only," returned the girl positively-"until the law +gives me a right to another name. Never will I use that of Thomas Hurter +again; nor, with my consent, shall Hetty! Hurter was not even his own name, I +find, but had he a thousand rights to it, it would give none to me. He was +not my father, thank heaven; though I may have no reason to be proud of him +that was!" + +"This is strange!" said Deerslayer, looking steadily at the excited girl, +anxious to know more, but unwilling to inquire into matters that did not +properly concern him; "yes, this is very strange and oncommon! Thomas Hurter +was n't Thomas Hurter, and his darters were n't his darters! Who, then, could +Thomas Hurter be, and who are his darters?" + +"Did you never hear any thing whispered against the former life of this +person, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith- "Passing, as I did, for his child, such +reports reached even me." + +"I'll not deny it, Judith; no, I'll not deny it. Sartain things have been +said, as I've told you, but I'm not very credible as to reports. Young as I +am, I've lived long enough to l'am there's two sorts of characters in the +world-them that is 'arned by deeds, and them that is 'arned by tongues, and +so I prefar to see and judge for myself, instead of letting every jaw that +chooses to wag become my judgment. Hurry Harry spoke pretty plainly of the +whole family, as we journeyed this-a-way, and he did hint something +consarning Thomas Hutter's having been a free-liver on the water, in his +younger days. By free-liver, I mean that he made free to live on other men's +goods." + +"He told you he was a pirate-there is no need of mincing matters between +friends. Read that, Deerslayer, and you will see that he told you no more +than the truth. This Thomas Hovey was the Thomas Hutter you knew, as is seen +by these letters." + +As Judith spoke, with a flushed cheek and eyes dazzling with the brilliancy +of excitement, she held the newspaper towards her companion, pointing to the +proclamation of a Colonial Governor, already mentioned. + +"Bless you, Judith!" answered the other laughing, "you might as well ask me +to print that-or, for that matter to write it. My edication has been +altogether in the woods; the only book I read, or care about reading, is the +one which God has opened afore all his creatur's in the noble forests, broad +lakes, rolling rivers, blue skies, and the winds and tempests, and sunshine, +and other glorious marvels of the land! This book I can read, and I find it +full of wisdom and knowledge." + +"I crave your pardon, Deerslayer," said Judith, earnestly, more abashed than +was her wont, in finding that she had in advertently made an appeal that +might wound her compan ion's pride. "I had forgotten your manner of life, and +least of all did I wish to hurt your feelings." + +"Hurt my feelin's?-Why should it hurt my feelin's to ask me to read, when I +can't read. I'm a hunter-and I may now begin to say a warrior, and no +missionary, and therefore books and papers are of no account with such as I- +No, no-Judith," and here the young man laughed cordially, "not even for wads, +seeing that your true deerkiller always uses the hide of a fa'a'n, if he's +got one, or some other bit of leather suitably prepared. There's some that do +say, all that stands in print is true, in which case I'll own an unl'arned +man must be somewhat of a loser; nevertheless, it can't be truer than that +which God has printed with his own hand, in the sky, and the woods, and the +rivers, and the springs." + +"Well, then, Hutter, or Hovey, was a pirate, and being no father of mine, I +cannot wish to call him one. His name shall no longer be my name." +"If you dislike the name of that man, there's the name of your mother, +Judith. Hem may sarve you just as good a turn." + +"I do not know it. I've look'd through those papers, Deer-slayer, in the hope +of finding some hint, by which I might discover who my mother was, but there +is no more trace of the past, in that respect, than the bird leaves in the +air." + +"That's both oncommon, and onreasonable. Parents are bound to give their +offspring a name, even though they give 'em nothing else. Now I come of a +humble stock, though we have white gifts and a white narur', but we are not +so poorly off, as to have no name. Bumppo we are called, and I've heard it +said-" a touch of human vanity glowing on his cheek, "that the time has been +when the Bumppos had more standing and note among mankind, than they have +just now." + +"They never deserved them more, Deerslayer, and the name is a good one; +either Hetty, or myself, would a thousand times rather be called Hetty +Bumppo, or Judith Bumppo, than to be called Hetty or Judith Hutter." + +"That's a moral impossible," returned the hunter, good humouredly, "onless +one of you should so far demean herself as to marry me." + +Judith could not refrain from smiling, when she found how simply and +naturally the conversation had come round to the very point at which she had +aimed to bring it. Although far from unfeminine or forward, either in her +feelings, or her habits, the girl was goaded by a sense of wrongs not +altogether merited, incited by the hopelessness of a future that seemed to +contain no resting place, and still more influenced by feelings that were as +novel to her, as they proved to be active and engrossing. The opening was too +good, therefore, to be neglected, though she came to the subject with much of +the indirectness and perhaps, justifiable, address of a woman. + +"I do not think Hetty will ever marry, Deerslayer," she said, "and if your +name is to be borne by either of us, it must be borne by me." + +"There's been handsome women too, they tell me, among the Bumppos, Judith, +afore now, and should you take up with the name, oncommon as you be, in this +particular, them that knows the family won't be altogether surprised." + +"This is not talking as becomes either of us, Deerslayer, for whatever is +said on such a subject, between man and woman, should be said seriously, and +in sincerity of heart. Forgetting the shame that ought to keep girls silent, +until spoken to, in most cases, I will deal with you as frankly as I know one +of your generous nature will most like to be dealt by. Can you- do you think, +Deerslayer, that you could be happy with such a wife as a woman like myself +would make?" + +"A woman like you, Judith! But where's the sense in trifling about such a +thing?-A woman like you, that is handsome enough to be a captain's lady, and +fine enough, and so far as I know edicated enough, would be little apt to +think of be coming my wife. I suppose young gals that feel themselves to be +smart, and know themselves to be handsome, find a sartain satisfaction in +passing their jokes ag'in them that's neither, like a poor Delaware hunter." + +This was said good naturedly, but not without a betrayal of feeling which +showed that some thing like mortified sensibility was blended with the reply. +Nothing could have occurred more likely to awaken all Judith's generous +regrets, or to aid her in her purpose, by adding the stimulant of a +disinterested desire to atone, to her other impulses, and cloaking all under +a guise so winning and natural, as greatly to lessen the unpleasant feature +of a forwardness unbecoming the sex. + +"You do me injustice if you suppose I have any such thought, or wish," she +answered, earnestly. "Never was I more serious in my life, or more willing to +abide by any agreement, that we may make to-night. I have had many suit ors, +Deerslayer-nay, scarce an unmarried trapper or hunter has been in at the Lake +these four years, who has not offered to take me away with him, and I fear +some that were married, too-" + +"Ay, I'll warrant that!" interrupted the other-"I'll warrant all that! Take +'em as a body, Judith, 'arth don't hold a set of men more given to +theirselves, and less given to God and the law." + +"Not one of them would I-could I listen to; happily for myself perhaps, has +it been that such was the case. There have been well looking youths among +them too, as you may have seen in your acquaintance, Henry March." + +"Yes, Harry is sightly to the eye, though, to my idees, less so to the +judgment. I thought, at first, you meant to have him, Judith, I did; but +afore he went, it was easy enough to verify that the same lodge would n't be +big enough for you both." + +"You have done me justice in that at least, Deerslayer. Hurry is a man I +could never marry, though he were ten times more comely to the eye, and a +hundred times more stout of heart, than he really is." + +"Why not, Judith, why not? I own I'm cur'ous to know why a youth like Hurry +should n't find favor with a maiden like you?" + +"Then you shall know, Deerslayer," returned the girl, gladly availing herself +of the opportunity of indirectly extol ling the qualities which had so +strongly interested her in her listener; hoping by these means covertly to +approach the subject nearest her heart. "In the first place, looks in a man +are of no importance with a woman, provided he is manly, and not disfigured, +or deformed." + +"There I can't altogether agree with you," returned the other thoughtfully, +for he had a very humble opinion of his own personal appearance; "I have +noticed that the comeliest warriors commonly get the best-looking maidens of +the tribe, for wives, and the Sarpent, yonder, who is sometimes wonderful in +his paint, is a gineral favorite with all the Delaware young women, though he +takes to Hist, himself, as if she was the only beauty on 'arth!" + +"It may be so with Indians; but it is different with white girls. So long as +a young man has a straight and manly frame, that promises to make him able to +protect a woman, and to keep want from the door, it is all they ask of the +figure. Giants like Hurry may do for grenadiers, but are of little account as +lovers. Then as to the face, an honest look, one that answers for the heart +within, is of more value than any shape or colour, or eyes, or teeth, or +trifles like them. The last may do for girls, but who thinks of them at all, +in a hunter, or a warrior, or a husband? -If there are women so silly, Judith +is not among them." + +"Well, this is wonderful! I always thought that handsome liked handsome, as +riches love riches!" + +"It may be so with you men, Deerslayer, but it is not always so with us +women. We like stout-hearted men, but we wish to see them modest; sure on a +hunt, or the war-path, ready to die for the right, and unwilling to yield to +the wrong. Above all we wish for honesty-tongues that are not used to say +what the mind does not mean, and hearts that feel a little for others, as +well as for themselves. A true-hearted girl could die for such a husband! +while the boaster, and the double-tongued suitor gets to be as hateful to the +sight, as he is to the mind." + +Judith spoke bitterly, and with her usual force, but her listener was too +much struck with the novelty of the sensations he experienced to advert to +her manner. There was something so soothing to the humility of a man of his +temperament, to hear qualities that he could not but know he possessed +himself, thus highly extolled by the loveliest female he had ever beheld, +that, for the moment, his faculties seemed suspended in a natural and +excusable pride. Then it was that the idea of the possibility of such a +creature as Judith becoming his companion for life, first crossed his mind. +The image was so pleasant, and so novel, that he continued completely +absorbed by it, for more than a minute, totally regardless of the beautiful +reality that was seated before him, watching the expression of his upright +and truth-telling countenance with a keenness that gave her a very fair, if +not an absolutely accurate clue to his thoughts. Never before had so pleasing +a vision floated before the mind's eye of the young hunter, but, accustomed +most to practical things, and little addicted to submitting to the power of +his imagination, even while possessed of so much true poetical feeling in +connection with natural objects in particular, he soon recovered his reason, +and smiled at his own weakness, as the fancied picture faded from his mental +sight, and left him the simple, untaught, but highly moral being he was, +seated in the Ark of Thomas Hurter, at midnight, with the lovely countenance +of its late owner's reputed daughter, beaming on him with anxious scrutiny, +by the light of the solitary lamp. + +"You're wonderful handsome, and enticing, and pleasing to look on, Judith!" +he exclaimed, in his simplicity, as fact resumed its ascendency over fancy. +"Wonderful! I do n't remember ever to have seen so beautiful a gal, even +among the Delawares; and I'm not astonished that Hurry Harry went away soured +as well as disapp'inted!" + +"Would you have had me, Deerslayer, become the wife of such a man as Henry +March?" + +"There's that which is in his favor, and there's that which is ag'in him. To +my taste, Hurry would n't make the best of husbands, but I fear that the +tastes of most young women, hereaway, would n't be so hard upon him." + +"No-no-Judith without a name, would never consent to be called Judith March! +Any thing would be better than that." + +"Judith Bumppo would n't sound as well, gal; and there's many names that +would fall short of March, in pleasing the ear." + +"Ah! Deerslayer, the pleasantness of the sound, in such cases, does n't come +through the ear, but through the heart. Every thing is agreeable, when the +heart is satisfied. Were Natty Bumppo, Henry March, and Henry March, Natty +Bumppo, I might think the name of March better than it is; or were he, you, I +should fancy the name of Bumppo, horrible!" + +"That's just it-yes, that's the reason of the matter. Now, I'm nat'rally +avarse to sarpents, and I hate even the word, which, the missionaries tell +me, comes from human natur', on account of a sartain sarpent at the creation +of the 'arth, that outwitted the first woman; yet, ever since Chingachgook +them! Two good hours have you been looking at them bits of papers!" + +"They tell me of my parents, Deerslayer, and have settled my plans for life. +A girl may be excused who reads about her own father and mother, and that too +for the first time in her life. I am sorry to have kept you waiting." + +"Never mind me, gal, never mind me. It matters little whether I sleep or +watch; but, though you be pleasant to look at, and are so handsome, Judith, +it is not altogether agreeable to sit so long to behold you shedding tears. I +know that tears do n't kill, and that some people are better for shedding a +few, now and then, especially women, but I'd rather see you smile, any time, +Judith, than see you weep." + +This gallant speech was rewarded with a sweet, though a melancholy smile, and +then the girl again desired her companion to finish the examination of the +chest. The search necessarily continued some time, during which Judith +collected her thoughts, and regained her composure. She took no part in the +search, leaving every thing to the young man, looking listlessly, herself, at +the different articles that came uppermost. Nothing further of much interest, +or value, however, was found. A sword or two, such as were then worn by +gentlemen, some buckles of silver, or so richly plated as to appear silver, +and a few handsome articles of female dress composed the principal +discoveries. It struck both Judith and the Deer-slayer notwithstanding, that +some of these things might be made useful in effecting a negotiation with the +Iroquois, though the latter saw a difficulty in the way that was not so +apparent to the former. The conversation was first renewed in connection with +this point. + +"And now, Deerslayer," said Judith, "we may talk of yourself, and of the +means of getting you out of the hands of the Hurons. Any part, or all of what +you have seen in the chest will be cheerfully given by me and Hetty, to set +you at liberty." + +"Well, that's ginerous-yes, 'tis downright free-hearted, and free-handed, and +ginerous. This is the way with women; when they take up a fri'ndship, they do +nothing by halves, but are as willing to part with their property, as if it +had no valie in their eyes. Howsever, while I thank you both, just as natur' +gives in the free air, and the forest-now, if both these men stood here, as +suitors for your feelin's, which do you think would win your favor?" + +Judith's fine face flushed, for the picture that her companion had so simply +drawn of a gay officer of the garrisons had once been particularly grateful +to her imagination, though experience and disappointment had not only chilled +all her affections, but given them a backward current, and the passing image +had a momentary influence on her feelings; but the mounting colour was +succeeded by a paleness so deadly, as to make her appear ghastly. + +"As God is my judge," the girl solemnly answered, "did both these men stand +before me, as I may say one of them does, my choice, if I know my own heart, +would be the latter. I have no wish for a husband who is any way better than +myself." + +"This is pleasant to listen to, and might lead a young man in time, to forget +his own onworthiness, Judith! Howsever, you hardly think all that you say. A +man like me is too rude and ignorant for one that has had such a mother to +teach her. Vanity is nat'ral, I do believe, but vanity like that, would +surpass reason." + +"Then you do not know of what a woman's heart is capable! Rude you are not, +Deerslayer, nor can one be called ignorant that has studied what is before +his eyes as closely as you have done. When the affections are concerned, all +things appear in their pleasantest colors, and trifles are overlooked, or are +forgotten. When the heart feels sunshine, nothing is gloomy, even dull +looking objects, seeming gay and bright, and so it would be between you and +the woman who should love you, even though your wife might happen, in some +matters, to possess what the world calls the advantage over you." + +"Judith, you come of people altogether above mine, in the world, and onequal +matches, like onequal fri'ndships can't often tarminate kindly. I speak of +this matter altogether as a fanciful thing, since it's not very likely that +you, at least, would be apt to treat it as a matter that can ever come to +pass." + +Judith fastened her deep blue eyes on the open, frank countenance of her +companion, as if she would read his soul. Nothing there betrayed any covert +meaning, and she was obliged to admit to herself, that he regarded the +conversation as argumentative, rather than positive, and that he was still +without any active suspicion that her feelings were seriously involved in the +issue. At first, she felt offended; then she saw the injustice of making the +self-abasement and modesty of the hunter a charge against him, and this novel +difficulty gave a piquancy to the state of affairs that rather increased her +interest in the young man. At that critical instant, a change of plan flashed +on her mind, and with a readiness of invention that is peculiar to the quick- +witted and ingenious, she adopted a scheme by which she hoped effectually to +bind him to her person. This scheme partook equally of her fertility of +invention, and of the decision and boldness of her character. That the +conversation might not terminate too abruptly, however, or any suspicion of +her design exist, she answered the last remark of Deerslayer, as earnestly +and as truly, as if her original intention remained unaltered. + +"I, certainly, have no reason to boast of parentage, after what I have seen +this night," said the girl, in a saddened voice. "I had a mother, it is true; +but of her name even, I am ignorant-and, as for my father, it is better, +perhaps, that I should never know who he was, lest I speak too bitterly of +him!" + +"Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her hand kindly, and with a manly sincerity +that went directly to the girl's heart, "tis better to say no more to-night. +Sleep on what you've seen and felt; in the morning things that now look +gloomy, may look more che'rful. Above all, never do any thing in bitterness, +or because you feel as if you'd like to take revenge on yourself, for other +people's backslidings. All that has been said, or done, atween us, this +night, is your secret, and shall never be talked of by me, even with the +Sarpent, and you may be sartain if he can't get it out of me no man can. If +your parents have been faulty, let the darter be less so; remember that +you're young, and the youthful may always hope for better times; that you're +more quick-witted than usual, and such gin'rally get the better of +difficulties, and that, as for beauty, you're oncommon, which is an advantage +with all. It is time to get a little rest, for to-morrow is like to prove a +trying day to some of us." + +Deerslayer arose as he spoke, and Judith had no choice but to comply. The +chest was closed and secured, and they parted in silence, she to take her +place by the side of Hist and Hetty, and he to seek a blanket on the floor of +the cabin he was in. It was not five minutes crc the young man was in a deep +sleep, but the girl continued awake for a long time. She scarce knew whether +to lament, or to rejoice, at having failed in making herself understood. On +the one hand, were her womanly sensibilities spared; on the other was the +disappointment of defeated, or at least of delayed expectations, and the +uncertainty of a future that looked so dark. Then came the new resolution, +and the bold project for the morrow, and when drowsiness finally shut her +eyes, they closed on a scene of success and happiness, that was pictured by +the fancy, under the influence of a sanguine temperament, and a happy +invention. + + + + +Chapter XXV + +"But, mother, now a shade has past, +Athwart my brightest visions here, +A cloud of darkest gloom has wrapt, +The remnant of my brief career! +No song, no echo can I win, +The sparkling fount has died within." +Margaret Davidson, "To my Mother," 11. 7-12. + + + + +Hist and Hetty arose with the return of light, leaving Judith still buried in +sleep. It took but a minute for the first to complete her toilet. Her long +coal-black hair was soon adjusted in a simple knot, the calico dress belted +tight to her slender waist, and her little feet concealed in their gaudily +ornamented moccasins. When attired, she left her companion employed in +household affairs, and went herself on the platform to breathe the pure air +of the morning. Here she found Chingachgook studying the shores of the lake, +the mountains and the heavens, with the sagacity of a man of the woods, and +the gravity of an Indian. + +The meeting between the two lovers was simple, but affectionate. The chief +showed a manly kindness, equally removed from boyish weakness and haste, +while the girl betrayed, in her smile and half averted looks, the bashful +tenderness of her sex. Neither spoke, unless it were with the eyes, though +each understood the other as fully as if a vocabulary of words and +protestations had been poured out. Hist seldom appeared to more advantage, +than at that moment, for just from her rest and ablutions, there was a +freshness about her youthful form and face, that the toils of the wood do not +always permit to be exhibited, by even the juvenile and pretty. Then Judith +had not only imparted some of her own skill in the toilet, during their short +intercourse, but she had actually bestowed a few well selected ornaments from +her own stores, that contributed not a little to set off the natural graces +of the Indian maid. All this the lover saw and felt, and for a moment his +countenance was illuminated with a look of pleasure, but it soon grew. + +"The Great Spirit may soften their hearts, and not suffer them to be so +bloody minded. I have lived among the Hurons, and know them. They have +hearts, and will not forget their own children, should they fall into the +hands of the Delawares." + +"A wolf is forever howling; a hog will always eat. They have lost warriors; +even their women will call out for vengeance. The pale face has the eyes of +an eagle, and can see into a Mingo's heart; he looks for no mercy. There is a +cloud over his spirit, though it is not before his face." + +A long, thoughtful pause succeeded, during which Hist stealthily took the +hand of the chief, as if seeking his support, though she scarce ventured to +raise her eyes to a countenance that was now literally becoming terrible, +under the conflicting passions, and stern resolution that were struggling in +the breast of its owner. + +"What will the Son of Uncas do?" the girl at length timidly asked. "He is a +chief, and is already celebrated in council, though so young; what does his +heart tell him is wisest; does the head, too, speak the same words as the +heart?" + +"What does Wah-ta!-Wah say, at a moment when my dearest friend is in such +danger. The smallest birds sing the sweetest; it is always pleasant, to +hearken to their songs. I wish I could hear the Wren of the Woods in my +difficulty; its note would reach deeper than the ear. + +Again Hist experienced the profound gratification that the language of praise +can always awaken, when uttered by those we love. The 'Honeysuckle of the +Hills' was a term often applied to the girl, by the young men of the +Delawares, though it never sounded so sweet in her ears, as from the lips of +Chingachgook; but the latter alone had ever styled her the Wren of the Woods. +With him, however, it had got to be a familiar phrase, and it was past +expression pleasant to the listener, since it conveyed to her mind the idea +that her advice and sentiments were as acceptable to her future husband, as +the tones of her voice and modes of conveying them were agreeable; uniting +the two things most prized by an Indian girl, as coming from her betrothed, +admiration for a valued physical advantage, with respect for her opinion. She +pressed the hand she held, between both her own, and answered- + +"The pale-faces know every thing," he said; "can they tell us why the sun +hides his face, when he goes back, at night." + +"Ay, that is downright red-skin l'arnin'," returned the other, laughing, +though he was not altogether insensible to the pleasure of proving the +superiority of his race, by solving the difficulty, which he set about doing, +in his own peculiar manner. "Harkee, Sarpent," he continued more gravely, +though too simply for affectation; "this is easierly explained than an Indian +brain may fancy. The sun, while he seem's to keep travelling in the heavens, +never budges, but it is the 'arth that turns round, and any one can +understand, if he is placed on the side of a mill-wheel, for instance, when +it's in motion, that he must some times see the heavens, while he is at other +times under water. There's no great secret in that; but plain natur'; the +difficulty being in setting the 'arth in motion." + +"How does my brother know that the earth turns round?" demanded the Indian. +"Can he see it?" + +"Well, that's been a puzzler, I will own, Delaware, for I've often tried, but +never could fairly make it out. Sometimes I've consaited that I could; and +then ag'in, I've been obliged to own it an onpossibility. Howsever, turn it +does, as all my people say, and you ought to believe 'em, since they can +foretel eclipses, and other prodigies, that used to fill the tribes with +terror, according to your own traditions of such things." + +"Good. This is true; no red-man will deny it. When a wheel turns, my eyes can +see it-they do not see the earth turn." + +"Ay, that's what I call sense obstinacy! Seeing is believing, they say, and +what they can't see, some men won't in the least give credit to. +Nevertheless, chief, that isn't quite as good reason as it may at first seem. +You believe in the Great Spirit, I know, and yet, I conclude, it would puzzle +you to show where you see him!" + +"Chingachgook can see Him every where-every where in good things - the Evil +Spirit in bad. Here, in the lake; there, in the forest; yonder, in the +clouds; in Hist, in the Son of Uncas, in Tamenund, in Deerslayer. The Evil +Spirit is in the Mingos. That I see; I do not see the earth turn round." + +"I don't wonder they call you the Sarpent, Delaware; no, I don't! There's +always a meaning in your words, and there's + +"Wah-ta!-Wah says that neither she nor the Great Serpent could ever laugh, +again, or ever sleep without dreaming of the Hurons, should the Deerslayer +die under a Mingo tomahawk, and they do nothing to save him. She would rather +go back, and start on her long path alone, than let such a dark cloud pass +before her happiness." + +"Good! The husband and the wife will have but one heart; they will see with +the same eyes, and feel with the same feelings." + +What further was said, need not be related here. That the conversation was of +Deerslayer, and his hopes, has been seen already, but the decision that was +come to, will better appear in the course of the narrative. The youthful pair +were yet conversing when the sun appeared above the tops of the pines, and +the light of a brilliant American day streamed down into the valley, bathing +"in deep joy" the lake, the forests and the mountain sides. Just at this +instant Deerslayer came out of the cabin of the Ark, and stepped upon the +platform. His first look was at the cloudless heavens, then his rapid glance +took in the entire panorama of land and water, when he had leisure for a +friendly nod at his friends, and a cheerful smile for Hist. + +"Well," he said, in his usual, composed manner, and pleasant voice, "he that +sees the sun set in the west, and wakes 'arly enough in the morning will be +sartain to find him coming back ag'in in the east, like a buck that is hunted +round his ha'nt. I dare say, now, Hist, you've beheld this, time and ag'in, +and yet it never entered into your galish mind to ask the reason?" + +Both Chingachgook and his betrothed looked up at the luminary, with an air +that betokened sudden wonder, and then they gazed at each other, as if to +seek the solution of the difficulty. Familiarity deadens the sensibilities, +even as connected with the gravest natural phenomena, and never before had +these simple beings thought of enquiring into a movement that was of daily +occurrence, however puzzling it might appear on investigation. When the +subject was thus suddenly started, it struck both alike, and at the same +instant, with some such force, as any new and brilliant proposition in the +natural sciences would strike the scholar. Chingachgook alone saw fit to +answer. + +"The pale-faces know every thing," he said; "can they tell us why the sun +hides his face, when he goes back, at night." + +"ay, that is downright red-skin l'arnin'" returned the other, laughing, +through he was not altogether insensible to the pleasure of proving the +superiority of his race, by solving the difficulty, which he set aout doing, +in hiw own peculiar manner. "Harkee, Sarpent," he continued more gravely, +though too simply for affectation; "this is easierly explained than an Indian +brain may fancy. The sun, while he seems to keep traveling in the heavens, +never budges, but it is the 'arth that turns roun, and any one can +understand, if he is placed on the side of a mill-whel, for instance, when +it's in motion, that he must some times see the heavens, while he is at other +times under water. There's no great secret in that; but plain natur'; the +difficulty being in setting the 'arth in motion." + +"How does my brother know hat the earth turns round?" demanded the Indina. +"Can he see it?" + +"Well, that's been a puzzler, I will own, Delaware, for I've often tried, but +never could fairly make it out. Sometimes I've often tried, but never could +fairly make it out. Sometimes I've consaited that I could; and then ag'in, +I've been obliged to own it an onpossibility. Howsever, turn it does, as all +my people say, and you ought to believe 'em, since they can foretell +eclipses, and other prodigies, that used to fill the tribes with terror, +according to your owntraditions of such things." + +"Good. This is true; no red-man will deny it. When a wheel turns, my eyes can +see it - they do not see the earth turn." + +"y, that's what I call sense obstinacy! Seeing is believing, they say, and +what they cann't see, some men won't in the least give credit to. +Neverthless, chief, that isn't quite as good reason as itmayat first seem. +You believe in the Great Sppirit, I know, and yet, I conclude, it would +puzzle you to show you where you see him!" + +"Chingachgook can see Him every where - every where in good things -the Evil +Spirit in bad. Here, in the lake; there, in the forest; yonder, in the +clounds; in Hist, in the Son of Uncas, in Tannenund, in Deerslayer. The Evil +Spirit is in the Mingos. That I see; I do not see the earth turn round." + +"I so n't wonder they call you the Sarpent, Delaware; no, I do n't! There's +always a meaning in your words, and there's often a meaning in your +countenance, too! Notwithstanding, your answers does n't quite meet my idée. +ThatGod is observable in all nat'ral objects is allowable, but then he is not +perceptible in the way I mean. You know there is a Great Spirit by his works, +and the pale faces know that the 'arth turns round by its works. This is the +reason of the matter, though how it is to be explained, is more than I +exactly tell you. This I know; all my people consait that fact, and what all +the pale-faces consait, is very likely to be true." + +"When the sun is in the top of that pine to-morrow, where will my brother +Deerslayer be?" + +The hunter started, and he looked intently, though totally without alarm, at +his friend. Then he signed for him to follow, and led the way into the Ark, +where he mght pursue the subject unheard by those, whose feelings he feared +might get the mastery over their reason. Here he stopped, and pursued the +conversation in amore confidential tone. + +"'Twas a little onreasonable in you Sarpent," he said, "to bring up such a +subject afore Hist, and when the young women of my own colour might overhear +what was said. Yes, 'twas a little more onreasonable than most things that +you do. No matter; Hist did n"t comprehind, and the other din n't hear. +Howsever, the questionis easier put than answered. No mortal can say where he +will be when the sun rises tomorrow. I will ask you the same question, +Sarpent, and should like to hear what answer you can give. + +"Chingachgook will be with his friend Deerslayer - if he be in the land of +spirits, the Great Serpent will crawl at his side; if beneath yonder sun, its +warmth and light shall fall on both." + +"I understand you Delaware," returned the other, touched with the simple +self-devotion of his friend, "Such language is as plain in one tongue as in +another. I comes from the heart, and goes to the heart, too. 'Tis well to +think so, and it may be well to say so, for that matter, but it would not be +well to do so, Sarpent. You are no longer alone in life, for though you have +the lodges to change, and other ceremonies to go through, afore Hist becomes +you lawful wife, yet are you as good as married, in all that bears on the +feelin's, and joy, and misery. No - no - Hist must not be desarted, because a +cloud is passing atween you and me, a little onexpectedly and a little darker +than we may have looked for." + +"Hist is a daughter of the Mohicans. She knows how to obey her husband. Where +he goes, she will follow. Both will be with the Great Hunter of the +Delawares, when the sun shall be in the pine to-morrow." + +"The Lord bless and protect you! - Chief; this is downright madness. Can +either, or both of you, alter a Mingo natur'. Will your grand looks, or +Hist's tears and beauty, change a wolf into a squirrel, or make a catamount +as innocent as a fa'an? No-Sarpent, you will think better of this matter, and +leave me in the hands of God. A'ter all, it's by no means sartain that the +scamps design the torments, for they may yet be pitiful, and bethink them of +the wickedness of such a course - though it is but a hopeless expectation to +look forward to a Mingo's turning aside from evil, and letting marcy get +uppermost in his heart - Nevertheless, no one knows to a sartainty what will +happen, and young creatur's, like Hist, an't to be risked on onsartainties. +This marrying is altogether a different undertaking from what some young men +fancy. Now, if you was single, or as good as single, Delaware, I should +expect you to be actyve and stirring about the camp of the vagabonds, from +sunrise to sunset, sarcumventing and contriving, as restless as a hound off +the scent, and doing all manner of things to help me, and to distract the +inimy, but two are oftener feebler than one, and we must take things as they +are, and not as we want 'em to be." + +"Listen, Deerslayer," returned the Indian with an emphasis so decided as to +show how much he was in earnest. "If Chingachgook was in the hands of the +Hurons, what would my pale-face brother do? Sneak off to the Delaware +villages, and say to the chiefs, and old men, and young warriors-'see, here +is Wah-ta!