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Title: The Deerslayer
Author: James Fenimore Cooper
Release Date: June, 2002 [Etext #3285]
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Edition: 10
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Project Gutenberg Etext The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper
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The Deerslayer
by James Fenimore Cooper
Chapter I
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore.
There is society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar :
I love not man the less, but nature more,
From these our interviews, in which I steal
From all I may be, or have been before,
To mingle with the universe, and feel
What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal"
Childe Harold.
On the human imagination events produce the effects of time. Thus, he who
has travelled far and seen much is apt to fancy that he has lived long; and
the history that most abounds in important incidents soonest assumes the
aspect of antiquity. In no other way can we account for the venerable air
that is already gathering around American annals. When the mind reverts to
the earliest days of colonial history, the period seems remote and obscure,
the thousand changes that thicken along the links of recollections, throwing
back the origin of the nation to a day so distant as seemingly to reach the
mists of time; and yet four lives of ordinary duration would suffice to
transmit, from mouth to mouth, in the form of tradition, all that civilized
man has achieved within the limits of the republic. Altbough New York alone
possesses a population materially exceeding that of either of the four
smallest kingdoms of Europe, or materially exceeding that of the entire Swiss
Confederation, it is little more than two centuries since the Dutch commenced
their settlement, rescuing the region from the savage state. Thus, what
seems venerable by an accumulation of changes is reduced to familiarity when
we come seriously to consider it solely in connection with time.
This glance into the perspective of the past will prepare the reader to look
at the pictures we are about to sketch, with less surprise than he might
otherwise feel ; and a few additional explanations may carry him back in
imagination to the precise condition of society that we desire to delineate.
It is matter of history that the settlements on the eastern shores of the
Hudson, such as Claverack, Kinderhook, and even Poughkeepsie, were not
regarded as safe from Indian incursions a century since; and there is still
standing on the banks of the same river, and within musket-shot of the
wharves of Albany, a residence of a younger branch' of the Van Rensselaers,
that has loopholes constructed for defence against the same crafty enemy,
although it dates from a period scarcely so distant. Other similar memorials
of the infancy of the country are to be found, scattered through what is now
deemed the very centre of American civi2ization, affording the plainest
proofs that all we possess of security from invasion and hostile violence is
the growth of but little more than the time that is frequently fulfilled by a
single human life.
The incidents of this tale occurred between the years 1740 and I745, when the
settled portions of the colony of New York were confined to the four Atlantic
counties, a narrow belt of country on each side of the Hudson, extending from
its mouth to the falls near its head, and to a few advanced "neighborhoods"
on the Mohawk and the Schoharie. Broad belts of the virgin wilderness not
only reached the shores of the first river, but they even crossed it,
stretching away into New England, and affording forest covers to the
noiseless moccasin of the native warrior, as he trod the secret and bloody
war-path. A bird's-eye view of the whole region east of the Mississippi must
then have offered one vast expanse of woods, relieved by a comparatively
narrow fringe of cultivation along the sea, dotted by the glittering surfaces
of lakes, and intersected by the waving lines of river. In such a vast
picture of solemn solitude, the district of country we design to paint sinks
into insignificance, though we feel encouraged to proceed by the conviction
that, with slight and immaterial distinctions, he who succeeds in giving an
accurate idea of any portion of this wild region must necessarily convey a
tolerably correct notion of the whole.
Whatever may be the changes produced by man, the eternal round of the seasons
is unbroken. Summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, return in their
stated order with a sublime precision, affording to man one of the noblest of
all the occasions he enjoys of proving the high powers of his far-reaching
mind, in compassing the laws that control their exact uniformity, and in
calculating their never-ending revolutions. Centuries of summer suns had
warmed the tops of the same noble oaks and pines, sending their heats even to
the tenacious roots, when voices were heard calling to each other, in the
depths of a forest, of which the leafy surface lay bathed in the brilliant
light of a cloudless day in June, while the trunks of the trees rose in
gloomy grandeur in the shades beneath. The calls were in different tones,
evidently proceeding from two men who had lost their way, and were searching
in different directions for their path. At length a shout proclaimed
success, and presently a man of gigantic mould broke out of the tangled
labyrinth of a small swamp, emerging into an opening that appeared to have
been formed partly by the ravages of the wind, and partly by those of fire.
This little area, which afforded a good view of the sky, although it was
pretty well filled with dead trees, lay on the side of one of the high hills,
or low mountains, into which nearly the whole surface of the adjacent country
was broken.
4
"Here is room to breathe in! " exclaimed the liberated forester, as soon as
he found himself under a clear sky, shaking his huge frame like a mastiff
that has just escaped from a snowbank. "Hurrah! Deerslayer; here is daylight,
at last, and yonder is the lake."
These words were scarcely uttered when the second forester dashed aside the
bushes of the swamp, and appeared in the area. After making a hurried
adjustment of hisarms and disordered dress, he joined his companion, who had
already begun his disposition for a halt.
"Do you know this spot!" demanded the one called Deerslayer," or do you shout
at the sight of the sun? " " Both, lad, both; I know the spot, and am not
sorry to see so useful a fri'nd as the sun. Now we have got the p'ints of
the compass in our minds once more, and 't will be our own faults if we let
anything turn them topsy-turvy ag'in, as has just 'happened. My name is not
Hurry; Harry, if this be not the very spot where the land-hunters 'camped the
last summer, and passed a week. See I yonder are the dead bushes of their
bower, and here is the spring. Much as I like the sun, boy, I've no occasion
for it to tell me it is noon; this stomach of mine is as good a time-piece as
is to be found in the colony, and it already p'ints to half-past twelve. So
open the wallet, and let us wind up for another six hours' run."
At this suggestion, both set themselves about making the preparations
necessary for their usual frugal but hearty meal. We will profit by this
pause in the discourse to give the reader some idea of the appearance of the
men, each of whom is destined to enact no insignificant part in our legend.
It would not have been easy to find a more noble specimen of vigorous manhood
than was offered in the person of him who called himself Hurry Harry. His
real name was Henry March but the frontiersmen having caught the practice of
giving sobriquets from the Indians, the appellation of Hurry was far oftener
applied to him than his proper designation, and not unfrequently he was
termed Hurry Skurry, a nickname he had obtained from a dashing, reckless
offhand manner, and a physical restlessness that kept him so constantly on
the move, as to cause him to be known along the whole line of scattered
habitations that lay between the province and the Canadas. The stature of
Hurry Harry exceeded six feet four, and being unusually well proportioned,
his strength fully realized the idea created by his gigantic frame. The face
did no discredit to the rest of the man, for it was both good-humored and
handsome. His air was free, and though his manner necessarily partook of the
rudeness of a border life, the grandeur that pervaded So noble a physique
prevented it from becoming altogether vulgar.
Deerslayer, as Hurry called his companion, was a very different person in
appearance, as well as in character. In stature he stood about six feet in
his moccasins, but his frame was comparatively light and slender, showing
muscles, however, that promised unusual agility, if not unusual strength.
His face would have had little to recommend it except youth, were it not for
an expression that seldom failed to win upon those who had leisure to examine
it, and to yield to the feeling of confidence it created. This expression
was simply that of guileless truth, sustained by an earnestness of purpose,
and a sincerity of feeling, that rendered it remarkable. At times this air
of integrity seemed to be so simple as to awaken the suspicion of a want of
the usual means to discriminate between artifice and truth; but few came in
serious contact with the man, without losing this distrust in respect for his
opinions and motives.
Both these frontiersmen were still young, Hurry having reached the age of six
or eight and twenty, while Deerslayer was several years his junior. Their
attire needs no particular description, though it may be well to add that it
was composed in no small degree of dressed deer-skins, and had the usual
signs of belonging to those who pass their Lime between the skirts of
civilized society and the boundless forests. There was, notwithstanding,
some attention to smartness and the picturesque in the arrangements of
Deerslayer's dress, more particularly in the part connected with his arms and
accoutrements. His rifle was in perfect condition,
6
the handle of his hunting-knife was neatly carved, his powder-horn was
ornamented with suitable device slightly cut into the material, and his shot-
pouch was decorated with wampum. On the other hand, Hurry Harry, either from
constitutional recklessness, or from a secret consciousness how little his
appearance required artificial aids, wore everything in a careless, slovenly
manner, as if he felt a noble scorn for the trifling accessories of dress and
ornaments. Perhaps the peculiar effect of his fine form and great stature was
increased rather than lessened, by this unstudied and disdainful air of
indifference.
"Come, Deerslayer, fall to, and prove that you have a Delaware stomach, as
you say you have had a Delaware edication," cried Hurry, setting the example
by opening his mouth to receive a slice of cold venison steak that would have
made an entire meal for a European peasant; " fall to, lad, and prove your
manhood on this poor devil of a doe with your teeth, as you 've already done
with your ride."
"Nay, nay, Hurry, there's little manhood in killing a doe, and that too out
of season; though there might be some in bringing down a painter or a
catamount," returned the other, disposing himself to comply. "The Delawares
have given me my name, not so much on account of a bold heart, as on account
of a quick eye, and an actyve foot. There may not be any cowardyce in
overcoming a deer, but sartain it is, there 's no great valor."
"The Delawares themselves are no heroes," muttered Hurry through his teeth,
the mouth being too full to permit it to be fairly opened, " or they would
never have allowed them loping vagabonds, the Mingos, to make them women. "
"That matter is not rightly understood--has never been rightly explained,"
said Deerslayer earnestly, for he was as zealous a friend as his companion
was dangerous as an enemy; "the Mengwe fill the woods with their lies, and
misconstruct words and treaties. I have now lived ten years with the
Delawares, and know them to be as manful as any other nation, when the proper
time to strike comes."
"Harkee, Master Deerslayer, since we are on the subject, we may as well open
our minds to each other in a man-to man way; answer me one question; you have
had so much luck among the game as to have gotten a title, it would seem, but
did you ever hit anything-human or intelligible: did you ever pull trigger on
an inimy that was capable of pulling one upon you ?"
This question produced a singular collision between mortification and correct
feeling, in the bosom of the youth, that was easily to be traced in the
workings of his ingenuous countenance. The struggle was short, however;
uprightness of heart soon getting the better of false pride and frontier
boastfulness.
"To own the truth, I never did," answered Deerslayer; "seeing that a fitting
occasion never offered. The Delawares have been peaceable since my sojourn
with 'em, and I hold it to be ontawful to take the life of man, except in
open and generous warfare."
"What! did you never find a fellow thieving among pour traps and skins, and
do the law on him with your own hands, by way of saving the magistrates
trouble in the settlements, and the rogue himself the cost of the suit!"
"I am no trapper, Hurry," returned the young man proudly: " I live by the
ride, a we'pon at which I will not turn my back on any man of my years,
atween the Hudson and the St. Lawrence. I never offer a skin that has not a
hole in its head besides them which natur' made to see with or to breathe
through."
"Ay, ay, this is all very well, in the animal way, though it makes but a poor
figure alongside of scalps and ambushes. Shooting an Indian from an ambush is
acting up to his own principles, and now we have what you call a lawful war
on our hands, the sooner you wipe that disgrace off your character, the
sounder will be your sleep; if it only come from knowing there is one inimy
the less prowling in the woods. I shall not ~-frequent your society long,
friend Natty, unless you look higher than four-footed beasts to practice your
ride on."
"Our journey is nearly ended, you say, Master March, and we can part to-
night, if you see occasion. I have a fri'nd waiting for me, who will think it
no disgrace to consort with a fellow-creatur,' that has never yet slain his
kind.''
"I wish I knew what has brought that skulking Delaware ware into this part of
the country so early in the season," muttered Hurry to himself, in a way to
show equally distrust and a recklessness of its betrayal. " Where did you
say the young chief was to give you the meeting!"
"At a small round rock, near the foot of the lake, where they tell me, the
tribes are given to resorting to make their; treaties, and to bury their
hatchets. This rock have f often heard the Delawares mention, though lake
and rock are equally strangers to me. The country is claimed by both Mangos
and Mohicans, and is a sort of common territory to fish and hunt through, in
time of peace, though what it may become in war-time, the Lord only knows I "
"Common territory" exclaimed Hurry, laughing aloud. " I should like to know
what Floating Tom Hutter would say to that! He claims the lake as his own
property, in vartue of fifteen years' possession, and, will not be likely to
give it up to either Mingo or Delaware without a battle for it"
" And what will the colony say to such a quarrel! All this country must have
some owner, the gentry pushing their cravings into the wilderness, even where
they never dare to ventur', in their own persons, to look at the land
they own."
"That may do in other quarters of the colony, Deerslayer, but it will not do
here. Not a human being, the Lord excepted, owns a foot of sile in this part
of the country. Pen was never put to paper consarning either hill or valley
hereaway, as I 've heard old Tom say time and ag'in, and so be claims the
best right to it of any man breathing; and what Tom claims, he'll be very
likely to maintain."
"By what I've heard you say, Hurry, this Floating Tom must be an oncommon
mortal; neither Mingo, Delaware, nor pale-face. His possession, too, has
been long, by your tell, and altogether beyond frontier endurance. What's
the man's history and natur'?"
"Why, as to old Tom's human natur', it is not much like other men's human
natur', but more like a muskrat's human
natar', seeing that he takes more to the ways of that animal than to the ways
of any other fellow-creatur'. Some think he was a free liver on the salt
water, in his youth, and a companion of a sartain I(Kidd, who was hanged for
piracy, long afro you and I were born or acquainted, and that he came up into
these regions, thinking that the king's cruisers could never cross the
mountains, and that he might enjoy the plunder peaceably in the woods."
"Then he was wrong, Hurry; very wrong. A man can enjoy plunder peaceably
nowhere.''
"That's much as his turn of mind may happen to be. I've known them that never
could enjoy it at all, unless it was in the midst of a jollification, and
them again that enjoyed it best in a corner. Some men have no peace if they
don't find plunder, and some if they do. Human nature' is crooked in these
matters. Old Tom seems to belong to neither set, as he enjoys his, if
plunder he has really got, with his darters, in a very quiet and comfortable
way, and wishes for no more."
"Ay, he has darters, too; I've heard the Delawares, who've hunted this a way,
tell their histories of these young women. Is there no mother, Hurry?"
" There was once, as in reason; but she has now been dead and sunk these two
good years.''
" Anan? " said Deerslayer, looking up at his companion in a little surprise.
