Chapter: "Why, anything:
  An honorable murderer, if you will;
  For naught I did in hate, but all in honor."

  _Othello._


The bloody and inhuman scene rather incidentally mentioned than
described in the preceding chapter, is conspicuous in the pages of
colonial history, by the merited title of "The Massacre of William
Henry." It so far deepened the stain which a previous and very similar
event had left upon the reputation of the French commander, that it was
not entirely erased by his early and glorious death. It is now becoming
obscured by time; and thousands, who know that Montcalm died like a hero
on the plains of Abraham, have yet to learn how much he was deficient in
that moral courage without which no man can be truly great. Pages might
be written to prove, from this illustrious example, the defects of human
excellence; to show how easy it is for generous sentiments, high
courtesy, and chivalrous courage, to lose their influence beneath the
chilling blight of selfishness, and to exhibit to the world a man who
was great in all the minor attributes of character, but who was found
wanting when it became necessary to prove how much principle is superior
to policy. But the task would exceed our prerogatives; and, as history,
like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of
imaginary brightness, it is probable that Louis de Saint Veran will be
viewed by posterity only as the gallant defender of his country, while
his cruel apathy on the shores of the Oswego and of the Horican will be
forgotten. Deeply regretting this weakness on the part of a sister muse,
we shall at once retire from her sacred precincts, within the proper
limits of our own humble vocation.

The third day from the capture of the fort was drawing to a close, but
the business of the narrative must still detain the reader on the shores
of the "holy lake." When last seen, the environs of the works were
filled with violence and uproar. They were now possessed by stillness
and death. The blood-stained conquerors had departed; and their camp,
which had so lately rung with the merry rejoicings of a victorious army,
lay a silent and deserted city of huts. The fortress was a smouldering
ruin; charred rafters, fragments of exploded artillery, and rent
mason-work, covering its earthen mounds in confused disorder.

A frightful change had also occurred in the season. The sun had hid its
warmth behind an impenetrable mass of vapor, and hundreds of human
forms, which had blackened beneath the fierce heats of August, were
stiffening in their deformity, before the blasts of a premature
November. The curling and spotless mists, which had been seen sailing
above the hills towards the north, were now returning in an interminable
dusky sheet, that was urged along by the fury of a tempest. The crowded
mirror of the Horican was gone; and, in its place, the green and angry
waters lashed the shores, as if indignantly casting back its impurities
to the polluted strand. Still the clear fountain retained a portion of
its charmed influence, but it reflected only the sombre gloom that fell
from the impending heavens. That humid and congenial atmosphere which
commonly adorned the view, veiling its harshness, and softening its
asperities, had disappeared, and the northern air poured across the
waste of water so harsh and unmingled, that nothing was left to be
conjectured by the eye, or fashioned by the fancy.

The fiercer element had cropped the verdure of the plain, which looked
as though it were scathed by the consuming lightning. But, here and
there, a dark green tuft rose in the midst of the desolation; the
earliest fruits of a soil that had been fattened with human blood. The
whole landscape, which, seen by a favoring light, and in a genial
temperature, had been found so lovely, appeared now like some pictured
allegory of life, in which objects were arrayed in their harshest but
truest colors, and without the relief of any shadowing.

The solitary and arid blades of grass arose from the passing gusts
fearfully perceptible; the bold and rocky mountains were too distinct in
their barrenness, and the eye even sought relief, in vain, by attempting
to pierce the illimitable void of heaven, which was shut to its gaze by
the dusky sheet of ragged and driving vapor.

The wind blew unequally; sometimes sweeping heavily along the ground,
seeming to whisper its moanings in the cold ears of the dead, then
rising in a shrill and mournful whistling, it entered the forest with a
rush that filled the air with the leaves and branches it scattered in
its path. Amid the unnatural shower, a few hungry ravens struggled with
the gale; but no sooner was the green ocean of woods, which stretched
beneath them, passed, than they gladly stopped, at random, to their
hideous banquet.

In short, it was the scene of wildness and desolation; and it appeared
as if all who had profanely entered it had been stricken, at a blow, by
the relentless arm of death. But the prohibition had ceased; and for the
first time since the perpetrators of those foul deeds which had assisted
to disfigure the scene were gone, living human beings had now presumed
to approach the place.

About an hour before the setting of the sun, on the day already
mentioned, the forms of five men might have been seen issuing from the
narrow vista of trees, where the path to the Hudson entered the forest,
and advancing in the direction of the ruined works. At first their
progress was slow and guarded, as though they entered with reluctance
amid the horrors of the spot, or dreaded the renewal of its frightful
incidents. A light figure preceded the rest of the party, with the
caution and activity of a native; ascending every hillock to
reconnoitre, and indicating, by gestures, to his companions, the route
he deemed it most prudent to pursue. Nor were those in the rear wanting
in every caution and foresight known to forest warfare. One among them,
he also was an Indian, moved a little on one flank, and watched the
margin of the woods, with eyes long accustomed to read the smallest sign
of danger. The remaining three were white, though clad in vestments
adapted, both in quality and color, to their present hazardous
pursuit,--that of hanging on the skirts of a retiring army in the
wilderness.

The effects produced by the appalling sights that constantly arose in
their path to the lake shore, were as different as the characters of the
respective individuals who composed the party. The youth in front threw
serious but furtive glances at the mangled victims, as he stepped
lightly across the plain, afraid to exhibit his feelings, and yet too
inexperienced to quell entirely their sudden and powerful influence. His
red associate, however, was superior to such a weakness. He passed the
groups of dead with a steadiness of purpose, and an eye so calm, that
nothing but long and inveterate practice could enable him to maintain.
The sensations produced in the minds of even the white men were
different, though uniformly sorrowful. One, whose gray locks and
furrowed lineaments, blending with a martial air and tread, betrayed, in
spite of the disguise of a woodsman's dress, a man long experienced in
scenes of war, was not ashamed to groan aloud, whenever a spectacle of
more than usual horror came under his view. The young man at his elbow
shuddered, but seemed to suppress his feelings in tenderness to his
companion. Of them all, the straggler who brought up the rear appeared
alone to betray his real thoughts, without fear of observation or dread
of consequences. He gazed at the most appalling sight with eyes and
muscles that knew not how to waver, but with execrations so bitter and
deep as to denote how much he denounced the crime of his enemies.