-Wah; she is safe, but a little tired; and here is the Son of +Uncas, not as tired as the Honeysuckle, being stronger, but just as safe.' +Would he do this?" + +"Well, that's oncommon ingen'ous; it's cunning enough for a Mingo, himself! +The Lord only knows what put it into your head to ask such a question. What +would I do?-Why, in the first place, Hist wouldn't be likely to be in my +company at all, often a meaning in your countenance, too! Notwithstanding, +your answers doesn't quite meet my idee. That God is obsarvable in al] +nat'ral objects is allowable, but then he is not parceptible in the way I +mean. You know there is a Great Spirit by his works, and the pale faces know +that the 'arth turns round by its works. This is the reason of the matter, +though how it is to be explained, is more than I can exactly tell you. This I +know; all my people consait that fact, and what all the pale-faces consait, +is very likely to be true." + +"When the sun is in the top of that pine to-morrow, where will my brother +Deerslayer be?" + +The hunter started, and he looked intently, though totally without alarm, at +his friend. Then he signed for him to follow, and led the way into the Ark, +where he might pursue the subject unheard by those, whose feelings he feared +might get the mastery over their reason. Here he stopped, and pursued the +conversation in a more confidential tone. + +"'Twas a little onreasonable in you, Sarpent," he said, "to bring up such a +subject afore Hist, and when the young women of my own colour might overhear +what was said. Yes, 'twas a little more onreasonable than most things that +you do. No matter; Hist didn't comprehind, and the other didn't hear. +Howsever, the question is easier put than answered. No mortal can say where +he will be when the sun rises to-morrow. I will ask you the same question, +Sarpent, and should like to hear what answer you can give." + +"Chingachgook will be with his friend Deerslayer- If he be in the land of +spirits, the Great Serpent will crawl at his side; if beneath yonder sun, its +warmth and light shall fall on both." + +"I understand you Delaware," returned the other, touched with the simple +self-devotion of his friend. "Such language is as plain in one tongue as in +another. It comes from the heart, and goes to the heart, too. Tis well to +think so, and it may be well to say so, for that matter, but it would not be +well to do so, Sarpent. You are no longer alone in life, for though you have +the lodges to change, and other ceremonies to go through, afore Hist becomes +your lawful wife, yet are you as good as married, in all that bears on the +feelin's, and joy, and misery. No- no-Hist must not be desarted, because a +cloud is passing at for she would stay as near you as possible, and therefore +all that part about her couldn't be said, without talking nonsense. As for +her being tired, that would fall through, too, if she didn't go, and no part +of your speech would be likely to come from me; so, you see, Sarpent, reason +is ag'in you, and you may as well give it up, since to hold out ag'in reason, +is no way becoming a chief of your character and repitation." + +"My brother is not himself; he forgets that he is talking to one who has sat +at the Council Fire of his nation," returned the other kindly. "When men +speak, they should say that which does not go in at one side of the head and +out at the other. Their words shouldn't be feathers, so light that a wind +which does not ruffle the water, can blow them away. He has not answered my +question; when a chief puts a question, his friend should not talk of other +things." + +"I understand you, Delaware; I understand well enough what you mean, and +truth won't allow me to say otherwise. Still it's not as easy to answer as +you seem to think, for this plain reason. You wish me to say what I would do +if I had a betrothed as you have, here, on the lake, and a fri'nd yonder in +the Huron camp, in danger of the torments. That's it, isn't it?" + +The Indian bowed his head silently, and always with unmoved gravity, though +his eye twinkled at the sight of the other's embarrassment. + +"Well, I never had a betrothed-never had the kind of feelin's toward any +young woman, that you have towards Hist, though the Lord knows my feelin's +are kind enough towards 'em all! -still my heart, as they call it, in such +matters, isn't touched, and therefore I can't say what I would do. A fri'nd +pulls strong, that I know by exper'ence, Sarpent, but, by all that I've seen +and heard consarning love, I'm led to think that a betrothed pulls stronger." + +"True; but the betrothed of Chingachgook does not pull towards the lodges of +the Delawares; she pulls towards the camp of the Hurons." + +"She's a noble gal, for all her little feet, and hands that an't bigger than +a child's, and a voice that is as pleasant as a mocker's; she's a noble gal, +and like the stock of her sires! Well, what is it, Sarpent; for I conclude +she hasn't changed her mind, and means to give herself up, and turn Huron +wife. What is it you want?" + +"Wah-ta!-Wah will never live in the wigwam of an Iroquois," answered the +Delaware drily. "She has little feet, but they can carry her to the villages +of her people; she has small hands, too, but her mind is large. My brother +will see what we can do, when the time shall come, rather than let him die +under Mingo torments." + +"Attempt nothing heedlessly, Delaware," said the other earnestly; "I suppose +you must and will have your way; and, on the whole it's right you should, for +you'd neither be happy, unless something was undertaken. But attempt nothing +heedlessly-I didn't expect you'd quit the lake, while my matter remained in +unsartainty, but remember, Sarpent, that no torments that Mingo ingenuity can +invent, no ta'ntings, and revilings; no burnings, and roastings and nail- +tearings, nor any other onhuman contrivances can so soon break down my +spirit, as to find that you and Hist, have fallen into the power of the +inimy, in striving to do something for my good." + +"The Delawares are prudent. The Deerslayer will not find them running into a +strange camp, with their eyes shut." + +Here the dialogue terminated. Hetty announced that the breakfast was ready, +and the whole party was soon seated around the simple board, in the usual +primitive manner of borderers. Judith was the last to take her seat, pale, +silent, and betraying in her countenance that she had passed a painful, if +not a sleepless, night. At this meal scarce a syllable was exchanged, all the +females manifesting want of appetites, though the two men were unchanged in +this particular. It was early when the party arose, and there still remained +several hours before it would be necessary for the prisoner to leave his +friends. The knowledge of this circumstance, and the interest all felt in his +welfare, induced the whole to assemble on the platform again, in the desire +to be near the expected victim, to listen to his discourse, and if possible +to show their interest in him, by anticipating his wishes. Deerslayer, +himself, so far as human eyes could penetrate, was wholly unmoved, conversing +cheerfully and naturally, though he avoided any direct allusions to the +expected and great event of the day. If any evidence could be discovered of +his thought's reverting to that painful subject at all, it was in the manner +in which he spoke of death and the last great change. + +"Grieve not, Hetty," he said, for it was while consoling this simple-minded +girl for the loss of her parents that he thus betrayed his feelings, "since +God has app'inted that all must die. Your parents, or them you fancied your +parents, which is the same thing, have gone afore you; this is only in the +order of natur', my good gal, for the aged go first, and the young follow. +But one that had a mother like your'n, Hetty, can be at no loss to hope the +best, as to how matters will turn out in another world. The Delaware, here, +and Hist, believe in happy hunting grounds, and have idees befitting their +notions and gifts, as red skins, but we who are of white blood hold +altogether to a different doctrine. Still, I rather conclude our heaven is +their land of spirits, and that the path which leads to it will be travelled +by all colours alike. Tis onpossible for the wicked to enter on it, I will +allow, but fri'nds can scarce be separated, though they are not of the same +race on 'arth. Keep up your spirits, poor Hetty, and look forward to the day +when you will meet your mother ag'in, and that without pain, or sorrowing." + +"I do expect to see mother," returned the truth-telling and simple girl, "but +what will become of father?" + +"That's a non-plusser, Delaware," said the hunter, in the Indian dialect- +"yes, that is a down-right non-plusser! The Muskrat was not a saint on 'arth, +and it's fair to guess he'll not be much of one, here after! Howsever, +Hetty," dropping into the English by an easy transition, "howsever, Hetty, we +must all hope for the best. That is wisest, and it is much the easiest to the +mind, if one can only do it. I ricommend to you, trusting to God, and putting +down all misgivings and fainthearted feelin's. It's wonderful, Judith, how +different people have different notions about the futur', some fancying one +change, and some fancying another. I've known white teachers that have +thought all was spirit, hereafter, and them, ag'in, that believed the body +will be transported to another world, much as the red-skins themselves +imagine, and that we shall walk about, in the flesh, and know each other, and +talk together, and be fri'nds there, as we've been fri'nds here." + +"Which of these opinions is most pleasing to you, Deerslayer?" asked the +girl, willing to indulge his melancholy mood, and far from being free from +its influence herself. "Would it be disagreeable to think that you should +meet all +who are now on this platform in another world? Or have you known enough of us +here, to be glad to see us no more. + +"The last would make death a bitter portion; yes it would. It's eight good +years since the Sarpent and I began to hunt together, and the thought that we +were never to meet ag'in, would be a hard thought to me. He looks forward to +the time when he shall chase a sort of spirit-deer, in company, on plains +where there's no thorns, or brambles, or marshes, or other hardships to +overcome, whereas I can't fall into all these notions, seeing that they +appear to be ag'in reason. Spirits can't eat, nor have they any use for +clothes, and deer can only rightfully be chased to be slain, or slain, unless +it be for the venison, or the hides. Now, I find it hard to suppose that +blessed spirits can be put to chasing game, without an object, tormenting the +dumb animals just for the pleasure and agreeableness of their own amusements. +I never, yet, pulled a trigger on buck or doe, Judith, unless when food or +clothes was wanting." + +"The recollection of which, Deerslayer, must now be a great consolation to +you. +"It is the thought of such things, my fri'nds, that enables a man to keep his +furlough. It might be done without it, I own; for the worst red skins, +sometimes do their duty in this matter; but it makes that which might +otherwise be hard, easy, if not altogether to our liking. Nothing truly makes +a bolder heart, than a light conscience." + +Judith turned paler than ever, but she struggled for self-command, and +succeeded in obtaining it. The conflict had been severe, however, and it left +her so little disposed to speak, that Hetty pursued the subject. This was +done in the simple manner natural to the girl. + +"It would be cruel to kill the poor deer," she said, "in this world, or any +other, when you don't want their venison, or their skins. No good white-man, +and no good red man would do it. But it's wicked for a christian to talk +about chasing any thing in heaven. Such things are not done before the face +of God, and the missionary that teaches these doctrines, can't be a true +missionary. He must be a wolf in sheep's clothing. I suppose you know what a +sheep is, Deerslayer." + +"That I do, gal, and a useful creatur' it is, to such as like cloths better +than skins, for winter garments. I understand the natur' of sheep, though +I've had but little to do with 'em, and the natur' of wolves too, and can +take the idee of a wolf in the fleece of a sheep, though I think it would be +like to prove a hot jacket for such a beast, in the warm months!" + +"And sin, and hypocrisy are hot jackets, as they will find, who put them on," +returned Hetty, positively, "so the wolf would be no worse off than the +sinner. Spirits don't hunt, nor trap, nor fish, nor do any thing that vain +men undertake, since they've none of the longings of this world to feed. Oh! +Mother told me all that, years ago, and I don't wish to hear it denied." + +"Well, my good Hetty, in that case you'd better not broach your doctrine to +Hist, when she and you are alone, and the young Delaware maiden is inclined +to talk religion. It's her fixed idee, I know, that the good warriors do +nothing but hunt, and fish in the other world, though I don't believe that +she fancies any of them are brought down to trapping, which is no empl'yment +for a brave. But of hunting and fishing, accordin' to her notion, they've +their fill, and that, too, over the most agreeablest hunting grounds, and +among game that is never out of season, and which is just actyve and +instinctyve enough to give a pleasure to death. So I wouldn't ricommend it to +you to start Hist on that idee." + +"Hist can't be so wicked as to believe any such thing," returned the other, +earnestly. "No Indian hunts after he is dead." + +"No wicked Indian, I grant you; no wicked Indian, sartainly. He is obliged to +carry the ammunition, and to look on without sharing in the sport, and to +cook, and to light the fires, and to do every thing that isn't manful. Now, +mind; I don't tell you these are my idees, but they are Hist's idees, and, +therefore, for the sake of peace the less you say to her ag'in 'em, the +better." + +"And what are your ideas of the fate of an Indian, in the other world?" +demanded Judith, who had just found her voice. + +"Ah! gal, any thing but that! I am too christianized to expect any thing so +fanciful, as hunting and fishing after death, nor do I believe there is one +Manitou for the red skin and another for a pale face. You find different +colours on 'arth, as any one may see, but you don't find different natur's. +Different gifts, but only one natur'." + +"In what is a gift different from a nature? Is not nature itself a gift from +God?" + +"Sartain; that's quick-thoughted, and creditable, Judith, though the main +idee is wrong. A natur' is the creatur' itself; its wishes, wants, idees and +feelin's, as all are born in him. This natur' never can be changed, in the +main, though it may undergo some increase, or lessening. Now, gifts come of +sarcumstances. Thus, if you put a man in a town, he gets town gifts; in a +settlement, settlement gifts; in a forest, gifts of the woods. A soldier has +soldierly gifts, and a missionary preaching gifts. All these increase and +strengthen, until they get to fortify natur', as it might be, and excuse a +thousand acts and idees. Still the creatur' is the same at the bottom; just +as a man who is clad in regimentals is the same as the man that is clad in +skins. The garments make a change to the eye, and some change in the conduct, +perhaps; but none in the man. Herein lies the apology for gifts; seein' that +you expect different conduct from one in silks and satins, from one in +homespun; though the Lord, who didn't make the dresses, but who made the +creatur's themselves, looks only at his own work. This isn't ra'al missionary +doctrine, but it's as near it, as a man of white colour need be. Ah's! me; +little did I think to be talking of such matters, to-day, but it's one of our +weaknesses never to know what will come to pass. Step into the Ark with me, +Judith, for a minute; I wish to convarse with you." + +Judith complied with a willingness she could scarce conceal. Following the +hunter into the cabin, she took a seat on a stool, while the young man +brought Killdeer, the rifle she had given him, out of a corner, and placed +himself on another, with the weapon laid upon his knees. After turning the +piece round and round, and examining its lock and its breech with a sort of +affectionate assiduity, he laid it down and proceeded to the subject which +had induced him to desire the interview. + +"I understand you, Judith, to say that you gave me this rifle," he said. "I +agreed to take it, because a young woman can have no particular use for fire- +arms. The we'pon has a great name, and it desarves it, and ought of right to +be carried by some known and sure hand, for the best repitation may be lost +by careless and thoughtless handling." + +'Can it be in better hands than those in which it is now, Deerslayer. Thomas +Hutter seldom missed with it; with you it must turn out to be-" + +"Sartain death!" interrupted the hunter, laughing. "I once know'd a beaver- +man that had a piece he called by that very name, but 'twas all boastfulness, +for I've seen Delawares that were as true with arrows, at a short range. +Howsever, I'll not deny my gifts-for this is a gift, Judith, and not natur'- +but, I'll not deny my gifts, and therefore allow that the rifle couldn't well +be in better hands than it is at present. But, how long will it be likely to +remain there? Atween us, the truth may be said, though I shouldn't like to +have it known to the Sarpent and Hist; but, to you the truth may be spoken, +since your feelin's will not be as likely to be tormented by it, as those of +them that have known me longer and better. How long am I like to own this +rifle or any other? That is a serious question for our thoughts to rest on, +and should that happen which is so likely to happen, Killdeer would be +without an owner." + +Judith listened with apparent composure, though the conflict within came near +overpowering her. Appreciating the singular character of her companion, +however, she succeeded in appearing calm, though, had not his attention been +drawn exclusively to the rifle, a man of his keenness of observation could +scarce have failed to detect the agony of mind with which the girl had +hearkened to his words. Her great self-command, notwithstanding, enabled her +to pursue the subject in a way still to deceive him. + +"What would you have me do with the weapon," she asked- "should that which +you seem to expect, take place?" + +"That's just what I wanted to speak to you about, Judith; that's just it. +There's Chingachgook, now, though far from being parfect sartainty, with a +rifle-for few red skins ever get to be that- though far from being parfect +sartainty, he is respectable, and is coming on. Nevertheless, he is my +fri'nd, and all the better fri'nd, perhaps, because there never can be any +hard feelin's atween us, touchin' our gifts, his'n hein' red, and mine bein' +altogether white. Now, I should like to leave Killdeer to the Sarpent, should +any thing happen to keep me from doing credit and honor to your precious +gift, Judith." + +"Leave it to whom you please, Deerslayer. The rifle is your own, to do with +as you please. Chingachgook shall have it, should you never return to claim +it, if that he your wish." + +"Has Hetty been consulted in this matter?-Property goes from the parent to +the children, and not to one child, in partic'lar!" + +"If you place your right on that of the law, Deerslayer, I fear none of us +can claim to be the owner. Thomas Hutter was no more the father of Esther, +than he was the father of Judith. Judith and Esther we are truly, having no +other name!" + +"There may be law in that, but there's no great reason, gal. Accordin' to the +custom of families, the goods are your'n, and there's no one here to gainsay +it. If Hetty would only say that she is willing, my mind would be quite at +ease in the matter. It's true, Judith, that your sister has neither your +beauty, nor your wit; hut we should he the tenderest of the rights and +welfare of the most weak-minded." + +The girl made no answer but placing herself at a window, she summoned her +sister to her side. When the question was put to Hetty, that simple-minded +and affectionate creature cheerfully assented to the proposal to confer on +Deerslayer a full right of ownership to the much-coveted rifle. The latter +now seemed perfectly happy, for the time being at least, and after again +examining and re-examining his prize, he expressed a determination to put its +merits to a practical test, before he left the spot. No boy could have been +more eager to exhibit the qualities of his trumpet, or his cross-how, than +this simple forester was to prove those of his rifle. Returning to the +platform, he first took the Delaware aside, and informed him that this +celebrated piece was to become his property, in the event of any thing +serious befalling himself. + +"This is a new reason why you should he wary, Sarpent, and not run into any +oncalculated danger," the hunter added, "for, it will he a victory of itself, +to a tribe to own such a piece as this! The Mingos will turn green with envy, +and, what is more, they will not ventur' heedlessly near a village where it +is known to he kept. So, look well to it, Delaware, and remember that you've +now to watch over a thing that has all the valie of a creatur', without its +failin's. Hist may he, and should he precious to you, hut Killdeer will have +the love and veneration of your whole people." + +"One rifle like another, Deerslayer," returned the Indian, in English, the +language used by the other, a little hurt at his friend's lowering his +betrothed to the level of a gun. "All kill; all wood and iron. Wife dear to +heart; rifle good to shoot." + +"And what is a man in the woods without something to shoot with?-a miserable +trapper, or a forlorn broom and basket maker, at the best. Such a man may hoe +corn, and keep soul and body together, but he can never know the savory +morsels of venison, or tell a bear's ham from a hog's. Come, my fri'nd, such +another occasion may never offer ag'in, and I feel a strong craving for a +trial with this celebrated piece. You shall bring out your own rifle, and I +will just sight Killdeer in a careless way, in order that we may know a few +of its secret vartues." + +As this proposition served to relieve the thoughts of the whole party, by +giving them a new direction, while it was likely to produce no unpleasant +results, every one was willing to enter into it; the girls bringing forth the +fire-arms with an alacrity, bordering on cheerfulness. Hutter's armory was +well supplied, possessing several rifles, all of which were habitually kept +loaded, in readiness to meet any sudden demand for their use. On the present +occasion, it only remained to freshen the primings, and each piece was in a +state for service. This was soon done, as all assisted in it, the females +being as expert in this part of the system of defence, as their male +companions. + +"Now, Sarpent, we'll begin in a humble way, using Old Tom's commoners first, +and coming t6 your we'pon and Killdeer as the winding up observations," said +Deerslayer, delighted to he again, weapon in hand, ready to display his +skill. "Here's birds in abundance, some in, and some over the lake, and they +keep at just a good range, hovering round the hut. Speak your mind, Delaware, +and p'int out the creatur' you wish to alarm. Here's a diver nearest in, off +to the eastward, and that's a creatur' that buries itself at the flash, and +will he like enough to try both piece and powder." + +Chingachgook was a man of few words. No sooner was the bird pointed out to +him, than he took his aim and fired. The duck dove at the flash, as had been +expected, and the bullet skipped harmlessly along the surface of the lake, +first striking the water within a few inches of the spot where the bird had +so lately swam. Deerslayer laughed, cordially and naturally, hut, at the same +time, he threw himself into an attitude of preparation, and stood keenly +watching the sheet of placid water. Presently a dark spot appeared, and then +the duck arose to breathe, and shook its wings. While in this act, a bullet +passed directly through its breast, actually turning it over lifeless, on its +hack. At the next moment, Deerslayer stood with the breech of his rifle on +the platform, as tranquil as if nothing had happened, though laughing in his +own peculiar manner. + +"There's no great trial of the pieces in that!" he said, as if anxious to +prevent a false impression of his own merir. "No, that proof's neither for, +nor ag'in the rifles, seeing it was all quickness of hand and eye. I took the +bird at a disadvantage, or he might have got under, again, afore the bullet +reached him. But the Sarpent is too wise to mind such tricks, having long +been used to them. Do you remember the time, chief, when you thought yourself +sartain of the wild-goose, and I took him out of your very eyes, as it might +be with a little smoke! Howsever, such things pass for nothing. atween +fri'nds, and young folk will have their fun, Judith. Ay; here's just the bird +we want, for it's as good for the fire, as it is for the aim, and nothing +should be lost that can be turned to just account. There, further north, +Delaware." + +The latter looked in the required direction, and he soon saw a large black +duck floating in stately repose on the water. At that distant day, when so +few men were present to derange the harmony of the wilderness, all the +smaller lakes with which the interior of New York so abounds, were places of +resort for the migratory aquatic birds, and this sheet like the others had +once been much frequented by all the varieties of the duck, by the goose, the +gull, and the loon. On the appearance of Hutter, the spot was comparatively +deserted for other sheets, more retired and remote, though some of each +species continued to resort thither, as indeed they do to the present hour. +At that instant, a hundred birds were visible from the castle, sleeping on +the water, or laying their feathers in the limpid element, though no other +offered so favorable a mark as that Deerslayer had just pointed out to his +friend. Chingachgook as usual, spared his words, and proceeded to execution. +This time his aim was more careful than before, and his success in +proportion. The bird had a wing crippled, and fluttered along the water +screaming, materially increasing its distance from its enemies. + +"That bird must be put out of pain," exclaimed Deerslayer, the moment the +animal endeavored to rise on the wing, "and this is the rifle and the eye to +do it." +The duck was still floundering along, when the fatal bullet overtook it, +severing the head from the neck as neatly as if it had been done with an axe. +Hist had indulged in a low cry of delight at the success of the young Indian, +but now she affected to frown and resent the greater skill of his friend. The +chief, on the contrary, uttered the usual exclamation of pleasure, and his +smile proved how much he admired, and how little he envied. + +"Never mind the gal, Sarpent, never mind Hist's feelin's, which will neither +choke, nor drown, slay nor beautify," said Deerslayer, laughing. "'Tis +nat'ral for women to enter into their hushand's victories and defeats, and +you are as good as man and wife, so far as prejudyce and fri'ndship go. Here +is a hird over head that will put the pieces, to the proof. I challenge you +to an upward aim, with a flying target. That's a ra'al proof, and one that +needs sartain rifles, as well as sartain eyes." + +The species of eagle that frequents the water, and lives on fish, was also +present, and one was hovering at a considerable height above the hut, +greedily watching for an opportunity to make a swoop; its hungry young +elevating their heads from a nest that was in sight, in the naked summit of a +dead pine. Chingachgook silently turned a new piece against this bird, and +after carefully watching his time, fired. A wider circuit than common, +denoted that the messenger had passed through the air, at no great distance +from the bird though it missed its object. Deerslayer, whose aim was not more +true than it was quick, fired as soon as it was certain his friend had +missed, and the deep swoop that followed left it momentarily doubtful whether +the eagle was hit or not. The marksman himself, however, proclaimed his own +want of success, calling on his friend to seize another rifle, for he saw +signs on the part of the bird of an intention to quit the spot. + +"I made him wink, Sarpent, I do think his feathers were ruffled, but no blood +has yet been drawn, nor is that old piece fit for so nice and quick a sight. +Quick, Delaware, you've now a better rifle, and, Judith, bring out Killdeer, +for this is the occasion to try his merits, if he has 'em." + +A general movement followed, each of the competitors got ready, and the girls +stood in eager expectation of the result. The eagle had made a wide circuit +after his low swoop, and fanning his way upward, once more hovered nearly +over the hut, at a distance even greater than before. Chingachgook gazed at +him, and then expressed his opinion of the impossibility of striking a bird +at that great height, and while he was so nearly perpendicular, as to the +range. But a low murmur from Hist, produced a sudden impulse and he fired. +The result showed how well he had calculated, the eagle not even varying his +flight, sailing round and round in his airy circle, and looking down, as if +in contempt, at his foes. + +"Now, Judith," cried Deerslayer, laughing, with glistening and delighted +eyes, "we'll see if Killdeer isn't Killeagle, too! Give me room Sarpent, and +watch the reason of the aim, for by reason any thing may be l'arned." + +A careful sight followed, and was repeated again and again, the bird +continuing to rise higher and higher. Then followed the flash and the report. +The swift messenger sped upward, and, at the next instant, the bird turned on +its side, and came swooping down, now struggling with one wing and then with +the other, sometimes whirling in a circuit, next fanning desperately as if +conscious of its injury, until, having described several complete circles +around the spot, it fell heavily into the end of the Ark. On examining the +body, it was found that the bullet had pierced it about half way between one +of its wings and the breast-bone. + + + + + + +Chapter XXVI. + +"Upon two stony tables, spread before her, +She lean'd her bosom, more than stony hard, +There slept th' impartial judge, and strict restorer +Of wrong, or right, with pain or with reward; +There hung the score of all our debts, the card +Where good, and bad, and life, and death, were painted; +Was never heart of mortal so untainted, +But when the roll was read, with thousand terrors fainted." + +Giles Fletcher, Christ's Victory in Heaven, lxv. + + + +We've done an unthoughtful thing, Sarpent-yes, Judith, we've done an +unthoughtful thing in taking life with an object no better than vanity!" +exclaimed Deerslayer, when the Delaware held up the enormous bird, by its +wings, and exhibited the dying eyes riveted on its enemies with the gaze that +the helpless ever fasten on their destroyers. "Twas more becomin' two boys to +gratify their feelin's, in this onthoughtful manner, than two warriors on a +war path, even though it be their first. Ah's! me; well, as a punishment I'll +quit you at once, and when I find myself alone with them bloody-minded +Mingos, it's more than like I'll have occasion to remember that life is +sweet, even to the beasts of the woods and the fowls of the air. There, +Judith; there's Kildeer; take him back, ag'in, and keep him for some hand +that's more desarving to own such a piece." + +"I know of none as deserving as your own, Deerslayer," answered the girl in +haste; "none but yours shall keep the rifle." + +"If it depended on skill, you might be right enough, gal, but we should know +when to use fire-arms, as well as how to use 'em. I have n't l'arnt the first +duty yet, it seems; so keep the piece till I have. The sight of a dyin' and +distressed creatur', even though it be only a bird, brings wholesome thoughts +to a man who don't know how soon his own time may come, and who is pretty +sartain that it will come afore the sun sets; I'd give back all my vain +feelin's, and rej'icin's in hand and eye, if that poor eagle was only on its +nest ag'in, with its young, praisin' the Lord, for any thing that we can know +about the matter, for health and strength!" + +The listeners were confounded with this proof of sudden repentance in the +hunter, and that too for an indulgence so very common, that men seldom stop +to weigh its consequences, or the physical suffering it may bring on the +unoffending and helpless. The Delaware understood what was said, though he +scarce understood the feelings which had prompted the words, and by way of +disposing of the difficulty, he drew his keen knife, and severed the head of +the sufferer from its body. + +"What a thing is power!" continued the hunter, 'and what a thing it is, to +have it, and not to know how to use it. It's no wonder, Judith, that the +great so often fail of their duties, when even the little and the humble find +it so hard to do what's right, and not to do what's wrong. Then, how one evil +act brings others a'ter it! Now, wasn't it for this furlough of mine, which +must soon take me back to the Mingos, I'd find this creatur's nest, if I +travelled the woods a forthnight- though an eagle's nest is soon found by +them that understands the bird's natur', - but I'd travel a fortnight rather +than not find it, just to put the young, too, out of their pain." + +"I'm glad to hear you say this, Deerslayer," observed Hetty, "and God will be +more apt to remember your sorrow for what you've done, than the wickedness +itself. I thought how wicked it was to kill harmless birds, while you were +shooting, and meant to tell you so; but, I do n'm know how it happened, - I +was so curious to see if you could hit an eagle at so great a height, that I +forgot altogether to speak, 'till the mischief was done." + +"That's it; that's just it, my good Hetty. We can all see our faults and +mistakes when it's too late to help them! Howsever I'm glad you did n't +speak, for I do n't think a word or two would have stopped me, just at that +moment, and so the sin stands in its nakedness, and not aggravated by any +unheeded calls to forbear. Well, well, bitter thoughts are hard to be borne +at all times, hut there's times when they're harder than at others." + +Little did Deerslayer know, while thus indulging in feelings that were +natural to the man, and so strictly in accordance with his own +unsophisticated and just principles, that, in the course of the inscrutable +providence, which so uniformly and yet so mysteriously covers all events with +its mantle, the very fault he was disposed so severely to censure, was to be +made the means of determining his own earthly fate. The mode and the moment +in which he was to feel the influence of this interference, it would be +premature to relate, but both will appear in the course of the succeeding +chapters. As for the young man, he now slowly left the Ark, like one +sorrowing for his misdeeds, and seated himself in silence on the platform. By +this time the sun had ascended to some height, and its appearance, taken in +connection with his present feelings, induced him to prepare to depart. The +Delaware got the canoe ready for his friend, as soon as apprised of his +intention, while Hist busied herself in making the few arrangements that were +thought necessary to his comfort. All this was done without ostentation, but +in a way that left Deerslayer fully acquainted with, and equally disposed to +appreciate, the motive. When all was ready, both returned to the side of +Judith and Hetty, neither of whom had moved from the spot where the young +hunter sat. + +'The best fri'nds must often part," the last began, when he saw the whole +party grouped around him-"yes, fri'ndship can't alter the ways of Providence, +and let our feelin's be as they may, we must part. I've often thought there's +moments when our words dwell longer on the mind than common, and when advice +is remembered, just because the mouth that gives it, is n't likely to give it +ag'in. No one knows what will happen in this world, and therefore it may be +well, when fri'nds separate under a likelihood that the parting may be long, +to say a few words in kindness, as a sort of keepsakes. If all but one will +go into the Ark, I'll talk to each in turn, and what is more, I'll listen to +what you may have to say back ag'in, for it's a poor counsellor that won't +take as well as give." + +As the meaning of the speaker was understood, the two Indians immediately +withdrew as desired, leaving the sisters, however, still standing at the +young mans side. A look of Deerslayer's induced Judith to explain. + +"You can advise Hetty as you land," she said hastily, 'for I intend that she +shall accompany you to the shore." + +"Is this wise, Judith? It's true, that under common sarcumstances a feeble- +mind is a great protection among redskins, but when their feelin's are up, +and they're bent on revenge, it's hard to say what may come to pass. Besides- +-" + +"What were you about to say, Deerslayer?" asked Judith, whose gentleness of +voice and manner amounted nearly to tenderness, though she struggled hard to +keep her emotions and apprehensions in subjection. + +"Why, simply that there are sights and doin's that one even as little gifted +with reason and memory as Hetty here, might better not witness. So, Judith, +you would do well to let me land alone, and to keep your sister back." + +"Never fear for me, Deerslayer," put in Hetty, who comprehended enough of the +discourse to know its general drift, "I'm feeble minded, and that they say is +an excuse for going any where; and what that won't excuse, will be overlooked +on account of the bible I always carry. It is wonderful, Judith, how all +sorts of men; the trappers as well as the hunters; red-men as well as white; +Mingos as well as Delawares do reverence and fear the bible!" + +"I think you have not the least ground to fear any injury, Hetty," answered +the sister, 'and therefore I shall insist on your going to the Huron camp +with our friend. Your being there can do no harm, not even to yourself, and +may do great good to Deerslayer." + +"This is not a moment, Judith, to dispute, and so have the matter your own +way," returned the young man. "Get yourself ready, Hetty, and go into the +canoe, for I've a few parting words to say to your sister, which can do you +no good." + +Judith, and her companion, continued silent, until Hetty had so far complied, +as to leave them alone, when Deerslayer took up the subject, as if it had +been interrupted by some ordinary occurrence, and in a very matter of fact +way. + +"Words spoken at parting, and which may be the last we ever hear from a +fri'nd are not soon forgotten," he repeated, "and so Judith, I intend to +speak to you like a brother, seem' I'm not old enough to be your father. In +the first place, I wish to caution you ag'in your inimies, of which two may +be said to ha'nt your very footsteps, and to beset your ways. The first is +oncommon good-looks, which is as dangerous a foe to some young women, as a +whole tribe of Mingos could prove, and which calls for great watchfulness- +not to admire and praise- but to distrust and sarcumvent. Yes, good looks may +be sarcumvented, and fairly outwitted, too. In order to do this you've only +to remember that they melt like the snows, and, when once gone, they never +come back ag'in. The seasons come and go, Judith, and if we have winter, with +storms and frosts, and spring with chills and leafless trees, we have summer +with its sun and glorious skies, and fall with its fruits, and a garment +thrown over the forest, that no beauty of the town could rummage out of all +the shops in America. 