" Dead and sunk, I say, and I hope that's good English. The old fellow
lowered his wife into the lake, by way of seeing the last of her, as I can
testify, being an eye-witness of the ceremony; but whether Tom did it to save
digging, which is no easy job among roots, or out of a consait that water
washes away sin sooner than 'arth, is more than I can say."
" Was the poor woman oncommon wicked, that her husband should take so much
pains with her body ? "
"Not onreasonable; though she had her faults. I consider Judith Hutter to
have been as graceful, and about as likely to make a good ind as any woman
who had lived so long beyond the sound of church bells I and I conclude old
Tom sunk her as much by way of saving pains, as by way of taking it. There
was a little steel in her temper, it's true, and, as old Hutter is pretty
much flint, they struck out sparks once-and-a-while; but, on the whole, they
might be said to live amicable like. When they did kindle, the listeners got
some such insights into their past lives, as one gets into the darker parts
of the woods, when a stray gleam of sunshine finds its way down to the roots
of the trees. But Judith I shall always esteem, as it's recommend enough to
one woman to be the mother of such a creator' as her darter, Judith Hutter! "
"Ay, Judith was the name the Delawares mentioned, though it was pronounced
after a fashion of their own. From their discourse, I do not think the girl
would much please my fancy."
"Thy fancy!" exclaimed March, taking fire equally at the indifference and at
the presumption of his companion, " what the devil have you to do with a
fancy, and that, too, consarning one like Judith? You are but a boy--a
sapling, that has scarce got root. Judith has had men among her suitors, ever
since she was fifteen; which is now near five years; and will not be apt even
to cast a look upon a half-grown creatur' like you ! "
"It is June, and there is not a cloud atween us and the sun, Hurry, so all
this heat is not wanted," answered the other, altogether undisturbed ; " any
one may have a fancy, and a squirrel has a right to make up his mind touching
a catamount.''
"Ay, but it might not be wise, always, to let the catamount knowit." growled
March. "But you're young and thoughtless, and I'll overlook your ignorance.
Come, Deerslayer," he added, with a good-natured laugh, after pausing a
moment to reflect, "come, Deerslayer, we are sworn friends, and will not
quarrel about a light-minded, jilting jade, just because she happens to be
handsome; more especially as you have never seen her. Judith is only for a
man whose teeth show the full marks, and it 's foolish to be afford of a boy.
What did the Delawares say of the hussy' for an Indian, after all, has his
notions of woman-kind, as well as a white man."
"They said she was fair to look on, and pleasant of speech; but over-given to
admirers, and light-minded."
"They are devils incarnate! After all, what schoolmaster is a match for an
Indian, in looking into nature' ! Some people think they are only good on a
trail or the war-path, but I say that they are philosophers, and understand a
man as well as they understand a beaver, and a woman as well as they
understand either. Now that's Judith's character to a ribbon ! To own the
truth to you, Deerslayer, I should have married the gal two years since, if
it had not been for two particular things, one of which was this very
lightmindedness.''
" And what may have been the other?" demanded the hunter, who continued to
eat like one that took very little interest in the subject.
" T'other was an insartainty about her having me. The hussy is handsome, and
she knows it. Boy, not a tree that is growing in these hills is straighter,
or waves in the wind with an easier bend, nor did you ever see the doe that
bounded with a more nat'ral motion. If that was all, every tongue would
sound her praises ; but she has such failings that I find it hard to overlook
them, and sometimes I Swear I'll never visit the lake again."
" Which is the reason that you always come back? Nothing is ever made more
sure by swearing about it.''
" Ah, Deerslayer, you are a novelty in these particulars; keeping as true to
education as if you had never left the settlements. With me the case is
different, and I never want to clinch an idee, that I do not feel a wish to
swear about it. If you know'd all that I know consarning Judith, you 'd find
a justification for a little cussing. Now, the officers sometimes stray over
to the lake, from the forts on the Mohawk, to fish and hunt, and then the
creator' seems beside herself! You can see in the manner which she wears her
finery, and the airs she gives herself with the gallants."
" That is unseemly in a poor man's darter," returned Deerslayer gravely, "
the officers are all gentry, and can only look on such as Judith with evil
intentions."
"There's the unsartainty, and the damper! I have my misgivings about a
particular captain, and Jude has no one to blame but her own folly, if I'm
right. On the whole, I wish to look upon her as modest and becoming, and yet
the clouds that drive among these hills are not more unsartain. Not a dozen
white men have ever laid eyes upon her since she was a child, and yet her
airs, with two or three of these officers, are extinguishers! "
" I would think no more of such a woman, but turn my mind altogether to the
forest; that will not deceive you, being ordered and ruled by a hand that
never wavers."
" If you know'd Judith, you would see how much easier it is to say this than
it would be to do it. Could I bring my mind to be easy about the officers,
I would carry the gal off to the Mohawk by force, make her marry me in spite
of her whiffling, and leave old Tom to the care of Hefty, his other child,
who, if she be not as handsome or as quick-witted as her sister, is much the
most dutiful."
" Is there another bird in the same nest! " asked Deerslayer, raising his
eyes with a species of half-awakened curiosity,--" the Delawares spoke to me
only of one.''
That's nat'ral enough, when Judith Hutter and Hefty Hutter are in question.
Hefty is only comely, while her sister, I tell thee, boy, is such another as
is not to be found attain this and the sea: Judith is as full of wit, and
talk, and cunning, as an old Indian orator, while poor Hefty is at the best
but ' compass meant us.' " " Anan?'' inquired, again, the Deerslayer.
" Why, what the officers call 'compass meant us,' which I understand to
signify' that she means always to go in the right direction, but sometimes
does not know how. 'Compass'for the p'int, and 'meant us' for the intention.
No, poor Hetty is what I call on the verge of ignorance, and sometimes she
stumbles on one side of the line, and sometimes on toothier."
" Them are beings that the Lord has in his 'special care," said Deerslayer,
solemnly; " for he looks carefully to all who fall short of their proper
share of reason. The redskins honor and respect them who are so gifted,
knowing that the
Evil Spirit delights more to dwell in an artful body, than in one that has no
cunning to work upon."
"I'11 answer for it, then, that he will not remain long with poor Kitty; for
the child is just'compass meant us,' as I have told you. Old Tom has a
feeling for the gal, and so has Judith, quick-witted and glorious as she is
herself; else would I not answer for her being altogether safe among the sort
of men that sometimes meet on the lake shore."
" I thought this water an unknown and little-frequented sheet," observed the
Deerslayer, evidently uneasy at the idea of being too near the world.
" It's all that, lad, the eyes of twenty white men never having been laid on
it; still, twenty true-bred frontiersmen --hunters and trappers, and scouts,
and the like,--can do a deal of mischief if they try. 'T would be an awful
thing to me, Deerslayer, did I and Judith married, after an absence of six
months !"
"Have you the gal's faith, to encourage you to hope otherwise?"
" Not at all. I know not how it is: I'm good-looking, boy,--that much I can
see in any spring on which the sun shines,--and yet I could not get the hussy
to a promise, or even a cordial willing smile, though she will laugh by the
hour. If she has dared to marry in my absence, she'd be like to know the
pleasures of widowhood afore she is twenty !"
" You would not harm the man she has chosen, Hurry, simply because she found
him more to her liking than yourself! "
" Why not! If an enemy crosses my path, will I not beat him out of it ! Look
at me ! am I a man like to let any sneaking, crawling, skin-trader get the
better of me in a matter that touches me as near as the kindness of Judith
Hutter! Besides, when we live beyond law, we must be our own judges and
executioners. And if a man should be found dead in the woods, who is there
to say who slew him, even admitting that the colony took the matter in hand
and made a stir about it?"
I '5
"If that man should be Judith Hutter's husband, after what has passed,
I might tell enough, at least, to put the colony on the trail."
"You!--half-grown, venison-hunting battling! You dare to think of informing
against Hurry Harry in so much as a matter touching a mink or a woodchuck ! "
"I would dare to speak truth, Hurry, consarning you or any man that ever
lived."
March looked at his companion, for a moment, in silent amazement; then
seizing him by the throat with both hands, he shook his comparatively slight
frame with a violence that menaced the dislocation of some of the bones. Nor
was this done jocularly, for anger hashed from the giant's eyes, and there
were certain signs that seemed to threaten much more earnestness than the
occasion would appear to call for. Whatever might be the real intention of
March, and it is probable there was none settled in his mind, it is certain
that he was unusually aroused; and most men who found themselves throttled by
one of a mould so gigantic, in such a mood, and in a solitude so deep and
helpless, would have felt intimidated, and tempted to yield even the right.
Not so, however, with Deerslayer. His countenance remained unmoved ;his hand
did not shake, and his answer was given in a voice that did not resort to the
artifice of louder tones, even by way of proving its owner's resolution.
"You may shake, Hurry, until you bring down the mountain," he said quietly, "
but nothing beside truth will you shake from me. It is probable that Judith
Hutter has no husband to slay, and you may never have a chance to waylay one,
else would I tell her of your threat, in the first conversation I held with
the gal."
March released his gripe, and sat regarding the other in silent astonishment.
"I thought we had been friends," he at length added; "but you've got the last
secret of mine that will ever enter your ears."
" I want none, if they are to be like this. I know we live in the woods,
Hurry, and are thought to be beyond human
laws,--and perhaps we are so, in fact, whatever it may be in right,--but
there is a law and a law-maker, that rule across the whole continent. He
that flies in the face of either need not call me a friend."
" Damme, Deerslayer, if I do not believe you are at heart a Moravian, and no
fair-minded, plain-dealing hunter, as you've pretended to be ! "
" Fair-minded or not, Hurry, you will find me as plaindealing in deeds as I
am in words. But this giving way to sudden anger is foolish, and proves how
little you have sojourned with the redden. Judith Hutter no doubt is still
single, and you spoke but as the tongue ran, and not as the heart felt.
There's my hand, and we will say and think no more about it.''
Hurry seemed more surprised than ever; then he burst forth in a loud, good-
natured laugh, which brought tears to his eyes. After this he accepted the
offered hand, and the parties became friends.
"'T would have been foolish to quarrel about an idee," March cried, as he
resumed his meal, " and more like lawyers in the towns than like sensible men
in the woods. They tell me, Deerslayer, much ill-blood grows out of idees
among the people in the lower counties, and that they sometimes get to
extremities upon them."
" That do they,-that do they; and about other matters that might better be
left to take care of themselves. I have heard the Moravians say that there
are lands in which men quarrel even consarning their religion; and if they
can get their tempers up on such a subject, Hurry, the Lord have Marcy on
'em. Howsoever, there is no occasion for our following their example, and
more especially about a husband that this Judith Hutter may never see, or
never wish to see. For my part, I feel more cur'osity about the feeble-witted
sister than about your beauty. There's something that comes close to a
man's feelin's, when he meets with a fellow· creatur' that has all the
outward show of an accountable mortal, and who fails of being what he seems,
only through a lack of reason. This is bad enough in a man, but when it
comes to a woman, and she a young, and maybe a winning creature' it touches
all the pitiful thoughts his natur' has. God knows, Hurry, that such poor
things be defenceless enough with all their wits about 'em; but it's a cruel
fortun' when that great protector and guide fails 'em.'' " Hark, Deerslayer,-
-you know what the hunters, and trappers, and peltry-men in, general be; and
their best friends will not deny that they are headstrong and given to having
their own way, without much bethinking 'em of other people's rights or
feline's,--and yet I don't think the man is to be found, in all this region,
who would harm
Hetty Hutter, if he could; no, not even a redskin."
"Therein, fri'nd Hurry, you do the Delawares, at least, and all their allied
tribes, only justice, for a redskin looks
upon a being thus struck by God's power as especially under his care. I
rejoice to hear what you say, however, I rejoice to hear it; but as the sun
is beginning to turn towards the afternoon's sky, had we not better strike
the trail again, and make forward, that we may get an opportunity of seeing
these wonderful sisters"
Harry March giving a cheerful assent, the remnants of the
meal were soon collected; then the travelers shouldered their packs, resumed
their arms, and, quitting the little area of light, they again plunged into
the deep shadows of the forest.
CHAPTER II.
"Thou'rt passing from the lake's green side,
And the hunter's hearth away;
For the time of flowers, for the summer's pride,
Daughter! thou canst not stay."
Mrs. Hemans, 'Edith. A Tale of the Woods" II. 191-94
Our two adventurers had not far to go. Hurry knew the direction, as soon as
he had found the open spot and the spring, and he now led on with the
confident step of a man assured of his object. The forest was dark, as a
matter of course, but it was no longer obstructed by underbrush, and the
footing was firm and dry. After proceeding near a mile, March stopped, and
began to cast about him with an inquiring look, examining the different
objects with care, and occasionally turning his eyes on the trunks of the
fallen trees, with which the ground was well sprinkled, as is usually the
case in an American wood, especially in those parts of the country where
timber has not yet become valuable.
"This must be the place, Deerslayer," March at length observed; " here is a
beech by the side of a hemlock, with three pines at hand, and yonder is a
white birch with a broken top; and yet I see no rock, nor any of the branches
bent down, as I told you would be the case."
"Broken branches are onskilful landmarks, as the least exper'enced know that
branches don't often break of themselves," returned the other; " and they
also lead to suspicion and discoveries. The Delawares never trust to broken
branches, unless it is in friendly times, and on an open trail. As for the
beeches, and pines, and hemlocks, why, they are
to be seen on all sides of us, not only by twos and threes, but by forties,
and fifties, and hundreds."
"Very true, Deerslayer, but you never calculate on position. Here is a beech
and a hemlock--''
"Yes, and there is another beech and a hemlock, as loving as two brothers,
or, for that matter, more loving than some brothers; and yonder are others,
for neither tree is a rarity in these woods. fear me, Hurry, you are better
at trapping beaver and shooting bears, than at leading on a blindish sort of
a trail. Ha! there's what you wish to end, a'ter all!"
"Now, Deerslayer, this is one of your Delaware pretensions, for hang me if I
see anything but these trees, which do seem to start up around Us in a most
onaccountable and perplexing manner."
"Look this a way, Hurry--here, in a line with the black oak-don't you see the
crooked sapling that is hooked up in the branches of the bass-wood, near it 1
Now, that sapling was once snow-ridden, and got the bend by its weight ; but
it never straightened itself, and fastened itself in among the bass-wood
branches in the way you see. The hand of man did that act of kindness for
it."