The reader will perceive at once, in these respective characters, the
Mohicans, and their white friend, the scout; together with Munro and
Heyward. It was, in truth, the father in quest of his children, attended
by the youth who felt so deep a stake in their happiness, and those
brave and trusty foresters, who had already proved their skill and
fidelity through the trying scenes related.

When Uncas, who moved in front, had reached the centre of the plain, he
raised a cry that drew his companions in a body to the spot. The young
warrior had halted over a group of females who lay in a cluster, a
confused mass of dead. Notwithstanding the revolting horror of the
exhibition, Munro and Heyward flew towards the festering heap,
endeavoring, with a love that no unseemliness could extinguish, to
discover whether any vestiges of those they sought were to be seen among
the tattered and many-colored garments. The father and lover found
instant relief in the search; though each was condemned again to
experience the misery of an uncertainty that was hardly less
insupportable than the most revolting truth. They were standing, silent
and thoughtful, around the melancholy pile, when the scout approached.
Eying the sad spectacle with an angry countenance, the sturdy woodsman,
for the first time since his entering the plain, spoke intelligibly and
aloud:--

"I have been on many a shocking field, and have followed a trail of
blood for many miles," he said, "but never have I found the hand of the
devil so plain as it is here to be seen! Revenge is an Indian feeling,
and all who know me know that there is no cross in my veins; but this
much will I say--here, in the face of heaven, and with the power of the
Lord so manifest in this howling wilderness,--that should these
Frenchers ever trust themselves again within the range of a ragged
bullet, there is one rifle shall play its part, so long as flint will
fire or powder burn! I leave the tomahawk and knife to such as have a
natural gift to use them. What say you, Chingachgook," he added in
Delaware; "shall the Hurons boast of this to their women when the deep
snows come?"

A gleam of resentment flashed across the dark lineaments of the Mohican
chief: he loosened his knife in its sheath; and then turning calmly from
the sight, his countenance settled into a repose as deep as if he never
knew the instigation of passion.

"Montcalm! Montcalm!" continued the deeply resentful and less
self-restrained scout; "they say a time must come, when all the deeds
done in the flesh will be seen at a single look; and that by eyes
cleared from mortal infirmities. Woe betide the wretch who is born to
behold this plain, with the judgment hanging about his soul! Ha--as I am
a man of white blood, yonder lies a redskin, without the hair of his
head where nature rooted it! Look to him, Delaware; it may be one of
your missing people; and he should have burial like a stout warrior. I
see it in your eye, Sagamore: a Huron pays for this, afore the fall
winds have blown away the scent of the blood!"

Chingachgook approached the mutilated form, and turning it over, he
found the distinguishing marks of one of those six allied tribes, or
nations, as they were called, who, while they fought in the English
ranks, were so deadly hostile to his own people. Spurning the loathsome
object with his foot, he turned from it with the same indifference he
would have quitted a brute carcass. The scout comprehended the action,
and very deliberately pursued his own way, continuing, however, his
denunciations against the French commander in the same resentful strain.

"Nothing but vast wisdom and unlimited power should dare to sweep off
men in multitudes," he added; "for it is only the one that can know the
necessity of the judgment; and what is there, short of the other, that
can replace the creatures of the Lord? I hold it a sin to kill the
second buck afore the first is eaten, unless a march in the front, or an
ambushment, be contemplated. It is a different matter with a few
warriors in open and rugged fight, for 'tis their gift to die with the
rifle or the tomahawk in hand; according as their natures may happen to
be, white or red. Uncas, come this way, lad, and let the ravens settle
upon the Mingo. I know, from often seeing it, that they have a craving
for the flesh of an Oneida; and it is as well to let the bird follow the
gift of its natural appetite."

"Hugh!" exclaimed the young Mohican, rising on the extremities of his
feet, and gazing intently in his front, frightening the raven to some
other prey, by the sound and the action.

"What is it, boy?" whispered the scout, lowering his tall form into a
crouching attitude, like a panther about to take his leap; "God send it
be a tardy Frencher, skulking for plunder. I do believe 'Killdeer' would
take an oncommon range to-day!"

Uncas, without making any reply, bounded away from the spot, and in the
next instant he was seen tearing from a bush, and waving in triumph a
fragment of the green riding-veil of Cora. The movement, the exhibition,
and the cry, which again burst from the lips of the young Mohican,
instantly drew the whole party about him.

"My child!" said Munro, speaking quick and wildly "give me my child!"

"Uncas will try," was the short and touching answer.

The simple but meaning assurance was lost on the father, who seized the
piece of gauze, and crushed it in his hand, while his eyes roamed
fearfully among the bushes, as if he equally dreaded and hoped for the
secrets they might reveal.

"Here are no dead," said Heyward; "the storm seems not to have passed
this way."

"That's manifest; and clearer than the heavens above our heads,"
returned the undisturbed scout; "but either she, or they that have
robbed her, have passed the bush; for I remember the rag she wore to
hide a face that all did love to look upon. Uncas, you are right; the
dark-hair has been here, and she has fled like a frightened fawn, to the
wood; none who could fly would remain to be murdered. Let us search for
the marks she left; for to Indian eyes, I sometimes think even a
humming-bird leaves his trail in the air."