'Arth is in an etarnal round, the goodness of God, +bringing back the pleasant when we've had enough of the onpleasant. But it's +not so with good looks. They are lent for a short time in youth, to be used +and not abused, and, as I never met with a young woman to whom providence has +been as bountiful, as it has to you, Judith, in this partic'lar, I warn you, +as it might be with my dyin' breath, to beware of the inimy-fri'nd, or inimy, +as we deal with the gift." + +It was so grateful to Judith to hear these unequivocal admissions of her +personal charms, that much would have been forgiven to the man, who made +them, let him be who he might. But, at that moment, and from a far better +feeling, it would not have been easy for Deerslayer seriously to offend her, +and she listened with a patience, which, had it been foretold only a week +earlier, it would have excited her indignation to hear. + +'I understand your meaning, Deerslayer," returned the girl, with a meekness +and humility that a little surprised her listener, "and hope to be able to +profit by it. But, you have mentioned only one of the enemies I have to fear; +who, or what is the other." + +"The other is givin' way afore your own good sense and judgment, I find, +Judith; yes, he's not as dangerous as I supposed. Howsever, havin' opened the +subject, it will be as well to end it honestly. The first inimy you have to +be watchful of, as I've already told you, Judith, is oncommon good-looks, and +the next is an oncommon knowledge of the sarcumstance. If the first is bad, +the last does n't, in any way, mend the matter, so far as safety and peace of +mind are consarned." + +How much longer the young man would have gone on in his simple and +unsuspecting, but well intentioned manner, it might not be easy to say, had +he not been interrupted by his listener's bursting into tears, and giving way +to an outbreak of feeling, which was so much the more violent from the fact +that it had been with so much difficulty suppressed. At first her sobs were +so violent and uncontrollable that Deerslayer was a little appalled, and he +was abundantly repentant from the instant that he discovered how much greater +was the effect produced by his words, than he had anticipated. Even the +austere and exacting are usually appeased by the signs of contrition, but the +nature of Deerslayer did not require proofs of intense feelings so strong in +order to bring him down to a level with the regrets felt by the girl herself. +He arose, as if an adder had stung him, and the accents of the mother that +soothes her child were scarcely more gentle and winning than the tones of his +voice, as he now expressed his contrition at having gone so far. + +"It was well meant, Judith," he said, "but it was not intended to hurt your +feelin's so much. I have overdone the advice, I see; yes, I've overdone it, +and I crave your pardon for the same. Fri'ndship's an awful thing! Sometimes +it chides us for not having done enough; and then, ag'in it speaks in strong +words for havin' done too much. Howsever, I acknowledge I've overdone the +matter, and as I've a ra'al and strong regard for you, I rej'ice to say it, +inasmuch as it proves how much better you are, than my own vanity and +consaits had made you out to be." + +Judith now removed her hands from her face, her tears had ceased, and she +unveiled a countenance so winning with the smile which rendered it even +radiant, that the young man gazed at her, for a moment, with speechless +delight. + +'Say no more, Deerslayer," she hastily interposed; "it pains me to hear you +find fault with yourself. I know my own weakness, all the better, now I see +that you have discovered it; the lesson, bitter as I have found it for a +moment, shall not be forgotten. We will not talk any longer, of these things, +for I do not feel myself brave enough for the undertaking, and I should not +like the Delaware, or Hist, or even Hetty, to notice my weakness. Farewell, +Deerslayer; may God bless and protect you as your honest heart deserves +blessings and protection, and as I must think he will." + +Judith had so far regained the superiority that properly belonged to her +better education, high spirit, and surpassing personal advantages, as to +preserve the ascendancy she had thus accidentally obtained, and effectually +prevented any return to the subject that was as singularly interrupted, as it +had been singularly introduced. The young man permitted her to have every +thing her own way, and when she pressed his hard hand in both her own, he +made no resistance, but submitted to the homage as quietly, and with quite as +matter of course a manner, as a sovereign would have received a similar +tribute from a subject, or the mistress from her suitor. Feeling had flushed +the face and illuminated the whole countenance of the girl, and her beauty +was never more resplendant than when she cast a parting glance at the youth. +That glance was filled with anxiety, interest and gentle pity. At the next +instant, she darted into the hut and was seen no more, though she spoke to +Hist from a window, to inform her that their friend expected her appearance. + +"You know enough of red skin natur', and red skin usages, Wah-ta!-Wah, to see +the condition I am in on account of this furlough," commenced the hunter in +Delaware, as soon as the patient and submissive girl of that people had moved +quietly to his side; "you will therefore best onderstand how onlikely I am +ever to talk with you ag'in. I've but little to say; but that little comes +from long livin' among your people, and from havin' obsarved and noted their +usages. The life of a woman is hard at the best, but I must own, though I'm +not opinionated in favor of my own colour, that it is harder among the red +men than it is among the pale faces. This is a p'int on which christians may +well boast, if boasting can be set down for christianity in any manner or +form, which I rather think it cannot. Howsever, all women have their trials. +Red women have their'n in what I should call the nat'ral way, while white +women take 'em innoculated like. Bear your burthen, Hist, becomingly, and +remember if it be a little toilsome, how much lighter it is than that of most +Indian women. I know the Sarpent well - what I call cordially - and he will +never be a tyrant to any thing he loves, though he will expect to be treated +himself like a Mohican Chief. There will be cloudy days in your lodge I +suppose, for they happen under all usages, and among all people, but, by +keepin' the windows of the heart open there will always be room for the sun- +shine to enter. You come of a great stock yourself, and so does Chingachgook. +It's not very likely that either will ever forget the sarcumstance and do any +thing to disgrace your forefathers. Nevertheless, likin' is a tender plant, +and never thrives long when watered with tears. Let the 'arth around your +married happiness be moistened by the dews of kindness." + +"My pale brother is very wise; Wah will keep in her mind all that his wisdom +tells her." + +"That's judicious and womanly, Hist. Care in listening, and stout-heartedness +in holding to good counsel, is a wife's great protection. And, now, ask the +Sarpent to come and speak with me, for a moment, and carry away with you all +my best wishes and prayers. I shall think of you Hist, and of your intended +husband, let what may come to pass, and always wish you well, here and +hereafter, whether the last is to be according to Indian idees, or christian +doctrines." + +Hist shed no tear at parting. She was sustained by the high resolution of one +who had decided on her course, but her dark eyes were luminous with the +feelings that glowed within, and her pretty countenance beamed with an +expression of determination that was in marked and singular contrast to its +ordinary gentleness. It was but a minute ere the Delaware advanced to the +side of his friend with the light, noiseless tread of an Indian. + +"Come, this-a-way, Sarpent, here more out of sight of the women," commenced +the Deerslayer, "for I've several things to say that must n't so much as be +suspected, much less overheard. You know too well the natur' of furloughs and +Mingos to have any doubts or misgivin's consarnin' what is like to happen, +when I get back to the camp. On them two p'ints therefore, a few words will +go a great way. In the first place, chief, I wish to say a little about Hist, +and the manner in which you red men treat your wives. I suppose it's +accordin' to the gifts of your people that the women should work, and the men +hunt; but there's such a thing as moderation in all matters. As for huntin', +I see no good reason why any limits need be set to that, but Hist comes of +too good a stock to toil like a common drudge. One of your means and standin' +need never want for corn, or potatoes, or any thing that the fields yield; +therefore, I hope the hoe will never be put into the hands of any wife of +yourn. You know I am not quite a beggar, and all I own, whether in +ammunition, skins, arms, or calicoes, I give to Hist, should I not come back +to claim them by the end of the season. This will set the maiden up, and will +buy labor for her, for a long time to come. I suppose I need n't tell you to +love the young woman, for that you do already, and whomsoever the man ra'ally +loves, he'll be likely enough to cherish. Nevertheless, it can do no harm to +say that kind words never rankle, while bitter words do. I know you're a man, +Sarpent, that is less apt to talk in his own lodge, than to speak at the +Council Fire; but forgetful moments may overtake us all, and the practyse of +kind doin', and kind talkin', is a wonderful advantage in keepin' peace in a +cabin, as well as on a hunt." + +"My ears are open," returned the Delaware gravely; "the words of my brother +have entered so far that they never can fall out again. They are like rings, +that have no end, and cannot drop. Let him speak on; the song of the wren and +the voice of a friend never tire." + +"I will speak a little longer, chief, but you will excuse it for the sake of +old companionship, should I now talk about myself. If the worst comes to the +worst, it's not likely there'll be much left of me but ashes, so a grave +would be useless, and a sort of vanity. On that score I'm no way partic'lar, +though it might be well enough to take a look at the remains of the pile, and +should any bones, or pieces be found, 'twould be more decent to gather them +together, and bury them, than to let them lie for the wolves to gnaw at, and +howl over. These matters can make no great difference in the mind, but men of +white blood and christian feelin's have rather a gift for graves." + +"It shall be done as my brother says," returned the Indian, gravely. "If his +mind is full, let him empty it in the bosom of a friend." + +"I thank you, Sarpent; my mind's easy enough; yes, it's tolerable easy. Idees +will come uppermost that I'm not apt to think about in common, it's true, but +by striving ag'in some, and lettin' other some out, all will come right, in +the long run. There's one thing, howsever, chief, that does seem to me to be +onreasonable, and ag'in natur', though the missionaries say it's true, and +bein' of my religion and colour I feel bound to believe them. They say an +Injin may torment and tortur' the body to his heart's content, and scalp, and +cut, and tear, and burn, and consume all his inventions and deviltries, until +nothin' is left but ashes, and they shall be scattered to the four winds of +heaven, yet when the trumpet of God shall sound, all will come together +ag'in, and the man will stand forth in his flesh, the same creatur' as to +looks, if not as to feelin's, that he was afore he was harmed!" + +"The missionaries are good men - mean well," returned the Delaware +courteously; "they are not great medicines. They think all they say, +Deerslayer; that is no reason why warriors and orators should be all ears. +When Chingachgook shall see the father of Tamenund standing in his scalp, and +paint, and war lock, then will he believe the missionaries." + +"Seem' is believin', of a sartainty; ahs! me-and some of us may see these +things sooner than we thought. I comprehind your meanin' about Tamenund's +father, Sarpent, and the idee's a close idee. Tamenund is now an elderly man, +say eighty every day of it, and his father was scalped, and tormented, and +burnt, when the present prophet was a youngster. Yes, if one could see that +come to pass, there would n't be much difficulty in yieldin' faith to all +that the missionaries say. Howsever, I am not ag'in the opinion now, for you +must know, Sarpent, that the great principle of christianity is to believe +without seeing, and a man should always act up to his religion and +principles, let them be what they may." + +"That is strange for a wise nation!" said the Delaware with emphasis. "The +red man looks hard, that he may see and understand." +"Yes, that's plauserble, and is agreeable to mortal pride, but it's not as +deep as it seems. If we could understand all we see, Sarpent there might be +not only sense, but safety, in refusin' to give faith to any one thing that +we might find oncomperhensible; but when there's so many things, about which, +it may be said, we know nothin' at all, why, there's little use, and no +reason, in bein' difficult touchin' any one in partic'lar. For my part, +Delaware, all my thoughts have n't been on the game, when outlyin' in the +hunts and scoutin's, of our youth. Many's the hour I've passed, pleasantly +enough too, in what is tarmed conterplation by my people. On such occasions +the mind is actyve, though the body seems lazy and listless. An open spot on +a mountain side, where a wide look can be had at the heavens and the 'arth, +is a most judicious place for a man to get a just idee of the power of the +Manitou, and of his own littleness. At such times, there is n't any great +disposition to find fault with little difficulties, in the way of +comperhension, as there are so many big ones to hide them. Believin' comes +easy enough to me, at such times, and, if the Lord made man first out +of'arth, as they tell me it is written in the bible; then turns him into +dust, at death; I see no great difficulty in the way to bringin' him back in +the body, though ashes be the only substance left. These things lie beyond +our understandin', though they may and do lie so close to our feelin's. But, +of all the doctrines, Sarpent, that which disturbs me, and disconsarts my +mind the most, is the one which teaches us to think that a pale face goes to +one heaven, and a red skin to another; it may separate in death, them which +lived much together, and loved each other well, in life!" +"Do the missionaries teach their white brethren to think it is so?" demanded +the Indian, with serious earnestness. 'The Delawares believe that good men +and brave warriors will hunt together in the same pleasant woods, let them +belong to whatever tribe they may; that all the unjust Indians and cowards, +will have to sneak in with the dogs and the wolves, to get venison for their +lodges." + +"Tis wonderful how many consaits mankind have consarnin' happiness and +misery, here after!" exclaimed the hunter, borne away by the power of his own +thoughts. 'Some believe in burnin's and flames, and some think punishment is +to eat with the wolves and dogs. Then, ag'in, some fancy heaven to be only +the carryin' out of their own 'arthly longin's, while others fancy it all +gold and shinin' lights! Well, I've an idee of my own, in that matter, which +is just this, Sarpent. Whenever I've done wrong, I've ginirally found 'twas +owin' to some blindness of the mind, which hid the right from view, and when +sight has returned, then has come sorrow and repentance. Now, I consait that, +after death, when the body is laid aside or, if used at all, is purified and +without its longin's, the spirit sees all things in their ra'al lights and +never becomes blind to truth and justice. Such bein' the case, all that has +been done in life, is beheld as plainly as the sun is seen at noon; the good +brings joy, while the evil brings sorrow. There's nothin' onreasonable in +that, but it's agreeable to every man's exper'ence." + +"I thought the pale faces believed all men were wicked; who then could ever +find the white man's heaven?" + +"That's ingen'ous, but it falls short of the missionary teachin's. You'll be +christianized one day, I make no doubt, and then 'twill all come plain +enough. You must know, Sarpent, that there's been a great deed of salvation +done, that, by God's help, enables all men to find a pardon for their +wickednesses, and that is the essence of the white man's religion. I can't +stop to talk this matter over with you any longer, for Hetty's in the canoe, +and the furlough takes me away, but the time will come I hope, when you'll +feel these things; for, after all, they must be felt rather than reasoned +about. Ah's! me; well, Delaware, there's my hand; you know it's that of a +fri'nd, and will shake it as such, though it never has done you one half the +good its owner wishes it had." + +The Indian took the offered hand, and returned its pressure warmly. Then +falling back on his acquired stoicism of manner, which so many mistake for +constitutional indifference, he drew up in reserve, and prepared to part from +his friend with dignity. Deerslayer, however, was more natural, nor would he +have at all cared about giving way to his feelings, had not the recent +conduct and language of Judith given him some secret, though ill defined +apprehensions of a scene. He was too humble to imagine the truth concerning +the actual feelings of that beautiful girl, while he was too observant not to +have noted the struggle she had maintained with herself, and which had so +often led her to the very verge of discovery. That something extraordinary +was concealed in her breast, he thought obvious enough, and, through a +sentiment of manly delicacy that would have done credit to the highest human +refinement, he shrunk from any exposure of her secret that might subsequently +cause regret to the girl, herself. He, therefore, determined to depart, now, +and that without any further manifestations of feeling either from him, or +from others. + +"God bless you! Sarpent-God bless you!" cried the hunter, as the canoe left +the side of the platform. "Your Manitou and my God, only know when and where +we shall meet agin; I shall count it a great blessing, and a full reward for +any little good I may have done on 'art, if we shall be permitted to know +each other, and to consort together, hereafter, as we have so long done in +these pleasant woods afore us!" + +Chingachgook waved his hand. Drawing the light blanket he wore over his head, +as a Roman would conceal his grief in his robes, he slowly withdrew into the +Ark, in order to indulge his sorrow and his musings, alone. Deerslayer did +not speak again, until the canoe was half-way to the shore. Then he suddenly +ceased paddling, at an interruption that came from the mild, musical voice of +Hetty. + +"Why do you go back to the Hurons, Deerslayer?" demanded the girl. "They say +I am feeble-minded, and such they never harm, but you have as much sense as +Hurry Harry; and more too, Judith thinks, though I don't see how that can +well be." + +"Ah! Hetty, afore we land I must convarse a little with you child, and that +too on matters touching your own welfare, principally. Stop paddling-or, +rather, that the Mingos need n't think we are plotting and contriving, and so +treat us accordingly, just dip your paddle lightly, and give the canoe a +little motion and no more. That's just the idee and the movement; I see +you're ready enough at an appearance, and might be made useful at a +sarcumvention if it was lawful now to use one- that's just the idee and the +movement! Ah's! me. Desait and a false tongue are evil things, and altogether +onbecoming our colour, Hetty, but it is a pleasure and a satisfaction to +outdo the contrivances of a red-skin in the strife of lawful warfare. My path +has been short, and is like soon to have an end, but I can see that the +wanderings of a warrior ar n't altogether among brambles and difficulties. +There's a bright side to a war-path, as well as to most other things, if +we'll only have the wisdom to see it, and the ginerosity to own it." + +"And why should your war path, as you call it, come so near to an end, +Deerslayer?" + +"Because, my good girl, my furlough comes so near to an end. They're likely +to have pretty much the same tarmination, as regards time, one following on +the heels of the other, as a matter of course." + +"I don't understand your meaning, Deerslayer-" returned the girl, looking a +little bewildered. "Mother always said peopIe ought to speak more plainly to +me than to most other persons, because I'm feeble-minded. Those that are +feeble minded, don't understand as easily, as those that have sense." + +"Well then, Hetty, the simple truth is this. You know that I'm now a captyve +to the Hurons, and captyves can't do, in all things, as they please-" + +"But how can you be a captive," eagerly interrupted the girl-"when you are +out here on the lake, in father's best canoe, and the Indians are in the +woods with no canoe at all? That can't be true, Deerslayer!" + +"I wish with all my heart and soul, Hetty, that you was right, and that I was +wrong, instead of your bein' all wrong, and I bein' only too near the truth. +Free as I seem to your eyes, gal, I'm bound hand and foot in ra'ality." + +"Well it is a great misfortune not to have sense! Now, I can't see, or +understand that you are a captive, or bound in any manner. If you are bound, +with what are your hands and feet fastened?" + +"With a furlough, gal; that's a thong that binds tighter than any chain. One +may be broken, but the other can't. Ropes and chains allow of knives, and +desait, and contrivances; but a furlough can be neither cut, slipped nor +sarcumvented." + +"What sort of a thing is a furlough, then, if it be stronger than hemp or +iron? I never saw a furlough." + +"I hope you may never feel one, gal; the tie is altogether in the feelin's, +in these matters, and therefore is to be felt and not seen. You can +understand what is is to give a promise, I dare to say, good little Hetty?" + +"Certainly. A promise is to say you will do a thing, and that binds you to be +as good as your word. Mother always kept her promises to me, and then she +said it would be wicked if I did n't keep my promises to her, and to every +body else." + +"You have had a good mother, in some matters, child, whatever she may have +been in other some. That is a promise, and as you say it must be kept. Now, I +fell into the hands of the Mingos last night, and they let me come off to see +my fri'nds and send messages in to my own colour, if any such feel consarn on +my account, on condition that I shall be back, when the sun is up to-day, and +take whatever their revenge and hatred can contrive, in the way of torments, +in satisfaction for + +the life of a warrior that fell by my rifle, as well as for that of the young +woman shot by Hurry, and other disapp'intments met with on and about this +lake. What is called a promise atween mother and darter, or even atween +strangers in the settlements is called a furlough when given by one soldier +to another, on a warpath. And now I suppose you understand my situation, +Hetty." + +The girl made no answer for some time, but she ceased paddling altogether, as +if the novel idea distracted her mind too much to admit of other employment. +Then she resumed the dialogue earnestly and with solicitude. + +"Do you think the Hurons will have the heart to do what you say, Deerslayer?" +she asked. "I have found them kind and harmless." + +"That's true enough as consarns one like you, Hetty, but it's a very +different affair, when it comes to an open inimy, and he too the owner of a +pretty sartain rifle. I don't say that they bear me special malice on account +of any expl'ites already performed, for that would be bragging, as it might +be, on the varge of the grave, but it's no vanity to believe that they know +one of their bravest and cunnin'est chiefs fell by my hands. Such bein' the +case, the tribe would reproach them if they failed to send the spirit of a +pale face to keep the company of the spirit of their red brother; always +supposin' that he can catch it. I look for no marcy, Hetty, at their hands; +and my principal sorrow is that such a calamity should befal me on my first +war-path: that it would come sooner or later, every soldier counts on and +expects. + +"The Hurons shall not harm you, Deerslayer," cried the girl, much excited- +"Tis wicked as well as cruel; I have the bible, here, to tell them so. Do you +think I would stand by and see you tormented?" + +"I hope not, my good Hetty, I hope not; and, therefore, when the moment +comes, I expect you will move off, and not be a witness of what you can't +help, while it would grieve you. But, I have n't stopped the paddles to talk +of my own afflictions and difficulties, but to speak a little plainly to you, +gal, consarnin' your own matters." + +"What can you have to say to me, Deerslayer! Since mother died, few talk to +me of such things." + +"So much the worse, poor gal; yes, 'tis so much the worse, for one of your +state of mind needs frequent talking to, in order to escape the snares and +desaits of this wicked world. You have n't forgotten Hurry Harry, gal, so +soon, I calculate?" + +"I! - I forget Henry March!" exclaimed Hetty, starting. "Why should I forget +him, Deerslayer, when he is our friend, and only left us last night. Then, +the large bright star that mother loved so much to gaze at, was just over the +top of yonder tall pine on the mountain, as Hurry got into the canoe; and +when you landed him on the point, near the east bay, it was n't more than the +length of Judith's handsomest ribbon above it." + +"And how can you know how long I was gone, or how far I went to land Hurry, +seem' you were not with us, and the distance was so great, to say nothing of +the night?" + +"Oh! I know when it was, well enough," returned Hetty positively-"There's +more ways than one for counting time and distance. When the mind is engaged, +it is better than any clock. Mine is feeble, I know, but it goes true enough, +in all that touches poor Hurry Harry. Judith will never marry March, +Deerslayer." + +"That's the p'int, Hetty; that's the very p'int I want to come to. I suppose +you know, that it's nat'ral for young people to have kind feelin's for one +another, more especially when one happens to be a youth and t'other a maiden. +Now, one of your years and mind, gal, that has neither father nor mother, and +who lives in a wilderness frequented by hunters and trappers, needs be on her +guard against evils she little dreams of." + +"What harm can it be to think well of a fellow creature," returned Hetty +simply, though the conscious blood was stealing to her cheeks in spite of a +spirit so pure that it scarce knew why it prompted the blush, "the bible +tells us to 'love them who despitefully use' us, and why should n't we like +them that do not." + +"Ah! Hetty, the love of the missionaries is n't the sort of likin' I mean. +Answer me one thing, child; do you believe yourself to have mind enough to +become a wife, and a mother?" + +"That's not a proper question to ask a young woman, Deerslayer, and I'll not +answer it," returned the girl, in a reproving manner-much as a parent rebukes +a child for an act of indiscretion. "If you have any thing to say about +Hurry, I'll hear that-but you must not speak evil of him; he is absent, and +'tis unkind to talk evil of the absent." + +"Your mother has given you so many good lessons, Hetty, that my fears for +you, are not as great as they were. Nevertheless, a young woman without +parents, in your state of mind, and who is not without beauty, must always be +in danger in such a lawless region as this. I would say nothin' amiss of +Hurry, who, in the main, is not a bad man for one of his callin', but you +ought to know one thing, which it may not be altogether pleasant to tell you, +but which must be said. March has a desperate likin' for your sister Judith." + +"Well, what of that? Every body admires Judith, she's so handsome, and Hurry +has told me, again and again, how much he wishes to marry her. But that will +never come to pass, for Judith don't like Hurry. She likes another, and talks +about him in her sleep; though you need not ask me who he is, for all the +gold in King George's crown, and all the jewels too, would n't tempt me to +tell you his name. If sisters can't keep each other's secrets, who can?" + +"Sartainly, I do not wish you to tell me, Hetty, nor would it be any +advantage to a dyin' man to know. What the tongue says when the mind's +asleep, neither head nor heart is answerable for." + +"I wish I knew why judith talks so much in her sleep, about officers, and +honest hearts, and false tongues, but I suppose she don't like to tell me, as +I'm feeble minded. Is n't it odd, Deerslayer, that Judith don't like Hurry- +he, who is the bravest looking youth that ever comes upon the lake, and is as +handsome as she is herself. Father always said they would be the comeliest +couple in the country, though mother did n't fancy March any more thanj +Judith. There's no telling what will happen, they say, until things actually +come to pass." + +"Ahs! me-well, poor Hetty, 'tis of no great use to talk to them that can't +understand you, and so I'll say no more about what I did wish to speak of, +though it lay heavy on my mind. Put the paddle in motion, ag'in, gal, and +well push for the shore, for the sun is nearly up, and my furlough is almost +out." + +The canoe now glided ahead, holding its way towards the point where +Deerslayer well knew that his enemies expected him, and where he now began to +be afraid he might not arrive in season to redeem his plighted faith. Hetty +perceiving his impatience, without very clearly comprehending its cause, +however, seconded his efforts, in a way that soon rendered their timely +return no longer a matter of doubt. Then, and then only, did the young man +suffer his exertions to flag, and Hetty began, again, to prattle in her +simple confiding manner, though nothing farther was uttered that it may be +thought necessary to relate. + + + + +Chapter XXVII. + +"Thou hast been busy, Death, this day, and yet +But half thy work is done! The gates of hell +Are thronged, yet twice ten thousand spirits more +Who from their warm and healthful tenements +Fear no divorce; must, ere the sun go down, +Enter the world of woe!"