"That hand was mine!" exclaimed Hurry; "I found the slender young thing bent
to the airth, like an unfortunate creatur' borne down by misfortune, and
stuck it up where you see it. After all, Deerslayer, I must allow, you're
getting to have an oncommon good eye for the woods !"
T'is improving, Hurry-- t'is improving I will acknowledge ; but 't is only a
child's eye, compared to some I know. There's Tamenund, now, though a man so
old that few remember when he was in his prime, Tamenund lets nothing escape
his look, which is more like the scent of a hound than the sight of an eye.
Then Uncas, the father of Chingachgook, and the lawful chief of the Mohicans,
is another that it is almost hopeless to pass unseen. I'm improving, I will
allow--I'm improving, but far from being perfect, as yet."
"And who is this Chingachgook, of whom you talk so much, Deerslayer! " asked
Hurry, as he moved off in the direction of the righted sapling; " a loping
redskin, at the best, I make no question."
"Not so, Hurry, but the best of loping redskins, as you call'em. If he had
his rights, he would be a great chief; but, as it is, he is only a brave and
just-minded Delaware; respected, and even obeyed in some things,'tis true,
but of a fallen race, and belonging to a fallen people. Ah! Harry March,
'twould warm the heart within you to sit in their lodges of a winter's night,
and listen to the traditions of the ancient greatness and power of the
Mohicans!"
"Karkee, fr-i'nd Nathaniel," said Hurry, stopping short to face his
companion, in order that his words might carry greater weight with them, "if
a man believed all that other people choose to say in their own favor, he
might get an oversized opinion of them, and an undersized opinion of himself.
These redskins are notable boasters, and I set down more than half of their
traditions as pure talk."
"There is truth in what you say, Hurry, I'll not deny it, for I've seen it,
and believe it. They do boast, but then that is a gift from natur'; and it's
sinful to withstand nat'ral gifts. See; this is the spot you come to find !"
This remark cut short the discourse, and both the men now gave all their
attention to the object immediately before them. Deerslayer pointed out to
his companion the trunk of a huge linden, or bass-wood, as it is termed in
the language of the country, which had filled its time, and fallen by its own
weight. This tree, like so many millions of its brethren, lay where it had
fallen, and was mouldering under the slow but certain influence of the
seasons. The decay, however, had attacked its centre, even while it stood
erect in the pride of vegetation, bellowing out its heart, as disease
sometimes destroys the vitals of animal life, even while a fair exterior is
presented to the observer. As the trunk lay stretched for near a hundred
feet along the earth, the quick eye of the hunter detected this peculiarity,
and. from this and other circumstances, he knew it to be the tree of which
March was in search.
"Ay, here we have what we want," cried Hurry, looking in at the larger end of
the linden; "everything is as snug as if it had been left in an old woman's
cupboard Come, lend me a hand, Deerslayer, and we'll be afloat in half an
hour."
At this call the hunter joined his companion, and the two went to work
deliberately and regularly, like men accustomed to the sort of thing in which
they were employed. In the first place, Hurry removed some pieces of bark
that lay before the large opening in the tree, and which the other declared
to be disposed in a way that would have been more likely to attract attention
than to conceal the cover, had any straggler passed that way. The two then
drew out a bark canoe, containing its seats, paddles, and Other appliances,
even to fishing-lines and rods. This vessel was by no means small; but such
was its comparative lightness, and so gigantic was the strength of Hurry,
that the latter shouldered it with seeming ease, declining all assistance,
even in the act of raising it to the awkward position in which he was obliged
to hold it.
"Lead ahead, Deerslayer," said March, "and open the bushes; the rest I can do
for myself."
The other obeyed, and the men left the spot, Deerslayer
clearing the way for his companion, and inclining to the right or to the
left, as the latter directed In about ten minutes they both broke suddenly
into the brilliant light of the sun, on a low gravelly point, that was washed
by water on quite half its outline.
An exclamation of surprise broke from the lips of Deerslayer, an exclamation
that was low and guardedly made, however, for his habits were much more
thoughtful and regulated than those of the reckless Hurry, when on reaching
the margin of the lake, he beheld the view that unexpectedly met his gaze. It
was, in truth, sufficiently striking to merit a brief description. On a level
with the point lay a broad sheet of water, so placid and limpid that it
resembled a bed of the pure mountain atmosphere, compressed
into a setting of hills and woods. Its length was
about three leagues, while its breadth was irregular, expanding to half a
league, or even more, opposite to the
point, and contracting to less than half that distance, more to the
southward. Of course, its margin was irregular, being indented by bays, and
broken by many projecting, low points. At its northern, or nearest end, it
was bounded by an isolated mountain, lower land falling off east and west,
gracefully relieving the sweep of the outline. Still the character of the
country was mountainous; high hills, or low mountains, rising abruptly from
the water, on quite nine tenths of its circuit. The exceptions, indeed, only
served a little to vary the scene; and even beyond the parts of the shore
that were comparatively low, the background was high, though more distant.
But the most striking peculiarities of this scene were its solemn solitude
and sweet repose. On all sides, wherever the eye turned, nothing met it but
the mirror-like surface of the lake, the placid view of heaven, and the dense
setting of woods. So rich and fleecy were the outlines of the forest, that
scarce an opening could be seen, the whole visible earth, from the rounded
mountain-top to the water's edge, presenting one unvaried hue of unbroken
verdure. As if vegetation were not satisfied with a triumph so complete, the
trees overhung the lake itself, shooting out towards the light; and there
were miles along its eastern shore, where a boat might have pulled beneath
the branches of dark Rembrandt-looking hemlocks, " quivering aspens," and
melancholy pines. In a word, the hand of man had never yet defaced or
deformed any part of this native scene, which lay bathed in the sunlight, a
glorious picture of affluent-
forest-grandeur, softened by the balminess of June, and relieved by the
beautiful variety afforded by the presence of so broad an expanse of water.
"This is grand! --'t is solemn!-'t is an edication of itself, to look upon!"
exclaimed Deerslayer, as he stood leaning on his rifle, and gazing to the
right and left, north and south, above and beneath, in whichever direction
his eye passed into a setting of hills and woods. about three leagues, while
its breadth could wander; " not a tree disturbed even by redskin hand, as I
can discover, but everything left in the ordering of the Lord, to live and
die according to his own designs and laws! Hurry, your Judith ought to be a
moral and well disposed young woman, if she has passed half the time you
mention in the centre of a spot so favored."
"That's naked truth; and yet the gal has the vagaries. All her time has not
been passed here, howsoever, old Tom having the custom, afore I know'd him,
of going to spend the winters in the neighborhood of the settlers, or under
the guns of the forts. No, no, Jude has caught more than is for her good
from the settlers, and especially from the gallantifying officers."
"If she has--if she has, Hurry, this is a school to set her mind right ag'in.
But what is this I see off here, abreast of us, that seems too small for an
island, and too large for a boat, though it stands in the midst of the water!
"Why, that is what these galantine gentry from the forts call Muskrat Castle;
and old Tom himself will grin at the name, though it bears so hard on his own
nature' and character. 'T is the stationary house, there being two; this,
which never moves, and the other, that floats, being sometimes in one part of
the lake and sometimes in another. The last goes by the name of the ark,
though what may be the meaning of the word is more than I can tell you.'' "
It must come from the missionaries, Hurry, whom I have heard speak and read
of such a thing. They say that the 'arth was once covered with water, and
that Noah, with his children, was saved from drowning by building a vessel
called an ark, in which he embarked in season. Some of the Delawares believe
this tradition, and some deny it ; but it behooves you and me, as white men
born, to put our faith in its truth. Do you see anything of this ark!
"'T is down south, no doubt, or anchored in some of the bays. But the canoe
is ready, and fifteen minutes will carry two such paddles as your'n and mine
to the castle."
At this suggestion, Deerslayer helped his companion to place the different
articles in the canoe, which was already boat. This was no sooner done than
the two frontiermen embarked, and by a vigorous push sent the light bark some
tight or ten rods from the shore. Hurry now took the seat in the stern,
while Deerslayer placed himself forward, and by leisurely but steady strokes
of the paddles, the canoe glided across the placid sheet, towards the
extraordinary-looking structure that the former had styled Muskrat Castle.
Several times the men ceased paddling, and looked about them at the scene, as
new glimpses opened from behind points, enabling them to see farther down the
lake, or to get broader views of the wooded mountains. The only changes,
however, were in the new forms of the hills, the varying curvature of the
bays, and the wider reaches of the valley south; the whole earth apparently
being clothed in a gala-dress of leaves.
"This is a sight to warm the heart! " exclaimed Deerslayer, when they had
thus stopped for the fourth or fifth time; " the lake seems made to let us
get an insight into the noble forests; and land and water alike stand in the
beauty of God's providence! Do you say, Hurry, that there is no man who calls
himself lawful owner of all these glories? ''
"None but the King, lad. He may pretend to some right of that nature', but he
is so far away that his claim will never trouble old Tom Hutter, who has got
possession, and is like to keep it as long as his life lasts. Tom is no
squatter, not being on land; I call him a floater."
"I invy that man ! I know it's wrong, and I strive again the feline', but I
invy that man! Don't think, Hurry, that I'm consorting any plan to put
myself in his moccasins, for such a thought does n't harbor in my mind; but I
can't help a little invy? 'Tis a nat'ral feelin', and the best of us are but
nat'ral, a'ter all, and give way to such feelin's at times."
"You've only to marry Hetty to inherit half the estate," cried Hurry,
laughing; "the gal is comely; nay, if it was n't for her sister's beauty she
would be even handsome ; and then her wits are so small that you may easily
convart her into one of your own way of thinking, in all things. Do you take
Hetty off the old fellow's hands, and I'11 engage
he'll give you an interest in every deer you can knock over within five miles
of his lake."
"Does game abound!" suddenly demanded the other, who paid but little
attention to March's raillery.
"It has the country to itself. Scarce a trigger is pulled on it; and as for
the trappers, this is not a region they greatly frequent. I ought not to be
so much here myself, but Jude pulls one way, while the beaver pulls another.
More than a hundred Spanish dollars has that creatur' zest me the last two
seasons, and yet I could not forego the wish to look upon her face once
more."
"Do the redmen often visit this lake, Hurry!" continued Deerslayer, pursuing
his own train of thought.
"Why, they come and go; sometimes in parties, and sometimes singly. The
country seems to belong to no native tribe in particular; and so it has
fallen into the hands of the Hutter tribe. The old man tells me that some
sharp ones have been wheedling the Mohawks for an Indian deed, in order to
get a title out of the colony ; but nothing has come of it, seeing that no
one heavy enough for such a trade has yet meddled with the matter. The
hunters have a good life-lease still of this wilderness." "So much the
better, so much the better, Hurry. If I was King of England, the man that
felled one of these trees without good occasion for the timber, should be
banished to a desarted and forlorn region, in which no fourfooted animal ever
trod. Right glad am I that Chingachgook app'inted our meeting on this lake,
for hitherto eye of mine never looked on such a glorious spectacle."
" That's because you've kept so much among the Delawares, in whose country
there are no lakes. Now, farther north and farther west these bits of water
abound; and you're young, and may yet live to see'em. But though there be
other lakes, Deerslayer, there's no other Judith Hutter !"
At this remark his companion smiled, and then he dropped his paddle into the
water, as if in consideration of a lover's haste. Both now pulled vigorously
until they got within a hundred yards of the "castle," as Hurry
familiarly called the house of Hutter, when they again ceased paddling; the
admirer of Judith restraining his impatience the more readily, as he
perceived that the building was untenanted, at the moment. This new pause was
to enable Deerslayer to survey the singular edifice, which was of a
construction so novel as to merit a particular description.
Muskrat Castle, as the house had been facetiously named by some waggish
officer, stood in the open lake, at a distance of fully a quarter of a mile
from the nearest shore. On every other side the water extended much farther,
the precise position being distant about two miles from the northern end of
the sheet, and near, if not quite, a mile from its eastern shore. As there
was not the smallest appearance of any island, but the house stood on piles,
with the water flowing beneath it, and Deerslayer had already discovered that
the lake was of a great depth, he was fain to ask an explanation of this
singular circumstance. Hurry solved the difficulty by telling him that on
this spot alone, a long, narrow shoal, which extended for a few hundred yards
in a north and south direction, rose within six or eight feet of the surface
of the lake, and that Hutter had driven piles into it, and placed his
habitation on them, for the purpose of security.
"The old fellow was burnt out three times, atween the Indians and the
hunters; and in one affray with the redskins he lost his only son, since
which time he has taken to the water for safety. No one can attack him here,
without coming in a boat, and the plunder and scalps would scarce be worth
the trouble of digging out canoes. Then it's by no means sartain which would
whip in such a scrimmage, for old Tom is well supplied with arms and
ammunition, and the castle, as you may see, is a tight breastwork agin light
shot."
Deerslayer had some theoretical knowledge of frontier warfare, though he had
never yet been called on to raise his hand in anger against a fellow-
creature. He saw that Hurry did not overrate the strength of this position
in a military point of view, since it would not be easy to attack it without
exposing the assailants to the fire of the be~
besieged A good deal of art had also been manifested in the disposition of
the timber of which the building was constructed and which afforded a
protection much greater than was usual to the ordinary log-cabins of the
frontier. The sides and ends were composed of the trunks of large
pines, cut about nine feet long, and placed upright, instead of being laid
horizontally, as was the practice of the country. These logs were squared on
three sides, and had large tenons on each end. Massive sills were secured on
the heads of the piles, with suitable grooves dug out of their upper
surfaces, which had been squared for the purpose, and the lower tenons of the
upright pieces were placed in these grooves, giving them secure fastening
below. Plates bad been laid on the upper ends of the upright logs, and were
kept in their places by a similar contrivance; the several corners of the
structure being well fastened by scarfing and pinning the sills and plates.