The young Mohican darted away at the suggestion, and the scout had
hardly done speaking, before the former raised a cry of success from the
margin of the forest. On reaching the spot, the anxious party perceived
another portion of the veil fluttering on the lower branch of a beech.

"Softly, softly," said the scout, extending his long rifle in front of
the eager Heyward; "we now know our work, but the beauty of the trail
must not be deformed. A step too soon may give us hours of trouble. We
have them, though; that much is beyond denial."

"Bless ye, bless ye, worthy man!" exclaimed Munro; "whither, then, have
they fled, and where are my babes?"

"The path they have taken depends on many chances. If they have gone
alone, they are quite as likely to move in a circle as straight, and
they may be within a dozen miles of us; but if the Hurons, or any of the
French Indians, have laid hands on them, 'tis probable they are now near
the borders of the Canadas. But what matters that?" continued the
deliberate scout, observing the powerful anxiety and disappointment the
listeners exhibited; "here are the Mohicans and I on one end of the
trail, and, rely on it, we find the other, though they should be a
hundred leagues asunder! Gently, gently, Uncas, you are as impatient as
a man in the settlements; you forget that light feet leave but faint
marks!"

"Hugh!" exclaimed Chingachgook, who had been occupied in examining an
opening that had been evidently made through the low underbrush, which
skirted the forest; and who now stood erect, as he pointed downwards, in
the attitude and with the air of a man who beheld a disgusting serpent.

"Here is the palpable impression of the footstep of a man," cried
Heyward, bending over the indicated spot; "he has trod in the margin of
this pool, and the mark cannot be mistaken. They are captives."

"Better so than left to starve in the wilderness," returned the scout;
"and they will leave a wider trail. I would wager fifty beaver skins
against as many flints, that the Mohicans and I enter their wigwams
within the month! Stoop to it, Uncas, and try what you can make of the
moccasin; for moccasin it plainly is, and no shoe."

The young Mohican bent over the track, and removing the scattered leaves
from around the place, he examined it with much of that sort of scrutiny
that a money-dealer, in these days of pecuniary doubts, would bestow on
a suspected due-bill. At length he arose from his knees, satisfied with
the result of the examination.

"Well, boy," demanded the attentive scout, "what does it say? can you
make anything of the tell-tale?"

"Le Renard Subtil!"

"Ha! that rampaging devil again! there never will be an end of his
loping, till 'Killdeer' has said a friendly word to him."

Heyward reluctantly admitted the truth of this intelligence, and now
expressed rather his hopes than his doubts by saying,--

"One moccasin is so much like another, it is probable there is some
mistake."

"One moccasin like another! you may as well say that one foot is like
another; though we all know that some are long, and others short; some
broad, and others narrow; some with high, and some with low insteps;
some in-toed, and some out. One moccasin is no more like another than
one book is like another; though they who can read in one are seldom
able to tell the marks of the other. Which is all ordered for the best,
giving to every man his natural advantages. Let me get down to it,
Uncas; neither book nor moccasin is the worse for having two opinions,
instead of one." The scout stooped to the task, and instantly added,
"You are right, boy; here is the patch we saw so often in the other
chase. And the fellow will drink when he can get an opportunity: your
drinking Indian always learns to walk with a wider toe than the natural
savage, it being the gift of a drunkard to straddle, whether of white or
red skin. 'Tis just the length and breadth too! look at it, Sagamore:
you measured the prints more than once, when we hunted the varmints from
Glenn's to the health-springs."

Chingachgook complied; and after finishing his short examination, he
arose, and with a quiet demeanor, he merely pronounced the word--

"Magua!"

"Ay, 'tis a settled thing; here then have passed the dark-hair and
Magua."

"And not Alice?" demanded Heyward.

"Of her we have not yet seen the signs," returned the scout, looking
closely around at the trees, the bushes, and the ground. "What have we
there? Uncas, bring hither the thing you see dangling from yonder
thorn-bush."

When the Indian had complied, the scout received the prize, and holding
it on high, he laughed in his silent but heartfelt manner.

"'Tis the tooting we'pon of the singer! now we shall have a trail a
priest might travel," he said. "Uncas, look for the marks of a shoe that
is long enough to uphold six feet two of tottering human flesh. I begin
to have some hopes of the fellow, since he has given up squalling to
follow some better trade."

"At least, he has been faithful to his trust," said Heyward; "and Cora
and Alice are not without a friend."

"Yes," said Hawkeye, dropping his rifle, and leaning on it with an air
of visible contempt, "he will do their singing. Can he slay a buck for
their dinner; journey by the moss on the beeches, or cut the throat of a
Huron? If not, the first catbird[22] he meets is the cleverest of the
two. Well, boy, any signs of such a foundation?"

"Here is something like the footstep of one who has worn a shoe; can it
be that of our friend?"

"Touch the leaves lightly, or you'll disconsart the formation. That!
that is the print of a foot, but 'tis the dark-hair's; and small it is,
too, for one of such a noble height and grand appearance. The singer
would cover it with his heel."

"Where! let me look on the footsteps of my child," said Munro, shoving
the bushes aside, and bending fondly over the nearly obliterated
impression. Though the tread, which had left the mark, had been light
and rapid, it was still plainly visible. The aged soldier examined it
with eyes that grew dim as he gazed; nor did he rise from his stooping
posture until Heyward saw that he had watered the trace of his
daughter's passage with a scalding tear. Willing to divert a distress
which threatened each moment to break through the restraint of
appearances, by giving the veteran something to do, the young man said
to the scout,--

"As we now possess these infallible signs, let us commence our march. A
moment, at such a time, will appear an age to the captives."

"It is not the swiftest leaping deer that gives the longest chase,"
returned Hawkeye, without moving his eyes from the different marks that
had come under his view; "we know that the rampaging Huron has
passed,--and the dark hair,--and the singer,--but where is she of the
yellow locks and blue eyes? Though little, and far from being as bold as
her sister, she is fair to the view, and pleasant in discourse. Has she
no friend, that none care for her?"