- + +Southey, Roderick, the Last of the Goths, XXIV, i-6. + + + +One experienced in the signs of the heavens, would have seen that the sun +wanted but two or three minutes of the zenith, when Deerslayer landed on the +point, where the Hurons were now encamped, nearly abreast of the castle. This +spot was similar to the one already described, with the exception that the +surface of the land was less broken, and less crowded with trees. Owing to +these two circumstances, it was all the better suited to the purpose for +which it had been selected, the space beneath the branches bearing some +resemblance to a densely wooded lawn. Favoured by its position and its +spring, it had been much resorted to by savages and hunters, and the natural +grasses had succeeded their fires, leaving an appearance of sward in places, +a very unusual accompaniment of the virgin forest. Nor was the margin of +water fringed with bushes, as on so much of its shore, but the eye penetrated +the woods immediately on reaching the strand, commanding nearly the whole +area of the projection. + +If it was a point of honor with the Indian warrior to redeem his word, when +pledged to return and meet his death at a given hour, so was it a point of +characteristic pride to show no womanish impatience, but to reappear as +nearly as possible at the appointed moment. It was well not to exceed the +grace accorded by the generosity of the enemy, but it was better to meet it +to a minute. Something of this dramatic effect mingles with most of the +graver usages of the American aborigines, and no doubt, like the prevalence +of a similar feeling among people more sophisticated and refined, may be +referred to a principle of nature. We all love the wonderful, and when it +comes attended by chivalrous self-devotion and a rigid regard to honor, it +presents itself to our admiration in a shape doubly attractive. As respects +Deerslayer, though he took a pride in showing his white blood, by often +deviating from the usages of the red-men, he frequently dropped into their +customs, and oftener into their feelings, unconsciously to himself, in +consequence of having no other arbiters to appeal to, than their judgments +and tastes. On the present occasion, he would have abstained from betraying a +feverish haste by a too speedy return, since it would have contained a tacit +admission that the time asked for, was more than had been wanted; but, on the +other hand, had the idea occurred to him, he would have quickened his +movements a little, in order to avoid the dramatic appearance of returning at +the precise instant set as the utmost limit of his absence. Still, accident +had interfered to defeat the last intention, for when the young man put his +foot on the point, and advanced with a steady tread towards the group of +chiefs that was seated in grave array on a fallen tree, the oldest of their +number cast his eye upward, at an opening in the trees, and pointed out to +his companions the startling fact that the sun was just entering a space that +was known to mark the zenith. A common, but low exclamation of surprise and +admiration, escaped every mouth, and the grim warriors looked at each other, +some with envy and disappointment, some with astonishment at the precise +accuracy of their victim, and others with a more generous and liberal +feeling. The American Indian always deemed his moral victories the noblest, +prizing the groans and yielding of his victim under torture, more than the +trophy of his scalp; and the trophy itself more than his life. To slay, and +not to bring off the proof of victory, indeed, was scarcely deemed honorable, +even these rude and fierce tenants of the forest, like their more nurtured +brethren of the court and the camp, having set up for themselves imaginary +and arbitrary points of honor, to supplant the conclusions of the right, and +the decisions of reason. + +The Hurons had been divided in their opinions concerning the probability of +their captive's return. Most among them, indeed, had not expected it possible +for a pale-face to come back voluntarily, and meet the known penalties of an +Indian torture; but a few of the seniors expected better things from one who +had already shown himself so singularly cool, brave and upright. The party +had come to its decision, however, less in the expectation of finding the +pledge redeemed, than in the hope of disgracing the Delawares by casting into +their teeth the delinquency of one bred in their villages. They would have +greatly preferred that Chingachgook should be their prisoner, and prove the +traitor, but the pale-face scion of the hated stock was no bad substitute, +for their purposes, failing in their designs against the ancient stem. With a +view to render their triumph as signal as possible, in the event of the +hour's passing without the reappearance of the hunter, all the warriors and +scouts of the party had been called in, and the whole band, men, women and +children, was now assembled at this single point, to be a witness of the +expected scene. As the castle was n plain view, and by no means distant, it +was easily watched y day-light, and, it being thought that its inmates were +now limited to Hurry, the Delaware and the two girls, no apprehensions were +felt, of their being able to escape unseen. A large raft having a breast-work +of logs, had been prepared, and was in actual readiness to be used against +either Ark or castle as occasion might require, so soon as the fate of +Deerslayer was determined, the seniors of the party having come to the +opinion that it was getting to be hazardous to delay their departure for +Canada, beyond the coming night. In short the band waited merely to dispose +of this single affair, ere it brought matters with those in the Castle to a +crisis, and prepared to commence its retreat towards the distant waters of +Ontario. + +It was an imposing scene, into which Deerslayer now found himself advancing. +All the older warriors were seated on the trunk of the fallen tree, waiting +his approach with grave decorum. On the right, stood the young men, armed, +while left was occupied by the women and children. In the centre was an open +space of considerable extent, always canopied by yes, but from which the +underbrush, dead wood, and other obstacles had been carefully removed. The +more open area had probably been much used by former parties, for this was +place where the appearance of a sward was the most decided. e arches of the +woods, even at high noon, cast their sombre shadows on the spot, which the +brilliant rays of the sun that struggled through the leaves contributed to +mellow, and, if such an expression can be used, to illuminate. It was +probably from a similar scene that the mind of man first got its idea of the +effects of gothic tracery and churchly hues, this temple of nature producing +some such effect, so far as light and shadow were concerned, as the well- +known offspring of human invention. + +As was not unusual among the tribes and wandering bands of the Aborigines, +two chiefs shared, in nearly equal degrees, the principal and primitive +authority that was wielded over these children of the forest. There were +several who might claim the distinction of being chief men, but the two in +question were so much superior to all the rest in influence, that, when they +agreed, no one disputed their mandates, and when they were divided the band +hesitated, like men who had lost their governing principle of action. It was +also in conformity with practice, perhaps we might add in conformity with +nature, that one of the chiefs was indebted to his mind for his influence, +whereas the other owed his distinction altogether to qualities that were +physical. One was a senior, well known for eloquence in debate, wisdom in +council, and prudence in measures; while his great competitor, if not his +rival, was a brave distinguished in war, notorious for ferocity, and +remarkable, in the way of intellect, for nothing but the cunning and +expedients of the war path. The first was Rivenoak, who has already been +introduced to the reader, while the last was called le Panth'ere, in the +language of the Canadas, or the Panther, to resort to the vernacular of the +English colonies. The appellation of the fighting chief was supposed to +indicate the qualities of the warrior, agreeably to a practice of the red +man's nomenclature, ferocity, cunning and treachery being, perhaps, the +distinctive features of his character. The title had been received from the +French, and was prized so much the more from that circumstance, the Indian +submitting profoundly to the greater intelligence of his pale face allies, in +most things of this nature. How well the sobriquet was merited, will be seen +in the sequel. + +Rivenoak and the Panther sat side by side awaiting the approach of their +prisoner, as Deerslayer put his moccasined foot on the strand, nor did either +move, or utter a syllable, until the young man had advanced into the centre +of the area, and proclaimed his presence with his voice. This was done +firmly, though in the simple manner that marked the character of the +individual. + +"Here I am, Mingos," he said, in the dialect of the Delawares, a language +that most present understood; "here I am, and there is the sun. One is not +more true to the laws of natur', than the other has proved true to his word. +I am your prisoner; do with me what you please. My business with man and +'arth is settled; nothing remains now but to meet the white man's God, +accordin' to a white man's duties and gifts." + +A murmur of approbation escaped even the women at this address, and, for an +instant there was a strong and pretty general desire to adopt into the tribe, +one who owned so brave a spirit. Still there were dissenters from this wish, +among the principal of whom might be classed the Panther, and his sister, Ic +Sumach, so called from the number of her children, who was the widow of le +Loup Cervier, now known to have fallen by the hand of the captive. Native +ferocity held one in subjection, while the corroding passion of revenge +prevented the other from admitting any gentler feeling at the moment. Not so +with Rivenoak. This chief arose, stretched his arm before him, in a gesture +of courtesy, and paid his compliments with an ease and dignity that a prince +might have envied. As, in that band, his wisdom and eloquence were +confessedly without rivals, he knew that on himself would properly fall the +duty of first replying to the speech of the pale-face. + +"Pale-face, you are honest," said the Huron orator. "My people are happy in +having captured a man, and not a skulking fox. We now know you; we shall +treat you like a brave. If you have slain one of our warriors, and helped to +kill others, you have a life of your own ready to give away in return. Some +of my young men thought that the blood of a pale face was too thin; that it +would refuse to run under the Huron knife. You will show them it is not so; +your heart is stout, as well as your body. It is a pleasure to make such a +prisoner; should my warriors say that the death of Ic Loup Cervier ought not +to be forgotten, and that he cannot travel towards the land of spirits alone, +that his enemy must be sent to overtake him, they will remember that he fell +by the hand of a brave, and send you after him with such signs of our +friendship as shall not make him ashamed to keep your company. I have spoken; +you know what I have said." + +"True enough, Mingo, all true as the gospel," returned the simple minded +hunter, 'you have spoken, and I do know not only what you have said, but, +what is still more important, what you mean. I dare to say your warrior the +Lynx, was a stout-hearted brave, and worthy of your fri'ndship and respect, +but I do not feel unworthy to keep his company, without any passport from +your hands. Nevertheless, here I am, ready to receive judgment from your +council, if, indeed, the matter was not detarmined among you, afore I got +back." + +"My old men would not sit in council over a pale face until they saw him +among them," answered Rivenoak, looking around him a little ironically; "they +said it would be like sitting in council over the winds; they go where they +will, and come back as they see fit, and not otherwise. There was one voice +that spoke in your favor, Deerslayer, but it was alone, like the song of the +wren' whose mate has been struck by the hawk." + +"I thank that voice whosever it may have been, Mingo, and will say it was as +true a voice, as the rest were lying voices. A furlough is as binding on a +pale-face, if he be honest, as it is on a red skin, and was it not so, I +would never bring disgrace on the Delawares, among whom I may be said to have +received my edication. But words are useless, and lead to braggin' feelin's; +here I am; act your will on me." + +Rivenoak made a sign of acquiescence, and then a short conference was +privately held among the chiefs. As soon as the latter ended, three or four +young men fell back from among the armed group, and disappeared. Then it was +signified to the prisoner that he was at liberty to go at large on the point, +until a council was held concerning his fate. There was more of seeming, than +of real confidence, however, in this apparent liberality, inasmuch as the +young men mentioned, already formed a line of sentinels across the breadth of +the point, inland, and escape from any other part was out of the question. +Even the canoe was removed beyond this line of sentinels, to a spot where it +was considered safe from any sudden attempt. These precautions did not +proceed from a failure of confidence, but from the circumstance that the +prisoner had now complied with all the required conditions of his parole, and +it would have been considered a commendable and honorable exploit to escape +from his foes. So nice, indeed, were the distinctions drawn by the savages, +in cases of this nature, that they often gave their victims a chance to evade +the torture, deeming it as creditable to the captors to overtake, or to out +wit a fugitive, when his exertions were supposed to be quickened by the +extreme jeopardy of his situation, as it was for him to get clear from so +much extraordinary vigilance. + +Nor was Deerslayer unconscious of, or forgetful, of his rights, and of his +opportunities. Could he now have seen any probable opening for an escape, the +attempt would not have been delayed a minute. But the case seem'd desperate. +He was aware of the line of sentinels, and felt the difficulty of breaking +through it, unharmed. The lake offered no advantages, as the canoe would have +given his foes the greatest facilities for overtaking him; else would he have +found it no difficult task to swim as far as the castle. As he walked about +the point, he even examined the spot to ascertain if it offered no place of +concealment, but its openness, its size, and the hundred watchful glances +that were turned towards him, even while those who made them affected not to +see him, prevented any such expedient from succeeding. The dread and disgrace +of failure had no influence on Deerslayer, who deemed it even a point of +honor to reason and feel like a white man, rather than as an Indian, and who +felt it a sort of duty, to do all he could, that did not involve a +dereliction from principle, in order to save his life. Still he hesitated +about making the effort, for he also felt that he ought to see the chance of +success before he committed himself. + +In the mean time the business of the camp appeared to proceed in its regular +train. The chiefs consulted apart, admitting no one but the Sumach to their +councils, for she, the widow of the fallen warrior, had an exclusive right to +be heard on such an occasion. The young men strolled about in indolent +listlessness, awaiting the result with Indian patience, while the females +prepared the feast that was to celebrate the termination of the affair, +whether it proved fortunate, or otherwise, for our hero. No one betrayed +feeling, and an indifferent observer, beyond the extreme watchfulness of the +sentinels, would have detected no extraordinary movement or sensation to +denote the real state of things. Two or three old women put their heads +together, and it appeared unfavorably to the prospects of Deerslayer, by +their scowling looks, and angry gestures; but a group of Indian girls were +evidently animated by a different impulse, as was apparent by stolen glances +that expressed pity and regret. In this condition of the camp, an hour soon +glided away. + +Suspense is perhaps the feeling of all others that is most difficult to be +supported. When Deerslayer landed, he fully expected in the course of a few +minutes to undergo the tortures of an Indian revenge, and he was prepared to +meet his fate, manfully; but, the delay proved far more trying than the +nearer approach of suffering, and the intended victim began seriously to +meditate some desperate effort at escape, as it might be from sheer anxiety +to terminate the scene, when he was suddenly summoned, to appear once more in +front of his judges, who had already arranged the band in its former order, +in readiness to receive him. + +"Killer of the Deer," commenced Rivenoak, as soon as his captive stood before +him, 'my aged men have listened to wise words; they are ready to speak. You +are a man whose fathers came from beyond the rising sun; we are children of +the setting sun; we turn our faces towards the Great Sweet Lakes, when we +look towards our villages. It may be a wide country and full of riches +towards the morning, but it is very pleasant towards the evening. We love +most to look in that direction. When we gaze at the east, we feel afraid, +canoe after canoe bringing more and more of your people in the track of the +sun, as if their land was so full as to run over. The red men are few +already; they have need of help. One of our best lodges has lately been +emptied, by the death of its master; it will be a long time before his son +can grow big enough to sit in his place. There is his widow; she will want +venison to feed her and her children, for her sons are yet like the young of +the robin, before they quit the nest. By your hand has this great calamity +befallen her. She has two duties; one to le Loup Cervier, and one to his +children. Scalp for scalp, life for life, blood for blood, is one law; to +feed her young, another. We know you, Killer of the Deer. You are honest; +when you say a thing, it is so. You have but one tongue, and that is not +forked, like a snake's. Your head is never hid in the grass; all can see it. +What you say, that will you do. You are just. When you have done wrong, it is +your wish to do right, again, as soon as you can. Here, is the Sumach; she is +alone in her wigwam, with children crying around her for food-yonder is a +rifle; it is loaded and ready to be fired. Take the gun, go forth and shoot a +deer; bring the venison and lay it before the widow of Le Loup Cervier, feed +her children; call yourself her husband. After which, your heart will no +longer be Delaware, but Huron; le Sumach's ears will not hear the cries of +her children; my people will count the proper number of warriors." + +"I fear'd this, Rivenoak," answered Deerslayer, when the other had ceased +speaking-"yes, I did dread that it would come to this. Howsever, the truth is +soon told, and that will put an end to all expectations on this head. Mingo, +I'm white and christian born; 't would ill become me to take a wife, under +red-skin forms, from among heathen. That which I wouln't do, in peaceable +times, and under a bright sun, still less would I do behind clouds, in order +to save my life. I may never marry; most likely Providence in putting me, up +here, in the woods, has intended I should live single, and without a lodge of +my own; but should such a thing come to pass, none but a woman of my own +colour and gifts shall darken the door of my wigwam. As for feeding the young +of your dead warrior, I would do that cheerfully, could it be done without +discredit; but it cannot, seeing that I can never live in a Huron village. +Your own young men must find the Sumach in venison, and the next time she +marries, let her take a husband whose legs are not long enough to overrun +territory that do n't belong to him. We fou't a fair battle, and he fell; in +this, there is nothin' but what a brave expects, and should be ready to meet. +As for getting a Mingo heart, as well might you expect to see gray hairs on a +boy, or the blackberry growing on the pine. No- no-Huron; my gifts are white +so far as wives are consarned; it is Delaware, in all things touchin' +Injins." + +These words were scarcely out of the mouth of Deerslayer, before a common +murmur betrayed the dissatisfaction with which they had been heard. The aged +women, in particular, were loud in their expressions of disgust, and the +gentle Sumach, herself, a woman quite old enough to be our hero's mother, was +not the least pacific in her denunciations. But all the other manifestations +of disappointment and discontent were thrown into the back-ground, by the +fierce resentment of the Panther. This grim chief had thought it a +degradation to permit his sister to become the wife of a pale face of the +Yengeese, at all, and had only given a reluctant consent to the arrangement- +one by no means unusual among the Indians, however-at the earnest +solicitations of the bereaved widow; and it goaded him to the quick to find +his condescension slighted, the honor he had with so much regret been +persuaded to accord, contemned. The animal from which he got his name, does +not glare on his intended prey, with more frightful ferocity, than his eyes +gleamed on the captive, nor was his arm backward in seconding the fierce +resentment that almost consumed his breast. + +"Dog of the pale faces!" he exclaimed in Iroquois, "go yell among the curs of +your own evil hunting grounds!" + +The denunciation was accompanied by an appropriate action. Even while +speaking his arm was lifted, and the tomahawk hurled. Luckily the loud tones +of the speaker had drawn the eye of Deerslayer towards him, else would that +moment have probably closed his career. So great was the dexterity with which +this dangerous weapon was thrown, and so deadly the intent, that it would +have riven the scull of the prisoner, had he not stretched forth an arm, and +caught the handle in one of its turns, with a readiness quite as remarkable, +as the skill with which the missile had been hurled. The projectile force was +so great, notwithstanding, that when Deerslayer's arm was arrested, his hand +was raised above and behind his own head, and in the very attitude necessary +to return the attack. It is not certain whether the circumstance of finding +himself unexpectedly in this menacing posture and armed, tempted the young +man to retaliate, or whether sudden resentment overcame his forbearance and +prudence. His eye kindled, however, and a small red spot appeared on each +cheek, while he cast all his energy into the effort of his arm, and threw +back the weapon at his assailant. The unexpectedness of this blow contributed +to its success, the Panther neither raising an arm, nor bending his head to +avoid it. The keen little axe struck the victim in a perpendicular line with +the nose, directly between the eyes, literally braining him on the spot. +Sallying forward, as the serpent darts at its enemy even while receiving its +own death wound, this man of powerful frame, fell his length into the open +area formed by the circle, quivering in death. A common rush to his relief +left the captive, in a single instant, quite without the crowd, and, willing +to make one desperate effort for life, he bounded off, with the activity of a +deer. There was but a breathless instant, when the whole band, old and young, +women and children, abandoning the lifeless body of the Panther, where it +lay, raised the yell of alarm and followed in pursuit. + +Sudden as had been the event which induced Deerslayer to make this desperate +trial of speed, his mind was not wholly unprepared for the fearful emergency. +In the course of the past hour, he had pondered well on the chances of such +an experiment, and had shrewdly calculated all the details of success and +failure. At the first leap, therefore, his body was completely under the +direction of an intelligence that turned all its efforts to the best account, +and prevented every thing like hesitation or indecision at the important +instant of the start. To this alone was he indebted for the first great +advantage, that of getting through the line of sentinels unharmed. The manner +in which this was done, though sufficiently simple, merits a description. + +Although the shores of the point were not fringed with bushes, as was the +case with most of the others on the lake, it was owing altogether to the +circumstance that the spot had been so much used by hunters and fishermen. +This fringe commenced on what might be termed the main land, and was as dense +as usual, extending in long lines both north and south. In the latter +direction, then, Deerslayer held his way, and, as the sentinels were a little +without the commencement of this thicket, before the alarm was clearly +communicated to them, the fugitive had gained its cover. To run among the +bushes, however, was out of the question, and Deerslayer held his way, for +some forty or fifty yards, in the water, which was barely knee deep, offering +as great an obstacle to the speed of his pursuers, as it did to his own. As +soon as a favorable spot presented, he darted through the line of bushes, and +issued into the open woods. Several rifles were discharged at Deerslayer +while in the water, and more followed as he came out into the comparative +exposure of the clear forest. But the direction of his line of flight, which +partially crossed that of the fire, the haste with which the weapons had been +aimed, and the general confusion that prevailed in the camp prevented any +harm from being done. Bullets whistled past him, and many cut twigs from the +branches at his side, but not one touched even his dress. The delay caused by +these fruitless attempts was of great service to the fugitive, who had gained +more than a hundred yards on even the leading men of the Hurons, ere +something like concert and order had entered into the chase. To think of +following with rifles in hand, was out of the question, and after emptying +their pieces in vague hopes of wounding their captive, the best runners of +the Indians threw them aside, calling out to the women and boys to recover +and load them, again, as soon as possible. + +Deerslayer knew too well the desperate nature of the struggle in which he was +engaged to lose one of the precious moments. He also knew that his only hope +was to run in a straight line, for as soon as he began to turn, or double, +the greater number of his pursuers would put escape out of the question. He +held his way therefore, in a diagonal direction up the acclivity, which was +neither very high nor very steep, in this part of the mountain, but which was +sufficiently toilsome for one contending for life, to render it painfully +oppressive. There, however, he slackened his speed, to recover breath, +proceeding even at a quick walk, or a slow trot, along the more difficult +parts of the way. The Hurons were whooping and leaping behind him, but this +he disregarded, well knowing they must overcome the difficulties he had +surmounted, ere they could reach the elevation to which he had attained. The +summit of the first hill was now quite near him, and he saw, by the formation +of the land, that a deep glen intervened, before the base of a second hill +could be reached. Walking deliberately to the summit, he glanced eagerly +about him, in every direction, in quest of a cover. None offered in the +ground, but a fallen tree lay near him, and desperate circumstances required +desperate remedies. This tree lay in a line parallel to the glen, at the brow +of the hill. To leap on it, and then to force his person as close as +possible, under its lower side, took but a moment. Previously to disappearing +from his pursuers, however, Deerslayer stood on the height, and gave a cry of +triumph, as if exulting at the sight of the descent that lay before him. In +the next instant he was stretched beneath the tree. + +No sooner was this expedient adopted, than the young man ascertained how +desperate had been his own efforts, by the violence of the pulsations in his +frame. He could hear his heart beat, and his breathing was like the action of +a bellows, in quick motion. Breath was gained, however, and the heart soon +ceased to throb, as if about to break through its confinement. The footsteps +of those who toiled up the opposite side of the acclivity were now audible, +and presently voices and treads announced the arrival of the pursuers. The +foremost shouted as they reached the height; then, fearful that their enemy +would escape under favor of the descent, each leaped upon the fallen tree, +and plunged into the ravine, trusting to get a sight of the pursued, ere he +reached the bottom. In this manner, Huron followed Huron, until Natty began +to hope the whole had passed. Others succeeded, however, until quite forty +had leaped over the tree, and then he counted them, as the surest mode of +ascertaining how many could be behind. Presently all were in the bottom of +the glen, quite a hundred feet below him, and some had even ascended part of +the opposite hill, when it became evident an inquiry was making, as to the +direction he had taken. This was the critical moment, and one of nerves less +steady, or of a training that had been neglected, would have seized it to +rise, and fly. Not so with Deerslayer. He still lay quiet, watching with +jealous vigilance every movement below, and fast regaining his breath. + +The Hurons now resembled a pack of hounds, at fault. Little was said, but +each man ran about, examining the dead leaves, as the hound hunts for the +lost scent. The great number of moccasins that had passed made the +examination difficult, though the in-toe of an Indian was easily to be +distinguished from the freer and wider step of a white man. Believing that no +more pursuers remained behind, and hoping to steal away unseen, Deerslayer +suddenly threw himself over the tree, and fell on the upper side. This +achievement appeared to be effected successfully, and hope beat high in the +bosom of the fugitive. + +Rising to his hands and feet, after a moment lost in listening to the sounds +in the glen, in order to ascertain if he had been seen, the young man next +scrambled to the top of the hill, a distance of only ten yards, in the +expectation of getting its brow between him and his pursuers, and himself so +far under cover. Even this was effected, and he rose to his feet, walking +swiftly but steadily along the summit, in a direction opposite to that in +which he had first fled. The nature of the calls in the glen, however, soon +made him uneasy, and he sprang upon the summit, again, in order to +reconnoitre. No sooner did he reach the height than he was seen, and the +chase renewed. As it was better footing, on the level ground, Deerslayer now +avoided the side hill, holding his flight along the ridge; while the Hurons, +judging from the general formation of the land, saw that the ridge would soon +melt into the hollow, and kept to the latter, as the easiest mode of heading +the fugitive. A few, at the same time, turned south, with a view to prevent +his escaping in that direction, while some crossed his trail towards the +water, in order to prevent his retreat by the lake, running southerly. + +The situation of Deerslayer was now more critical than it ever had been. He +was virtually surrounded on three sides, having the lake on the fourth. But +he had pondered well on all the chances, and took his measures with coolness, +even while at the top of his speed. As is generally the case, with the +vigorous border men, he could outrun any single Indian among his pursuers, +who were principally formidable to him, on account of their numbers, and the +advantages they possessed in position, and he would not have hesitated to +break off, in a straight line, at any spot, could he have got the whole band +again, fairly behind him. But no such chance did, or indeed could now offer, +and when he found that he was descending towards the glen, by the melting +away of the ridge, he turned short, at right angles to his previous course, +and went down the declivity with tremendous velocity, holding his way towards +the shore. Some of his pursuers, came panting up the hill, in direct chase, +while most still kept on, in the ravine, intending to head him at its +termination. + +Deerslayer had now a different, though a desperate project in view. +Abandoning all thoughts of escape by the woods, he made the best of his way +towards the canoe. He knew where it lay; could it be reached, he had only to +run the gauntlet of a few rifles, and success would be certain. None of the +warriors had kept their weapons, which would have retarded their speed, and +the risk would come either from the uncertain hands of the women, or from +those of some well grown boy; though most of the latter were already out in +hot pursuit. Every thing seemed propitious to the execution of this plan, and +the course being a continued descent, the young man went over the ground at a +rate that promised a speedy termination to his toil. + +As Deerslayer approached the point, several women, and children were passed, +but, though the former endeavoured to cast dried branches between his legs, +the terror inspired by his bold retaliation on the redoubted Panther, was so +great, that none dared come near enough seriously to molest him. He went by +all triumphantly, and reached the fringe of bushes. Plunging through these, +our hero found himself once more in the lake, and within fifty feet of the +canoe. Here he ceased to run, for he well understood that his breath was now +all important to him. He even stooped, as he advanced, and cooled his parched +mouth, by scooping water up in his hand, to drink. Still the moments pressed, +and he soon stood at the side of the canoe. The first glance told him that +the paddles had been removed! This was a sore disappointment, after all his +efforts, and, for a single moment, he thought of turning, and of facing his +foes by walking with dignity into the centre of the camp, again. But an +infernal yell, such as the American savage alone can raise, proclaimed the +quick approach of the nearest of his pursuers, and the instinct of life +triumphed. Preparing himself duly, and giving a right direction to its bows, +he ran off into the water bearing the canoe before him, threw all his +strength and skill into a last effort, and cast himself forward so as to fall +into the bottom of the light craft, without materially impeding its way. Here +he remained on his back, both to regain his breath, and to cover his person +from the deadly rifle. The lightness, which was such an advantage in paddling +the canoe, now operated unfavorably. The material was so like a feather, that +the boat had no momentum, else would the impulse in that smooth and placid +sheet have impelled it to a distance from the shore, that would have rendered +paddling with the hands safe. Could such a point once be reached, Deerslayer +thought he might get far enough out to attract the attention of Chingachgook +and Judith, who would not fail to come to his relief, with other canoes a +circumstance that promised every thing. As the young man lay in the bottom of +the canoe, he watched its movements, by studying the tops of the trees on the +mountainside, and judged of his distance by the time and the motions. Voices +on the shore were now numerous, and he heard something said about manning the +raft, which, fortunately for the fugitive, lay at a considerable distance, on +the other side of the point. + +Perhaps the situation of Deerslayer had not been more critical that day, than +it was at this moment. It certainly had not been one half as tantalizing. He +lay perfectly quiet, for two or three minutes, trusting to the single sense +of hearing, confident that the noise in the lake would reach his ears, did +any one venture to approach by swimming. Once or twice, he fancied that the +element was stirred by the cautious movement of an arm, and then he perceived +it was the wash of the water on the pebbles of the strand; for, in mimicry of +the ocean, it is seldom that those little lakes are so totally tranquil, as +not to possess a slight heaving and setting on their shores. Suddenly all the +voices ceased, and a death like stillness pervaded the spot: A quietness as +profound as if all lay in the repose of inanimate life. By this time, the +canoe had drifted so far as to render nothing visible to Deerslayer, as he +lay on his back, except the blue void of space, and a few of those brighter +rays, that proceed from the effulgence of the sun, marking his proximity. It +was not possible to endure this uncertainty long. The young man well knew +that the profound stillness foreboded evil, the savages never being so +silent, as when about to strike a blow; resembling the stealthy foot of the +panther ere he takes his leap. He took out a knife, and was about to cut a +hole through the bark, in order to get a view of the shore, when he paused +from a dread of being seen, in the operation, which would direct the enemy +where to aim their bullets. At this instant a rifle was fired, and the ball +pierced both sides of the canoe, within eighteen inches of the spot where his +head lay. This was close work, but our hero had too lately gone throughthat +which was closer to be appalled. He lay still half a minute longer, and then +he saw the summit of an oak coming slowly within his narrow horizon. + +Unable to account for this change, Deerslayer could restrain his impatience +no longer. Hitching his body along, with the utmost caution, he got his eye +at the bullet hole, and fortunately commanded a very tolerable view of the +point. The canoe, by one of those imperceptible impulses that so often decide +the fate of men as well as the course of things, had inclined southerly, and +was slowly drifting down the lake. It was lucky that Deerslayer had given it +a shove sufficiently vigorous to send it past the end of the point, ere it +took this inclination, or it must have gone ashore again. As it was, it +drifted so near it, as to bring the tops of two or three trees within the +range of the young man's view, as has been mentioned, and, indeed, to come in +quite as close proximity with the extremity of the point, as was at all safe. +The distance could not much have exceeded a hundred feet, though fortunately +a light current of air, from the southwest, began to set it slowly off shore. + +Deerslayer now felt the urgent necessity of resorting to some expedient to +get farther from his foes, and if possible to apprise his friends of his +situation. The distance rendered the last difficult, while the proximity to +the point rendered the first indispensable. As was usual in such craft, a +large, round, smooth stone, was in each end of the canoe, for the double +purpose of seats and ballast; one of these was within reach of his feet. This +stone he contrived to get so far between his legs, as to reach it with his +hands, and then he managed to roll it to the side of its fellow in the bows, +where the two served to keep the trim of the light boat, while he worked his +own body as far aft as possible. Before quitting the shore, and as soon as he +perceived that the paddles were gone, Deerslayer had thrown a bit of dead +branch into the canoe, and this was within reach of his arm. Removing the cap +he wore, he put it on the end of this stick, and just let it appear over the +edge of the canoe, as far as possible from his own person. This ruse was +scarcely adopted, before the young man had a proof how much he had underrated +the intelligence of his enemies. In contempt of an artifice so shallow and +common place, a bullet was fired directly through another part of the canoe, +which actually raised his skin. He dropped the cap, and instantly raised it +immediately over his head, as a safeguard. It would seem that this second +artifice was unseen, or what was more probable, the Hurons feeling certain of +recovering their captive, wished to take him alive. + +Deerslayer lay passive a few minutes longer, his eye at the bullet hole, +however, and much did he rejoice at seeing that he was drifting, gradually, +farther and farther, from the shore. When he looked upward, the tree-tops had +disappeared, but he soon found that the canoe was slowly turning, so as to +prevent his getting a view of any thing at his peep-hole, but of the two +extremities of the lake. He now bethought him of the stick, which was +crooked, and offered some facilities for rowing, without the necessity of +rising. The experiment succeeded on trial, better even than he had hoped, +though his great embarrassment was to keep the canoe straight. That his +present manoeuvre was seen, soon became apparent by the clamor on the shore, +and a bullet entering the stern of the canoe, traversed its length whistling +between the arms of our hero, and passed out at the head. This satisfied the +fugitive that he was getting away with tolerable speed, and induced him to +increase his efforts. He was making a stronger push than common, when another +messenger from the point, broke the stick out-board, and at once deprived him +of his oar. As the sound of voices seemed to grow more and more distant, +however, Deerslayer determined to leave all to the drift, until he believed +himself beyond the reach of bullets. This was nervous work, but it was the +wisest of all the expedients that offered, and the young man was encouraged +to persevere in it, by the circumstance that he felt his face fanned by the +air, a proof that there was a little more wind. + + + + +Chapter XXVIII. + +"Nor widows' tears, nor tender orphans' cries +Can stop th' invader's force; +Nor swelling seas, nor threatening skies, +Prevent the pirate's course: +Their lives to selfish ends decreed +Through blood and rapine they proceed; +No anxious thoughts of ill repute, +Suspend the impetuous and unjust pursuit; +But power and wealth obtain'd, guilty and great, +Their fellow creatures' fears they raise, or urge their hate." + +Congreve, "Pindaric Ode," ii. + + + +By this time, Deerslayer had been twenty minutes in the canoe, and he began +to grow a little impatient for some signs of relief from his friends. The +position of the boat still prevented his seeing in any direction, unless it +were up or down the lake, and, though he knew that his line of sight must +pass within a hundred yards of the castle, it, in fact, passed that distance +to the westward of the buildings. The profound stillness troubled him also, +for he knew not whether to ascribe it to the increasing space between him and +the Indians, or to some new artifice. At length, wearied with fruitless +watchfulness, the young man turned himself on his back, closed his eyes, and +awaited the result in determined acquiescence. If the savages could so +completely control their thirst for revenge, he was resolved to be as calm as +themselves, and to trust his fate to the interposition of the currents and +air. + +Some additional ten minutes may have passed in this quiescent manner, on both +sides, when Deerslayer thought he heard a slight noise, like a low rubbing +against the bottom of his canoe. He opened his eyes of course, in expectation +of seeing the face or arm of an Indian rising from the water, and found that +a canopy of leaves was impending directly over his head. Starting to his +feet, the first object that met his eye was Rivenoak, who had so far aided +the slow progress of the boat, as to draw it on the point, the grating on the +strand being the sound that had first given our hero the alarm. The change in +the drift of the canoe, had been altogether owing to the baffling nature of +the light currents of the air, aided by some eddies in the water. + +"Come," said the Huron with a quiet gesture of authority, to order his +prisoner to land, 'my young friend has sailed about till he is tired; he will +forget how to run again, unless he uses his legs." + +"You've the best of it, Huron," returned Deerslayer, stepping steadily from +the canoe, and passively following his leader to the open area of the point; +"Providence has helped you in an onexpected manner. I'm your prisoner ag'in, +and I hope you'll allow that I'm as good at breaking gaol, as I am at keeping +furloughs." + +"My young friend is a Moose!" exclaimed the Huron. "His legs are very long; +they have given my young men trouble. But he is not a fish; he cannot find +his way in the lake. We did not shoot him; fish are taken in nets, and not +killed by bullets. When he turns Moose, again, he will be treated like a +Moose." + +'Ay, have your talk, Rivenoak; make the most of your advantage. 