The doors were made of smaller logs, similarly squared, and the roof was
composed of light poles, firmly united, and well covered with bark. The
effect of this ingenious arrangement was to give its owner a house that could
be approached only by water, the sides of which were composed of logs closely
wedged together, which were two feet thick in their thinnest parts, and which
could be separated only by a deliberate and laborious use of human hands, or
by the slow operation of time. The outer surface of the building was rude and
uneven, the logs being of unequal sizes; but the squared surfaces within gave
both the sides and door as uniform an appearance as was desired, either for
use or show. The chimney was not the least singular portion of the castle,
as Hurry made his companion observe, while he explained the process by which
it had been made. The material was a stiff clay, properly worked, which had
been put together in a mould of sticks, and suffered to harden, a foot or two
at a time, commencing at the bottom. When the entire chimney had thus been
raised, and had been properly bound in with outward props, a brisk ~e was
kindled, and kept going until it was burned to something like a brick-red
This had not been an easy operation, nor had it succeeded entirely ; but by
dint of filling the cracks with fresh clay, a safe fireplace and chimney had
been obtained in the end. This part of the work stood on the log-door,
secured beneath by an extra pile. There were a few other peculiarities about
this dwelling, which will better appear in the course of the narrative.
"Old Tom is full of contrivances," added Hurry, " and he set his heart on
the success of his chimney, which threatened more than once to give out
altogether; but perseverance will even overcome smoke; and now he has a
comfortable cabin of it, though it did promise, at one time, to be a chinky
sort of a due to carry flames and fire." "You seem to know the whole history
of the castle, Hurry, chimney and sides," said Deerslayer, smiling; "is love
so overcoming that it causes a man to study the story of his sweetheart's
habitation ! "
"Partly that, lad, and partly eyesight," returned the good-natured giant,
laughing; " there was a large gang of us in the lake, the summer the old
fellow built, and we helped him along with the job. I raised no small part
of the weight of them uprights with my own shoulders, and the axes hew, I can
inform you, Master Natty, while we were bee-in it among the trees ashore.
The old de no way stingy about food, and as we had often eat at his hearth,
we thought we would just house him comfortably, afore we went to Albany with
our skins. Yes, many is the meal I've swallowed in Tom Hutter's cabins; and
Hetty, though so weak in the way of wits, has a wonderful particular way
about a frying-pan or a gridiron !
" While the parties were thus discoursing, the canoe had been gradually
drawing nearer to the "castle," and was now so close as to require but a
single stroke of a paddle to reach the landing. This was at a floored
platform in front of the entrance, that might have been some twenty feet
square.
"Old Tom calls this sort of a wharf his door-yard," observed Hurry, as he
fastened the canoe, after he and his Companion had left it: "and the gallants
from the forts have named it the castle court though what a 'court' can have
to do here is more than I can tell you, seeing that there is no law. Tis as I
supposed; not a soul within, but the whole family is off on a v'y'ge of
discovery ! " While Hurry was bustling about the "door-yard," examining the
fishing-spears, rods, nets, and other similar appliances of a frontier cabin,
Deerslayer, whose manner was altogether more rebuked and quiet, entered the
building with a curiosity that was not usually exhibited by one so long
trained in Indian habits. The interior of the "castle" was as faultlessly
neat as its exterior was novel. The entire space, some twenty feet by forty,
was subdivided into several small sleeping-rooms; the apartment into
which he first entered, serving equally for the ordinary uses of its inmates,
and for a kitchen. The furniture was of the strange mixture that it is not
uncommon to find in the remotely situated log-tenements of the interior. Most
of it was rude, and to the last degree rustic; but there was a clock, with a
handsome case of dark wood, in a corner, and two or three chairs, with a
table and bureau, that had evidently come from some dwelling of more than
usual pretension. The clock was industriously ticking, but its leaden-
looking hands did no discredit to their dull aspect, for they pointed to the
hour of eleven, though the sun plainly showed it was some time past the turn
of the day. There was also a dark, massive chest. The kitchen utensils were
of the simplest kind, and far from numerous, but every article was in its
place, and showed the nicest care in its condition.
After Deerslayer had cast a look about him in the outer room, he raised a
wooden latch, and entered a narrow passage that divided the inner end of the
house into two equal parts. Frontier usages being no way scrupulous, and his
curiosity being strongly excited, the young man now opened a door, and found
himself in a bedroom. A single glance sufficed to show that the apartment
belonged to females. The bed was of the feathers of wild geese, and filled
nearly to overflowing; but it lay in a rude bunk, raised only a foot from the
door. On one side of it were arranged, on pegs, various dresses, of a
quality much superior to what end one would expect to meet in such a place,
with ribbons and other similar articles to correspond. Pretty shoes, with
handsome silver buckles, such as were then worn by females in easy
circumstances, were not wanting; and no less than six fans, of gay colors,
were placed half open, in a way to catch the eye by their conceits and bees.
Even the pillow, on this side of the bed, was covered with finer linen than
its companion, and it was ornamented with a small ruffle. A cap, coquettishly
decorated with ribbons, hung above it, and a pair of long gloves, such as
were rarely used in those days by persons of the laboring classes, were
pinned ostentatiously to it, as if with an intention to exhibit them there,
if they could not be shown on the owner's arms.
All this Deerslayer saw, and noted' with a degree of minuteness that would
have done credit to the habitual observation of his Mends, the Delawares.
Nor did he fail to perceive the distinction that existed between the
appearances on the different sides of the bed, the head of which stood
against the wall. On that opposite to the one just described, everything was
homely and uninviting, except through its perfect neatness. The few garments
that were hanging from the pegs were of the coarsest materials and of the
commonest forms, while nothing seemed made for show. Of ribbons there was
not one; nor was there either cap or Kerchief beyond those which Hutter's
daughters might be fairly entitled to wear.
It was now several years since Deerslayer had been in a spot especially
devoted to the uses of females of his own color and race. The sight brought
back to his mind a rush of childish recollections; and he lingered in the
room with a tenderness of feeling to which he had long been a stranger. He
bethought him of his mother, whose homely vestments he remembered to have
seen hanging on pegs like those which he felt must belong to Hetty Hutter;
and he bethought himself of a sister, whose incipient and native taste for
finery had exhibited itself somewhat in the manner of that of Judith, though
necessarily in a less degree. These little resemblances opened a long hidden
vein of sensations; and as he quitted the room, it was with a saddened mien.
He looked no further, but returned slowly and thoughtfully towards the "
door-yard."
If Old Tom has taken to a new calling, and has been trying his hand at the
traps," cried Hurry, who had been coolly examining the borderer's implements;
"if that is his humor, and you're disposed to remain in these parts, we can
make an oncoming comfortable season of it; for, while the old man and I out-
knowledge the beaver, you can fish, and knock down the deer, to keep body and
soul together. I've always give the poorest hunters half a share, but one as
actyve and sartain as yourself might expect a full one." "Thank'ee, Hurry;
thank'ee, with all my heart--but I do a little beavering for myself as
occasions offer. 'Tie true, the Delawares call me Deerslayer, but it's not
so much
because I'm pretty fatal with the venison as because that while I kill so
many bucks and does, I've never yet taken the life of a fellow-creatur'. They
say their traditions do not tell of another who had shed so much blood of
animals that had not shed the blood of man.''
"I hope they don't account you chicken-hearted, lad! A faint-hearted man is
like a no-tailed beaver." "I don't believe, Hurry, that they account me as
out-of the-way timorsome, even though they may not account me as out-of-the-
way brave. But I'm not quarrelsome; and that goes a great way towards keeping
blood off the hands, among the hunters and redskins; and then, Harry March,
it keeps blood off the conscience, too."
"Well, for my part I account game, a redskin, and a Frenchman as pretty much
the same thing; though I'm as
onquarrelsome a man, too, as there is in all the colonies. I despise a
quarreller as I do a cur-dog; but one has no need to be over-scrupulsome when
it's the right time to show the flint."
'' I look upon him as the most of a man who acts nearest the right, Hurry.
But this is a glorious spot, and my eyes never a-weary looking at it !" Tis
your first acquaintance with a lake; and these ideas come over us all at such
times. Lakes have a gentle character, as I say, being pretty much water and
land, and points and bays."
As this definition by no means met the feelings that were uppermost in the
mind of the young hunter, he made no immediate answer, but stood gazing at
the dark hills and the glassy water in silent enjoyment.
"Have the Governor's or the King's people given this lake a name?" he
suddenly asked, as if struck with a new idea. " If they've not begun to blaze
their trees, and set up their compasses, and line off their maps, it's likely
they've not bethought them to disturb natur' with a name. "
''They've not got to that, yet; and the last time I went in with skins, one
of the King's surveyors was questioning me consarning all the region
hereabouts. He had heard that there was a lake in this quarter, and had got
some general notions about it, such as that there was water and hills; but
how much of either, he know'd no more than you know of the Mohawk tongue. I
did n't open the trap any wider than was necessary, giving him but poor
encouragement in the way of farms and clearings. In short, I left on his mind
some such opinion of this country, as a man gets of a spring of dirty water,
with a path to it that is so muddy that one mires afore he sets out. He told
me they had'n't got the spt down, yet on their maps, though I conclude that
is a mistake, for he showed me his parchment, and there is a lake donw on it,
where there is no lake in fact, and which is about fifty miles from the place
where it ought to be, if they meant it for this. I don't think any account
will encourage him to mark down another, by way of improvement."
Here Hurry laughed heartily, such tricks being particularly grateful to a
set of men who dreaded the approaches of civilization as a curtailment of
their own lawless empire. The egregious errors that existed in the maps of
the day, all of which were made in Europe, were, more~er, a standing topic of
ridicule among them; for, if they had not science enough to make any better
themselves, they had sufficient local information to detect the gross
blunders contained in those that existed. Any one who will take the trouble
to compare these unanswerable evidences of the topographical skill of our
fathers a century since, with the more accurate sketches of our own time,
will at once percieve that the men of the woods had a sufficient justifcation
for all their criticism on this branch of the skill of the colonial
governments, which did not at all hesitate to place a rivet or a lake a
degree or two out of the way, even though they lay within a day's march of
the inhabited parts of the Colony glad it has no name," resumed Deerslayer, "
or at least, no pale-face name; for their christenings always foretell waste
and destruction. No doubt, howsoever, the redskins have their modes of
knowing it, and the hunters and trappers, too; they are likely to call the
place by something reasonable and resembling."
' As for the tribes, each has its tongue, and its own way of calling things;
and they treat this part of the world just as they treat all others. Among
ourselves, we've got to calling the place the'Glimmerglass,' seeing that its
whole basin is so often hinged with pines, cast upward to its face as if it
would throw hack the hills that hang over it."
"There is an outlet, I know, for all lakes have outlets, and the rock at
which I am to meet Chingachgook stands near an outlet. Has that no colony-
name yet ?
" In that particular they've got the advantage of us, having one end, and
that the biggest, in their own keeping: they've given it a name which has
found its way up to its source; names nat'rally working up stream. No doubt,
Deerslayer, you've seen the Susquehannah, down in the Delaware country "
"That have I, and hunted along its banks a hundred
times. That and this are the same in fact, and, I suppose, the same in sound.
I am glad they've been compelled to keep the redmen's name, for it would be
too hard to rob them of both land and name I "
Deerslayer made no answer; but he stood leaning on his rifle, gazing at the
view which so much delighted him. The reader is not to suppose, however, that
it was the picturesque alone which so strongly attracted his attention.
The spot was very lovely, of a truth, and it was then seen in one of its most
favorable moments, the surface of the late being as smooth as glass and as
limpid as pure air, throwing back the mountains, clothed in dark pines, along
the whole of its eastern boundary, the points thrusting forward their trees
even to nearly horizontal lines, while the bays were seen glittering through
an occasional arch beneath, left by a vault fretted with branches and leaves.
It was the air of deep repose--the solitudes, that spoke of scenes and
forests untouched by the hands of man--the reign of nature, in a word, that
gave so much pure delight to one of his habits and turn of mind. Still, he
felt, though it was unconsciously, like a poet also. If he found a pleasure
in studying this large, and to him unusual opening into the mysteries and
forms of the woods, as one is gratified in getting broader views of any
subject that has long occupied his thoughts, he was not insensible to the
innate loveliness of such a landscape neither, but felt a portion of that
soothing of the spirit which is a common attendant of a scene so thoroughly
pervaded by the holy cairn of nature.
CHAPTER III.
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison?
And yet it irks me, the poor dappled foals,-
Being native burghers of this desert city,-
Should, in their own confines, with forked heads
Have their round haunches gored."
As You Like It, II.i.21-25
Hurry Harry thought more of the beauties of Judith Hutter than of those of
the Glimmerglass and its accompanying scenery. As soon as he had taken a
sufficiently intimate survey of floating Tom's implements, therefore, he
summoned his companion to the canoe, that they might go down the lake in
quest of the family. Previously to embarking, however, Hurry carefully
examined the whole of the northern end of the water with an indifferent
ship's glass, that formed a part of Hutter's effects. In this scrutiny, no
part of the shore was overlooked; the bays and points in particular being
subjected to a closer inquiry than the rest of the wooded boundary.
T'is as I thought," said Hurry, laying aside the glass, "the old fellow is
drifting about the south end this fine weather, and has left the castle to
defend itself. Well, now we know that he is not up this-a-way, 'twill be but
a small matter to paddle down and hunt him up in his hiding-place.
'Does Master Hutter think it necessary to burrow on this lake?" inquired
Deerslayer, as he followed his companion into the canoe; 'to my eye it is
such a solitude as one might open his whole soul in, and fear no one to
disarrange his thoughts or his worship."
'You forget your friends the Mingos, and all the French savages. Is there a
spot on 'arth, Deerslayer, to which them disquiet rogues don't go? Where is
the lake, or even the deer lick, that the blackguards don't find out, and
having found out, don't, sooner or later, discolour its water with blood.'
'I hear no good character of 'em, sartainly, friend Hurry, though I've never
been called on, yet, to meet them, r any other mortal, on the warpath. I dare
to say that such a lovely spot as this, would not be likely to be overlooked
by such plunderers, for, though I've not been in the way of quarreling with
them tribes myself, the Delawares give me such an account of 'em that I've
pretty much set 'em down in my own mind, as thorough miscreants."
"You may do that with a safe conscience, or for that matter, any other savage
you may happen to meet.:
Here Deerslayer protested, and as they went paddling down the lake, a hot
discussion was maintained concerning the respective merits of the pale-faces
and the redskins. Hurry had all the prejudices and antipathies of a white
hunter, who generally regards the Indian as a sort of natural competitor, and
not unfrequently as a natural enemy. As a matter of course, he was loud,
clamorous, dogmatical and not ver argumentative. Deerslayer, on the other
hand, manifested a very different temper, proving by the moderation of his
language, the fairness of his views, and the simplicityof his distinctions,
that he possessed every disposition to hear reason, a strong, innate desire
to dojustice, and an ingenuousness that was singularly indisposed to have
recourse to sophism to maintain an argument; or to defend a prejudice. Still
he was not altogether free from the influence of the latter feeling. This
tyrant of the human mind, which ruses on it prey through a thousand avenues,
almost as soon as men begint to think and feel, and which seldom relinquishes
its iron sway until they cease to do either, had made some impression on even
the just propensities of this individual, who probably offered in these
particulars, a fair specimen of what absence from bad example, the want of
temptation to go wrong, and native good feeling can render youth.