"God forbid she should ever want hundreds! Are we not now in her
pursuit? for one, I will never cease the search till she be found."

"In that case we may have to journey by different paths; for here she
has not passed, light and little as her footstep would be."

Heyward drew back, all his ardor to proceed seeming to vanish on the
instant. Without attending to this sudden change in the other's humor,
the scout, after musing a moment, continued,--

"There is no woman in this wilderness could leave such a print as that,
but the dark-hair or her sister. We know that the first has been here,
but where are the signs of the other? Let us push deeper on the trail,
and if nothing offers, we must go back to the plain and strike another
scent. Move on, Uncas, and keep your eyes on the dried leaves. I will
watch the bushes, while your father shall run with a low nose to the
ground. Move on, friends; the sun is getting behind the hills."

"Is there nothing that I can do?" demanded the anxious Heyward.

"You!" repeated the scout, who, with his red friends, was already
advancing in the order he had prescribed; "yes, you can keep in our
rear, and be careful not to cross the trail."

Before they had proceeded many rods, the Indians stopped, and appeared
to gaze at some signs on the earth, with more than their usual keenness.
Both father and son spoke quick and loud, now looking at the object of
their mutual admiration, and now regarding each other with the most
unequivocal pleasure.

"They have found the little foot!" exclaimed the scout, moving forward,
without attending further to his own portion of the duty. "What have we
here? An ambushment has been planted in the spot? No, by the truest
rifle on the frontiers, here have been them one-sided horses again! Now
the whole secret is out, and all is plain as the north star at midnight.
Yes, here they have mounted. There the beasts have been bound to a
sapling, in waiting; and yonder runs the broad path away to the north,
in full sweep for the Canadas."

"But still there are no signs of Alice--of the younger Miss
Munro,"--said Duncan.

"Unless the shining bauble Uncas has just lifted from the ground should
prove one. Pass it this way, lad, that we may look at it."

Heyward instantly knew it for a trinket that Alice was fond of wearing,
and which he recollected, with the tenacious memory of a lover, to have
seen, on the fatal morning of the massacre, dangling from the fair neck
of his mistress. He seized the highly prized jewel; and as he proclaimed
the fact, it vanished from the eyes of the wondering scout, who in vain
looked for it on the ground, long after it was warmly pressed against
the beating heart of Duncan.

"Pshaw!" said the disappointed Hawkeye, ceasing to rake the leaves with
the breech of his rifle; "'tis a certain sign of age, when the sight
begins to weaken. Such a glittering gewgaw, and not to be seen! Well,
well, I can squint along a clouded barrel yet, and that is enough to
settle all disputes between me and the Mingos. I should like to find the
thing too, if it were only to carry it to the right owner, and that
would be bringing the two ends of what I call a long trail
together,--for by this time the broad St. Lawrence, or, perhaps, the
Great Lakes themselves, are atwixt us."

"So much the more reason why we should not delay our march," returned
Heyward; "let us proceed."

"Young blood and hot blood, they say, are much the same thing. We are
not about to start on a squirrel hunt, or to drive a deer into the
Horican, but to outlie for days and nights, and to stretch across a
wilderness where the feet of men seldom go, and where no bookish
knowledge would carry you through harmless. An Indian never starts on
such an expedition without smoking over his council-fire; and though a
man of white blood, I honor their customs in this particular, seeing
that they are deliberate and wise. We will, therefore, go back, and
light our fire to-night in the ruins of the old fort, and in the morning
we shall be fresh, and ready to undertake our work like men, and not
like babbling women or eager boys."

Heyward saw, by the manner of the scout, that altercation would be
useless. Munro had again sunk into that sort of apathy which had beset
him since his late overwhelming misfortunes, and from which he was
apparently to be roused only by some new and powerful excitement. Making
a merit of necessity, the young man took the veteran by the arm, and
followed in the footsteps of the Indians and the scout, who had already
begun to retrace the path which conducted them to the plain.




  "_Salar._--Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his
    flesh; what's that good for?"

  "_Shy._--To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will
    feed my revenge."

  _Merchant of Venice._


The shades of evening had come to increase the dreariness of the place,
when the party entered the ruins of William Henry. The scout and his
companions immediately made their preparations to pass the night there;
but with an earnestness and sobriety of demeanor, that betrayed how much
the unusual horrors they had just witnessed worked on even their
practised feelings. A few fragments of rafters were reared against a
blackened wall; and when Uncas had covered them slightly with brush, the
temporary accommodations were deemed sufficient. The young Indian
pointed towards his rude hut, when his labor was ended; and Heyward, who
understood the meaning of the silent gesture, gently urged Munro to
enter. Leaving the bereaved old man alone with his sorrows, Duncan
immediately returned to the open air, too much excited himself to seek
the repose he had recommended to his veteran friend.

While Hawkeye and the Indians lighted their fire, and took their
evening's repast, a frugal meal of dried bear's meat, the young man paid
a visit to that curtain of the dilapidated fort which looked out on the
sheet of the Horican. The wind had fallen, and the waves were already
rolling on the sandy beach beneath him, in a more regular and tempered
succession. The clouds, as if tired of their furious chase, were
breaking asunder; the heavier volumes, gathering in black masses about
the horizon, while the lighter scud still hurried above the water, or
eddied among the tops of the mountains, like broken flights of birds,
hovering around their roosts. Here and there, a red and fiery star
struggled through the drifting vapor, furnishing a lurid gleam of
brightness to the dull aspect of the heavens. Within the bosom of the
encircling hills, an impenetrable darkness had already settled; and the
plain lay like a vast and deserted charnel-house, without omen or
whisper to disturb the slumbers of its numerous and hapless tenants.