'Tis your +right, I suppose, and I know it is your gift. On that p'int there'll be no +words atween us, for all men must and ought to follow their gifts. Howsever, +when your women begin to ta'nt and abuse me, as I suppose will soon happen, +let 'em remember that if a pale face struggles for life so long as it's +lawful and manful, he knows how to loosen his hold on it, decently, when he +feels that the time has come. I'm your captyve; work your will on me." + +"My brother has had a long run on the hills, and a pleasant sail on the +water," returned Rivenoak, more mildly, smiling, at the same time, in a way +that his listener knew denoted pacific intentions. 'He has seen the woods; he +has seen the water. Which does he like best? Perhaps, he has seen enough, to +change his mind, and make him hear reason." + +"Speak out, Huron. Something is in your thoughts, and the sooner it is said, +the sooner you'll get my answer." + +"That is straight! There is no turning in the talk of my pale face friend, +though he is a fox in running. I will speak to him; his ears are now open +wider than before, and his eyes are not shut. The Sumach is poorer than ever. +Once she had a brother and a husband. She had children, too. The time came +and the husband started for the Happy Hunting Grounds, without saying +farewell; he left her alone with his children. This he could not help, or he +would not have done it; le Loup Cervier was a good husband. It was pleasant +to see the venison, and wild ducks, and geese, and bear's meat, that hung in +his lodge, in winter. It is now gone; it will not keep in warm weather. Who +shall bring it back again? Some thought the brother would not forget his +sister, and that, next winter, he would see that the lodge should not be +empty. We thought this; but the Panther yelled, and followed the husband on +the path of death. They are now trying which shall first reach the Happy +Hunting Grounds. Some think the Lynx can run fastest, and some think the +Panther can jump the farthest. The Sumach thinks both will travel so fast and +so far that neither will ever come back. Who shall feed her and her young? +The man who told her husband and her brother to quit her lodge, that there +might be room for him to come into it. He is a great hunter, and we know that +the woman will never want." + +"Ay, Huron this is soon settled, accordin' to your notions, but it goes +sorely ag'in the grain of a white man's feelin's. I've heard of men's saving +their lives this-a-way, and I've know'd them that would prefar death to such +a sort of captivity. For my part, I do not seek my end, nor do I seek +matrimony." + +'The pale face will think of this, while my people get ready for the council. +He will be told what will happen. Let him remember how hard it is to lose a +husband and a brother. Go; when we want him, the name of Deerslayer will be +called." + +This conversation had been held with no one near but the speakers. Of all the +band that had so lately thronged the place, Rivenoak alone was visible. The +rest seemed to have totally abandoned the spot. Even the furniture, clothes, +arms, and other property of the camp had entirely disappeared, and the place +bore no other proofs of the crowd that had so lately occupied it, than the +traces of their fires and resting places, and the trodden earth, that still +showed the marks of their feet. So sudden and unexpected a change caused +Deerslayer a good deal of surprise and some uneasiness, for he had never +known it to occur, in the course of his experience among the Delawares. He +suspected, however, and rightly, that a change of encampment was intended, +and that the mystery of the movement was resorted to, in order to work on his +apprehensions. + +Rivenoak walked up the vista of trees, as soon as he ceased speaking, leaving +Deerslayer by himself. The chief disappeared behind the covers of the forest, +and one unpractised in such scenes might have believed the prisoner left to +the dictates of his own judgment. But the young man, while he felt a little +amazement at the dramatic aspect of things, knew his enemies too well to +fancy himself at liberty, or a free agent. Still, he was ignorant how far the +Hurons meant to carry their artifices, and he determined to bring the +question, as soon as practicable, to the proof. Affecting an indifference he +was far from feeling, he strolled about the area, gradually getting nearer +and nearer to the spot where he had landed, when he suddenly quickened his +pace, though carefully avoiding all appearance of flight, and pushing aside +the bushes, he stepped upon the beach. The canoe was gone, nor could he see +any traces of it, after walking to the northern and southern verges of the +point, and examining the shores in both directions. It was evidently removed +beyond his reach and knowledge, and under circumstances to show that such had +been the intention of the savages. + +Deerslayer now better understood his actual situation. He was a prisoner on +the narrow tongue of land, vigilantly watched beyond a question, and with no +other means of escape than that of swimming. He, again, thought of this last +expedient, but the certainty that the canoe would be sent in chase, and the +desperate nature of the chances of success deterred him from the undertaking. +While on the strand, he came to a spot where the bushes had been cut, and +thrust into a small pile. Removing a few of the upper branches, he found +beneath them the dead body of the Panther. He knew that it was kept until the +savages might find a place to inter it, where it would be beyond the reach of +the scalping knife. He gazed wistfully towards the castle, but there all +seemed to be silent and desolate, and a feeling of loneliness and desertion +came over him to increase the gloom of the moment. + +'God's will be done!" murmured the young man, as he walked sorrowfully away +from the beach, entering again beneath the arches of the wood. 'God's will be +done, on 'arth as it is in heaven! I did hope that my days would not be +numbered so soon, but it matters little a'ter all. A few more winters, and a +few more summers, and 'twould have been over, accordin' to natur'. Ah's! me, +the young and actyve seldom think death possible, till he grins in their +faces, and tells 'em the hour is come!" + +While this soliloquy was being pronounced, the hunter advanced into the area, +where to his surprise he saw Hetty alone, evidently awaiting his return. The +girl carried the bible under her arm, and her face, over which a shadow of +gentle melancholy was usually thrown, now seemed sad, and downcast. Moving +nearer, Deerslayer spoke. + +"Poor Hetty," he said, "times have been so troublesome, of late, that I'd +altogether forgotten you; we meet, as it might be to mourn over what is to +happen. I wonder what has become of Chingachgook and Wah!" + +"Why did you kill the Huron, Deerslayer? -" returned the girl reproachfully. +'Don't you know your commandments, which say 'Thou shalt not kill!' They tell +me you have now slain the woman's husband and brother!" + +"It's true, my good Hetty-'tis gospel truth, and I'll not deny what has come +to pass. But, you must remember, gal, that many things are lawful in war, +which would be onlawful in peace. The husband was shot in open fight-or, open +so far as I was consarned, while he had a better cover than common-and the +brother brought his end on himself, by casting his tomahawk at an unarmed +prisoner. Did you witness that deed, gal?" + +"I saw it, and was sorry it happened, Deerslayer, for I hoped you wouldn't +have returned blow for blow, but good for evil." + +"Ah, Hetty, that may do among the Missionaries, but 'twould make an onsartain +life in the woods! The Panther craved my blood, and he was foolish enough to +throw arms into my hands, at the very moment he was striving a'ter it. +'Twould have been ag'in natur? not to raise a hand in such a trial, and +'twould have done discredit to my training and gifts. No- no -I'm as willing +to give every man his own, as another, and so I hope you'll testify to them +that will be likely to question you as to what you've seen this day." + +"Deerslayer, do you mean to marry Sumach, now she has neither husband nor +brother to feed her?" + +"Are such your idees of matrimony, Hetty! Ought the young to wive with the +old-the pale face with the red skin-the christian with the heathen? It's +ag'in reason and natur', and so you'll see, if you think of it a moment." + +"I've always heard mother say," returned Hetty, averting her face more from a +feminine instinct, than from any consciousness of wrong, "that people should +never marry, until they loved each other better than brothers and sisters, +and I suppose that is what you mean. Sumach is old, and you are young!" + +"Ay and she's red, and I'm white. Beside, Hetty, suppose you was a wife, now, +having married some young man of your own years, and state, and colour-Hurry +Harry, for instance-" Deerslayer selected this example, simply from the +circumstance that he was the only young man known to both-"and that he had +fallen on a war path, would you wish to take to your bosom, for a husband, +the man that slew him?" + +'Oh! no, no, no-" returned the girl shuddering-"That would be wicked as well +as heartless! No christian girl could, or would do that! I never shall be the +wife of Hurry, I know, but were he my husband no man should ever be it, +again, after his death!" + +"I thought it would get to this, Hetty, when you come to understand +sarcumstances. 'Tis a moral impossibility that I should ever marry Sumach, +and, though Injin weddin's have no priests and not much religion, a white man +who knows his gifts and duties can't profit by that, and so make his escape +at the fitting time. I do think, death would be more nat'ral like, and +welcome, than wedlock with this woman." + +"Don't say it too loud," interrupted Hetty impatiently; "I suppose she will +not like to hear it. I'm sure Hurry would rather marry even me than suffer +torments, though I am feeble minded; and I am sure it would kill me to think +he'd prefer death to being my husband." + +"Ay, gal, you an't Sumach, but a comely young Christian, with a good heart, +pleasant smile, and kind eye. Hurry might be proud to get you, and that, too, +not in misery and sorrow, but in his best and happiest days. Howsever, take +my advice, and never talk to Hurry about these things; he's only a borderer, +at the best." + +"I would n't tell him, for the world!" exclaimed the girl, looking about her, +like one affrighted, and blushing, she knew not why. "Mother always said +young women should n't be forward, and speak their minds before they're +asked; Oh! I never forget what mother told me. Tis a pity Hurry is so +handsome, Deerslayer; I do think fewer girls would like him then, and he +would sooner know his own mind." + +"Poor gal, poor gal, it's plain enough how it is, but the Lord will bear in +mind one of your simple heart, and kind feelin's! We'll talk no more of these +things; if you had reason, you'd be sorrowful at having let others so much +into your secret. Tell me, Hetty, what has become of all the Hurons, and why +they let you roam about the p'int, as if you, too, was a prisoner?" + +'I'm no prisoner, Deerslayer, but a free girl, and go when and where I +please. Nobody dare hurt me! If they did, God would be angry, as I can show +them in the bible. No-no- Hetty Hutter is not afraid; she's in good hands. +The Hurons are up yonder in the woods, and keep a good watch on us both, I'll +answer for it, since all the women and children are on the look-out. Some are +burying the body of the poor girl who was shot, so that the enemy and the +wild beasts can't find it. I told 'em that father and mother lay in the lake, +but I would n't let them know, in what part of it, for Judith and I don't +want any of their heathenish company, in our burying ground." + +"Ahs! me;-Well, it is an awful despatch to be standing here, alive and angry, +and with the feelin's up and ferocious, one hour, and then to be carried away +at the next, and put out of sight of mankind in a hole in the 'arth! No one +knows what will happen to him on a warpath, that's sartain." + +Here the stirring of leaves and the cracking of dried twigs interrupted the +discourse, and apprised Deerslayer of the approach of his enemies. The Hurons +closed around the spot that had been prepared for the coming scene, and in +the centre of which the intended victim now stood, in a circle, the armed men +being so distributed, among the feebler members of the band, that there was +no safe opening through which the prisoner could break. But the latter no +longer contemplated flight, the recent trial having satisfied him of his +inability to escape when pursued so closely by numbers. On the contrary, all +his energies were aroused, in order to meet his expected fate, with a +calmness that should do credit to his colour and his manhood; one equally +removed from recreant alarm, and savage boasting. + +When Rivenoak re-appeared in the circle, he occupied his old place at the +head of the area. Several of the elder warriors stood near him, but, now that +the brother of Sumach had fallen, there was no longer any recognised chief +present, whose influence and authority offered a dangerous rivalry to his +own. Nevertheless, it is well known that little which could be called +monarchical, or despotic entered into the politics of the North American +tribes, although the first colonists, bringing with them to this hemisphere, +the notions and opinions of their own countries, often dignified the chief +men of those primitive nations, with the titles of kings and princes. +Hereditary influence did certainly exist, but there is much reason to believe +it existed rather as a consequence of hereditary merit and acquired +qualifications, than as a birth-right. Rivenoak, however, had not even this +claim, having risen to consideration purely by the force of talents, +sagacity, and, as Bacon expresses it, in relation to all distinguished +statesmen, "by a union of great and mean qualities;" a truth of which the +career of the profound Englishman himself furnishes so apt an illustration. +Next to arms, eloquence offers the great avenue to popular favor, whether it +be in civilized or savage life, and Rivenoak had succeeded, as so many have +succeeded, before him, quite as much by rendering fallacies acceptable to his +listeners, as by any profound or learned expositions of truth, or the +accuracy of his logic. Nevertheless, he had influence; and was far from being +altogether without just claims to its possession. Like most men who reason +more than they feel, the Huron was not addicted to the indulgence of the more +ferocious passions of his people: he had been commonly found on the side of +mercy, in all the scenes of vindictive torture and revenge that had occurred +in his tribe, since his own attainment to power. On the present occasion, he +was reluctant to proceed to extremities, although the provocation was so +great. Still it exceeded his ingenuity to see how that alternative could well +be avoided. Sumach resented her rejection more than she did the deaths of her +husband and brother, and there was little probability that the woman would +pardon a man who had so unequivocally preferred death to her embraces. +Without her forgiveness, there was scarce a hope that the tribe could be +induced to overlook its loss, and even to Rivenoak, himself, much as he was +disposed to pardon, the fate of our hero now appeared to be almost hopelessly +sealed. + +When the whole band was arrayed around the captive, a grave silence, so much +the more threatening from its profound quiet, pervaded the place. Deerslayer +perceived that the women and boys had been preparing splinters of the fat +pine roots, which he well knew were to be stuck into his flesh, and set in +flames, while two or three of the young men held the thongs of bark with +which he was to be bound. The smoke of a distant lire announced that the +burning brands were in preparation, arid several of the elder warriors passed +their fingers over the edges of their tomahawks, as if to prove their +keenness and temper. Even the knives seemed loosened in their sheathes, +impatient for the bloody and merciless work to begin. + +"Killer of the Deer," recommenced Rivenoak, certainly without any signs of +sympathy or pity in his manner, though with calmness and dignity, "Killer of +the Deer, it is time that my people knew their minds. The sun is no longer +over our heads; tired of waiting on the Hurons, he has begun to fall near the +pines on this side of the valley. He is travelling fast towards the country +of our French fathers; it is to warn his children that their lodges are +empty, and that they ought to be at home. The roaming wolf has his den, and +he goes to it, when he wishes to see his young. The Iroquois are not poorer +than the wolves. They have villages, and wigwams, and fields of corn; the +Good Spirits will be tired of watching them alone. My people must go back, +and see to their own business. There will be joy in the lodges when they hear +our whoop from the forest! It will he a sorrowful whoop; when it is +understood, grief will come after it. There will be one scalp-whoop, but +there will be only one. We have the fur of the Muskrat; his body is among the +fishes. Deerslayer must say whether another scalp shall he on our pole. Two +lodges are empty; a scalp, living or dead, is wanted at each door." + +"Then take 'em dead, Huron," firmly, but altogether without dramatic +boasting, returned the captive. "My hour is come, I do suppose, and what must +be, must. If you are bent on the tortur', I'll do my indivours to bear up +ag'in it, though no man can say how far his natur' will stand pain, until +he's been tried." + +"The pale face cur begins to put his tail between his legs!" cried a young +and garrulous savage, who bore the appropriate title of the Corbeau Rouge; a +sobriquet he had gained from the French, by his facility in making +unseasonable noises, and an undue tendency to hear his own voice; "he is no +warrior; he has killed the Loup Cervier when looking behind him not to see +the flash of his own rifle. He grunts like a hog, already; when the Huron +women begin to torment him, he will cry like the young of the catamount. He +is a Delaware woman, dressed in the skin of a Yengeese!" + +"Have your say, young man; have your say," returned Deerslayer, unmoved; "you +know no better, and I can overlook it. Talking may aggravate women, but can +hardly make knives sharper, fire hotter, or rifles more sartain." + +Rivenoak now interposed, reproving the Red Crow for his premature +interference, and then directing the proper persons to bind the captive. This +expedient was adopted, not from any apprehensions that he would escape, or +from any necessity, that was yet apparent, of his being unable to endure the +torture with his limbs free, but from an ingenious design of making him feel +his helplessness, and of gradually sapping his resolution, by undermining it, +as it might be, little by little. Deerslayer offered no resistance. He +submitted his arms and legs, freely if not cheerfully, to the ligaments of +bark, which were bound around them, by order of the chief, in a way to +produce as little pain as possible. These directions were secret, and given +in the hope that the captive would finally save himself from any serious +bodily suffering, by consenting to take the Sumach for a wife. As soon as the +body of Deerslayer was withed in bark sufficiently to create a lively sense +of helplessness, he was literally carried to a young tree, and bound against +it, in a way that effectually prevented him from moving, as well as from +falling. The hands were laid flat against the legs, and thongs were passed +over all, in a way nearly to incorporate the prisoner with the tree. His cap +was then removed, and he was left half-standing, half-sustained by his bonds, +to face the coming scene, in the best manner he could. + +Previously to proceeding to any thing like extremities, it was the wish of +Rivenoak to put his captive's resolution to the proof, by renewing the +attempt at a compromise. This could be effected only in one manner, the +acquiescence of the Sumach being indispensably necessary to a compromise of +her right to be revenged. With this view, then, the woman was next desired to +advance, and to look to her own interests; no agent being considered as +efficient as the principal, herself, in this negotiation. The Indian females, +when girls, are usually mild, and submissive, with musical tones, pleasant +voices, and merry laughs, but toil and suffering generally deprive them of +most of these advantages, by the time they have reached an age which the +Sumach had long before passed. To render their voices harsh, it would seem to +require active, malignant, passions, though, when excited, their screams can +rise to a sufficiently conspicuous degree of discordancy, to assert their +claim to possess this distinctive peculiarity of the sex. The Sumach was not +altogether without feminine attraction, however, and had so recently been +deemed handsome in her tribe, as not to have yet learned the full influence +that time and exposure produce on man, as well as on woman. By an arrangement +of Riven-oak's, some of the women around her, had been employing the time in +endeavoring to persuade the bereaved widow, that there was still a hope +Deerslayer might be prevailed on to enter her wigwam, in preference to +entering the world of spirits, and this, too, with a success that previous +symptoms scarcely justified. All this was the result of a resolution on the +part of the chief to leave no proper means unemployed, in order to get +transferred to his own nation the greatest hunter that was then thought to +exist in all that region, as well as a husband for a woman who he felt would +be likely to be troublesome, were any of her claims to the attention and care +of the tribe overlooked. + +In conformity with this scheme, the Sumach had been secretly advised to +advance into the circle, and to make her appeal to the prisoner's sense of +justice, before the band had recourse to the last experiment. The woman, +nothing loth, consented, for there was some such attraction in becoming the +wife of a noted hunter, among the females of the tribes, as is experienced by +the sex, in more refined life, when they bestow their hands on the affluent. +As the duties of a mother were thought to be paramount to all other +considerations, the widow felt none of that embarrassment, in preferring her +claims, to which even a female fortune hunter among ourselves, might be +liable. When she stood forth, before the whole party, therefore, the children +that she led by the hands, fully justified all she did. + +"You see me before you, cruel pale face," the woman commenced; "your spirit +must tell you my errand. I have found you; I cannot find le Loup Cervier, nor +the Panther; I have looked for them, in the lake, in the woods, in the +clouds. I cannot say where they have gone." + +"No man knows, good Sumach, no man knows," interposed the captive. "When the +spirit leaves the body, it passes into a world beyond our knowledge, and the +wisest way, for them that are left behind, is to hope for the best. No doubt +both your warriors, have gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds, and at the proper +time you will see 'em ag'in, in their improved state. The wife and sister of +braves, must have looked forward to some such tarmination of their 'arthly +careers." + +"Cruel pale-face, what had my warriors done that you should slay them! They +were the best hunters, and the boldest young men of their tribe; the Great +Spirit intended that they should live until they withered like the branches +of the hemlock, and fell of their own weight-" + +"Nay - nay - good Sumach," interrupted Deerslayer, whose love of truth was +too indomitable to listen to such hyperbole, with patience, even though it +came from the torn breast of a widow-"Nay-nay, good Sumach, this is a little +out-doing red skin privileges. Young man was neither, any more than you can +be called a young woman, and as to the Great Spirit's intending that they +should fall otherwise than they did, that's a grievous mistake, inasmuch as +what the Great Spirit intends, is sartain to come to pass. Then, agin, it's +plain enough neither of your fri'nds did me any harm; ~ raised my hand ag'in +'em on account of what they were striving to do, rather than what they did. +This is nat'ral law, 'to do lest you should be done by.'" + +"It is so. Sumach has but one tongue; she can tell but one story. The Pale +face struck the Hurons lest the Hurons should strike him. The Hurons are a +just nation; they will forget it. The chiefs will shut their eyes and pretend +not to have seen it; the young men will believe the Panther and the Lynx have +gone to far off hunts, and the Sumach, will take her children by the hand, +and go into the lodge of the pale face and say- 'See; these are your +children; they are also mine-feed us, and we will live with you.' + +"The tarms are onadmissable, woman, and though I feel for your losses, which +must he hard to bear, the tarms cannot be accepted. As to givin' you ven'son, +in case we lived near enough together, that would be no great expl'ite; but +as for becomin' your husband, and the father of your children, to be honest +with you, I feel no callin' that-a-way." + +"Look at this boy, cruel pale face; he has no father to teach him to kill the +deer, or to take scalps. See this girl; what young man will come to look for +a wife in a lodge that has no head? There are more among my people in the +Canadas, and the Killer of Deer will find as many mouths to feed, as his +heart can wish for." + +"I tell you, woman," exclaimed Deerslayer, whose imagination was far from +seconding the appeal of the widow, and who began to grow restive under the +vivid pictures she was drawing, "all this is nothing to me. People and +kindred must take care of their own fatherless, leaving them that have no +children to their own loneliness. As for me, I have no offspring, and I want +no wife. Now, go away Sumach; leave me in the hands of your chiefs, for my +colour, and gifts, and natur' itself cry out ag'in the idee of taking you for +a wife." + +It is unnecessary to expatiate on the effect of this downright refusal of the +woman's proposals. If there was any thing like tenderness in her bosom-and no +woman was probably ever entirely without that feminine quality-it all +disappeared at this plain announcement. Fury, rage, mortified pride, and a +volcano of wrath burst out, at one explosion, converting her into a sort of +maniac, as it might beat the touch of a magician's wand. Without deigning a +reply in words, she made the arches of the forest ring with screams, and then +flew forward at her victim, seizing him by the hair, which she appeared +resolute to draw out by the roots. It was some time before her grasp could be +loosened. Fortunately for the prisoner her rage was blind; since his total +helplessness left him entirely at her mercy. Had it been better directed it +might have proved fatal before any relief could have been offered. As it was, +she did succeed in wrenching out two or three handsful of hair, before the +young men could tear her away from her victim. + +The insult that had been offered to the Sumach was deemed an insult to the +whole tribe; not so much, however, on account of any respect that was felt +for the woman, as on account of the honor of the Huron nation. Sumach, +herself, was generally considered to be as acid as the berry from which she +derived her name, and now that her great supporters, her husband and brother, +were both gone, few cared about concealing their aversion. Nevertheless, it +had become a point of honor to punish the pale face who disdained a Huron +woman, and more particularly one who coolly preferred death to relieving the +tribe from the support of a widow and her children. The young men showed an +impatience to begin to torture, that Rivenoak understood, and, as his older +associates manifested no disposition to permit any longer delay, he was +compelled to give the signal, for the infernal work to proceed. + + + + +Chapter XXIX. + +"The ugly bear now minded not the stake, +Nor how the cruel mastiffs do him tear, +The stag lay still unroused from the brake, +The foamy boar feared not the hunter's spear: +All thing was still in desert, bush, and briar:" + +Thomas Sackville; "The Complaint of Henry Duke of Buckingham," lxxxi. + + + +Twas one of the common expedients of the savages, on such occasions, to put +the nerves of their victims to the severest proofs. On the other hand, it was +a matter of Indian pride to betray no yielding to terror, or pain, but for +the prisoner to provoke his enemies to such acts of violence as would soonest +produce death. Many a warrior had been known to bring his own sufferings to a +more speedy termination, by taunting reproaches and reviling language, when +he found that his physical system was giving way under the agony of +sufferings produced by a hellish ingenuity that might well eclipse all that +has been said of the infernal devices of religious persecution. This happy +expedient of taking refuge from the ferocity of his foes, in their passions, +was denied Deerslayer however, by his peculiar notions of the duty of a white +man, and he had stoutly made up his mind to endure every thing, in preference +to disgracing his colour. + +No sooner did the young men understand that they were at liberty to commence, +than some of the boldest and most forward among them sprang into the arena, +tomahawk in hand. Here they prepared to throw that dangerous weapon, the +object being to strike the tree as near as possible to the victim's head, +without absolutely hitting him. This was so hazardous an experiment, that +none but those who were known to be exceedingly expert with the weapon, were +allowed to enter the lists, at all, lest an early death might interfere with +the expected entertainment. In the truest hands it was seldom that the +captive escaped injury in these trials, and it often happened that death +followed, even when the blow was not premeditated. In the particular case of +our hero, Rivenoak and the older warriors were apprehensive that the example +of. the Panther's fate might prove a motive with some fiery spirit suddenly +to sacrifice his conqueror, when the temptation of effecting it in precisely +the same manner, and possibly with the identical weapon with which the +warrior had fallen, offered. This circumstance of itself, rendered the ordeal +of the tomahawk doubly critical for the Deerslayer. It would seem, however, +that all who now entered, what we shall call the lists, were more disposed to +exhibit their own dexterity, than to resent the deaths of their comrades. +Each prepared himself for the trial, with the feelings of rivalry, rather +than with the desire for vengeance, and, for the first few minutes, the +prisoner had little more connection with the result, than grew out of the +interest that necessarily attached itself to a living target. The young men +were eager, instead of being fierce, and Rivenoak thought he still saw signs +of being able to save the life of the captive, when the vanity of the young +men had been gratified; always admitting, that it was not sacrificed to the +delicate experiments that were about to be made. The first youth who +presented himself, for the trial, was called The Raven, having as yet had no +opportunity of obtaining a more warlike sobriquet. He was remarkable for high +pretension, rather than for skill,, or exploits, and those who knew his +character thought the captive in imminent danger, when he took his stand, and +poised the tomahawk. Nevertheless, the young man was good natured, and no +thought was uppermost in his mind, other than the desire to make a better +cast, than any of his fellows. Deerslayer got an inkling of this warrior's +want of reputation, by the injunctions that he had received from the seniors, +who, indeed, would have objected to his appearing in the arena, at all, but +for an influence derived from his father; an aged warrior of great merit, who +was then in the lodges of the tribe. Still, our hero maintained an appearance +of self-possession. He had made up his mind that his hour was come, and it +would have been a mercy, instead of a calamity, to fall by the unsteadiness +of the first hand that was raised against him. After a suitable number of +flourishes, and gesticulations that promised much more than he could perform, +the