"You will allow, Deerslayer, that a Mingo is more than half devil," cried
Hurry, following up the discussion with an animation that touched closely on
ferocity, "though you want to over-persuade me that the Delaware tribe is
pretty much made up of angels. Now, I gainsay that proposal, consarning white
men, even. All white men are not faultless, and therefore all Indians can't
be faultless. And so your argument is out at the elbow in the start. But this
is what I call reason. Here 's three colors on 'arth: white, black, and red.
White is the highest color, and therefore the best man; black comes next, and
is put to live in the neighborhood of the white man, as tolerable, and fit to
be made use of; and red comes last, which shows that those that made 'em
never expected an Indian to be accounted as more than half human."
"God made all three alike, Hurry."
"Alike! Do you call a nigger like a white man, or me like an Indian?"
"You go off at half-cock, and don't hear me out. God made us all, white,
black, and red; and, no doubt, had his own wise intentions in coloring us
differently. Still, he made us, in the main, much the same in feelin's;
though I'll not deny that he gave each race its gifts. A white man s gifts
are Christianized, while a redskin's are more for the wilderness. Thus, it
would be a great offence for a white man to scalp the dead; whereas it 's a
signal vartue in an Indian. Then ag'in, a white man cannot amboosh women and
children in war, while a redskin may. 'T is cruel work, I '11 allow; but for
them it 's lawful work; while for us, it would be grievous work."
"That depends on your inimy. As for scalping, or even skinning a savage, I
look upon them pretty much the same as cutting off the ears of wolves for the
bounty, or stripping a bear of its hide. And then you 're out significantly,
as to taking the poll of a redskin in hand, seeing that the very colony has
offered a bounty for the job; all the same as it pays for wolves' ears and
crows' heads."
"Ay, and a bad business it is, Hurry. Even the Indians themselves cry shame
on it, seeing it's ag'in a white man's gifts. I do not pretend that all that
white men do, is properly Christianized, and according to the lights given
them, for then they would be what they ought to be; which we know they are
not; but I will maintain that tradition, and use, and color, and laws, make
such a difference in races as to amount to gifts. I do not deny that there
are tribes among the Indians that are nat'rally pervarse and wicked, as there
are nations among the whites. Now, I account the Mingos as belonging to the
first, and the Frenchers, in the Canadas, to the last. In a state of lawful
warfare, such as we have lately got into, it is a duty to keep down all
compassionate feelin's, so far as life goes, ag'in either; but when it comes
to scalps, it '5 a very different matter."
"Just hearken to reason, if you please, Deerslayer, and tell me if the colony
can make an onlawful law? Isn't an onlawful law more ag'in natur' than
scalpin' a savage? A law can no more be onlawful, than truth can be a lie."
"That sounds reasonable; but it has a most onreasonable bearing, Hurry. Laws
don't all come from the same quarter. God has given us his 'n, and some come
from the colony, and others come from the King and Parliament. When the
colony's laws, or even the King's laws, run ag'in the laws of God, they get
to be onlawful, and ought not to be obeyed. I hold to a white man's
respecting white laws, so long as they do not cross the track of a law comm'
from a higher authority; and for a redman to obey his own redskin usages,
under the same privilege. But, 't is useless talking, as each man will think
fir himself, and have his say agreeable to his thoughts. Let us keep a good
lookout for your friend Floating Tom, lest we pass him, as he lies hidden
under this bushy shore."
Deerslayer had not named the borders of the lake amiss. Along their whole
length, the smaller trees overhung the water, with their branches often
dipping in the transparent element The banks were steep, even from the narrow
ple, the want of temptation to go wrong, and native good feeling, can render
youth.
"You will allow, Deerslayer, that a Mingo is more than half devil," cried
Hurry, following up the discussion with an animation that touched closely on
ferocity, "though you want to over-persuade me that the Delaware tribe is
pretty much made up of angels. Now, I gainsay that proposal, consarning white
men, even. All white men are not faultless, and therefore all Indians can't
be faultless. And so your argument is out at the elbow in the start. But this
is what I call reason. Here 's three colors on 'arth: white, black, and red.
White is the highest color, and therefore the best man; black comes next, and
is put to live in the neighborhood of the white man, as tolerable, and fit to
be made use of; and red comes last, which shows that those that made 'em
never expected an Indian to be accounted as more than half human."
"God made all three alike, Hurry."
"Alike! Do you call a nigger like a white man, or me like an Indian?"
"You go off at half-cock, and don't hear me out. God made us all, white,
black, and red; and, no doubt, had his own wise intentions in coloring us
differently. Still, he made us, in the main, much the same in feelin's;
though I'll not deny that he gave each race its gifts. A white man s gifts
are Christianized, while a redskin's are more for the wilderness. Thus, it
would be a great offence for a white man to scalp the dead; whereas it 's a
signal vartue in an Indian. Then ag'in, a white man cannot amboosh women and
children in war, while a redskin may. 'T is cruel work, I '11 allow; but for
them it 's lawful work; while for us, it would be grievous work."
"That depends on your inimy. As for scalping, or even skinning a savage, I
look upon them pretty much the same as cutting off the ears of wolves for the
bounty, or stripping a bear of its hide. And then you 're out significantly,
as to taking the poll of a redskin in hand, seeing that the very colony has
offered a bounty for the job; all the same as it pays for wolves' ears and
crows' heads."
"Ay, and a bad business it is, Hurry. Even the Indians themselves cry shame
on it, seeing it 's ag'in a white man's gifts. I do not pretend that all that
white men do, is properly Christianized, and according to the lights given
them, for then they would be what they ought to be; which we know they are
not; but I will maintain that tradition, and use, and color, and laws, make
such a difference in races as to amount to gifts. I do not deny that there
are tribes among the Indians that are nat'rally pervarse and wicked, as there
are nations among the whites. Now, I account the Mingos as belonging to the
first, and the Frenchers, in the Canadas, to the last. In a state of lawful
warfare, such as we have lately got into, it is a duty to keep down all
compassionate feelin's, so far as life goes, ag'in either; but when it comes
to scalps, it 's a very different matter."
"Just hearken to reason, if you please, Deerslayer, and tell me if the colony
can make an onlawful law? Isn't an onlawful law more ag'in natur' than
scalpin' a savage? A law can no more be onlawful, than truth can be a lie."
"That sounds reasonable; but it has a most onreasonable bearing, Hurry. Laws
don't all come from the same quarter. God has given us his 'n, and some come
from the colony, and others come from the King and Parliament. When the
colony's laws, or even the King's laws, run ag'in the laws of God they get to
be strand; and, as vegetation invariably struggles towards the light, the
effect was precisely that at which the lover of the picturesque would have
aimed, had the ordering of this glorious setting of forest been submitted to
his control. The points and bays, too, were sufficiently numerous to render
the outline broken and diversified. As the canoe kept close along the western
side of the lake, with a view, as Hurry had explained to his companion, of
reconnoitring for enemies, before he trusted himself too openly in sight,
the expectations of the two adventurers were kept constantly on the stretch,
as neither could foretell what the next turning of a point might reveal.
Their progress was swift, the gigantic strength of Hurry enabling him to play
with the light bark as if it had been a feather, while the skill of his
companion almost equalized their usefulness, notwithstanding the disparity
in natural means.
Each time the canoe passed a point, Hurry turned a look behind him, expecting
to see the "ark" anchored, or beached in the bay. He was fated to be
disappointed, however; and they had got within a mile of the southern end of
the lake, or a distance of quite two leagues from the "castle," which was now
hidden from view by half a dozen intervening projections of the land, when he
suddenly ceased paddling, as if uncertain in what direction next to steer.
"It is possible that the old chap has dropped into the river," said Hurry,
after looking carefully along the whole of the eastern shore, which was about
a mile distant, and open to his scrutiny for more than half its length; "for
he has taken to trapping considerable, of late, and, barring flood-wood, he
might drop down it a mile or so; though he would have a most scratching time
in getting back again I"
"Where is this outlet?" asked Deerslayer; "I see no opening in the banks or
the trees, that looks as if it would let a river like the Susquehannah run
through it."
"Ay, Deerslayer, rivers are like human mortals; having small beginnings, and
ending with broad shoulders and vide mouths. You don't see the outlet,
because it passes atween high. steep banks; and the pines, and hemlocks and
bass-woods hang over it, as a roof hangs over a house. [f old Tom is not in
the 'Rat's Cove,' he must have burrowed in the river ; we '11 look for him
first in the cove, and hen we '11 cross to the outlet."
As they proceeded, Hurry explained that there was a shallow bay, formed by a
long, low point, that had got the name of the "Rat's Cove," from the
circumstance of its being a favorite haunt of the muskrat; and which offered
so complete a cover for the "ark," that its owner was fond f lying in it,
whenever he found it convenient.
"As a man never knows who may be his visitors, in this part of the country,"
continued Hurry, "it 's a great advantage to get a good look at 'em afore
they come too near. Now it 's war, such caution is more than commonly useful,
since a Canada man or a Mingo might get into his hut afore he invited 'em.
But Hutter is a first-rate look-outer, and can pretty much scent danger, as a
hound scents the deer."
"I should think the castle so open, that it would be sartain to draw
inimies, if any happened to find the lake; a thing onlikely enough, I will
allow, as it 's off the trail of the forts and settlements."
"Why, Deerslayer, I'ye got to believe that a man meets with inimies easier
than he meets with fri'nds. It 's skearful to think for how many causes one
gets to be your inimy, and for how few your fri'nd. Some take up the hatchet
because you don't think just as they think; other some because you run ahead
of 'em in the same idees; and I once know'd a vagabond that quarrelled with a
fri'nd because he did n't think him handsome. Now, you 're no monument in the
way of beauty, yourself, Deerslayer, and yet you would n't be so onreasonable
as to become my inimy for just saying so."
"I'm as the Lord made me; and I wish to be accounted no better, nor any
worse. Good looks I may not have; that is to say, to a degree that the light-
minded and vain crave; but I hope I 'm not altogether without some ricommend
in the way of good conduct. There '5 few nobler looking men to be seen than
yourself, Hurry; and I know that I am not to expect any to turn their eyes on
me, when such a one as you can be gazed on; but I do not know that a hunter
is less expart with the rifle, or less to be relied on for food, because he
does n't wish to stop at every shining spring he may meet, to study his own
countenance in the water."
Here Hurry burst into a fit of loud laughter; for while he was too reckless
to care much about his own manifest physical superiority, he was well aware
of it, and, like most men who derive an advantage from the accidents of birth
or nature, he was apt to think complacently on the subject, whenever it
happened to cross his mind.
"No, no, Deerslayer, you 're no beauty, as you will own yourself, if you '11
look over the side of the canoe," he cried; "Jude will say that to your face,
if you start her, for a parter tongue is n't to be found in any gal's head,
in or out of the settlements, if you provoke her to use it. My advice to you
is, never to aggravate Judith; though you may tell anything to Hetty, and
she'll take it as meek as a lamb. No, Jude will be just as like as not to
tell you her opinion consarning your looks."
"And if she does, Hurry, she will tell me no more than you have said already-
"
"You're not thick'ning up about a small remark, I hope, Deerslayer, when no
harm is meant. You are not a beauty, as you must know, and why should n't
fri'nds tell each other these little trifles? If you was handsome, or ever
like to be, I 'd be one of the first to tell you of it; and that ought to
content you. Now, if Jude was to tell me that I 'm as ugly as a sinner, I 'd
take it as a sort of obligation, and try not to believe her."
"It's easy for them that natur' has favored, to jest about such matters,
Hurry, though it is sometimes hard for others. I 11 not deny but I 've had my
cravings towards good looks; yes, I have; but then I 've always been able to
get them down by considering how many I 've known with fair outsides, who
have had nothing to boast of inwardly. I '11 not deny, Hurry, that I often
wish I 'd been created more comely to the eye, and more like such a one as
yourself in
them particulars; but then I get the feelin' under by remembering how much
better off I am, in a great many respects, than some fellow-mortals. I might
have been born lame, and onfit even for a squirrel-hunt, or blind, which
would have made me a burden on myself as well as on my fri'nds; or without
hearing, which would have totally onqualified me for ever campaigning or
scouting; which I look forward to as part of a man's duty in troublesome
times. Yes, yes; it 's not pleasant, I will allow, to see them that 's more
comely, and more sought a'ter, and honored than yourself; but it may all be
borne, if a man looks the evil in the face, and don't mistake his gifts and
his obligations."
Hurry, in the main, was a good-hearted as well as good-natured fellow; and
the self-abasement of his companion completely got the better of the passing
feeling of personal vanity. He regretted the allusion he had made to the
other's appearance, and endeavored to express as much, though it was done in
the uncouth manner that belonged to the habits and opinions of the frontier.
"I meant no harm, Deerslayer," he answered, in a deprecating manner, "and
hope you '11 forget what I 've said. If you 're not downright handsome, you
've a sartain look that says, plainer than any words, that all 's right
within. Then you set no valie by looks, and will the sooner forgive any
little slight to your appearance. I will not say that Jude will greatly
admire you, for that might raise hopes that would only breed disapp' intment;
but there! s Hetty, now, would be just as likely to find satisfaction in
looking at you, as in looking at any other man. Then you 're altogether too
grave and considerate-like, to care much about Judith; for, though the gal is
oncommon, she is so general in her admiration, that a man need not be exalted
because she happens to smile. I sometimes think the hussy loves herself
better than she does anything else breathin'
"If she did, Hurry, she'd do no more, I'm afeard, than most queens on their
thrones, and ladies in the towns, answered Deerslayer, smiling, and turning
back towards his companion with every trace of feeling banished from
his honest-looking and frank countenance. "I never yet know' d even a
Delaware of whom you might not say that much. But here is the end of the long
p'int you men tioned, and the 'Rat's Cove' can't be far off."