Of this scene, so chillingly in accordance with the past, Duncan stood
for many minutes a rapt observer. His eyes wandered from the bosom of
the mound, where the foresters were seated around their glimmering fire,
to the fainter light which still lingered in the skies, and then rested
long and anxiously on the embodied gloom, which lay like a dreary void
on that side of him where the dead reposed. He soon fancied that
inexplicable sounds arose from the place, though so indistinct and
stolen, as to render not only their nature but even their existence
uncertain. Ashamed of his apprehensions, the young man turned towards
the water, and strove to divert his attentions to the mimic stars that
dimly glimmered on its moving surface. Still, his too conscious ears
performed their ungrateful duty, as if to warn him of some lurking
danger. At length a swift trampling seemed quite audibly to rush athwart
the darkness. Unable any longer to quiet his uneasiness, Duncan spoke in
a low voice to the scout, requesting him to ascend the mound to the
place where he stood. Hawkeye threw his rifle across an arm, and
complied, but with an air so unmoved and calm, as to prove how much he
counted on the security of their position.

"Listen!" said Duncan, when the other placed himself deliberately at his
elbow: "there are suppressed noises on the plain which may show that
Montcalm has not yet entirely deserted his conquest."

"Then ears are better than eyes," said the undisturbed scout, who,
having just deposited a portion of bear between his grinders, spoke
thick and slow, like one whose mouth was doubly occupied. "I, myself,
saw him caged in Ty, with all his host; for your Frenchers, when they
have done a clever thing, like to get back, and have a dance, or a
merry-making, with the women over their success."

"I know not. An Indian seldom sleeps in war, and plunder may keep a
Huron here after his tribe has departed. It would be well to extinguish
the fire, and have a watch--listen! you hear the noise I mean!"

"An Indian more rarely lurks about the graves. Though ready to slay, and
not over-regardful of the means, he is commonly content with the scalp,
unless when blood is hot, and temper up; but after the spirit is once
fairly gone, he forgets his enmity, and is willing to let the dead find
their natural rest. Speaking of spirits, Major, are you of opinion that
the heaven of a redskin and of us whites will be one and the same?"

"No doubt--no doubt. I thought I heard it again! or was it the rustling
of the leaves in the top of the beech?"

"For my own part," continued Hawkeye, turning his face, for a moment, in
the direction indicated by Heyward, but with a vacant and careless
manner, "I believe that paradise is ordained for happiness; and that men
will be indulged in it according to their dispositions and gifts. I
therefore judge that a redskin is not far from the truth when he
believes he is to find them glorious hunting-grounds of which his
traditions tell; nor, for that matter, do I think it would be any
disparagement to a man without a cross to pass his time--"

"You hear it again?" interrupted Duncan.

"Ay, ay; when food is scarce, and when food is plenty, a wolf grows
bold," said the unmoved scout. "There would be picking, too, among the
skins of the devils, if there was light and time for the sport. But,
concerning the life that is to come, major: I have heard preachers say,
in the settlements, that heaven was a place of rest. Now men's minds
differ as to their ideas of enjoyment. For myself, and I say it with
reverence to the ordering of Providence, it would be no great indulgence
to be kept shut up in those mansions of which they preach, having a
natural longing for motion and the chase."

Duncan, who was now made to understand the nature of the noises he had
heard, answered with more attention to the subject which the humor of
the scout had chosen for discussion, by saying,--

"It is difficult to account for the feelings that may attend the last
great change."

"It would be a change, indeed, for a man who has passed his days in the
open air," returned the single-minded scout; "and who has so often
broken his fast on the head-waters of the Hudson, to sleep within sound
of the roaring Mohawk. But it is a comfort to know we serve a merciful
Master, though we do it each after his fashion, and with great tracts of
wilderness atween us--what goes there?"

"Is it not the rushing of the wolves you have mentioned?"

Hawkeye slowly shook his head, and beckoned for Duncan to follow him to
a spot, to which the glare from the fire did not extend. When he had
taken this precaution, the scout placed himself in an attitude of
intense attention, and listened long and keenly for a repetition of the
low sound that had so unexpectedly startled him. His vigilance, however,
seemed exercised in vain; for, after a fruitless pause, he whispered to
Duncan,--

"We must give a call to Uncas. The boy has Indian senses, and may hear
what is hid from us; for being a white-skin, I will not deny my nature."

The young Mohican, who was conversing in a low voice with his father,
started as he heard the moaning of an owl, and springing on his feet he
looked towards the black mounds, as if seeking the place whence the
sounds proceeded. The scout repeated the call, and in a few moments,
Duncan saw the figure of Uncas stealing cautiously along the rampart, to
the spot where they stood.

Hawkeye explained his wishes in a very few words, which were spoken in
the Delaware tongue. So soon as Uncas was in possession of the reason
why he was summoned, he threw himself flat on the turf; where, to the
eyes of Duncan, he appeared to lie quiet and motionless. Surprised at
the immovable attitude of the young warrior, and curious to observe the
manner in which he employed his faculties to obtain the desired
information, Heyward advanced a few steps, and bent over the dark
object, on which he had kept his eyes riveted. Then it was he discovered
that the form of Uncas had vanished, and that he beheld only the dark
outline of an inequality in the embankment.

"What has become of the Mohican?" he demanded of the scout, stepping
back in amazement; "it was here that I saw him fall, and I could have
sworn that here he yet remained."

"Hist! speak lower; for we know not what ears are open, and the Mingos
are a quick-witted breed. As for Uncas, he is out on the plain, and the
Maquas, if any such are about us, will find their equal."

"You think that Montcalm has not called off all his Indians? Let us give
the alarm to our companions, that we may stand to our arms. Here are
five of us, who are not unused to meet an enemy."

"Not a word to either, as you value life. Look at the Sagamore, how like
a grand Indian chief he sits by the fire. If there are any skulkers out
in the darkness, they will never discover by his countenance that we
suspect danger at hand."