Raven let the tomahawk quit his hand. The weapon whirled through the air, +with the usual evolutions, cut a chip from the sapling to which the prisoner +was bound, within a few inches of his cheek, and stuck in a large oak that +grew several yards behind him. This was decidedly a bad effort, and a common +sneer proclaimed as much, to the great mortification of the young man On the +other hand, there was a general but suppressed murmur of admiration at the +steadiness with which the captive stood the trial. The head was the only part +he could move, and this had been purposely left free, that the tormentors +might have the amusement, and the tormented endure the shame, of his dodging, +and otherwise attempting to avoid the blows. Deerslayer disappointed these +hopes, by a command of nerve that rendered his whole body as immovable as the +tree to which he was bound. Nor did he even adopt the natural and usual +expedient of shutting his eyes, the firmest and oldest warrior of the red-men +never having more disdainfully denied himself this advantage under similar +circumstances. + +The Raven had no sooner made his unsuccessful and puerile effort, than he was +succeeded by le Daim-Mose, or the Moose; a middle aged warrior, who was +particularly skilful in the use of the tomahawk, and from whose attempt the +spectators confidently looked for gratification. This man had none of the +good nature of the Raven, but he would gladly have sacrificed the captive to +his hatred of the pale faces generally, were it not for the greater interest +he felt in his own success as one particularly skilled in the use of this +weapon. He took his stand quietly, but with an air of confidence, poised his +little axe but a single instant, advanced a foot with a quick motion, and +threw. Deerslayer saw the keen instrument whirling towards him, and believed +all was over; still, he was not touched. The tomahawk had actually bound the +head of the captive to the tree, by carrying before it some of his hair, +having buried itself deep beneath the soft bark. A general yell expressed the +delight of the spectators, and the Moose felt his heart soften a little +towards the prisoner, whose steadiness of nerve alone, enabled him to give +this evidence of his consummate skill. + +Le Daim-Mose was succeeded by the Bounding Boy, or le Garcon qui Bondi who +came leaping into the circle, like a hound, or a goat, at play. This was one +of those elastic youths, whose muscles seemed always in motion, and who +either affected, or who from habit was actually unable, to move in any other +manner, than by showing the antics just mentioned. Nevertheless, he was both +brave and skilful, and had gained the respect of his people, by deeds in war, +as well as success in the hunts. A far nobler name would long since have +fallen to his share, had not a French-man of rank inadvertently given him +this sobriquet, which he religiously preserved as coming from his Great +Father, who lived beyond the Wide Salt Lake. The Bounding Boy skipped about +in front of the captive, menacing him with his tomahawk, now on one side and +now on another, and then again in front, in the vain hope of being able to +extort some sign of fear by this parade of danger. At length Deerslayer's +patience became exhausted by all this mummery, and he spoke for the first +time, since the trial had actually commenced. + +"Throw away, Huron," he cried, "or your tomahawk will forget its ar'n'd. Why +do you keep loping about like a fa'a'n that's showing its dam how well it can +skip, when you're a warrior grown, yourself, and a warrior grown defies you +and all your silly antiks. Throw, or the Huron gals will laugh in your face." + +Although not intended to produce such an effect, the last words aroused the +"Bounding" warrior to fury. The same nervous excitability which rendered him +so active in his person, made it difficult to repress his feelings, and the +words were scarcely past the lips of the speaker, than the tomahawk left the +hand of the Indian. Nor was it cast without ill-will, and a fierce +determination to slay. Had the intention been less deadly, the danger might +have been greater. The aim was uncertain, and the weapon glanced near the +cheek of the captive, slightly cutting the shoulder in its evolutions. This +was the first instance in which any other object, than that of terrifying the +prisoner, and of displaying skill had been manifested, and the Bounding Boy +was immediately led from the arena, and was warmly rebuked for his +intemperate haste, which had come so near defeating all the hopes of the +band.To this irritable person succeeded several other young warriors, who not +only hurled the tomahawk, but who cast the knife, a far more dangerous +experiment, with reckless indifference; yet they always manifested a skill +that prevented any injury to the captive. Several times Deerslayer was +grazed, but in no instance did he receive what might be termed a wound. The +unflinching firmness with which he faced his assailants, more especially in +the sort of rally with which this trial terminated, excited a profound +respect in the spectators, and when the chiefs announced that the prisoner +had well withstood the trials of the, knife and the tomahawk, there was not a +single individual in the band who really felt any hostility towards him, with +the exception 'of Sumach and the Bounding Boy. These two discontented spirits +got together, it is true, feeding each other's ire, but, as yet, their +malignant feelings were confined very much to themselves, though there +existed the danger that the others, ere long, could not fail to be excited by +their own efforts, into that demoniacal state which usually accompanied all +similar scenes among the red men. + +Rivenoak now told his people that the pale face had proved himself to be a +man. He might live with the Delawares, but he had not been made woman, with +that tribe. He wished to know whether it was the desire of the Hurons to +proceed any further. Even the gentlest of the females, however, had received +too much satisfaction in the late trials, to forego their expectations of a +gratifying exhibition, and there was but one voice, in the request to +proceed. The politic chief, who had some such desire to receive so celebrated +a hunter into his tribe, as a European Minister has to devise a new and +available means of taxation, sought every plausible means of arresting the +trial in season, for, he well knew, if permitted to go far enough to arouse +the more ferocious passions of the tormentors, it would be as easy to dam the +waters of the great lakes of his own region, as to attempt to arrest them in +their bloody career. He therefore called four or five of the best marksmen to +him, and bid them put the captive to the proof of the rifle, while, at the +same time he cautioned them touching the necessity of their maintaining their +own credit, by the closest attention to the manner of exhibiting their skill. + +When Deerslayer saw the chosen warriors step into the circle, with their arms +prepared for service, he felt some such relief, as the miserable sufferer, +who has long endured the agonies of disease, feels at the certain approach of +death. Any trifling variance in the aim of this formidable weapon, would +prove fatal; since, the head being the target, or rather the point it was +desired to graze without injuring, an inch or two of difference in the line +of projection, must at once determine the question of life or death. + +In the torture by the rifle there was none of the latitude permitted that +appeared in the case of even Gessler's apple, a hair's breadth being, in +fact, the utmost limits that an expert marksman would allow himself on an +occasion like this. Victims were frequently shot through the head by too +eager, or unskilful hands, and it often occurred that, exasperated by the +fortitude and taunts of the prisoner, death was dealt intentionally, in a +moment of ungovernable irritation. All this Deerslayer well knew, for it was +in relating the traditions of such scenes, as well as of the battles and +victories of their people, that the old men beguiled the long winter +evenings, in their cabins. He now fully expected the end of his career, and +experienced a sort of melancholy pleasure in the idea that he was to fall by +a weapon as much beloved as the rifle. A slight interruption, however, took +place before the business was allowed to proceed. + +Hetty Hutter witnessed all that passed, and the scene at first had pressed +upon her feeble mind in a way to paralyze it entirely; but, by this time, she +had rallied, and was growing indignant at the unmerited suffering the Indians +were inflicting on her friend. Though timid, and shy as the young of the +deer, on so many occasions, this right-feeling girl was always intrepid in +the cause of humanity; the lessons of her mother, and the impulses of her own +heart, - perhaps we might say the promptings of that unseen and pure spirit +that seemed ever to watch over and direct her actions - uniting to keep down +the apprehensions of woman, and to impel her to be bold and resolute. She now +appeared in the circle, gentle, feminine, even bashful in mien, as usual, but +earnest in her words and countenance, speaking like one who knew herself to +be sustained by the high authority of God. + +"Why do you torment Deerslayer, red-men?" she asked -"What has he done that +you trifle with his life; who has given you the right to be his judges? +Suppose one of your knives, tomahawks had hit him; what Indian among you all +could cure the wound you would make. Besides, in harming Deerslayer, you +injure your own friend; when father and Hurry Harry came after your scalps, +he refused to be of the party, and staid in the canoe by himself. You are +tormenting a good friend, in tormenting this young man!" + +The Hurons listened with grave attention, and one among them, who understood +English, translated what had been said into their native tongue. As soon as +Rivenoak was made acquainted with the purport of her address he answered it +in his own dialect; the interpreter conveying it to the girl in English. + +"My daughter is very welcome to speak," said the stern old orator, using +gentle intonations and smiling as kindly as if addressing a child-"The Hurons +are glad to hear her voice; they listen to what she says. The Great Spirit +often speaks to men with such tongues. This time, her eyes have not been open +wide enough, to see all that has happened. Deerslayer did not come for our +scalps; that is true; why did he not come? Here they are; on our heads; the +war-locks are ready to be taken hold of; a bold enemy ought to stretch out +his hand to seize them. The Iroquois are too great a nation to punish men +that take scalps. What they do themselves, they like to see others do. Let my +daughter look around her and count my warriors. Had I as many hands as four +warriors, their fingers would be fewer than my people, when they came into +your hunting grounds. Now, a whole hand is missing. Where are the fingers? +Two have been cut off by this pale face; my Hurons wish to see if he did this +by means of a stout heart, or by treachery. Like a skulking fox, or like a +leaping panther." + +"You know yourself, Huron, how one of them fell. I saw it, and you all saw +it, too. 'Twas too bloody to look at; but it was not Deerslayer's fault. Your +warrior sought his life, and he defended himself. I do n't know whether this +good book says that it was right, but all men will do that. Come, if you want +to know which of you, can shoot best, give Deerslayer a rifle, and then you +will find how much more expert he is, than any of your warriors; yes, than +all of them together!" + +Could one have looked upon such a scene with indifference, he would have been +amused at the gravity with which the savages listened to the translation of +this unusual request. No taunt, no smile mingled with their surprise, for +Hetty had a character and a manner too saintly to subject her infirmity to +the mockings of the rude and ferocious. On the contrary, she was answered +with respectful attention. + +"My daughter does not always talk, like a chief at a Council Fire," returned +Rivenoak, "or she would not have said this. Two of my warriors have fallen by +the blows of our prisoner; their grave is too small to hold a third. The +Hurons do not like to crowd their dead. If there is another spirit about to +set out for the far off world, it must not be the spirit of a Huron; it must +be the spirit of a pale face. Go, daughter, and sit by Sumach, who is in +grief; let the Huron warriors show how well they can shoot; let the pale face +show how little he cares for their bullets." + +Hetty's mind was unequal to a sustained discussion, and accustomed to defer +to the directions of her seniors she did as told, seating herself passively +on a log, by the side of the Sumach, and averting her face from the painful +scene that was occurring within the circle. + +The warriors, as soon as this interruption had ceased, resumed their places, +and again prepared to exhibit their skill. As there was a double object in +view, that of putting the constancy of the captive to the proof, and that of +showing how steady were the hands of the marksmen, under circumstances of +excitement, the distance was small, and, in one sense, safe. But in +diminishing the distance taken by the tormentors, the trial to the nerves of +the captive was essentially increased. The face of Deerslayer, indeed, was +just removed sufficiently from the ends of the guns to escape the effects of +the flash, and his steady eye was enabled to look directly into their +muzzles, as it might be, in anticipation of the fatal messenger that was to +issue from each. The cunning Hurons well knew this fact, and scarce one +levelled his piece without first causing it to point as near as possible at +the forehead of the prisoner, in the hope that his fortitude would fail him, +and that the band would enjoy the triumph of seeing a victim quail under +their ingenious cruelty. Nevertheless each of the competitors was still +careful not to injure, the disgrace of striking prematurely, being second +only to that of failing altogether in attaining the object. Shot after shot +was made; all the bullets coming in close proximity to the Deerslayer's head, +without touching it. Still no one could detect even the twitching of a muscle +on the part of the captive, or the slightest winking of an eye. This +indomitable resolution, which so much exceeded every thing of its kind that +any present had before witnessed, might be referred to three distinct causes. +The first was resignation to his fate, blended with natural steadiness of +deportment; for our hero had calmly made up his mind that he must die, and +preferred this mode to any other; the second was his great familiarity with +this particular weapon, which deprived it of all the terror that is usually +connected with the mere form of the danger; and the third was this +familiarity carried out in practice, to a degree so nice as to enable the +intended victim to tell, within an inch, the precise spot where each bullet +must strike, for he calculated its range by looking in at the bore of the +piece. So exact was Deerslayer's estimation of the line of fire, that his +pride of feeling finally got the better of his resignation, and when five or +six had discharged their bullets into the tree, he could not refrain from +expresing his contempt at their want of hand and eye. + +"You may call this shooting, Mingos!" he exclaimed, "but we've squaws among +the Delawares, and I have known Dutch gals on the Mohawk, that could outdo +your greatest indivours. Ondo these arms of mine, put a rifle into my hands, +and I'll pin the thinnest warlock in your party, to any tree you can show me, +and this at a hundred yards-ay, or at two hundred if the objects can be seen, +nineteen shots in twenty; or, for that matter twenty in twenty, if the piece +is creditable and trusty!" + +A low menacing murmur followed this cool taunt. The ire of the warriors +kindled at listening to such a reproach from one, who so far disdained their +efforts as to refuse even to wink, when a rifle was discharged as near his +face as could be done without burning it. Rivenoak perceived that the moment +was critical, and, still retaining his hope of adopting so noted a hunter +into his tribe, the politic old chief interposed in time, probably to prevent +an immediate resort to that portion of the torture, which must necessarily +have produced death through extreme bodily suffering, if in no other manner. +Moving into the centre of the irritated groupe, he addressed them with his +usual wily logic, and plausible manner, at once suppressing the fierce +movement that had commenced. + +"I see how it is," he said. "We have been like the pale faces when they +fasten their doors at night, out of fear of the red men. They use so many +bars that the fire comes and burns them, before they can get out. We have +bound the Deerslayer too tight: the thongs keep his limbs from shaking and +his eyes from shutting. Loosen him; let us see what his own body is really +made of." + +It is often the case when we are thwarted in a cherished scheme, that any +expedient, however unlikely to succeed, is gladly resorted to in preference +to a total abandonment of the project. So it was with the Hurons. The +proposal of the chief found instant favor, and several hands were immediately +at work, cutting and tearing the ropes of bark from the body of our hero. In +half a minute Deerslayer stood as free from bonds, as when, an hour before he +had commenced his flight on the side of the mountain. Some little time was +necessary that he should recover the use of his limbs, the circulation of the +blood having been checked by the tightness of the ligatures, and this was +accorded to him by the politic Rivenoak, under the pretence that his body +would be more likely to submit to apprehension, if its true tone were +restored; though really with a view to give time to the fierce passions which +had-been awakened in the bosoms of his young men, to subside. This ruse +succeeded, and Deerslayer by rubbing his limbs, stamping his feet, and moving +about, soon regained the circulation, recovering all his physical powers, as +effectually as if nothing had occurred to disturb them. + +It is seldom men think of death in the pride of their health and strength. So +it was with Deerslayer. Having been helplessly bound and, as he had every +reason to suppose, so lately on the very verge of the other world, to find +himself so unexpectedly liberated, in possession of his strength and with a +full command of limb, acted on him like a sudden restoration to life, +reanimating hopes that he had once absolutely abandoned. From that instant +all his plans changed. In this, he simply obeyed a law of nature; for while +we have wished to represent our hero as being resigned to his fate, it has +been far from our intention to represent him as anxious to die. From the +instant that his buoyancy of feeling revived, his thoughts were keenly bent +on the various projects that presented themselves as modes of evading the +designs of his enemies, and he again became, the quick witted, ingenious and +determined woodsman, alive to all his own powers and resources. The change +was so great, that his mind resumed its elasticity, and no longer thinking of +submission, it dwelt only on the devices of the-sort of warfare in which he +was engaged. + +As soon as Deerslayer was released, the band divided itself in a circle +around him, in order to hedge him in, and the desire to break down his spirit +grew in them, precisely as they saw proofs of the difficulty there would be +in subduing it. The honor of the band was now involved in the issue, and even +the sex lost all its sympathy with suffering, in the desire to save the +reputation of the tribe. The voices of the girls, soft and melodious as +nature had made them, were heard mingling with the menaces of the men, and +the wrongs of Sumach suddenly assumed the character of injuries inflicted on +every Huron female. Yielding to this rising tumult, the men drew back a +little, signifying to the females, that they left the captive, for a time, in +their hands, it being a common practice on such occasions, for the women to +endeavor to throw the victim into a rage, by their taunts and revilings, and +then to turn him suddenly over to the men, in a state of mind that was little +favorable to resisting the agony of bodily suffering. Nor was this party +without the proper instruments for effecting such a purpose. Sumach had a +notoriety as a scold, and one or two crones, like the She Bear, had come out +with the party, most probably as the conservators of its decency and moral +discipline; such things occurring in savage as well as in civilized life. It +is unnecessary to repeat all that ferocity and ignorance could invent for +such a purpose, the only difference between this outbreaking of feminine +anger, and a similar scene among ourselves, consisting in the figures of +speech and the epithets, the Huron women calling their prisoner by the names +of the lower and least respected animals that were known to themselves. + +But Deerslayer's mind was too much occupied, to permit him to be disturbed by +the abuse of excited hags, and their rage necessarily increasing with his +indifference, as his indifference increased with their rage, the furies soon +rendered themselves impotent by their own excesses. Perceiving that the +attempt was a complete failure, the warriors interfered to put a stop to this +scene, and this so much the more, because preparations were now seriously +making for the commencement of the real tortures, or that which would put the +fortitude of the sufferer to the test of severe bodily pain. A sudden and +unlooked for announcement, that proceeded from one of the look-outs, a boy +ten or twelve years old, however, put a momentary check to the whole +proceedings. As this interruption has a close connection with the dénouemnent +of our story, it shall be given in a separate chapter. + + + + + +Chapter XXX. + +"So deem'st thou - so each mortal deems +Of that which is from that which seems; +But other harvest here +Than that which peasant's scythe demands, +Was gather'd in by sterner hands, +With bayonet, blade, and spear." + +Scott, "The Field of Waterloo," V.i-6. + + + +It exceeded Deerslayer's power to ascertain what had produced the sudden +pause in the movements of his enemies, until the fact was revealed in the due +course of events. He perceived that much agitation prevailed among the women +in particular, while the warriors rested on their arms, in a sort of +dignified expectation. It was plain no alarm was excited, though it was not +equally apparent that a friendly occurrence produced the delay. Rivenoak was +evidently apprised of all, and by a gesture of his arm he appeared to direct +the circle to remain unbroken, and for each person to await the issue in the +situation he, or she, then occupied. It required but a minute or two, to +bring an explanation of this singular and mysterious pause, which was soon +terminated by the appearance of Judith on the exterior of the line of bodies, +and her ready admission within its circle. + +If Deerslayer was startled by this unexpected arrival, well knowing that the +quick witted girl could claim none of that exemption from the penalties of +captivity, that was so cheerfully accorded to her feebler minded sister, he +was equally astonished at the guise in which she came. All her ordinary +forest attire, neat and becoming as this usually was, had been laid aside for +the brocade that has been already mentioned, and which had once before +wrought so great and magical an effect in her appearance. Nor was this all. +Accustomed to see the ladies of the garrison, in the formal, gala attire of +the day, and familiar with the more critical niceties of these matters, the +girl had managed to complete her dress, in a way to leave nothing strikingly +defective in its details, or even to betray an in congruity that would have +been detected by one practised in the mysteries of the toilet. Head, feet, +arms, hands, bust, and drapery, were all ~n harmony, as female attire was +then deemed attractive and harmonious, and the end she aimed at, that of +imposing on the uninstructed senses of the savages, by causing them to +believe their guest was a woman of rank and importance, might well have +succeeded with those whose habits had taught them to discriminate between +persons. Judith, in addition to her rare native beauty, had a singular grace +of person, and her mother had imparted enough of her own deportment, to +prevent any striking or offensive vulgarity of manner; so that, sooth to say, +the gorgeous dress might have been worse bestowed in nearly every particular. +Had it been displayed in a capital, a thousand might have worn it, before one +could have been found to do more credit to its gay colours, glossy satins, +and rich laces, than the beautiful creature whose person it now aided to +adorn. The effect of such an apparition had not been miscalculated. The +instant Judith found herself within the circle, she was, in a degree, +compensated for the fearful personal risk she ran, by the unequivocal +sensation of surprise and admiration produced by her appearance. The grim old +warriors uttered their favorite exclamation "hugh!" The younger men were +still more sensibly overcome, and even the women were not backward in letting +open manifestations of pleasure escape them. It was seldom that these +untutored children of the forest had ever seen any white female above the +commonest sort, and, as to dress, never before had so much splendor shone +before their eyes. The gayest uniforms of both French and English seemed dull +compared with the lustre of the brocade, and while the rare personal beauty +of the wearer added to the effect produced by its hues, the attire did not +fail to adorn that beauty in a way which surpassed even the hopes of its +wearer. Deerslayer himself was astounded, and this quite as much by the +brilliant picture the girl presented, as at the indifference to consequences +with which she had braved the danger of the step she had taken. Under such +circumstances, all waited for the visiter to explain her object, which to +most of the spectators seemed as inexplicable as her appearance. + +"Which of these warriors is the principal chief?" demanded Judith of +Deerslayer, as soon as she found it was expected that she should open the +communications; "my errand is too important to be delivered to any of +inferior rank. First explain to the Hurons, what I say; then give an answer +to the question I have put." + +Deerslayer quietly complied, his auditors greedily listening to the +interpretation of the first words that fell from so extraordinary a vision. +The demand seemed perfectly in character for one who had every appearance of +an exalted rank, herself. Rivenoak gave an appropriate reply, by presenting +himself before his fair visiter in a way to leave no doubt that he was +entitled to all the consideration he claimed. + +"I can believe this, Huron," resumed Judith, enacting her assumed part, with +a steadiness and dignity that did credit to her powers of imitation, for she +strove to impart to her manner the condescending courtesy she had once +observed in the wife of a general officer, at a similar though a more +amicable scene: +"I can believe you to be the principal person of this party; I see in your +countenance the marks of thought and reflection. To you, then, I must make my +communication." + +"Let the Flower of the Woods speak," returned the old chief courteously, as +soon as her address had been translated so that all might understand it-"If +her words are as pleasant as her looks, they will never quit my ears; I shall +hear them long after the winter of Canada has killed all the flowers, and +frozen all the speeches of summer." + +This admiration was grateful to one constituted like Judith, and contributed +to aid her self-possession, quite as much as it fed her vanity. Smiling +involuntarily, or in spite of her wish to seem reserved, she proceeded in her +plot. + +"Now, Huron," she continued, "listen to my words. Your eyes tell you that I +am no common woman. I will not say I am queen of this country; she is afar +off, in a distant land; but under our gracious monarchs, there are many +degrees of rank; one of these I fill. What that rank is precisely, it is +unnecessary for me to say, since you would not understand it. For that +information you must trust your eyes. You see what I am; you must feel that +in listening to my words, you listen to one who can be your friend, or your +enemy, as you treat her." + +This was well uttered, with a due attention to manner, and a steadiness of +tone, that was really surprising, considering all the circumstances of the +case. It was well, though simply rendered into the Indian dialect too, and it +was received with a respect and gravity that augured favourably for the +girl's success. But Indian thought is not easily traced to its sources. +Judith waited with anxiety to hear the answer, filled with hope even while +she doubted. Rivenoak was a ready speaker, and he answered as promptly as +comported with the notions of Indian decorum; that peculiar people seeming to +think a short delay respectful, inasmuch as it manifests that the words +already heard, have been duly weighed. + +"My daughter is handsomer than the wild roses of Ontario; her voice is +pleasant to the ear as the song of the wren," answered the cautious and wily +chief, who of all the band, stood alone in not being fully imposed on by the +magnificent and unusual appearance of Judith; but who distrusted even while +he wondered: "the humming bird is not much larger than the bee; yet, its +feathers are as gay as the tail of the peacock. The Great Spirit sometimes +puts very bright clothes on very little animals. Still He covers the Moose +with coarse hair. These things are beyond the understanding of poor Indians, +who can only comprehend what they see and hear. No doubt my daughter has a +very large wigwam, somewhere about the lake; the Hurons have not found it, on +account of their ignorance?" + +"I have told you, chief, that it would be useless to state my rank and +residence, in as much as you would not comprehend them. You must trust to +your eyes for this knowledge; what red man is there who cannot see? This +blanket that I wear, is not the blanket of a common squaw; these ornaments +are such as the wives and daughters of chiefs only appear in. Now, listen and +hear why I have come alone, among your people, and hearken to the errand that +has brought me here. The Yengeese have young men, as well as the Hurons; and +plenty of them, too; this you well know." + +"The Yengeese are as plenty as the leaves on the trees! This every Huron +knows, and feels." + +"I understand you, chief. Had I brought a party with me, it might have caused +trouble. My young men and your young men, would have looked angrily at each +other; especially had my young men seen that pale face bound for the torture. +He is a great hunter, and is much loved by all the garrisons, far and near. +There would have been blows about him, and the trail of the Iroquois back to +the Canadas would have been marked with blood." + +"There is so much blood on it, now," returned the chief, gloomily, "that it +blinds our eyes. My young men see that it is all Huron." + +"No doubt; and more Huron blood would be spilt had I come surrounded with +pale faces. I have heard of Rivenoak, and have thought it would be better to +send him back in peace to his village, that he might leave his women and +children behind him; if he then wished to come for our scalps, we would meet +him. He loves animals made of ivory, and little rifles. See; I have brought +some with me to show him. I am his friend. When he has packed up these things +among his goods, he will start for his village, before any of my young men +can overtake him, and then he will show his people in Canada what riches they +can come to seek, now that our great fathers, across the Salt Lake, have sent +each other the war hatchet. I will lead back with me, this great hunter, of +whom I have need to keep my house in venison." + +Judith, who was sufficiently familiar with Indian phraseology, endeavored to +express her ideas in the sententious manner common to those people, and she +succeeded even beyond her own expectations. Deerslayer did her full justice +in the translation, and this so much the more readily, since the girl +carefully abstained from uttering any direct untruth; a homage she paid to +the young man's known aversion to falsehood, which he deemed a meanness +altogether unworthy of a white man's gifts. The offering of the two remaining +elephants, and of the pistols already mentioned, one of which was all the +worse for the recent accident, produced a lively sensation among the Hurons, +generally, though Rivenoak received it coldly, notwithstanding the delight +with which he had first discovered the probable existence of a creature with +two tails. In a word, this cool and sagacious savage was not so easily +imposed on, as his followers, and with a sentiment of honor, that half the +civilized world would have deemed supererogatory, he declined the acceptance +of a bribe that he felt no disposition to earn by a compliance with the +donor's wishes. + +"Let my daughter keep her two-tailed hog, to eat, when venison is scarce," he +drily answered, "and the little gun, which has two muzzles. The Hurons will +kill deer when they are hungry, and they have long rifles to fight with. This +hunter cannot quit my young men now; they wish to know if he is as stout +hearted, as he boasts himself to be." + +"That I deny, Huron-" interrupted Deerslayer, with warmth-"Yes, that I down +right deny, as ag'in truth and reason. No man has heard me boast, and no man +shall, though ye flay me alive, and then roast the quivering flesh, with your +own infarnal devices and cruelties! I may be humble, and misfortunate, and +your prisoner; but I'm no boaster, by my very gifts." + +"My young pale-face boasts he is no boaster," returned the crafty chief: "he +must be right. I hear a strange bird singing. It has very rich feathers. No +Huron ever before saw such feathers! They will be ashamed to go back to their +village, and tell their people that they let their prisoner go on account of +the song of this strange bird and not be able to give the name of the bird. +They do not know how to say whether it is a wren, or a cat bird. This would +be a great disgrace; my young men would not be allowed to travel in the +woods, without taking their mothers with them, to tell them the names of the +birds!" +"You can ask my name of your prisoner," returned the girl. "It is Judith; and +there is a great deal of the history of Judith in the Pale face's best book, +the bible. If I am a bird of fine feathers, I have also my name." + +"No," answered the wily Huron, betraying the artifice he had so long +practised, by speaking in English, with tolerable accuracy, "I not ask +prisoner. He tired; he want rest. I ask my daughter, with feeble mind. She +speak truth. Come here, daughter; you answer. Your name, Hetty?" + +"Yes, that's what they call me," returned the girl, "though it's written +Esther in the bible." + +"He write him in bible, too! All write in bible. No matter- what her name?" +"That's Judith, and it's so written in the bible, though father sometimes +called her Jude. That's my sister Judith. Thomas Hutter's daughter-Thomas +Hutter, whom you called the Muskrat; though he was no muskrat, but a man like +yourselves-he lived in a house on the water, and that was enough for you. + +A smile of triumph gleamed on the hard wrinkled countenance of the chief, +when he found how completely his appeal to the truth-loving Hcttv had +succeeded. As for Judith, herself, the moment her sister was questioned, she +saw that all was lost; for no sign, or even intreaty could have induced the +right feeling girl to utter a falsehood. To attempt to impose a daughter of +the Muskrat on the savages, as a princess, or a great lady, she knew would be +idle, and she saw her bold and ingenious expedient for liberating the captive +fail, through one of the simplest and most natural causes that could be +imagined. She turned her eye on Deerslayer, therefore, as if imploring him to +interfere, to save them both. + +"It will not do, Judith," said the young man, in answer to this appeal, which +he understood, though he saw its uselessness; "it will not do. Twas a bold +idea, and fit for a general's lady, but yonder Mingo " Rivenoak had withdrawn +to a little distance, and was out of ear-shot -"but yonder Mingo, is au +oncommon man, and not to he deceived by any unnat'ral sarcumvcntion. Things +must come afore him, in their right order, to draw a (loud afore his eves! +Twas too much to attempt making him fancy that a queen, or a great lady, +lived in these mountains, and no doubt lie thinks the line clothes you wear, +is some of the plunder of' your own father-or, at least, of him who once +passed for your father; as 1tiite likely it was, if all they say is true." + +"At all events, Deerslayer , my presence here, will save you for a time. They +will hardly attempt torturing you before my face!" + +"Why not, Judith? Do you think they will treat a woman of the pale faces, +more tenderly than they treat their own? It's true that your sex will most +likely save you from the torments, but it will not save your liberty, and may +not save your scalp. I wish you had not come, my good Judith; it can do no +good to me, while it may do great harm to yourself. + +I can share your fate," the girl answered with generous enthusiasm. "They +shall not injure you, while I stand by, if in my power to prevent it-besides- +" +"Besides, what, Judith? What means have you to stop Injin cruelties, or to +avart Injin deviltries?" + +"None, perhaps, Deerslayer," answered the girl, with firmness, "but I can +suffer with my friends-die with them if necessary." + +"Ah! Judith-suffer you may; but die you will not, until the Lord's time shall +come. It's little likely that one of your sex and beauty will meet with a +harder fate than to become the wife of a chief, if, indeed your white +inclinations can stoop to match with an Injin. 