This point, instead of thrusting itself forward, like all the others, ran in
a line with the main shore of the lake, which here swept within it, in a deep
and retired bay, circling round south again, at the distance of a quarter of
a mile, and crossed the valley, forming the southern termination of the
water. In this bay Hurry felt almost certain of finding the ark, since,
anchored behind the trees that covered the narrow strip of the point, it
might have lain concealed from prying eyes an entire summer. So complete,
indeed, was the cover, in this spot, that a boat hauled close to the beach,
within the point, and near the bottom of the bay, could by any possibility be
seen from only one direction; and that was from a densely wooded shore within
the sweep of the water, where strangers would be little apt to go.
"We shall soon see the ark," said Hurry, as the canoe glided round the
extremity of the point, where the water was so deep as actually to appear
black; " he loves to burrow up among the rushes, and we shall be in his nest
in five minutes, although the old fellow may be off among the traps himself."
March proved a false prophet. The canoe completely doubled the point, so as
to enable the two travellers to command a view of the whole cove or bay, for
it was more properly the last, and no object, but those that nature had
placed there, became visible. The placid water swept round in a graceful
curve, the rushes bent gently towards its surface, and the trees overhung it
as usual; but all lay in the soothing and sublime solitude of a wilderness.
The scene was such as a poet or an artist would have delighted in, but it had
no charm for Hurry Harry, who was burning with impatience to get a sight of
his light-minded beauty.
The motion of the canoe had been attended with little or no noise, the
frontiermen habitually getting accustomed to caution in most of their
movements, and it now lay on the glassy water appearing to float in air,
partaking of the breathing stillness that seemed to pervade the entire scene.
At this instant a dry stick was heard cracking on the narrow strip of land
that concealed the bay from the open lake. Both the adventurers started, and
each extended a hand towards his rifle, the weapon never being out of reach
of the arm.
"'Twas too heavy for any light creatur'," whispered Hurry, "and it sounded
like the tread of a man!"
"Not so-not so," returned Deerslayer; "'t was, as you say, too heavy for one,
but it was too light for the other. Put your paddle in the water, and send
the canoe in, to that log; I 'll land and cut off the creatur's retreat up
the p'int, be it a Mingo, or be it a muskrat."
As Hurry complied, Deerslayer was soon on the shore, advancing into the
thicket with a moccasined foot, and a caution that prevented the least noise.
In a minute he was in the centre of the narrow strip of land, and moving
slowly down towards its end, the bushes rendering extreme watchfulness
necessary. Just as be reached the centre of the thicket the dried twigs
cracked again, and the noise was repeated at short intervals, as if some
creature having life walked slowly towards the point. Hurry heard these
sounds also, and pushing the canoe off into the bay, he seized his rifle to
watch the result. A breathless minute succeeded, after which a noble buck
walked out of the thicket, proceeded with a stately step to the sandy
extremity of the point, and began to slake his thirst from the water of the
lake. Hurry hesitated an instant; then raising his rifle hastily to his
shoulder, he took sight and fired. The effect of this sudden interruption of
the solemn stillness of such a scene was not its least striking peculiarity.
The report of the weapon had the usual sharp, short sound of the rifle: but
when a few moments of silence had succeeded the sudden crack, during which
the noise was floating in air across the water, it reached the rocks of the
opposite mountain, where the vibrations accumulated, and were rolled from
cavity to cavity for miles along the hills, seeming to awaken the sleeping
thunders of the woods. The buck merely shook his head at the report of the
rifle and the whistling of the bullet, for never before had he come in
contact with man; but the echoes of the hills awakened his distrust, and
leaping forward, with his four legs drawn under his body, he fell at once
into deep water, and began to swim towards the foot of the lake. Hurry
shouted and dashed forward in chase, and for one or two minutes the water
foamed around the pursuer and the pursued. The former was dashing past the
point, when Deerslayer appeared on the sand and signed to him to return.
"'Twas inconsiderate to pull a trigger, afore we had re conn'itred the shore,
and made sartain that no inimies harbored near it," said the latter, as his
companion slowly and reluctantly complied. "This much I have l'arned from the
Delawares, in the way of schooling and traditions, even though I've never yet
been on a war-path. And, moreover, venison can hardly be called in season
now, and we do not want for food. They call me Deerslayer, I'll own, and
perhaps I desarve the name, in the way of understanding the creatur's habits,
as well as for some sartainty in the aim, but they can't accuse me of killing
an animal when there is no occasion for the meat, or the skin. I may be a
slayer, it's true, but I'm no slaughterer."
"'Twas an awful mistake to miss that buck!" exclaimed Hurry, doffing his cap
and running his fingers through his handsome but matted curls, as if he would
loosen his tangled ideas by the process. "I've not done so onhandy a thing
since I was fifteen."
"Never lament it, as the creatur's death could have done neither of us any
good, and might have done us harm. Them echoes are more awful in my ears,
than your mistake, Hurry, for they sound like the voice of natur' calling out
ag'in a wasteful and onthinking action."
"You'll hear plenty of such calls, if you tarry long in this quarter of the
world, lad," returned the other laughing. "The echoes repeat pretty much all
that is said or done on the Glimmerglass, in this calm summer weather. If a
paddle falls
you hear of it sometimes, ag'in and ag'in, as if the hills were mocking your
clumsiness, and a laugh, or a whistle, comes out of them pines, when they're
in the humour to speak, in a way to make you believe they can r'ally
convarse."
"So much the more reason for being prudent and silent. I do not think the
inimy can have found their way into these hills yet, for I do'nt know what
they are to gain by it, but all the Delawares tell me that, as courage is a
warrior's first varme, so is prudence his second. One such call from the moun
tains, is enough to let a whole tribe into the secret of our arrival."
"If it does no other good, it will warn old Tom to put the pot over, and let
him know visiters are at hand. Come, lad; get into the canoe, and we will
hunt the ark up, while there is yet day."
Deerslayer complied, and the canoe left the spot. Its head was turned
diagonally across the lake, pointing towards the south-eastern curvature of
the sheet. In that direction, the dis tance to the shore, or to the
termination of the lake, on the course the two were now steering, was not
quite a mile, and, their progress being always swift, it was fast lessening
under the skilful, but easy sweeps of the paddles. When about half way
across, a slight noise drew the eyes of the men towards the nearest land, and
they saw that the buck was just emerg ing from the lake and wading towards
the beach. In a minute, the noble animal shook the water from his flanks,
gazed up ward at the covering of trees, and, bounding against the bank,
plunged into the forest.
"That creatur' goes off with gratitude in his heart," said Deerslayer, "for
natur' tells him he has escaped a great dan ger. You ought to have some of
the same feelin's, Hurry, to think your eye was'n't true, or that your hand
was onsteady, when no good could come of a shot that was intended on
meaningly rather than in reason."
"I deny the eye and the hand," cried March with some heat. "You've got a
little character, down among the Delawares, there, for quickness and
sartainty, at a deer, but I should like to see you behind one of them pines,
and a full painted Mingo behind another, each with a cock'd rifle and
astriving for the chance! Them's the situations, Nathaniel, to try the sight
and the hand, for they begin with trying the narves. I never look upon
killing a creatur' as an explite; but killing a savage is. The time will come
to try your hand, now we've got to blows ag'in, and we shall soon know what a
ven'son reputation can do in the field. I deny that either hand or eye was
onsteady; it was all a miscalculation of the buck, which stood still when he
ought to have kept in motion, and so I shot ahead of him."
"Have it your own way, Hurry; all I contend for is, that it 's lucky. I dare
say I shall not pull upon a human mortal as steadily or with as light a
heart, as I pull upon a deer."
"Who 's talking of mortals, or of human beings at all, Deerslayer? I put the
matter to you on the supposition of an Injin. I dare say any man would have
his feelin's when it got to be life or death, ag'in another human mortal; but
there would be no such scruples in regard to an Inj in; nothing but the
chance of his hitting you, or the chance of your hitting him."
"I look upon the redmen to be quite as human as we are ourselves, Hurry. They
have their gifts, and their religion, it's true; but that makes no difference
in the end, when each will be judged according to his deeds, and not
according to his skin."
"That 's downright missionary, and will find little favor up in this part of
the country, where the Moravians don't congregate. Now, skin makes the man.
This is reason; else how are people to judge of each other. The skin is put
on, over all, in order when a creatur', or a mortal, is fairly seen, you may
know at once what to make of him. You know a bear from a hog, by his skin,
and a gray squirrel from a black."
"True, Hurry," said the other looking back and smiling, "nevertheless, they
are both squirrels."
"Who denies it? But you '11 not say that a redman and a white man are both
Injins?"
" but I do say they are both men. Men of different races and colors, and
having different gifts and traditions, but, in the main, with the same
natur'. Both have souls; and both will be held accountable for their deeds in
this life."
Hurry was one of those theorists who believed in the inferiority of all the
human race who were not white. His notions on the subject were not very
clear, nor were his definitions at all well settled; but his opinions were
none the less dogmatical or fierce. His conscience accused him of sundry
lawless acts against the Indians, and he had found it an exceedingly easy
mode of quieting it, by putting the whole family of redmen, incontinently,
without the category of human rights. Nothing angered him sooner than to deny
his proposition, more especially if the denial were accompanied by a show of
plausible argument; and he did not listen to his companion's remarks with
much composure of either manner or feeling.
"You're a boy, Deerslayer, misled and misconsaited by Delaware arts, and
missionary ignorance," he exclaimed, with his usual indifference to the forms
of speech, when excited. " You may account yourself as a redskin's brother,
but I hold 'em all to be animals; with nothing human about 'em but cunning.
That they have, I '11 allow:but so has a fox, or even a bear. I 'm older than
you, and have lived longer in the woods-or, for that matter, have lived
always there, and am not to be told what an Injin is or what he is not. If
you wish to be considered a savage, you 've only to say so, and I '11 name
you as such to Judith and the old man, and then we '11 see how you '11 like
your welcome."
Here Hurry's imagination did his temper some service, since, by conjuring up
the reception his semi-aquatic acquaintance would be likely to bestow on one
thus introduced, he burst into a hearty fit of laughter. Deerslayer too well
knew the uselessness of attempting to convince such a being of anything
against his prejudices, to feel a desire to undertake the task; and he was
not sorry that the approach of the canoe to the southeastern curve of the
lake gave a new direction to his ideas. They were now, indeed. quite near the
place that March had pointed out for the position of the outlet, and both
began to look for it with,a curiosity that was increased by the expectation
of the ark.
It may strike the reader as a little singular, that the place where a stream
of any size passed through banks that had an elevation of some twenty feet,
should be a matter of doubt with men who could not now have been more than
two hundred yards distant from the precise spot. It will be recollected,
however, that the trees and bushes here, as elsewhere, fairly overhung the
water, making such a fringe to the lake, as to conceal any little variations
from its genera] outline.
"I've not been down at this end of the lake these two summers," said Hurry,
standing up in the canoe, the better to look about him. "Ay, there 's the
rock, showing its chin above the water, and I know that the river begins in
its neighborhood."
The men now plied the paddles again, and they were presently within a few
yards of the rock, floating towards it, though their efforts were suspended.
This rock was not large, being merely some five or six feet high, only half
of which elevation rose above the lake. The incessant washing of the water
for centuries had so rounded its summit, that it resembled a large beehive in
shape, its form being more than usually regular and even. Hurry remarked, as
they floated slowly past, that this rock was well known to all the Indians in
that part of the country, and that they were in the practice of using it as a
mark to designate the place of meeting, when separated by their hunts and
marches.
"And here is the river, Deerslayer," he continued, "though so shut in by
trees and bushes as to look more like an and-bush, than the outlet of such a
sheet as the Glimmerglass."
Hurry had not badly described the place, which did truly seem to be a stream
lying in ambush. The high banks might have been a hundred feet asunder; but,
on the western side, a small bit of low land extended so far forward as to
diminish the breadth of the stream to half that width
As the bushes hung in the water beneath, and pines that had the stature of
church-steeples, rose in tall columns above, all inclining towards the light,
until their branches intermingled, the eye, at a little distance, could not
easily detect any opening in the shore, to mark the egress of the water. In
the forest above, no traces of this outlet were to be seen from the lake, the
whole presenting the same connected and seemingly interminable carpet of
leaves. As the canoe slowly advanced, sucked in by the current, it entered
beneath an arch of trees, through which the light from the heavens struggled
by casual openings, faintly relieving the gloom beneath.
"This is a nat'ral and-bush," half whispered Hurry, as if he felt that the
place was devoted to secresy and watchfulness; "depend on it, old Tom has
burrowed with the ark somewhere in this quarter. We will drop down with the
current a short distance, and ferret him out."
"This seems no place for a vessel of any size," returned the other; "it
appears to me that we shall have hardly room enough for the canoe."
Hurry laughed at the suggestion, and, as it soon appeared, with reason; for
the fringe of bushes immediately on the shore of the lake was no sooner
passed, than the adventurers found themselves in a narrow stream, of a
sufficient depth of limpid water, with a strong current, and a canopy of
leaves upheld by arches composed of the limbs of hoary trees. Bushes lined
the shores, as usual, but they left sufficient space between them to admit
the passage of anything that did not exceed twenty feet in width, and to
allow of a perspective ahead of eight or ten times that distance.
Neither of our two adventurers used his paddle, except to keep the light bark
in the centre of the current, but both watched each turning of the stream, of
which there were two or three within the first hundred yards, with jealous
vigilance. Turn after turn, however, was passed, and the canoe had dropped
down with the current some little distance, when Hurry caught a bush, and
arrested its move~ ment so suddenly and silently as to denote some unusual
motive for the act. Deerslayer laid his hand on the stock of his rifle as
soon as he noted this proceeding, but it was quite as much with a hunter's
habit as from any feeling of alarm.
"There the old fellow is!" whispered Hurry, pointing with a finger, and
laughing heartily, though he carefully avoided making a noise, "ratting it
away, just as I supposed; up to his knees in the mud and water, looking to
the traps and the bait. But for the life of me I can see nothing of the ark;
though I '11 bet every skin I take this season, Jude is n't trusting her
pretty little feet in the neighborhood of that black mud. The gal's more
likely to be braiding her hair by the side of some spring, where she can see
her own good looks, and collect scornful feelings ag'in us men."