"But they may discover him, and it will prove his death. His person can
be too plainly seen by the light of that fire, and he will become the
first and most certain victim."

"It is undeniable that now you speak the truth," returned the scout,
betraying more anxiety than was usual; "yet what can be done? A single
suspicious look might bring on an attack before we are ready to receive
it. He knows, by the call I gave to Uncas, that we have struck a scent:
I will tell him that we are on the trail of the Mingos; his Indian
nature will teach him how to act."

The scout applied his fingers to his mouth, and raised a low hissing
sound, that caused Duncan, at first, to start aside, believing that he
heard a serpent. The head of Chingachgook was resting on a hand, as he
sat musing by himself; but the moment he heard the warning of the animal
whose name he bore, it arose to an upright position and his dark eyes
glanced swiftly and keenly on every side of him. With this sudden and
perhaps involuntary movement, every appearance of surprise or alarm
ended. His rifle lay untouched, and apparently unnoticed, within reach
of his hand. The tomahawk that he had loosened in his belt for the sake
of ease, was even suffered to fall from its usual situation to the
ground, and his form seemed to sink, like that of a man whose nerves and
sinews were suffered to relax for the purpose of rest. Cunningly
resuming his former position, though with a change of hands, as if the
movement had been made merely to relieve the limb, the native awaited
the result with a calmness and fortitude that none but an Indian warrior
would have known how to exercise.

But Heyward saw that while to a less instructed eye the Mohican chief
appeared to slumber, his nostrils were expanded, his head was turned a
little to one side, as if to assist the organs of hearing, and that his
quick and rapid glances ran incessantly over every object, within the
power of his vision.

"See the noble fellow!" whispered Hawkeye, pressing the arm of Heyward;
"he knows that a look or a motion might discansart our schemes, and put
us at the mercy of them imps--"

He was interrupted by the flash and report of a rifle. The air was
filled with sparks of fire around that spot where the eyes of Heyward
were still fastened with admiration and wonder. A second look told him
that Chingachgook had disappeared in the confusion. In the meantime the
scout had thrown forward his rifle, like one prepared for service, and
awaited impatiently the moment when an enemy might rise to view. But
with the solitary and fruitless attempt made on the life of
Chingachgook, the attack appeared to have terminated. Once or twice the
listeners thought they could distinguish the distant rustling of bushes,
as bodies of some unknown description rushed through them; nor was it
long before Hawkeye pointed out the "scampering of the wolves," as they
fled precipitately before the passage of some intruder on their proper
domains. After an impatient and breathless pause, a plunge was heard in
the water, and it was immediately followed by the report of another
rifle.

"There goes Uncas!" said the scout; "the boy bears a smart piece! I know
its crack, as well as a father knows the language of his child, for I
carried the gun myself until a better offered."

"What can this mean?" demanded Duncan; "we are watched, and, as it would
seem, marked for destruction."

"Yonder scattered brand can witness that no good was intended, and this
Indian will testify that no harm has been done," returned the scout,
dropping his rifle across his arm again, and following Chingachgook, who
just then reappeared within the circle of light, into the bosom of the
works. "How is it, Sagamore? Are the Mingos upon us in earnest, or is it
only one of those rept_y_les who hang upon the skirts of a war party, to
scalp the dead, go in, and make their boast among the squaws of the
valiant deeds done on the pale-faces?"

Chingachgook very quietly resumed his seat; nor did he make any reply,
until after he had examined the firebrand which had been struck by the
bullet that had nearly proved fatal to himself. After which, he was
content to reply, holding a single finger up to view, with the English
monosyllable,--

"One."

"I thought as much," returned Hawkeye, seating himself; "and as he had
got the cover of the lake afore Uncas pulled upon him, it is more than
probable the knave will sing his lies about some great ambushment, in
which he was outlying on the trail of two Mohicans and a white
hunter--for the officers can be considered as little better than idlers
in such a scrimmage. Well, let him--let him. There are always some
honest men in every nation, though heaven knows, too, that they are
scarce among the Maquas, to look down an upstart when he brags ag'in
the face of reason. The varlet sent his lead within whistle of your
ears, Sagamore."

Chingachgook turned a calm and incurious eye towards the place where the
ball had struck, and then resumed his former attitude, with a composure
that could not be disturbed by so trifling an incident. Just then Uncas
glided into the circle, and seated himself at the fire, with the same
appearance of indifference as was maintained by his father.

Of these several movements Heyward was a deeply interested and wondering
observer. It appeared to him as though the foresters had some secret
means of intelligence, which had escaped the vigilance of his own
faculties. In place of that eager and garrulous narration with which a
white youth would have endeavored to communicate, and perhaps
exaggerate, that which had passed out in the darkness of the plain, the
young warrior was seemingly content to let his deeds speak for
themselves. It was, in fact, neither the moment nor the occasion for an
Indian to boast of his exploits; and it is probable, that had Heyward
neglected to inquire, not another syllable would, just then, have been
uttered on the subject.

"What has become of our enemy, Uncas?" demanded Duncan: "we heard your
rifle, and hoped you had not fired in vain."

The young chief removed a fold of his hunting-shirt, and quietly exposed
the fatal tuft of hair, which he bore as the symbol of victory.
Chingachgook laid his hand on the scalp, and considered it for a moment
with deep attention. Then dropping it, with disgust depicted in his
strong features, he ejaculated,--

"Oneida!"

"Oneida!" repeated the scout, who was fast losing his interest in the
scene, in an apathy nearly assimilated to that of his red associates,
but who now advanced with uncommon earnestness to regard the bloody
badge. "By the Lord, if the Oneidas are outlying upon the trail, we
shall be flanked by devils on every side of us! Now, to white eyes there
is no difference between this bit of skin and that of any other Indian,
and yet the Sagamore declares it came from the poll of a Mingo; nay, he
even names the tribe of the poor devil with as much ease as if the scalp
was the leaf of a book, and each hair a letter. What right have
Christian whites to boast of their learning, when a savage can read a
language that would prove too much for the wisest of them all! What say
_you_, lad; of what people was the knave?"