'Twould have been better had +you said in the Ark, or the castle, but what has been done, is done. You was +about to say something, when you stopped at 'besides'?" + +"It might not be safe to mention it here, Deerslayer," the girl hurriedly +answered, moving past him carelessly, that she might speak in a lower tone; +"half an hour, is all in all to us. None of your friends are idle." + +The hunter replied merely by a grateful look. Then he turned towards his +enemies, as if ready again to face their torments. A short consultation had +passed among the elders of the band, and by this time they also were prepared +with their decision. The merciful purpose of Rivenoak had been much weakened +by the artifice of Judith, which, failing of its real object, was likely to +produce results the very opposite of those she had anticipated. This was +natural; the feeling being aided by the resentment of an Indian, who found +how near hr had been to becoming the dupe of an inexperienced girl. By this +time, Judith's real character was fully understood, the wide spread +reputation of her beauty contributing to the exposure. As for the unusual +attire, it was confounded with the profound mystery of the animals with two +tails, and, for the moment lost its influence. + +When Rivenoak, therefore, faced the captive again, it was with an altered +countenance. He had abandoned the wish of saving him, and was no longer +disposed to retard the more serious part of the torture This change of +sentiment was, in effect, communicated to the young men, who were already +eagerly engaged in making their preparations for the contemplated scene. +Fragments of dried wood were rapidly collected, near the sapling, the +splinters which it was intended to thrust into the flesh of the victim, +previously to lighting, were all collected, and the thongs were already +produced that were again to bind him to the tree. All this was done in +profound silence, Judith watching every movement with breathless expectation, +while Deerslayer himself, stood seemingly as unmoved, as one of the pines of +the hills. When the warriors advanced to bind him, however, the young man +glanced at Judith, as if to enquire whether resistance or submission were +most advisable. By a significant gesture she counselled the last, and, in a +minute, he was once more fastened to the tree, a helpless object of any +insult, or wrong, that might be offered. So eagerly did every one now act, +that nothing was said. The fire was immediately lighted in the pile, and the +end of all was anxiously expected. + +It was not the intention of the Hurons absolutely to destroy the life of +their victim by means of fire. They designed merely to put his physical +fortitude to the severest proofs it could endure, short of that extremity. In +the end, they fully intended to carry his scalp with them into their village, +but it was their wish first to break down his resolution, and to reduce him +to the level of a complaining sufferer. With this view, the pile of brush and +branches had been placed at a proper distance, or, one at which it was +thought the heat would soon become intolerable, though it might not be +immediately dangerous. As often happened, however, on these occasions, this +distance had been miscalculated, and the flames began to wave their forked +tongues in a proximity to the face of the victim, that would have proved +fatal, in another instant, had not Hetty rushed through the crowd, armed with +a stick, and scattered the blazing pile, in a dozen directions. More than one +hand was raised to strike this presumptuous intruder to the earth, but the +chiefs prevented the blows, by reminding their irritated followers of the +state of her mind. Hetty, herself, was insensible to the risk she ran, but, +as soon as she had performed this bold act, she stood looking about her, in +frowning resentment, as if to rebuke the crowd of attentive savages, for +their cruelty.-I + +"God bless you, dearest sister, for that brave and ready act!" murmured +Judith, herself unnerved so much as to be incapable of exertion-"Heaven, +itself, has sent you on its holy errand." + +"Twas well meant, Judith-" rejoined the victim-"twas excellently meant, and +'twas timely; though it may prove ontimely in the ind! What is to come to +pass, must come to pass soon, or 'twill quickly be too late. Had I drawn in +one mouthful of that flame in breathing, the power of man could not save my +life, and you see that, this time, they've so bound my forehead, as not to +leave my head the smallest chance. Twas well meant, but it might have been +more marciful to let the flames act their part." + +"Cruel, heartless Hurons!" exclaimed the still indignant Hetty-"Would you +burn a man and a christian, as you would burn a log of wood! Do you never +read your bibles?-Or do you think God will forget such things?" + +A gesture from Rivenoak caused the scattered brands to be collected. Fresh +wood., was brought, even the women and children busying themselves eagerly, +in the gathering of dried sticks. The flame was just kindling a second time, +when an Indian female pushed through the circle, advanced to the heap, and +with her foot dashed aside the lighted twigs, in time to prevent the +conflagration. A yell followed this second disappointment, but when the +offender turned, towards the circle, and presented the countenance of Hist, +it was succeeded by a common exclamation of pleasure and surprise. For a +minute, all thought of pursuing the business in hand was forgotten. Young and +old crowded around the girl, in haste to demand an explanation of her sudden +and unlooked-for return. It was at this critical instant that Hist spoke to +Judith in a low voice, placed some small object unseen in her hand, and then +turned to meet the salutations of the Huron girls, with whom she was +personally a great favorite. Judith recovered her selfpossession, and acted +promptly. The small, keen edged knife, that Hist had given to the other, was +passed by the latter into the hands of Hetty, as the safest and least +suspected medium of transferring it to Deerslayer. But the feeble intellect +of the last, defeated the well-grounded hopes of all three. Instead of first +cutting loose the hands of the victim, and then concealing the knife in his +clothes, in readiness for action, at the most available instant, she went to +work herself, with earnestness and simplicity, to cut the thongs that bound +his head, that he might not again be in danger of inhaling flames. Of course +this deliberate procedure was seen, and the hands of Hetty were arrested, ere +she had more than liberated the upper portion of the captive's body, not +including his arms, below the elbows. This discovery at once pointed distrust +towards Hist, and to Judith's surprise, when questioned on the subject, that +spirited girl was not disposed to deny her agency in what had passed. +"Why should I not help the Deerslayer?" the girl demanded, in the tones of a +firm minded woman. "He is the brother of a Delaware chief; my heart is all +Delaware. Come forth, miserable Briarthorn, and wash the Iroquois paint from +your face; stand be'fore the Hurons, the crow that you are. You would eat the +carrion of your own dead, rather than starve. Put him face to face with +Deerslayer, chiefs and warriors; I will show you how great a knave you have +been keeping in your tribe." + +This bold language, uttered in their own dialect, and with a manner full of +confidence, produced a deep sensation among the Hurons. Treachery is always +liable to distrust, and though the recreant Briarthorn had endeavoured to +serve the enemy well, his exertions and assiduities had gained for him little +more than toleration. His wish to obtain Hist for a wife, had first induced +him to betray her, and his own people, but serious rivals to his first +project had risen up among his new friends, weakening still more their +sympathies with treason. In a word, Briarthorn had been barely permitted to +remain in the Huron encampment, where he was as closely and as jealously +watched as Hist, herself, seldom appearing before the chiefs, and sedulously +keeping out of view of Deerslayer, who, until this moment, was ignorant even +of hi~ presence. Thus summoned, however, it was impossible to remain in the +back ground. "Wash the Iroquois paint from his face," he did not, for when he +stood in the centre of the circle, he was so disguised in these new colours, +that at first, the hunter did not recognise him. He assumed an air of +defiance, notwithstanding, and haughtily demanded what any could say against +"Briarthorn." + +"Ask yourself that," continued Hist with spirit, though her manner grew less +concentrated, and there was a slight air of abstraction that became +observable to Deerslayer and Judith, if to no others - "Ask that of your own +heart, sneaking woodchuck of the Delawares; come not here with the face of an +innocent man. Go look into the spring; see the colours of your enemies on +your lying skin; then come back and boast how you run from your tribe and +took the blanket of the French for your covering! Paint yourself as bright as +the humming bird, you will still be black as the crow!" + +Hist had been so uniformly gentle, while living with the Hurons, that they +now listened to her language with surprise. As for the delinquent, his blood +boiled in his veins, and it was well for the pretty speaker that it was not +in his power to execute the revenge he burned to inflict on her, in spite of +his pretended love. + +"Who wishes Briarthorn?" he sternly asked-"If this pale face is tired of +life, if afraid of Indian torments, speak, Rivenoak; I will send him after +the warriors we have lost." + +"No, chiefs- no, Rivenoak-" eagerly interrupted Hist- "Deerslayer fears +nothing; least of all a crow! Unbind him -cut his withes, place him face to +face with this cawing bird; then let us see which is tired of life!" + +Hist made a forward movement, as if to take a knife from a young man, and +perform the office she had mentioned in person, but an aged warrior +interposed, at a sign from Rivenoak. This chief watched all the girl did with +distrust, for, even while speaking in her most boastful language, and in the +steadiest manner, there was an air of uncertainty and expectation about her, +that could not escape so close an observer. She acted well; but two or three +of the old men were equally satisfied that it was merely acting. Her proposal +to release Deerslayer, therefore, was rejected, and the disappointed Hist +found herself driven back from the sapling, at the very moment she fancied +herself about to be successful. At the same time, the circle, which had got +to be crowded and confused, was enlarged, and brought once more into order. +Rivenoak now announced the intention of the old men again to proceed, the +delay having continued long enough, and leading to no result. + +"Stop Huron - stay chiefs! -" exclaimed Judith, scarce knowing what she said, +or why she interposed, unless to obtain time. "For God's sake, a single +minute longer-" + +The words were cut short, by another and a still more extraordinary +interruption. A young Indian came bounding through the Huron ranks, leaping +into the very centre of the circle, in a way to denote the utmost confidence, +or a temerity bordering on fool-hardiness. Five or six sentinels were still +watching the lake at different and distant points, and it was the first +impression of Rivenoak that one of these had come in, with tidings of import. +Still the movements of the stranger were so rapid, and his war dress, which +scarcely left him more drapery than an antique statue, had so little +distinguishing about it, that, at the first moment, it was impossible to +ascertain whether he were friend or foe. Three leaps carried this warrior to +the side of Deerslayer, whose withes were cut, in the twinkling of an eye, +with a quickness and precision that left the prisoner perfect master of his +limbs. Not till this was effected, did the stranger bestow a glance on any +other object; then he turned and showed the astonished Hurons, the noble +brow, fine person, and eagle-eye, of a young warrior, in the paint and +panoply of a Delaware. He held a rifle in each hand, the butts of both, +resting on the earth, while from one dangled its proper pouch and horn. This +was Killdeer which, even as he looked boldly and in defiance at the crowd +around him, he suffered to fall back into the hands of its proper owner. The +presence of two armed men, though it was in their midst, startled the Hurons. +Their rifles were scattered about against the different trees, and their only +weapons were their knives and tomahawks. Still they had too much self- +possession to betray fear. It was little likely that so small a force would +assail so strong a band, and each man expected some extraordinary proposition +to succeed so decisive a step. The stranger did not seem disposed to +disappoint them; he prepared to speak. + +"Hurons," he said, "this earth is very big. The Great Lakes are big, too; +there is room beyond them for the Iroquois; there is room for the Delawares +on this side. I am Chingachgook the Son of Uncas; the kinsman of Tamenund. +This is my betrothed; that pale face is my friend. My heart was heavy, when I +missed him; I followed him to your camp, to see that no harm happened to him. +All the Delaware girls are waiting for Wah; they wonder that she stays away +so long. Come, let us say farewell, and go on our path." + +"Hurons, this is your mortal enemy, the Great Serpent of +them you hate!" cried Briarthorn. "If he escape, blood will be +in your moccasin prints, from this spot to the Canadas. I am all Huron!" +As the last words were uttered, the traitor cast his knife at the naked +breast of the Delaware. A quick movement of the arm, on the part of Hist, who +stood near, turned aside the blow, the dangerous weapon burying its point in +a pine. At the next instant, a similar weapon glanced from the hand of the +Serpent, and quivered in the recreant's heart. A minute had scarcely elapsed +from the moment in which Chingachgook bounded into the circle, and that in +which Briarthorn fell, like a log, dead in his tracks. The rapidity of events +had prevented the Hurons from acting; but this catastrophe permitted no +farther delay. A common exclamation followed, and the whole party was in +motion. At this instant a sound unusual to the woods was heard, and every +Huron, male and female, paused to listen, with ears erect and faces filled +with expectation. The sound was regular and heavy, as if the earth were +struck with beetles. Objects became visible among the trees of the back +ground, and a body of troops, was seen advancing with measured tread. They +came upon the charge, the scarlet of the King's livery shining among the +bright green foliage of the forest. + +The scene that followed is not easily described. It was one in which wild +confusion, despair, and frenzied efforts, were so blended, as to destroy the +unity and distinctness of the action. A general yell burst from the enclosed +Hurons; it was succeeded by the hearty cheers of England. Still not a musket +or rifle was fired, though that steady, measured, tramp continued, and the +bayonet was seen gleaming in advance of a line that counted nearly sixty men. +The Hurons were taken at a fearful disadvantage. On three sides was the +water, while their formidable and trained foes, cut them off from flight, on +the fourth. Each warrior rushed for his arms, and then all on the point, man, +woman and child, eagerly sought the covers. In this scene of confusion and +dismay, however, nothing could surpass the discretion and coolness of +Deerslayer. His first care was to place Judith and Hist, behind trees, and he +looked for Hetty; but she had been hurried away in the crowd of Huron women. +This effected, he threw himself on a flank of the retiring Hurons, who were +inclining off towards the southern margin of the point, in the hope of +escaping through the water. Deerslayer watched his opportunity, and finding +two of his recent tormentors in a range, his rifle first broke the silence of +the terrific scene. The bullet brought down both at one discharge. This drew +a general fire from the Hurons, and the rifle and war cry of the Serpent were +heard in the clamor. Still the trained men returned no answering volley, the +whoop and piece of Hurry alone being heard on their side, if we except, the +short, prompt word of authority, and that heavy, measured and menacing tread. +Presently, however, the shrieks, groans, and denunciations that usually +accompany the use of the bayonet followed. That terrible and deadly weapon +was glutted in vengeance. The scene that succeeded was one of those, of which +so many have occurred in our own times, in which neither age nor sex forms an +exemption to the lot of a savage warfare. + + + + +Chapter XXXI. + +"The flower that smiles to-day +To-morrow dies; +All that we wish to stay, +Tempts and then flies: +What is this world's delight? -Lightning that mocks the night, Brief even as +bright." + +Shelley, "Mutability," 11. i-v. + +The picture next presented, by the point of land that the unfortunate Hurons +had selected for their last place of encampment, need scarcely be laid before +the eyes of the reader. Happily for the more tender-minded and the more +timid, the trunks of the trees, the leaves, and the smoke had concealed much +of that which passed, and night shortly after drew its veil over the lake, +and the whole of that seemingly interminable wilderness; which may be said to +have then stretched, with few and immaterial interruptions, from the banks of +the Hudson to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Our business carries us into +the following day, when light returned upon the earth, as sunny and as +smiling, as if nothing extraordinary had occurred. + +When the sun rose on the following morning, every sign of hostility and alarm +had vanished from the basin of the Glimmerglass The frightful event of the +preceding evening had left no impression on the placid sheet, and the +untiring hours pursued their course in the placid order prescribed by the +powerful hand that set them in motion. The birds were again skimming the +water, or were seen poised on the wing, high above the tops of the tallest +pines of the mountains, ready to make their swoops, in obedience to the +irresistable law of their natures. In a word, nothing was changed, but the +air of movement and life that prevailed in and around the castle. Here, +indeed, was an alteration that must have struck the least observant eye. A +sentinel, who wore the light infantry uniform of a royal regiment, paced the +platform with measured tread, and some twenty more of the same corps, lounged +about the place, or were seated in the ark. Their arms were stacked under the +eye of their comrade on post. Two officers stood examining the shore, with +the ship's glass so often mentioned. Their looks were directed to that fatal +point, where scarlet coats were still to be seen gliding among the trees, and +where the magnifying power of the instrument also showed spades at work, and +the sad duty of interment going on. Several of the common men bore proofs on +their persons, that their enemies had not been overcome entirely without +resistance, and the youngest of the two officers on the platform, wore an arm +in a sling. His companion, who commanded the party, had been more fortunate. +He it was who used the glass, in making the reconnoissances in which the two +were engaged. + +A serjeant approached to make a report. He addressed the senior of these +officers, as Capt. Warley, while the other was alluded to as Mr. - which was +equivalent to Ensign Thornton. The former it will at once be seen was the +officer who had been named with so much feeling, in the parting dialogue +between Judith and Hurry. He was, in truth, the very individual with whom the +scandal of the garrisons had most freely connected the name of this beautiful +but indiscreet girl. He was a hard featured, red faced, man, of about five +and thirty; but of a military carriage, and with an air of fashion that might +easily impose on the imagination of one as ignorant of the world, as Judith. + +"Craig is covering us with benedictions," observed this person to his young +ensign, with an air of indifference as he shut the glass, and handed it to +his servant; "to say the truth, not without reason; it is certainly more +agreeable to be here in attendance on Miss Judith Hutter, than to be burying +Indians, on a point of the lake, however romantic the position, or brilliant +the victory. By the way, Wright-is Davis still living?" + +"He died about ten minutes since, your honor," returned the sergeant to whom +this question was addressed. "I knew how it would be, as soon as I found the +bullet had touched the stomach. I never knew a man who could hold out long, +if he had a hole in his stomach." + +"No; it is rather inconvenient for carrying away any thing very nourishing," +observed Warley gaping. "This being up two nights de suite, Arthur, plays the +devil with a man's faculties! I'm as stupid, as one of those Dutch parsons on +the Mohawk- I hope your arm is not painful, my dear boy?" +~It draws a few grimaces from me, sir, as I suppose you see," answered the +youth, laughing at the very moment, his countenance was a little awry with +pain. "But it may be borne. I suppose Graham can spare a few minutes, soon, +to look at my hurt." + +"She is a lovely creature, this Judith Hutter, after all, Thornton; and it +shall not be my fault if she is not seen and admired in the Parks!" resumed +Warley, who thought little of his companion's wound-"your arm, eh! Quite +true-Go into the ark, serjeant, and tell Dr. Graham I desire he would look at +Mr. Thornton's injury, as soon as he has done with the poor fellow with the +broken leg. A lovely creature! and she looked like a queen in that brocade +dress in which we met her. I find all changed here; father and mother both +gone, the sister dying, if not dead, and none of the family left, but the +beauty! This has been a lucky expedition all round, and promises to terminate +better than Indian skirmishes in general." + +"Am I to suppose, sir, that you are about to desert your colours, in the +great corps of bachelors, and close the campaign with matrimony?" + +"I, Tom Warley, turn Benedict! Faith, my dear boy, you little know the corps +you speak of, if you fancy any such thing. I do suppose there are women in +the colonies, that a captain of Light Infantry need not disdain; but they are +not to be found up here, on a mountain lake; or even down on the Dutch river +where we are posted. It is true, my uncle, the general, once did me the favor +to choose a wife for me in Yorkshire; but she had no beauty, and I would not +marry a princess, unless she were handsome." + +"If handsome, you would marry a beggar?" + +"Ay, these are the notions of an ensign! Love in a cottage- doors- and +windows- the old story, for the hundredth time. The twenty - th do n't marry. +We are not a marrying corps, my dear boy. There's the Colonel, Old Sir Edwin- +, now; though a full General he has never thought of a wife; and when a man +gets as high as a Lieutenant General, without matrimony, he is pretty safe. +Then the Lieutenant Colonel is confirmed, as I tell my cousin 'he Bishop. The +Major is a widower, having tried matrimony, for twelve months in his youth, +and we look upon him, now, as one of our most certain men. Out of ten +captains, but one is in the dilemma, and he, poor devil, is always kept at +regimental head quarters, as a sort of memento mori, to the young men as they +join. As for the subalterns, not one has ever yet had the audacity to speak +of introducing a wife into the regiment. But your arm is troublesome, and +we'll go ourselves and see what has become of Graham." + +The Surgeon who had accompanied the party, was employed very differently from +what the captain supposed. When the assault was over, and the dead and +wounded were collected, poor Hetty had been found among the latter. A rifle +bullet had passed through her body, inflicting an injury that was known at a +glance, to be mortal. How this wound was received, no one knew; it was +probably one of those casualties that ever accompany scenes like that related +in the previous chapter. + +The Sumach, all the elderly women, and some of the Huron girls, had fallen by +the bayonet, either in the confusion of the m~1ée, or from the difficulty of +distinguishing the sexes, when the dress was so simple. Much the greater +portion of the warriors suffered on the spot. A few had escaped, however, and +two or three had been taken unharmed. As for the wounded, the bayonet saved +the surgeon much trouble. Rivenoak had escaped with life and limb, but was +injured and a prisoner. As Captain Warley, and his ensign, went into the Ark, +they passed him, seated, in dignified silence, in one end of the scow, his +head and leg bound, but betraying no visible sign of despondency or despair. +That he mourned the loss of his tribe, is certain; still he did it in a +manner that best became a warrior and a chief. + +The two soldiers found their surgeon in the principal room of the Ark. He was +just quitting the pallet of Hetty, with an expression of sorrowful regret, on +his hard, pock-marked Scottish features, that it was not usual to see there. +All his assiduity had been useless, and he was compelled, reluctantly to +abandon the expectation of seeing the girl survive many hours. Dr. Graham was +accustomed to death-bed scenes, and ordinarily they produced but little +impression on him. In all that relates to religion, his was one of those +minds which, in consequence of reasoning much on material things, logically +and consecutively, and overlooking the total want of premises which such a +theory must ever possess, through its want of a primary agent, had become +sceptical; leaving a vague opinion concerning the origin of things, that, +with high pretentions to philosophy, failed in the first of all philosophical +principles, a cause. To him religious dependence appeared a weakness, but +when he found one gentle and young like Hetty, with a mind beneath the level +of her race, sustained at such a moment by these pious sentiments, and that, +too, in a way that many a sturdy warrior, and reputed hero might have looked +upon with envy, he found himself affected by the sight, to a degree that he +would have been ashamed to confess. Edinburgh and Aberdeen, then as now, +supplied no small portion of the medical men of the British service, and Dr. +Graham, as indeed his name and countenance equally indicated, was, by birth, +a North Briton. + +"Here is an extraordinary exhibition for a forest, and one but half-gifted +with reason," he observed with a decided Scotch accent, as Warley and the +ensign entered; "I just hope, gentlemen, that when we three shall be called +on to quit the twenty - th, we may be found as resigned to go on the half pay +of another existence, as this poor demented chief!" + +"Is there no hope that she can survive the hurt?" demanded Warley, turning +his eyes towards the pallid Judith, on whose cheeks, however, two large spots +of red had settled, as soon as he came into the cabin. + +"No more than there is for Chairlie Stuart! Approach and judge for +yourselves, gentlemen; ye'll see faith exemplified in an exceeding and +wonderful manner. There is a sort of bitrium between life and death, in +actual conflict in the poor girl's mind, that renders her an interesting +study to a philosopher. Mr. Thornton, I'm at your service, now; we can just +look at the arm, in the next room, while we speculate as much as we please on +the operations and sinuosities of the human mind." + + +The surgeon and ensign retired, and Warley had an opportunity of looking +about him, more at leisure, and with a better understanding of the nature and +feelings of the group collected in the cabin. Poor Hetty had been placed on +her own simple bed, and was reclining in a half seated attitude, with the +approaches of death on her countenance, though they were singularly dimmed by +the lustre of an expression, in which all the intelligence of her entire +being appeared to be concentrated. Judith and Hist were near her, the former +seated in deep grief; the latter standing, in readiness to offer any of the +gentle attentions of feminine care. Deerslayer stood at the end of the +pallet, leaning on Kilideer, unharmed in person, all the fine martial ardor +that had so lately glowed in his countenance, having given place to the usual +look of honesty and benevolence, qualities of which the expression was now +softened by manly regret and pity. The Serpent was in the back-ground of the +picture, erect, and motionless as a statue; but so observant that not a look +of the eye, escaped his own keen glances. Hurry completed the group, being +seated on a stool near the door, like one who felt himself out of place in +such a scene, but who was ashamed to quit it, unbidden. + +"Who is that, in scarlet?" asked Hetty, as soon as the Captain's uniform +caught her eye. "Tell me, Judith, is it the friend of Hurry?" + +"'Tis the officer who commands the troops, that have rescued us all from the +hands of the Hurons," was the low answer of the sister. - + +"Am I rescued, too! - I thought they said I was shot, and about to die. +Mother is dead; and so is father; but you are living, Judith, and so is +Hurry. I was afraid Hurry would be killed, when I heard him shouting among +the soldiers." + +"Never mind-never mind, dear Hetty-" interrupted Judith, sensitively alive to +the preservation of her sister's secret, more, perhaps at such a moment, than +at any other. "Hurry is well, and Deerslayer is well, and the Delaware is +well, too." + +"How came they to shoot a poor girl like me, and let so many men go unharmed? +I did n't know that the Hurons were so wicked, Judith!" + +"'Twas an accident, poor Hetty; a sad- sad- accident it has been! No one +would willingly have injured you." + + "I'm glad of that!-I thought it strange; lam feeble minded, and the red men +have never harmed me before. I should he sorry to think that they had changed +their minds. I am glad too, Judith, that they haven't hurt Hurry. Deerslayer, +I don't think God will suffer any one to harm. It was very fortunate the +soldiers came as they did though. for fire will burn!" + +"It was, indeed fortunate, my sister; God's holy name be forever blessed for +the mercy!" + +"I dare say, Judith, you know some of the officers; you used to know so +many!" + +Judith made no reply; she hid her face in her hands and groaned. Hetty gazed +at her in wonder; but naturally supposing her own situation was the cause of +this grief, she kindly offered to console her sister. + +"Don't mind me, dear Judith," said the affectionate and pure-hearted +creature-"! don't suffer; if I do die, why father and mother are both dead, +and what happens to them, may well happen to me. You know I am of less +account than any of the family; therefore few will think of me after I'm in +the lake." + +"No - no - no - poor, dear, dear Hetty!" exclaimed Judith, in an +uncontrollable burst of sorrow, "I, at least, will ever think of you; and +gladly, oh! how gladly would I exchange places with you, to be the pure, +excellent, sinless creature you are!" + +Until now, Captain Warley had stood leaning against the door of the cabin; +when this outbreak of feeling, and perchance of penitence, however, escaped +the beautiful girl, he walked slowly and thoughtfully away; even passing the +ensign, then suffering under the surgeon's care, without noticing him. + +"I have got my bible here, Judith," returned her sister, in a voice of +triumph. "It's true, I can't read any longer, there's something the matter +with my eyes-you look dim and distant-and so does Hurry, now I look at him- +well, I never could have believed that Henry March would have so dull a +look!-What can be the reason, Judith, that! see so badly, today? I, who +mother always said, had the best eyes in the whole family. Yes, that was it: +my mind was feeble-what people call half-witted-but my eyes were so good!" + +Again Judith groaned; this time no feeling of self, no retrospect of the past +caused the pain. It was the pure, +Heartfelt sorrow of sisterly love, heightened by a sense of the meek humility +and perfect truth of the being before her. At that moment, she would gladly +have given up her own life to save that of Hetty. As the last, however, was +beyond the reach of human power, she felt there was nothing left her but +sorrow. At this moment Warley returned to the cabin, drawn by a secret +impulse he could not withstand, though he felt, just then, as if he would +gladly abandon the American continent for ever, were it practicable. Instead +of pausing at the door, he now advanced so near the pallet of the sufferer as +to come more plainly within her gaze. Hetty could still distinguish large +objects, and her look soon fastened on him. + +"Are you the officer that came with Hurry?" she asked- "If you are, we ought +all to thank you, for, though I am hurt, the rest have saved their lives. Did +Harry March tell you, where to find us, and how much need there was for your +services?" + +"The news of the party reached us by means of a friendly runner,' returned +the Captain, glad to relieve his feelings by this appearance of a friendly +communication, "and I was immediately sent out to cut it off. It was +fortunate, certainly, that we met Hurry Harry, as you call him, for he acted +as a guide, and it was not less fortunate, that we heard a firing, which I +now understand was merely a shooting at the mark, for it not only quickened +our march, but called us to the right side of the lake. The Delaware saw us +on the shore, with the glass it would seem, and he and Hist, as I find his +squaw is named, did us excellent service. It was really altogether, a +fortunate concurrence of circumstances, Judith?" + +"Talk not to me of any thing fortunate, sir," returned the girl huskily, +again concealing her face. "To me the world is full of misery. I wish never +to hear of marks, or rifles, or soldiers, or men, again!" + +"Do you know my sister?" asked Hetty, ere the rebuked soldier had time to +rally for an answer. "How came you to know that her name is Judith? You are +right, for that is her name; and I am Hetty, Thomas Hutter's daughters." + +"For heaven's sake, dearest sister, -for my sake, beloved Hetty," interposed +Judith, imploringly, "say no more of this!" + +Hetty looked surprised, but accustomed to comply, she ceased her awkward and +painful interrogations of Warley, bending her eyes towards the bible which +she still held between her hands, as one would cling to a casket of precious +stones, in a shipwreck, or a conflagration. Her mind now adverted to the +future, losing sight, in a great measure, of the scenes of the past. + +"We shall not long be parted, Judith," she said; "when you die, you must be +brought and be buried in the lake, by the side of mother too." + +"Would to God, Hetty, that I lay there, at this moment!" + +"No, that cannot be, Judith; people must die before they have any right to be +buried. 'Twould be wicked to bury you, or for you to bury yourself, while +living. Once I thought of burying myself; God kept me from that sin." + +"You! -You, Hetty Hutter, think of such an act!" exclaimed Judith, looking up +in uncontrollable surprise, for she well knew nothing passed the lips of her +conscientious sister, that was not religiously true. + +"Yes, I did, Judith, but God has forgotten-no he forgets nothing-but he has +forgiven it," returned the dying girl, with the subdued manner of a repentant +child. " 'Twas after mother's death; I felt I had lost the best friend I had +on earth, if not the only friend. 