"You over-judge young women-yes, you do, Hurry- who as often bethink them of
their failings as they do of their perfections. I dare to say this Judith,
now, is no such admirer of herself, and no such scorner of our sex as you
seem to. think; and that she is quite as likely to be sarving her father in
the house, wherever that may be, as he is to be sarving her among the traps."
"It's a pleasure to hear truth from a man's tongue, if it be only once in a
girl's life," cried a pleasant, rich, and yet soft female voice, so near the
canoe as to make both the listeners start. "As for you, Master Hurry, fair
words are so apt to choke you, that I no longer expect to hear them from your
mouth; the last you uttered sticking in your throat, and coming near to
death. But I 'm glad to see you keep better society than formerly, and that
they who know how to esteem and treat women are not ashamed to journey in
your company."
As this was said, a singularly handsome and youthful female face was thrust
through an opening in the leaves, within reach of Deerslayer's paddle. Its
owner smiled graciously on the young man; and the frown that she cast on
Hurry, though simulated and pettish, had the effect to render her beauty more
striking, by exhibiting the play of an expressive but capricious countenance;
one that seemed to change from the soft to the severe, the mirthful to the
reproving, with facility and indifference.
A second look explained the nature of the surprise. Unwittingly, the men had
dropped alongside of the ark, which had been purposely concealed in bushes
cut and arranged for the purpose; and Judith Hutter had merely pushed aside
the leaves that lay before a window, in order to show her face, and speak to
them.
Chapter IV.
"And that timid fawn starts not with fear,
When I steal to her secret bower;
And that young May violet to me is dear,
And I visit the silent streamlet near,
To look on the lovely flower."
Bryant, "An Indian Story," ii.11-15
The ark, as the floating habitation of the Hutters was generally called, was
a very simple contrivance. A large flat, or scow, composed the buoyant part
of the vessel; and in its centre, occupying the whole of its breadth, and
about two thirds of its length, stood a low fabric, resembling the castle in
construction, though made of materials so light as barely to be bullet-
proof. As the sides of the scow were a little higher than usual, and the
interior of the cabin had no more elevation than was necessary for comfort,
this unusual addition had neither a very clumsy nor a very obtrusive
appearance. It was, in short, little more than a modern canal-boat. though
more rudely constructed, of greater breadth than common, and bearing about it
the signs of the wilderness, in its bark-covered posts and roof. The scow,
however, had been put together with some skill, being comparatively light,
for its strength, and sufficiently manageable. The cabin was divided into two
apartments, one of which served for a parlor, and the sleeping-room of the
father, and the other was appropriated to the uses of the daughters. A very
simple arrangement sufficed for the kitchen, which was in one end of the
scow, and removed from the cabin, standing in the open air; the ark being
altogether a summer habitation.
The "and-bush," as Hurry in his ignorance of English termed it, is quite as
easily explained. In many parts of the lake and river, where the banks were
steep and high, the smaller trees and larger bushes, as has been already
mentioned, fairly overhung the stream, their branches not unfrequently
dipping into the water. In some instances they grew out in nearly horizontal
lines, for thirty or forty feet. The water being uniformly deepest near the
shores, where the banks were highest and the nearest to a perpendicular,
Hutter had found no difficulty in letting the ark drop under one of these
covers, where it had been anchored with a view to conceal its position;
security requiring some such precautions, in his view of the case. Once
beneath the trees and bushes, a few stones fastened to the ends of me
branches had caused them to bend sufficiently to dip into the river; and a
few severed bushes, properly disposed, did the rest. The reader has seen that
this cover was so complete as to deceive two men accustomed to the woods,
and who were actually in search of those it concealed; a circumstance that
will be easily understood by those who are familiar with the matted and wild
luxuriance of a virgin American forest, more especially in a rich soil. The
discovery of the ark produced very different effects on our two adventurers.
As soon as the canoe could be got round to the proper opening, Hurry leaped
on board, and in a minute was closely engaged in a gay, and a sort of
recriminating discourse with Judith, apparently forgetful of the existence of
all the rest of the world. Not so with Deerslayer. He entered the ark with a
slow, cautious step, examining every arrangement of the cover with curious
and scrutinizing eyes. It is true, he cast one admiring glance at Judith,
which was extorted by her brilliant and singular beauty; but even this could
detain him but a single instant from the indulgence of his interest in
Hutter's contrivances. Step by step did he look into the construction of the
singular abode, investigate its fastenings and strength, ascertain its means
of defence, and make every inquiry that would be likely to and make every
inquiry that would be likely tof occur to one whose thoughts dwelt
principally on such expedients. Nor was .the cover neglected. Of this he
examined the whole minutely, his commendation escaping him more than once in
audible comments. Frontier usages admitting of this familiarity, he passed
through the rooms, as he had previously done at the 'Castle', and opening a
door issued into the end of the scow opposite to that where he had left Hurry
and Judith. Here he found the other sister, employed at some coarse needle-
work, seated beneath the leafy canopy of the cover.
As Deerslayer's examination was by this time ended, he dropped the butt of
his rifle, and, leaning on the barrel, with both hands, he turned towards the
girl with an interest the singular beauty of her sister had not awakened. He
had gathered from Hurry's remarks that Hetty was considered to have less
intellect than ordinarily falls to the share of human beings, and his
education among Indians had taught him to treat those who were thus afflicted
by Providence, with more than common tenderness. Nor was there any thing in
Hetty Hurter's appearance, as so often happens, to weaken the interest her
situation excited. An idiot she could not properly be termed, her mind being
just enough enfeebled to lose most of those traits that are connected with
the more artful qualities, and to retain its ingenuousness and love of truth.
It had often been remarked of this girl, by the few who had seen her, and who
possessed sufficient knowledge to discriminate, that her perception of the
right seemed almost intuitive, while her aversion to the wrong formed so
distinctive a feature of her mind, as to surround her with an atmosphere of
pure morality; peculiarities that are not infrequent with persons who are
termed feeble-minded; as if God had forbidden the evil spirits to invade a
precinct so defenceless, with the benign purpose of extending a direct
protection to those, who had been left without the usual aids of humanity.
Her person, too, was agreeable, having a strong resemblance to that of her
sister's, of which it was a subdued and humble copy. If it had none of the
brilliancy of Judith's, the calm, quiet, almost holy expression of her meek
countenance, seldom failed to win on the observer, and few noted it long,
that did not begin to feel a deep and lasting interest in the girl. She had
no colour, in common, nor was her simple mind apt to present images that
caused her cheek to brighten, though she retained a modesty so innate, that
it almost raised her to the unsuspecting purity of a being superior to human
infirmities. Guileless, innocent, and without distrust, equally by nature and
from her mode of life, providence had, nevertheless, shielded her from harm,
by a halo of moral light, as it is said 'to temper the wind to the shorn
lamb.'
"You are Hetty Hutter said Deerslayer, in the way one puts a question,
unconsciously to himself assuming a kindness of tone and manner that were
singularly adapted to win the confidence of her he addressed. "Hurry Harry
has told me of you, and I know you must be the child?"
"Yes, I'm Hetty Hutter returned the girl in a low, sweet voice, which nature,
aided by some education, had preserved from vulgarity of tone and utterance-
"I'm Hetty; Judith Hurter's sister; and Thomas Hurter's youngest daughter."
"I know your history, then, for Hurry Harry talks considerable, and he is
free of speech when he can find other people's consarns to dwell on. You pass
most of your life on the lake, Hetty."
"Certainly. Mother is dead; father is gone a-trapping, and Judith and I stay
at home. What's your name?"
"That's a question more easily asked than it is answered, young woman, seeing
that I'm so young, and yet have borne more names than some of the greatest
chiefs in all America."
"But you've got a name-you don't throw away one name, before you come
honestly by another?"
"I hope not, gal-I hope not. My names have come nat'rally, and I suppose the
one I bear now, will be of no great lasting, since the Delawares seldom
settle on a man's ra'al title, until such time as he has an opportunity of
showing his true natur', in the council, or on the warpath; which has never
behappened me; seeing firstly, because I'm not born a red skin and have no
right to sit in their councillings, and am much too humble to be called on
for opinions from the great of my own colour; and, secondly, because this is
the first war that has befallen in my time, and no inimy has yet inroaded far
enough into the colony, to be reached by an arm even longer than mine."
"Tell me your names," added Hetty, looking up at him artlessly, "and, maybe,
I 'll tell you your character."
"There is some truth in that, I 'll not deny, though it often fails. Men are
deceived in other men's characters, and frequently give 'em names they by no
means desarve. You can see the truth of this in the Mingo names, which, in
their own tongue, signify the same things as the Delaware names,- at least,
so they tell me, for I know little of that tribe, unless it be by report,-and
no one can say they are as honest or as upright a nation. I put no great
dependence, therefore, on names."
"Tell me all your names," repeated the girl, earnestly, for her mind was too
simple to separate things from professions, and she did attach importance to
a name; "I want to know what to think of you."
"Well, sartain; I 've no objection, and you shall hear them all. In the first
place, then, I 'in Christian, and white-born, like yourself, and my parents
had a name that came down from father to son, as is a part of their gifts. My
father was called Bumppo; and I was named after him, of course, the given
name being Nathaniel, or Natty, as most people saw fit to tarm it."
"Yes, yes - Natty - and Hetty' '-interrupted the girl quickly, and looking up
from her work again, with a smile: "you are Natty, and I 'in Hetty-though you
are Bumppo, and I 'm Hutter. Bumppo isn't as pretty as Hutter, is it?'
"Why, that's as people fancy. Bumppo has no lofty sound, I admit; and yet men
have bumped through the world with it. I did not go by this name, howsever,
very long; for the Delawares soon found out, or thought they found out, that
I was not given to lying, and they called me, firstly, 'Straight-tongue.'"
"That's a good name, ' interrupted Hetty, earnestly, and
at her. Even Hurry Harry is n't more pleasant to look at though she is a
woman, and he is a man."
Deerslayer regarded the girl for a moment with concern. Her pale face had
flushed a little, and her eye, usually so mild and serene, brightened as she
spoke, in the way to betray the inward impulses.
"Ay, Hurry Harry," he muttered to himself, as he walked through the cabin
towards the other end of the boat; "this comes of good looks, if a light
tongue has had no consarn in it. It 's easy to see which way that poor
creatur's feelin's are leanin', whatever may be the case with your Jude's."
But an interruption was put to the gallantry of Hurry, the coquetry of his
intros, the thoughts of Deerslayer, and the gentle feeling~ Hetty, by the
sudden appearance of the canoe of the ark's owner, in the narrow opening
among the bushes that served as a sort of moat to his position. It would seem
that Hutter, or Floating Tom, as he was familiarly called by all the hunters
who knew his habits, recognized the canoe of Hurry, for he expressed no
surprise at finding him in the scow. On the contrary, his reception was such
as to denote not only gratification, but a pleasure, mingled with a little
disappointment at his not having made his appearance some days sooner.
"I looked for you last week," he said, in a half-grumbling, half-welcoming
manner; "and was disappointed uncommonly that you did n't arrive. There came
a runner through, to warn all the trappers and hunters that the colony and
the Canadas were again in trouble; and I felt lonesome, up in these
mountains, with three scalps to see to, and only one pair of hands to protect
them."
"That 's reasonable," returned March; "and 't was feeling like a parent. No
doubt, if I had two sucb darters as Judith and Hetty, my exper'ence would
tell the same story, though in gin'ral I am just as well satisfied with
having the nearest neighbor fifty miles off, as when he is within call.''
"Notwithstanding, you did n' t choose to come into the wilderness alone, now
you knew that the Canada savages are likely to be stirring," returned Hutter,
giving a sort of distrustful, and at the same time inquiring glance at Deer.
slayer.
"Why should I? They say a bad companion, on a journey, helps to shorten the
path; and this young man I account to be a reasonably good one. This is
Deerslayer, old Tom, a noted hunter among the Delawares, and Christian-born,
and Christian-edicated, too, like you and me The lad is not parfect, perhaps,
but there 's worse men in r the country that he came from, and it 's likely
he 'll find some that's no better, in this part of the world. Should we have
occasion to defend our traps, and the territory, he '11 be useful in feeding
us all; for he 's a reg'lar dealer in ven'son."
"Young man, you are welcome, 'growled Tom, thrusting a hard, bony hand
towards the youth, as a pledge of his sincerity; "in such times, a white face
is a friend's, and I count on you as a support. Children sometimes make a
stout heart feeble, and these two daughters of mine give me more concern than
all my traps, and skins, and rights in the country."
"That's nat'ral l" cried Hurry. "Yes, Deerslayer, you e and I don't know it
yet by experience; but, on the whole, I consider that as nat'ral. If we had
darters, it 's more than probable we should have some such feelin's; and I
honor the man that owns 'em. As for Judith, old man, I enlist, at once, as
her soldier, and here is Deerslayer to help you to take care of' Hetty."
"Many thanks to you, Master M[arch," returned the beauty, in a full, rich
voice, and with an accuracy of intonations tioti and utterance that she
shared in common with her sister, and which showed that she had been better
taught than her father's life and appearance would give reason to expect
"many thanks to you; but Judith Hutter has the spirit and the experience that
will make her depend more on herself than on good-looking rovers like you.
Should there be need to face the savages, do you land with my father, instead
of burrowing in the huts, under the show of defending us females and'-"
"Girl--girl," interrupted the father, "quiet that glib tongue of thine, and
hear the truth. There are savages on the lake shore already, and no man can
say how near to us they may be at this very moment, or when we may hear more
from them!"
"If this be true, Master Hutter," said Hurry, whose change of countenance
denoted how serious he deemed the information, though it did not denote any
unmanly alarm, "if this be true, your ark is in a most misfortunate position,
for, though the cover did deceive Deerslayer and myself, it would hardly be
overlooked by a full-blooded Injin, who was out seriously in s' arch of
scalps!"
"I think as you do, Hurry, and wish, with all my heart, we lay anywhere else,
at this moment, than in this narrow, crooked stream, which has many
advantages to hide in, but which is almost fatal to them that are discovered.
The savages are near us, moreover, and the difficulty is, to get out of the
river without being shot down like deer standing at a lick!"
"Are you sartain, Master Hutter, that the redskins you dread are ra'al
Canadas?" asked Deerslayer, in a modest but earnest manner. "Have you seen
any, and can you describe their paint?"
"I have fallen in with the signs of their being in the neighborhood, but have
seen none of 'em. I was down stream a mile or so, looking to my traps, when I
struck a fresh trail, crossing the corner of a swamp, and moving northward.