Uncas raised his eyes to the face of the scout, and answered, in his
soft voice,--

"Oneida."

"Oneida, again! when one Indian makes a declaration it is commonly true;
but when he is supported by his people, set it down as gospel!"

"The poor fellow has mistaken us for French," said Heyward; "or he would
not have attempted the life of a friend."

"He mistake a Mohican in his paint for a Huron! You would be as likely
to mistake the white-coated grenadiers of Montcalm for the scarlet
jackets of the 'Royal Americans'," returned the scout. "No, no, the
sarpent knew his errand; nor was there any great mistake in the matter,
for there is but little love atween a Delaware and a Mingo, let their
tribes go out to fight for whom they may, in a white quarrel. For that
matter, though the Oneidas do serve his sacred majesty, who is my own
sovereign lord and master, I should not have deliberated long about
letting off 'Killdeer' at the imp myself, had luck thrown him in my
way."

"That would have been an abuse of our treaties, and unworthy of your
character."

"When a man consorts much with a people," continued Hawkeye, "if they
are honest and he no knave, love will grow up atwixt them. It is true
that white cunning has managed to throw the tribes into great confusion
as respects friends and enemies; so that the Hurons and the Oneidas, who
speak the same tongue, or what may be called the same, take each other's
scalps, and the Delawares are divided among themselves; a few hanging
about their great council-fire on their own river, and fighting on the
same side with the Mingos, while the greater part are in the Canadas,
out of natural enmity to the Maquas--thus throwing everything into
disorder, and destroying all the harmony of warfare. Yet a red natur' is
not likely to alter with every shift of policy; so that the love atwixt
a Mohican and a Mingo is much like the regard between a white man and a
sarpent."

"I regret to hear it; for I had believed those natives who dwelt within
our boundaries had found us too just and liberal, not to identify
themselves fully with our quarrels."

"Why, I believe it is natur' to give a preference to one's own quarrels
before those of strangers. Now, for myself, I do love justice; and
therefore I will not say I hate a Mingo, for that may be unsuitable to
my color and my religion, though I will just repeat, it may have been
owing to the night that 'Killdeer' had no hand in the death of this
skulking Oneida."

Then, as if satisfied with the force of his own reasons, whatever might
be their effect on the opinions of the other disputant, the honest but
implacable woodsman turned from the fire, content to let the controversy
slumber. Heyward withdrew to the rampart, too uneasy and too little
accustomed to the warfare of the woods to remain at ease under the
possibility of such insidious attacks. Not so, however, with the scout
and the Mohicans. Those acute and long practised senses, whose powers so
often exceed the limits of all ordinary credulity, after having detected
the danger, had enabled them to ascertain its magnitude and duration.
Not one of the three appeared in the least to doubt their perfect
security, as was indicated by the preparations that were soon made to
sit in council over their future proceedings.

The confusion of nations, and even of tribes, to which Hawkeye alluded,
existed at that period in the fullest force. The great tie of language,
and, of course, of a common origin, was severed in many places; and it
was one of its consequences, that the Delaware and the Mingo (as the
people of the Six Nations were called) were found fighting in the same
ranks, while the latter sought the scalp of the Huron, though believed
to be the root of his own stock. The Delawares were even divided among
themselves. Though love for the soil which had belonged to his ancestors
kept the Sagamore of the Mohicans with a small band of followers who
were serving at Edward, under the banners of the English king, by far
the largest portion of his nation were known to be in the field as
allies of Montcalm. The reader probably knows, if enough has not already
been gleaned from this narrative, that the Delaware, or Lenape, claimed
to be the progenitors of that numerous people, who once were masters of
most of the Eastern and Northern States of America, of whom the
community of the Mohicans was an ancient and highly honored member.

It was, of course, with a perfect understanding of the minute and
intricate interest which had armed friend against friend, and brought
natural enemies to combat by each other's side, that the scout and his
companions now disposed themselves to deliberate on the measures that
were to govern their future movements, amid so many jarring and savage
races of men. Duncan knew enough of Indian customs to understand the
reason that the fire was replenished, and why the warriors, not
excepting Hawkeye, took their seats within the curl of its smoke with
so much gravity and decorum. Placing himself at an angle of the works,
where he might be a spectator of the scene within, while he kept a
watchful eye against any danger from without, he awaited the result with
as much patience as he could summon.

After a short and impressive pause, Chingachgook lighted a pipe whose
bowl was curiously carved in one of the soft stones of the country, and
whose stem was a tube of wood, and commenced smoking. When he had
inhaled enough of the fragrance of the soothing weed, he passed the
instrument into the hands of the scout. In this manner the pipe had made
its rounds three several times, amid the most profound silence, before
either of the party opened his lips. Then the Sagamore, as the oldest
and highest in rank, in a few calm and dignified words, proposed the
subject for deliberation. He was answered by the scout; and Chingachgook
rejoined, when the other objected to his opinions. But the youthful
Uncas continued a silent and respectful listener, until Hawkeye, in
complaisance, demanded his opinion. Heyward gathered from the manners of
the different speakers, that the father and son espoused one side of a
disputed question, while the white man maintained the other. The contest
gradually grew warmer, until it was quite evident the feelings of the
speakers began to be somewhat enlisted in the debate.

Notwithstanding the increasing warmth of the amicable contest, the most
decorous Christian assembly, not even excepting those in which its
reverend ministers are collected, might have learned a wholesome lesson
of moderation from the forbearance and courtesy of the disputants. The
words of Uncas were received with the same deep attention as those which
fell from the maturer wisdom of his father; and so far from manifesting
any impatience, neither spoke in reply, until a few moments of silent
meditation were, seemingly, bestowed in deliberating on what had already
been said.