'Tis true, you and father were kind to me, +Judith, but I was so feeble-minded, I knew I should only give you trouble; +and then you were so often ashamed of such a sister and daughter, and 'tis +hard to live in a world where all look upon you as below them. I thought +then, if I could bury myself by the side of mother, I should be happier in +the lake, than in the hut." + +"Forgive me-pardon me, dearest Hetty-on my bended knees, I beg you to pardon +me, sweet sister, if any word, or act of mine drove you to so maddening and +cruel a thought!" + +"Get up, Judith-kneel to God; do n't kneel to me. Just so I felt when mother +was dying! I remembered every thing I had said and done to vex her, and could +have kissed her feet for forgiveness. I think it must be so with all dying +people; though, now I think of it, I don't remember to have had such feelings +on account of father." + +Judith arose, hid her face in her apron, and wept. A long pause-one of more +than two hours succeeded, during which Warley entered and left the cabin +several times; apparently uneasy when absent, and yet unable to remain. He +issued various orders, which his men proceeded to execute, and there was an +air of movement in the party, more especially as Mr. Craig, the lieutenant, +had got through the unpleasant duty of burying the dead, and had sent for +instructions from the shore, desiring to know what he was to do with his +detachment. During this interval Hetty slept a little, and Deerslayer and +Chingachgook left the Ark to confer together. But, at the end of the time +mentioned, the Surgeon passed upon the platform, and with a degree of feeling +his comrades had never before observed in one of his habits, he announced +that the patient was rapidly drawing near her end. On receiving this +intelligence the group collected again, curiosity to witness such a death-or +a better feeling-drawing to the spot, men who had so lately been actors in a +scene seemingly~ of so much greater interest and moment. By this time, Judith +had got to be inactive through grief, and Hist alone was performing the +little offices of feminine attention that are so appropriate to the sick bed. +Hetty herself, had undergone no other apparent change, than the general +failing that indicated the near approach of dissolution. All that she +possessed of mind was as clear as ever, and, in some respects, her intellect +perhaps was more than usually active. + +"Don't grieve for me so much, Judith," said the gentle sufferer, after a +pause in her remarks-"I shall soon see mother-I think I see her now; her face +is just as sweet and smiling as it used to be! Perhaps when I'm dead, God +will give me all my mind, and I shall become a more fitting companion for +mother, than I ever was before." +"You will be an angel in heaven, Hetty," sobbed the sister; "no spirit there +will be more worthy of its holy residence!" + +"I don't understand it quite; still, I know it must be all true; I've read it +in the bible. How dark it's becoming! Can it be night so soon? I can hardly +see you at all-where is Hist?" + +"I here, poor girl-Why you no see me." + +"I do see you; but I could n't tell whether 'twas you, or Judith. I believe I +shan't see you much longer, Hist." + +"Sorry for that, poor Hetty. Never mind - pale face got a heaven for girls as +well as for warrior." + +"Where's the Serpent-let me speak to him-Give me his hand-so-I feel it. +Delaware you will love and cherish this young Indian woman - I know how fond +she is of you; you must be fond of her. Don't treat her as some of your +people treat their wives; be a real husband to her. Now, bring Deerslayer +near me; give me his hand." + +This request was complied with, and the hunter stood by the side of the +pallet, submitting to the wishes of the girl, with the docility of a child. + +"I feel, Deerslayer,' she resumed --- ' though I could n't tell why -- but I +feel that you and I are not going to part for ever. "Tis a strange feeling! - +- I never had it before -- I wonder what it comes from!" + +"Tis God encoraging you in extremity, Hetty; as such it ought to be harbored +and respected. Yes, we shall meet ag'in, though it may be a long time, first, +and in a far distant land." + +"Do you mean to be buried in the lake, too? If so, that may account for the +feeling." + +"'Tis little likely, gal; 'tis little likely-- but there's a region for +christian souls, where ther's no lakes, nor woods, they say; though why there +should be none of the last, is more than I can account for; seeing that +pleasantness and peace is the object in view. My grave will be found in he +foes, most likely, but I hope my spirit will not be far from yourn." + +"So it must be, then. I am too weak-minded to understand these things, but I +feel that you and I will meet again, -- Sister, where are you? -- I feel that +you and I will meet again, --Sister, where are you -- I can't see, now, any +ting but darkness--it must be night, surely!" + +"Oh! Hetty, I am here--at your side -- these are my arms that are around +you," sobbed Judith, ' Speak, dearest; is there any thing you wish to say, or +have done, in this awful moment." + +By this time Hetty's sight had enirely failed her. Nevertheless death +approached with less than usual of its horrors, as if in tenderness to one of +her half endowed faculties. She was pale as a corpse, but her breathing was +easy and unbroken, while her voice, though lowered almost to a whisper, +remained clear and distinct. When her sister put this question, however, a +blush diffused itself over he features of the dying girl, so faint however as +to be nearly imperceptible; resembling that hue of the rose which is thought +to portray the tint of modesty, rather than the dye of the flower in its +richer bloom. No one but Judith detected this exposure of feeling, one of he +gentle expressions of womanly sensibility even in death. On her however, it +was not lost, nor did she conceal from herself the cause. + +"Hurry is here, dearest Hetty --" whispered the sister, with her face so near +the sufferer, as to keep the words from other ears. "Shall I tell him to come +and receive your good wishes?" + +A gentle pressure of the hand answered in the affirmative. Then Hurry was +brought to the side of the pallet. It is probable that this handsom, but +rude woodsman had never before found himself so awkwardly placed, though the +inclination whic Hetty felt for him -- was to pure and ounobrusive to have +created the slightes suspicion of the circumstance in his mind. He allowed +Judith to put hishard colossal hand between those of Hetty, and stood waiting +the result in awkward silence. + +"This is Hurry, dearest,: whispered Judith, bending over her sister, ashamed +to utter the words so as to be audible to herself. "Speak to him, and let him +go." + +"What shall I say, Judith?" + +"Nay, whatever your own pure spirit teaches, my love. Trust to that, and you +need fear nothing." + +"Good bye, Hurry --- " murmured the girl, with a gentle pressure of his hand +-- "I wish you would try and be more like Deerslayer." + +These words were uttered with difficulty; a faint flush succeeded them for a +single instant. Then the hand was relinquished, and Hetty turned her face +aside, as if done with the world. The mysterious feling that bound her to +the young man, a sentiment so gentle as to be almost imperceptible to +herself, and which could never have existed at all, had her reason possessed +more command over her senses, was forever lost in thoughts of a more +elevated, though scarcely of a purer character. + +"Of what are you thinking, my sweet sister?" whispered Judith -- "Tell me, +that I may aid you, at this moment." + +"Mother -- I see Mother, now, and bright beings around her in the lake. Why +is n't father there? -- It's odd, that I can see mother, when I cn't see you! +-- Farewell, Judith. + +The last words were uttered after a pause, and her sister had hung over her +some time, in anxious watchfulness, before she perceived that the gentle +spirit had departed. Thus died Hetty Hutter, one of those mysterious links +between the material and immaterial world, which, while they appear to be +deprived of so much that it is esteemed and necessary for this state of +being, draw so near to, and offer so beautiful an illustration of the truth, +purity, and simplicity of another. + + + +Chapter XXXII + + +"A baron's chylde to be begylde! it were a cursed dede: +To be felàwe with an outlàwe! Almighty God forbede! +Yea, better were, the pore squyère alone to forest yede, +Then ye sholde say another day, that by my cursed dede +Ye were betrayed: wherefore, good mayde, the best rede that I can, +Is, that I to the grene wode go, alone, a banyshed man." + +Thomas Percy, 'Notbrowne Mayde,' 11. 265-76 from Reliques of Ancient +English Poetriy, Vol. II. + + + +THE day that followed, proved to be melancholy, though one of much activity. +The soldiers, who had so lately been employed in interring their victims, +were now called on to bury their own dead. The scene of the morning had left +a saddened feeling on all the gentlemen of the party, and the rest felt the +influence of a similar sensation, in a variety of ways, and from many causes. +Hour dragged on after hour, until evening arrived, and then came the last +melancholy offices in honor of poor Hetty Hutter. Her body was laid in the +lake, by the side of that of the mother she had so loved and reverenced, the +surgeon, though actually an unbeliever, so far complying with the received +decencies of life, as to read the funeral service over her grave, as he had +previously done over those of the other christian slain! It mattered not; - +that all seeing eye which reads the heart, could not fail to discriminate +between the living and the dead, and the gentle soul of the unfortunate girl, +was already far removed beyond the errors, or deceptions, of any human +ritual. These simple rites, however, were not wholly wanting in suitable +accompaniments. The tears of Judith and Hist were shed freely, and Deerslayer +gazed upon the limpid water, that now flowed over one whose spirit was even +purer than its own mountain springs, with glistening eyes. Even the Delaware +turned aside to conceal his weakness, while the common men gazed on the +ceremony with wondering eyes and chastened feelings. + +The business of the day closed with this pious office. By order of the +commanding officer, all retired early to rest, for it +was intended to begin the march homeward, with the return of light. One +party, indeed, bearing the wounded, the prisoners, and the trophies, had left +the castle in the middle of the day, under the guidance of Hurry, intending +to reach the fort by shorter marches. It had been landed on the point, so +often mentioned, or that described in our opening pages, and, when the sun +set, was already encamped on the brow of the long, broken, and ridgy hills, +that fell away towards the valley of the Mohawk. The departure of this +detachment had greatly simplified the duty of the succeeding day, +disencumbering its march of its baggage and wounded, and otherwise leaving +him who had issued the order greater liberty of action. + +Judith held no communications with any but Hist, after the death of her +sister, until she retired for the night. Her sorrow had been respected, and +both the females had been left with the body, unintruded on, to the last +moment. The rattling of the drum broke the silence of that tranquil water, +and the echoes of the tattoo were heard among the mountains, so soon after +the ceremony was over, as to preclude the danger of interruption. That star +which had been the guide of Hist, rose on a scene as silent as if the quiet +of nature had never yet been disturbed, by the labors or passions of man. One +solitary sentinel, with his relief, paced the platform throughout the night, +and morning was ushered in, as usual, by the martial beat of the reveille. + +Military precision succeeded to the desultory proceedings of border men, and +when a hasty and frugal breakfast was taken, the party began its movement +towards the shore, with a regularity and order, that prevented noise or +confusion. Of all the officers, Warley alone remained. Craig headed the +detachment in advance, Thornton was with the wounded, and Graham accompanied +his patients as a matter of course. Even the chest of Hutter, with all the +more valuable of his effects, was borne away, leaving nothing behind that was +worth the labor of a removal. Judith was not sorry to see that the captain +respected her feelings, and that he occupied himself entirely with the duty +of his command, leaving her to her own discretion and feelings. It was +understood by all, that the place was to be totally abandoned; but beyond +this no explanations were asked or given.' + +The soldiers embarked in the Ark, with the captain at their head. He had +enquired of Judith in what way she chose to proceed, and understanding her +wish to remain with Hist to the last moment, he neither molested her with +requests, nor offended her with advice. There was but one safe and familiar +trail to the Mohawk, and on that, at the proper hour, he doubted not that +they should meet in amity, if not in renewed intercourse. When all were on +board, the sweeps were manned, and the Ark moved in its sluggish manner +towards the distant point. Deerslayer and Chingachgook, now lifted two of the +canoes from the water, and placed them in the castle. The windows and door +were then barred, and the house was left by means of the trap, in the manner +already described. On quitting the palisades, Hist was seen in the remaining +canoe, where the Delaware immediately joined her, and paddled away, leaving +Judith standing alone on the platform. Owing to this prompt proceeding, +Deerslayer found himself alone with the beautiful and still weeping mourner. +Too simple to suspect any thing, the young man swept the light boat round, +and received its mistress in it, when he followed the course already taken by +his friend. The direction to the point, led diagonally past, and at no great +distance from, the graves of the dead. As the canoe glided by, Judith, for +the first time that morning spoke to her companion. She said but little; +merely uttering a simple request to stop, for a minute or two, ere she left +the place. + +"I may never see this spot again, Deerslayer," she said, "and it contains the +bodies of my mother and sister! Is it not possible, think you, that the +innocence of one of these beings, may answer in the eyes of God, for the +salvation of both?" + +"I do n't understand it so, Judith, though I'm no missionary, and am but +poorly taught. Each spirit answers for its own backslidings, though a hearty +repentance will satisfy God's laws." + +"Then must my poor poor mother be in heaven! - Bitterly- bitterly-has she +repented of her sins, and surely her sufferings in this life, ought to count +as something against her sufferings in the next!" + - +"All this goes beyond me, Judith - I strive to do right, here, as the surest +means of keeping all right, hereafter. Hetty was oncommon, as all that know'd +her must allow, and her soul was as fit to consart with angels the hour it +left its body, as that of any saint in the bible!" + +"I do believe you only do her justice! Alas! - Alas! - that there should be +so great differences between those who were nursed at the same breast, slept +in the same bed, and dwelt under the same roof! But, no matter-move the +canoe, a little farther east, Deerslayer- the sun so dazzles my eyes that I +cannot see the graves. This is Hetty's, on the right of mother's?" + +"Sartain - you ask'd that of us, and all are glad to do as you wish, Judith, +when you do that which is right." + +The girl gazed at him near a minute, in silent attention; then she turned her +eyes backward, at the castle. "This lake will soon be entirely deserted," she +said-"and this, too, at a moment when it will be a more secure dwelling place +than ever. What has so lately happened will prevent the Iroquois from +venturing again to visit it, for a long time to come." + +"That it will! - yes, that may be set down as sartain. I do not mean to pass +this-a-way, ag'in, so long as the war lasts, for, to my mind no Huron +moccasin will leave its print on the leaves of this forest, until their +traditions have forgotten to tell their young men of their disgrace and +rout." + +"And do you so delight in violence and bloodshed?-! had thought better of +you, Deerslayer-believed you one, who could find his happiness in a quiet +domestic home, with an attached and loving wife, ready to study your wishes, +and healthy and dutiful children, anxious to follow in your footsteps, and to +become as honest and just as yourself." + +"Lord, Judith, what a tongue you're mistress of! Speech and looks go hand in +hand, like, and what one can't do, the other is pretty sartain to perform! +Such a gal, in a month, might spoil the stoutest warrior in the colony." + +"And am I then so mistaken?-Do you really love war, Deerslayer, better than +the hearth, and the affections?" + +"I understand your meaning, gal; yes, I do understand what you mean, I +believe, though I do n't think you altogether understand me. Warrior I may +now call myself, I suppose, for I've both fou't and conquered, which is +sufficient for the name; neither will I deny that I've feelin's for the +callin', which is both manful and honorable, when carried on accordin' to +nat'ral gifts, but I've no relish for blood. Youth is youth, howsever, and a +Mingo is a Mingo. If the young men of this region stood by, and suffered the +vagabonds to overrun the land, why, we might as well all turn Frenchers at +once, and give up country and kin. I'm no fire eater, Judith, or one that +likes fightin' for fightin's sake, but I can see no great difference atween +givin' up territory afore a war, out of a dread of war, and givin' it up +a'ter a war, because we can't help ii, onless it be that the last is the most +manful and honorable." + +"No woman would ever wish to see her husband, or brother, stand by, and +submit to insult and wrong, Deerslayer, however she might mourn the necessity +of his running into the dangers of battle. But, you've done enough already, +in clearing this region of the Hurons; since to you is principally owing the +credit of our late victory. Now, listen to me patiently, and answer me with +that native honesty, which it is as pleasant to regard in one of your sex, as +it is unusual to meet with." + +Judith paused, for now that she was on the very point of explaining herself, +native modesty asserted its power, notwithstanding the encouragement and +confidence she derived from the great simplicity of her companion's +character. Her cheeks, which had so lately been pale, flushed, and her eyes +lighted with some of their former brilliancy. Feeling gave expression to her +countenance and softness to her voice, rendering her who was always +beautiful, trebly seductive and winning. + +"Deerslayer," she said, after a considerable pause, "this is not a moment for +affectation, deception, or a want of frankness of any sort. Here, over my +mother's grave, and over the grave of truth-loving, truth-telling Hetty, +every thing like unfair dealing seems to be out of place. I will, therefore, +speak to you without any reserve, and without any dread of being +misunderstood. You are not an acquaintance of a week, but it appears to me as +if I had known you for years. So much, and so much that is important has +taken place, within that short time, that the sorrows, and dangers, and +escapes of a whole life have been crowded into a few days, and they who have +suffered and acted together in such scenes, ought not to feel like strangers. +I know that what I am about to say might be misunderstood by most men, but I +hope for a generous construction of my course from you. We are not here, +dwelling among the arts and deceptions of the settlements, but young people +who have no occasion to deceive each other, in any manner or form. - I hope I +make myself understood?" + +"Sartain, Judith; few convarse better than yourself, and none more agreeable, +like. Your words are as pleasant as your looks." + +"It is the manner in which you have so often praised those looks, that gives +me courage to proceed - Still, Deerslayer, it is not easy, for one of my sex +and years to forget all her lessons of infancy, all her habits, and her +natural diffidence, and say openly what her heart feels!" + +"Why not, Judith? Why should n't women as well as men deal fairly and +honestly by their fellow creatur's? I see no reason why you should not speak +as plainly as myself, when there is any thing ra'ally important to be said." + +This indomitable diffidence, which still prevented the young man from +suspecting the truth, would have completely discouraged the girl, had not her +whole soul, as well as her whole heart, been set upon making a desperate +effort to rescue herself from a future that she dreaded with a horror as +vivid, as the distinctness with which she fancied she foresaw it. This +motive, however, raised her above all common considerations, and she +persevered even to her own surprise, if not to her great confusion. + +"I will-I must deal as plainly with you, as I would with poor, dear Hetty, +were that sweet child living!" she continued, turning pale, instead of +blushing, the high resolution by which she was prompted reversing the effect +that such a procedure would ordinarily produce on one of her sex; "yes, I +will smother all other feelings, in the one that is now uppermost! You love +the woods and the life that we pass, here, in the wilderness, away from the +dwellings and towns of the whites." + +"As I loved my parents, Judith, when they was living! This very spot, would +be all creation to me, could this war be fairly over, once; and the settlers +kept at a distance." + +"Why quit it then?-It has no owner-at least none who can claim a better right +than mine, and that I freely give to you. Were it a kingdom, Deerslayer, I +think I should delight to say the same. Let us then return to it, after we +have seen the priest at the fort, and never quit it again, until God calls us +away to that world where we shall find the spirits of my poor mother and +sister." +A long, thoughtful pause succeeded; Judith here covered her face with both +her hands, after forcing herself to utter so plain a proposal, and Deerslayer +musing equally in sorrow and surprise, on the meaning of the language he had +just heard. At length the hunter broke the silence, speaking in a tone that +was softened to gentleness by his desire not to offend. + +"You have n't thought well of this, Judith-" he said-"no, your feelin's are +awakened by all that has lately happened, and believin' yourself to be +without kindred in the world, you are in too great haste to find some to fill +the places of them that's lost." + +"Were I living in a crowd of friends, Deerslayer, I should still think, as I +now think-say as I now say," returned Judith, speaking with her hands still +shading her lovely face. + +"Thank you, gal- thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Howsever, I am not +one to take advantage of a weak moment, when you're forgetful of your own +great advantages, and fancy 'arth and all it holds, is in this little canoe. +No-no-Judith 'twould be onginerous in me; what you've offered can never come +to pass!" + +"It all may be, and that without leaving cause of repentance to any-" +answered Judith, with an impetuosity of feeling and manner, that at once +unveiled her eyes. "We can cause the soldiers to leave our goods on the road, +till we return, when they can easily be brought back to the house; the lake +will be no more visited by the enemy, this war at least; all your skins may +be readily sold at the garrison; thereyou can buy the few necessaries we +shall want, for I wish never to see the spot, again; and Deerslayer," added +the girl smiling with a sweetness and nature that the young man found it hard +to resist-"as a proof how wholly I am and wish to be yours, - how completely +I desire to be nothing but your wife, the very first fire that we kindle, +after our return, shall be +lighted with the brocade dress, and fed by every article I have that you may +think unfit for the woman you wish to live with!" + +"Ah's! me-you're a winning and a lovely creatur', Judith; yes, you are all +that, and no one can deny it, and speak truth. These pictur's are pleasant to +the thoughts, but they mightn't prove so happy as you now think 'em. Forget +it all, therefore, and let us paddle after the Sarpent and Hist, as if +nothing had been said on the subject." + +Judith was deeply mortified, and, what is more, she was profoundly grieved. +Still there was a steadiness and quiet in the manner of Deerslayer that +completely smothered her hopes, and told her that for once, her exceeding +beauty had Failed to excite the admiration and homage it was wont to receive. +Women are said seldom to forgive those who slight their advances, but this +high spirited and impetuous girl entertained no shadow of resentment, then or +ever, against the fair lealing and ingenuous hunter. At the moment, the +prevailing Feeling was the wish to be certain that there was no +misunderstanding. After another painful pause, therefore, she brought the +matter to an issue by a question too direct to admit of equivocation. + +"God forbid, that we lay up regrets, in after life, through my want of +sincerity now," she said. "I hope we understand each other, at least. You +will not accept me for a wife, Deer ;layer?" + + +"Tis better for both that I should n't take advantage of your own +forgetfulness, Judith. We can never marry." + +"You do not love me, - cannot find it in your heart, perhaps, to esteem me, +Deerslayer!" + + +"Every thing in the way of fri'ndship, Judith-every thing, Even to sarvices +and life itself. Yes, I'd risk as much for you, at his moment, as I would +risk in behalf of Hist, and that is sayin' as much as I can say of any darter +of woman. I do not think I feel towards either-mind I say either, Judith-as +if I wished to quit father and mother- if father and mother was livin', +which, howsever, neither is-but if both was livin', I do not feel towards any +woman as if I wish'd to quit 'em in order to cleave unto her." + + +"This is enough!" answered Judith, in a rebuked and smothered voice-"! +understand all that you mean. Marry you cannot with loving, and that love you +do not feel for me. Make no answer, if I am right, for I shalll understand +your silence - That will be painful enough of itself." + +Deerslayer obeyed her, and he made no reply. For more than a minute, the girl +riveted her bright eyes on him, as if to read his soul, while he was playing +with the water, like a corrected school boy. Then Judith, herself, dropped +the end of her paddle, and urged the canoe away fom the spot, with a movement +as reluctant as the feelings which controlled it. Deerslayer quietly aided +the effort, however, and they were soon on the trackless line taken by the +Delaware. + +In their way to the point, not another syllable was exchanged between +Deerslayer and his fair companion. As Judith sat in the bow of the canoe, her +back was turned towards him, else it is probable the expression of her +countenance might have induced him to venture some soothing terms of +friendship and regard. Contrary to what would have been expected, resentment +was still absent, though the colour frequently changed, from the deep flush +of mortification to the paleness of disappointment. Sorrow, deep, heart-felt +sorrow, however, was the predominant emotion, and this was betrayed in a +manner not to be mistaken. + +As neither labored hard at the paddle, the ark had already arrived and the +soldiers had disembarked, before the canoe of the two loiterers reached the +point. Chingachgook had preceded it, and was already some distance in the +wood, at a spot, where the two trails, that to the garrison, and that to the +villages of the Delawares separated. The soldiers, too, had taken up their +line of march, first setting the Ark adrift again, with a reckless disregard +of its fate. All this Judith saw, but she heeded it not. The glimmerglass had +no longer any charms for her, and when she put her foot on the strand, she +immediately proceeded on the trail of the soldiers, without casting a single +glance behind her. Even Hist was passed unnoticed, that modest young creature +shrinking from the averted face of Judith, as if guilyy herself of some +wrongdoing. + +"Wait you here, Sarpent," said Deerslayer as he followed in the footsteps of +the dejected beauty, while passing his friend - "I will just see Judith among +her parth, and come and j'ine you." + +A hundred yards had hid the couple from those in front, as well as those in +their rear, when Judith turned, and spoke. + +"This will do, Deerslayer," she said sadly-"! understand your kindness but +shall not need it. In a few minutes I shall reach the soldiers. As you cannot +go with me on the journey of life, I do not wish you to go further on this. +But, stop-before we part, I would ask you a single question. And I require of +you, as you fear God, and reverence the truth, not to deceive me in your +answer. I know you do not love another and I can see but one reason why you +cannot, will not love me. Tell me then, Deerslayer, -" The girl paused, the +words she was about to utter seeming to choke her. Then rallying all her +resolution, with a face that flushed and paled at every breath she drew, she +continued. + +"Tell me then, Deerslayer, if any thing light of me, that Henry March has +said may not have influenced your feelings?" + +Truth was the Deerslayer's polar star. He ever kept it in view, and it was +nearly impossible for him to avoid uttering it, even when prudence demanded +silence. Judith read his answer in his countenance, and with a heart nearly +broken by the consciousness of undue erring, she signed to him an adieu, and +buried herself in the woods. For some time Deerslayer was irresolute as to +his course; but, in the end, he retraced his steps, and joined the Delaware. +That night the three 'camped on the head waters of their own river, and the +succeeding evening they entered the village of the tribe, Chingachgook and +his betrothed in triumph; their companion honored and admired, but in a +sorrow that it required months of activity to remove. + +The war that then had its rise was stirring and bloody. The Delaware chief +rose among his people, until his name was never mentioned without eulogiums, +while another Uncas, the last of his race, was added to the long line of +warriors who bore that distinguishing appellation. As for the Deerslayer, +under the sobriquet of Hawkeye, he made his fame spread far and near, until +the crack of his rifle became as terrible to the ears of the Mingos, as the +thunders of the Manitou. His services were soon required by the officers of +the crown, and he especially attached himself, in the field, to one in +particular, with whose after life, he had a close and important connection. + +Fifteen years had passed away, ere it was in the power of the Deerslayer to +revisit the Glimmerglass. A peace had intervened, and it was on the eve of +another and still more important war, when he and his constant friend, +Chingachgook, were hastening to the forts to join their allies. A stripling +accompanied them, for Hist already slumbered beneath the pines of the +Delawares, and the three survivors had now become in separable. They reached +the lake just as the sun was setting. Here all was unchanged. The river still +rushed through its bower of trees; the little rock was washing away, by the +slow action of the waves, in the course of centuries, the mountains stood in +their native dress, dark, rich and mysterious, while the sheet glistened in +its solitude, a beautiful gem of the forest. + +The following morning, the youth discovered one of the canoes drifted on the +shore, in a state of decay. A little labor put it in a state for service, and +they all embarked, with a desire to examine the place. All the points were +passed, and Chingachgook pointed out to his son, the spot where the Hurons +had first encamped, and the point whence he had succeeded in stealing his +bride. Here they even landed, but all traces of the former visit had +disappeared. Next they proceeded to the scene of the battle, and there they +found a few of the signs that linger around such localities. Wild beasts had +disinterred many of the bodies, and human bones were bleaching in the rains +of summer. Uncas regarded all with reverence and pity, though traditions were +already rousing his young mind to the ambition and sternness of a warrior. + +From the point, the canoe took its way toward the shoal, where the remains of +the castle were still visible, a picturesque ruin. The storms of winter had +long since unroofed the house, and decay had eaten into the logs. All the +fastenings were un touched, but the seasons rioted in the place, as if in +mockery at the attempt to exclude them. The palisades were rotting, as were +the piles, and it was evident that a few more recurrences of winter, a few +more gales and tempests, would sweep all into the lake, and blot the building +from the face of that magnificent solitude. The graves could not be found. +Either the elements had obliterated their traces, or time had caused those +who looked for them, to forget their position. + +The Ark was discovered stranded on the eastern shore, where it had long +before been driven with the prevalent northwest winds. It lay on the sandy +extremity of a long low point, that is situated about two miles from the +outlet, and which is itself fast disappearing before the action of the +elements. The scow was filled with water, the cabin unroofed, and the logs +were decaying. Some of its coarser furniture still remained, and the heart of +Deerslayer beat quick, as he found a ribband of Judith's fluttering from a +log. It recalled all her beauty, and we may add all her failings. Although +the girl had never touched his heart, the Hawkeye, for so we ought now to +call him, still retained a kind and sincere interest in her welfare. He tore +away the ribband, and knotted it to the stock of Killdeer, which had been the +gift of the girl herself. + +A few miles farther up the lake, another of the canoes was discovered, and on +the point where the party finally landed, were found those which had been +left there upon the shore. That in which the present navigation was made, and +the one discovered on the eastern shore, had dropped through the decayed +floor of the castle, drifted past the falling palisades, and had been thrown +as waifs upon the beach. + +From all these signs, it was probable the lake had not been visited, since +the occurrence of the final scene of our tale. Accident, or tradition, had +rendered it again, a spot sacred to nature, the frequent wars, and the feeble +population of the colonies, still confining the settlements within narrow +boundaries. Chingachgook and his friend left the spot with melancholy +feelings. It had been the region of their First War Path, and it carried back +the minds of both to scenes of tenderness, as well as to hours of triumph. +They held their way towards the Mohawk in silence, however, to rush into new +adventures, as stirring and as remarkable as those which had attended their +opening careers, on this lovely lake. At a later day, they returned to the +place, where the Indian found a grave. + +Time and circumstances have drawn an impenetrable mystery around all else +connected with the Hutters. They lived, erred, died, and are forgotten. None +connected have felt sufficient interest in the disgraced and disgracing to +withdraw the veil, and a century is about to erase even the recollection of +their names. The history of crime is ever revolting, and it is fortunate that +few love to dwell on its incidents. The sins of the family have long since +been arraigned at the judgment seat of God, or are registered for the +terrible settlement of the last great day. + +The same fate attended Judith. When Hawkeye reached the garrison on the +Mohawk he enquired anxiously after that lovely but misguided creature. None +knew her-even her person was no longer remembered. Other officers had, again +and again, succeeded the Warleys and Craigs and Grahams, though an old +sergeant of the garrison, who had lately come from England, was enabled to +tell our hero, that Sir Robert Warley lived on his paternal estates, and that +there was a lady of rare beauty in the Lodge, who had great influence over +him, though she did not bear his name. Whether this was Judith relapsed into +her early failing, or some other victim of the soldier's, Hawkeye never knew, +nor would it be pleasant or profitable to inquire. We live in a world of +transgressions and selfishness, and no pictures that represent us otherwise +can be true, though, happily, for human nature, gleamings of that pure spirit +in whose likeness man has been fashioned, are to be seen relieving its +deformities, and mitigating if not excusing its crimes. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper + |