Chapter: "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 everything, 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, redmen?" 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 or 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 don'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
everything 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
expressing 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 group, 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 fair 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
denouement of our story, it shall be given in a separate chapter.




    "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 incongruity that would have been detected
by one practised in the mysteries of the toilet. Head, feet, arms,
hands, bust, and drapery, were all in 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
visitor 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 visitor 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 stouthearted as he boasts himself to be."

"That I deny, Huron--" interrupted Deerslayer, with warmth--"Yes, that
I downright 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
Hetty 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
earshot--"but yonder Mingo is an oncommon man, and not to be deceived by
any unnat'ral sarcumvention. Things must come afore him in their right
order, to draw a cloud afore his eyes! 'Twas too much to attempt making
him fancy that a queen, or a great lady, lived in these mountains, and
no doubt he thinks the fine clothes you wear is some of the plunder of
your own father--or, at least, of him who once passed for your father;
as quite 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 staid 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 he 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.

"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 self possession, 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 before 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 his
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 foolhardiness. 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 background, 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.

 Tied securely to a tree, Deerslayer is put to the tests of the tomahawk and the rifle. The Mingos aim at him with these respective weapons only to frighten Deerslayer or to graze him slightly. Their real purpose is a test of their own individual skills as warriors, and they also hope to break the prisoner's will by making him flinch. However, Deerslayer's courage and taunting remarks unnerve the Indians. Hetty interrupts the trial with two pleas: Deerslayer is really the Indians' friend because he refused to accompany Tom Hutter and Hurry Harry on their scalping expeditions and should be therefore released from captivity; or he should be given the chance to engage in a shooting match with the Mingos in a fair contest of skills. Rivenoak gently replies to Hetty that two of his braves are dead because of Deerslayer's "friendship" for the Mingos and that Deerslayer can show how clever he is with bullets by his stance at the stake. In order to hasten the tortures, Rivenoak orders Deerslayer's bonds cut free so that he can betray any movements from fear as weapons are thrown or fired at him. The squaws are allowed to taunt Deerslayer for the purpose of antagonizing him and thus making him nervous. This plan is likewise a failure in reducing Deerslayer to a cowardly state. A lookout alerts the tribe to an unexpected arrival before any further torments can be practiced. Judith, dressed elegantly in the beautiful clothes and ornaments from Tom Hutter's chest, enters the Indian camp. She pretends to be a very important woman who has troops at her command, and the Mingos are impressed at first by her masquerade. She offers to ransom Deerslayer for the trinkets which previously won the freedom of Tom Hutter and Hurry Harry. Although the Indians are tempted to accept her offer, Rivenoak is not so easily deceived. He calls for Hetty who, in her innocence and simple-mindedness, tells the chief the truth: Judith is her sister and the daughter of Tom Hutter. Deerslayer thanks Judith for her courageous effort but he concludes that "sarcumventions" do not dupe such astute savages. In fact, Judith is now in mortal danger of being scalped or abducted to live with the Mingos. Rivenoak, impatient to leave the vicinity of Glimmerglass, again orders the torture of Deerslayer to be hastened. A fire is prepared to make Deerslayer show cowardice. Hetty's pleas are to no avail. Hist suddenly appears and accuses one man, Briarthorn, of being a coward and a traitor for having kidnapped her and for leaving the Delawares and joining the Mingos. Hist tries to free Deerslayer by slipping a knife to Hetty, but the latter openly shows the blade as she starts to cut the thongs that bind the prisoner. Chingachgook leaps into the midst of the Mingo camp, and his impressive appearance as a chief startles the Mingos. He dashes to Deerslayer and cuts him free. Briarthorn lunges at the newcomer with a knife, but Hist deflects the blow, and Chingachgook mortally stabs the treacherous Delaware. Confusion reigns among the Mingos because of these various unexpected events, and the sudden tramping of boots is heard. The soldiers from the garrison, led to the lake by Hurry Harry, take the Mingos by surprise and slaughter the Indians in the ensuing battle.