The language of the Mohicans was accompanied by gestures so direct and
natural, that Heyward had but little difficulty in following the thread
of their argument. On the other hand, the scout was obscure; because,
from the lingering pride of color, he rather affected the cold and
artificial manner which characterizes all classes of Anglo-Americans,
when unexcited. By the frequency with which the Indians described the
marks of a forest trail, it was evident they urged a pursuit by land,
while the repeated sweep of Hawkeye's arm towards the Horican denoted
that he was for a passage across its waters.

The latter was, to every appearance, fast losing ground, and the point
was about to be decided against him, when he arose to his feet, and
shaking off his apathy, he suddenly assumed the manner of an Indian, and
adopted all the arts of native eloquence. Elevating an arm, he pointed
out the track of the sun, repeating the gesture for every day that was
necessary to accomplish their object. Then he delineated a long and
painful path, amid rocks and water-courses. The age and weakness of the
slumbering and unconscious Munro were indicated by signs too palpable to
be mistaken. Duncan perceived that even his own powers were spoken
lightly of, as the scout extended his palm, and mentioned him by
appellation of the "Open Hand,"--a name his liberality had purchased of
all the friendly tribes. Then came a representation of the light and
graceful movements of a canoe, set in forcible contrast to the tottering
steps of one enfeebled and tired. He concluded by pointing to the scalp
of the Oneida, and apparently urging the necessity of their departing
speedily, and in a manner that should leave no trail.

The Mohicans listened gravely, and with countenances that reflected the
sentiments of the speaker. Conviction gradually wrought its influence,
and towards the close of Hawkeye's speech, his sentences were
accompanied by the customary exclamation of commendation. In short,
Uncas and his father became converts to his way of thinking, abandoning
their own previously expressed opinions with a liberality and candor
that, had they been the representatives of some great and civilized
people, would have infallibly worked their political ruin, by
destroying, forever, their reputation for consistency.

The instant the matter in discussion was decided, the debate, and
everything connected with it, except the results, appeared to be
forgotten. Hawkeye, without looking round to read his triumph in
applauding eyes, very composedly stretched his tall frame before the
dying embers, and closed his own organs in sleep.

Left now in a measure to themselves, the Mohicans, whose time had been
so much devoted to the interests of others, seized the moment to devote
some attention to themselves. Casting off, at once, the grave and
austere demeanor of an Indian chief, Chingachgook commenced speaking to
his son in the soft and playful tones of affection. Uncas gladly met
the familiar air of his father; and before the hard breathing of the
scout announced that he slept, a complete change was effected in the
manner of his two associates.

It is impossible to describe the music of their language, while thus
engaged in laughter and endearments, in such a way as to render it
intelligible to those whose ears have never listened to its melody. The
compass of their voices, particularly that of the youth, was
wonderful,--extending from the deepest bass to tones that were even
feminine in softness. The eyes of the father followed the plastic and
ingenious movements of the son with open delight, and he never failed to
smile in reply to the other's contagious, but low laughter. While under
the influence of these gentle and natural feelings, no trace of ferocity
was to be seen in the softened features of the Sagamore. His figured
panoply of death looked more like a disguise assumed in mockery, than a
fierce annunciation of a desire to carry destruction in his footsteps.

After an hour passed in the indulgence of their better feelings,
Chingachgook abruptly announced his desire to sleep, by wrapping his
head in his blanket, and stretching his form on the naked earth. The
merriment of Uncas instantly ceased; and carefully raking the coals in
such a manner that they should impart their warmth to his father's feet,
the youth sought his own pillow among the ruins of the place.

Imbibing renewed confidence from the security of these experienced
foresters, Heyward soon imitated their example; and long before the
night had turned, they who lay in the bosom of the ruined work, seemed
to slumber as heavily as the unconscious multitude whose bones were
already beginning to bleach on the surrounding plain.

 On the third day after the capture of the fort, the area is one of stillness and death, the fortress a smoldering ruin. The August mists have unseasonably become an interminable dusky sheet driven by the tempestuous northern air when an hour before sunset five men -- Hawkeye, the Mohicans, Munro, and Heyward -- emerge from the forest and cautiously approach the ramparts, reacting with horror, shock, and stoicism to the confused mass of dead. Finding no signs of the daughters, they move around looking for a trail and Uncas discovers a fragment of Cora's green riding-veil. Other signs lead them to where the horses had been, and the party sees evidence that the girls, along with Magua and Gamut, have made off into the wilderness. Heyward wants to go in pursuit immediately, but Hawkeye says that they must deliberate and will spend the night in the ruined fort. Munro has sunk into apathy as they arrange temporary accommodations for him and eat a frugal meal of bear's meat. The clouds break up and the foresters sit around a glimmering fire. On a rampart, Heyward, looking out at the lake, hears low noises, calls the scout to him, and learns that wolves are on the prowl. Hawkeye presses a discussion of what paradise is like but is interrupted by another low sound and calls Uncas, who slips away. Chingachgook is warned and sits outwardly calm by the fire. A rifle shot disturbs the fire and Chingachgook disappears in an instant. A moment later, they hear a plunge in the water and the report of another rifle. Uncas returns quietly to the fire until, upon Heyward's questioning, he exhibits the scalp of an Oneida, whereupon Hawkeye explains the division of mixed loyalties of the numerous Indian tribes. Passing around a lighted pipe, the foresters quietly debate the next day's procedure, but finally and with Indianlike eloquence Hawkeye carries his point that they should head north by way of the lake. When he shortly goes to sleep, Heyward watches the Mohicans relax into pleasant familial informality. Then all fall asleep amid the ruins and the dead.