The man had not passed an hour; and I know'd it for an Indian footstep, by
the size of the foot, and the intoe, even before I found a worn moccasin,
which its owner had dropped as useless. For that matter, I found the spot
where he halted to make a new one, which was only a few yards from the place
where he had dropped the old one."
"That does n't look much like a redskin on the war path!" returned the other,
shaking his head. "An exper'enced warrior, at least, would have burned, or
buried, or sunk in the river such signs of his passage; and your bail is,
quite likely, a peaceable trail. But the moccasin may greatly relieve my
mind, if you bethought you of bringing it off. I've come here to meet a young
chief my. self; and his course would be much in the direction you've
mentioned. The trail may have been his'n."
"Hurry Harry, you 're well acquainted with this young man, I hope, who has
meetings with savages in a part of the country where he has never been
before?" demanded Hutter, in a tone and in a manner that sufficiently
indicated the motive of the question; these rude beings seldom hesitating,
on the score of delicacy, to betray their feelings. "Treachery is an Indian
virtue; and the whites, that live much in their tribes, soon catch their ways
and practices."
"True-true as the Gospel, old Tom; but not personable to Deerslayer, who 's a
young man of truth, if he has no other ricommend. I'll answer for his
honesty, whatever I may do for his valor in battle."
"I should like to know his errand in this strange quarter of the country."
"That is soon told, Master Hutter," said the young man, with the composure of
one who kept a clean conscience. "I think, moreover, you've a right to ask
it. The father of two such darters, who occupies a lake, after your fashion,
has just the same right to inquire into a stranger's business in his
neighborhood, as the colony would have to demand the reason why the Frenchers
put more rijiments than common along the lines. No, no, I '11 not deny your
right to know why a stranger comes into your habitation or country, in times
as serious as these."
"If such is your way of thinking, friend, let me hear your story without more
words."
"'T is soon told, as I said afore; and shall be honestly told. I 'm a young
man, and, as yet, have never been on a war-path; but no sooner did the news
come among the Delawares, that wampum and a hatchet were about to be sent in
to the tribe, than they wished me to go out among the people of my own color,
and get the exact state of things for 'em. This I did, and, after delivering
my talk to the chiefs, on my return, I met an officer of the crown on the
Schoharie. who had messages to send to some of the fri'ndly tribes that live
farther west. Thiw was thought a good occasion for Chingachgook, a young
chief who has never struck a foe, and myself; to go on our first war path in
company, and an app'intment was made for us, by an old Delaware, to meet at
the rock near the foot of this lake. I'll not deny that Chingachgook has
another object in view, but it has no consarn with any here, and is his
secret and not mine; therefore I'll say no more about it.-"
"'Tis something about a young woman," interrupted Judith hastily, then
laughing at her own impetuosity, and even having the grace to colour a
little, at the manner in which she had betrayed her readiness to impute such
a motive. "If 'tis neither war, nor a hunt, it must be love."
"Ay, it comes easy for the young and handsome, who hear so much of them
feelin's, to suppose that they lie at the bot tom of most proceedin's; but,
on that head, I say nothin'. Chingachgook is to meet me at the rock, an hour
afore sunset to-morrow evening, after which we shall go our way to gether,
molesting none but the king's inimies, who are law fully our own. Knowing
Hurry of old, who once trapped in our hunting grounds, and falling in with
him on the Scho harie, just as he was on the p'int of starting for his summer
ha'nts, we agreed to journey in company; not so much from fear of the Mingos,
as from good fellowship, and, as he says, to shorten a long road."
"And you think the trail I saw may have been that of your friend, ahead of
his time?" said Hurter.
"That's my idee, which may be wrong, but which may be right. If I saw the
moccasin, howsever, I could tell, in a min ute, whether it is made in the
Delaware fashion, or not."
"Here it is, then," said the quick witted Judith, who had already gone to the
canoe in quest of it. "Tell us what it says; friend or enemy. You look
honest, and I believe all you say, whatever father may think."
"That's the way with you, Jude; forever finding out friends,
where I distrust foes," grumbled Tom: "but, speak out, young man, and tell us
what you think of the moccasin."
"That's not Delaware made," returned Deerslayer, examining the worn and
rejected covering for the foot with a cautious eye. "I'm too young on a war-
path to be positive, but I should say that moccasin has a northern look, and
comes from beyond the Great Lakes."
"If such is the case, we ought not to lie here a minute longer than is
necessary," said Hutter, glancing through the leaves of his cover, as if he
already distrusted the presence of an enemy on the opposite shore of the
narrow and sinuous stream. "It wants but an hour or so of night, and to move
in the dark will be impossible, without making a noise that would betray us.
Did you hear the echo of a piece in the mountains, half-an-hour since?"
"Yes, old man, and heard the piece itself," answered Hurry, who now felt the
indiscretion of which he had been guilty, "for the last was fired from my own
shoulder."
"I feared it came from the French Indians; still it may put them on the look-
out, and be a means of discovering us. You did wrong to fire in war-time,
unless there was good occasion.
"So I begin to think myself, Uncle Tom; and yet, if a man can't trust himself
to let off his rifle in a wilderness that is a thousand miles square, lest
some inimy should hear it, where 's the use in carrying one?"
Hutter now held a long consultation with his two guests, in which the parties
came to a true understanding of their situation. He explained the difficulty
that would exist in attempting to get the ark out of so swift and narrow a
stream, in the dark, without making a noise that could not fail to attract
Indian ears. Any strollers in their vicinity would keep near the river or the
lake; but the former had swampy shores in many places, and was both so
crooked and so fringed with bushes, that it was quite possible to move by
daylight without incurring much danger of being seen. More was to be
apprehended, perhaps, from the ear than from the eye, especially as long as
they were in the short, straitened, and canopied reaches of the stream.
"I never drop down into this cover, which is handy to my traps, and safer
than the lake, from curious eyes, without providing the means of getting out
ag'in," continued this singular being; "and that is easier done by a pull
than a push. My anchor is now lying above the suction, in the open lake; and
here is a line, you see, to haul us up to it. Without some such help, a
single pair of bands would make heavy work in forcing a scow like this up
stream. I have a sort of a crab, too, that lightens the pull, on occasion.
Jude can use the oar astern as well as myself; and when we fear no enemy, to
get out of the river gives us but little trouble."
"What should we gain, Master Hutter, by changing the position?" asked
Deerslayer, with a good deal of earnest ness; "this is a safe cover, and a
stout defence might be made from the inside of this cabin. I 've never fou't
unless in the way of tradition; but it seems to me we might beat off twenty
Mingos, with palisades like them afore us."
"Ay, ay; you 've never fought except in traditions, that 's plain enough,
young man! Did you ever see as broad a sheet of water as this above us,
before you came in upon it with Hurry?"
"I can't say that I ever did," Deerslayer answered, modestly. "Youth is the
time to l'arn; and I 'm far from wishing to raise my voice in counsel, afore
it is justified by exper'ence."
"Well, then, I'll teach you the disadvantage of fighting in this position,
and the advantage of taking to the open lake. Here, you may see, the savages
will know where to aim every shot; and it would be too much to hope that some
would not find their way through the crevices of the logs. Now, on the other
hand, we should have nothing but a forest to aim at. Then we are not safe
from fire, here, the bark of this roof being little better than so much
kindling-wood. The castle, too, might be entered and ransacked in my absence,
and all my possessions overrun and destroyed. Once in the lake, we can be
attacked only in boats or on rafts-shall have a fair chance with the enemy-
and can protect the castle with the ark. Do you unmediated this reasoning,
youngster?"
"It sounds well-yes, it has a rational sound; and I'll not gainsay it."
"Well, old Tom," cried Hurry, "If we are to move, the sooner we make a
beginning, the sooner we shall know whether we are to have our scalps for
night-caps, or not."
As this proposition was self-evident, no one denied its justice. The three
men, after a short preliminary explanation now set about their preparations
to move the ark in earnest. The slight fastenings were quickly loosened; and,
by hauling on the line, the heavy craft slowly emerged from the cover. It was
no sooner free from the incumbrance of the branches, than it swung into the
stream, sheering quite close to the western shore, by the force of the
current. Not a soul on board heard the rustling of the branches, as the cabin
came against the bushes and trees of the western bank, without a feeling of
uneasiness; for no one knew at what moment, or in what place, a secret and
murderous
enemy might unmask himself. Perhaps the gloomy light that still struggled
through the impending canopy of leaves, or found its way through the narrow,
ribbon-like opening, which seemed to mark, in the air above, the course of
the river that flowed beneath, aided in augmenting the appearance of the
danger; for it was little more than sufficient to render objects visible,
without giving up all their outlines at a glance. Although the sun had not
absolutely set, it had withdrawn its direct rays from the valley; and the
hues Of evening were beginning to gather around objects that stood uncovered,
rendering those within the shadows of the re woods still more sombre and
gloomy.
No interruption followed the movement, however, and, as the men continued to
haul on the line, the ark passed steadily ahead, the great breadth of the
scow preventing its sinking into the water, and from offering much resistance
to the progress of the swift element beneath its bottom. Hutter, too, had
adopted a precaution suggested by experience, which might have done credit
to a seaman, and which completely prevented any of the annoyances and
obstacles which otherwise would have attended the short turns of the river.
As the ark descended, heavy stones, attached to the line, were dropped in the
centre of the stream, forming local anchors, each of which was kept from
dragging by the assistance of those above it, until the uppermost of all was
reached, which got its "backing" from the anchor, or grapnel, that lay well
out in the lake. In consequence of this expedient, the ark floated clear of
the incumbrances of the shore, against which it would otherwise have been
unavoidably hauled at every turn, producing embarrassments that Hutter,
single-handed, would have found it very difficult to overcome. Favored by
this foresight, and stimulated by the apprehension of discovery, Floating Tom
and his two athletic companions hauled the ark ahead with quite as much
rapidity as comported with the strength of the line. At every turn in the
stream, a stone was raised from the bottom, when the direction of the scow
changed to one that pointed towards the stone that lay above. In this manner,
with the channel buoyed out for him, as a sailor might term it, did Hutter
move forward, occasionally urging his friends, in a low and guarded voice, to
increase their exertions, and then, as occasions offered, warning them
against efforts that might, at particular moments, endanger all by too much
zeal. In spite of their long familiarity with the woods, the gloomy character
of the shaded river added to the uneasiness that each felt; and when the ark
reached the first bend in the Susquehannah, and the eye caught a glimpse of
the broader expanse of the lake, all felt a relief, that perhaps none would
have been willing to confess. Here the last stone was raised from the bottom,
and the line led directly towards the grapnel, which, as Hutter had
explained, was dropped above the suction of the current.
"Thank God!" ejaculated Hurry, "there is day-light, and we shall soon have a
chance of seeing our inimies, if we are to feel 'em."
"That is more than you or any man can say," growled Hutter. "There is no spot
so likely to harbor a party as the shore around the outlet, and the moment we
clear these trees and get into open water, will be the most trying time,
since it will leave the enemy a cover, while it puts us out of one. Judith,
girl, do you and Hetty leave the oar to take care of itself; and go within
the cabin; and be mindful not to show your faces at a window; for they who
will look at them won't stop to praise their beauty. And now, Hurry, we 'll
step into this outer room ourselves, and haul through the door, where we
shall all be safe, from a surprise, at least. Friend Deerslayer, as the
current is lighter, and the line has all the strain on it that is prudent, do
you keep moving from window to window, taking care not to let your head be
seen, if you set any value on life. No one knows when or where we shall hear
from our neighbors."
Deerslayer complied, with a sensation that had nothing in common with fear,
but which had all the interest of a perfectly novel and a most exciting
situation. For the first time in his life he was in the vicinity of enemies,
or had good reason to think so; and that, too, under all the thrilling
circumstances of Indian surprises and Indian artifices. As he took his stand
at the window, the ark was just passing through the narrowest part of the
stream, a point where the water first entered what was properly termed the
river, and where the trees fairly interlocked overhead, causing the current
to rush into an arch of verdure; a feature as appropriate and peculiar to the
country, perhaps, as that of Switzerland, where the rivers come rushing
literally from chambers of ice.
The ark was in the act of passing the last curve of this leafy entrance, as
Deerslayer, having examined all that could be seen of the eastern bank of the
river, crossed the room to look from the opposite window, at the western. His
arrival at this aperture was most opportune, for he had no sooner placed his
eye at a crack, than a sight met his gaze that might well have alarmed a
sentinel so young and inexperienced. A sapling overhung the water, in nearly
half a circle, having first grown towards the light, and then been pressed
down into this form by the weight of the snows; a circumstance of common
occurrence in the Amer ican woods. On this no less than six Indians had
already appeared, others standing ready to follow them, as they left the
room; each evidently bent on running out on the trunk, and dropping on the
roof of the ark as it passed beneath. This would have been an exploit of no
great difficulty, the inclination of the tree admitting of an easy passage,
the adjoining branches offering ample support for the hands, and the fall
being too trifling to be apprehended. When Deerslayer first saw this party,
it was just unmasking itself, by ascending the part of the tree nearest to
the earth, or that which was much the most difficult to overcome; and his
knowledge of Indian habits told him at once that they were all in their war-
paint, and belonged to a hostile tribe.
Pull, Hurry," he cried; " pull for your life, and as you love Judith Hutter!
Pull, man, pull !"
This call was made to one that the young man knew had the strength of a
giant. It was so earnest and solemn, that both Hutter and March felt it was
not idly given, and they applied all their force to the line simultaneously,
and at a most critical moment. The scow redoubled its motion, and seemed to
glide from under the tree as if conscious of the danger that was impending
overhead. Perceiving that they were discovered, the Indians uttered the
fearful war-whoop, and running forward on the tree, leaped desperately
towards their fancied prize. There were six on the tree, and each made the
effort. All but their leader fell into the river more or less distant from
the ark, as they came, sooner or later, to the leaping-place. The chief, who
had taken the dangerous post in advance, having an earlier opportunity than
the others, struck the scow just within the stern. The fall proving so much
greater than he had anticipated, he was slightly stunned, and for a moment he
remained half bent and unconscious of his situation. At this instant Judith
rushed from the cabin, her beauty heightened by the excitement that produced
the bold act, which flushed her cheek to crimson, and, throwing all her
strength into the effort, she pushed the intruder over the edge of the scow,
headlong into the river. This decided feat was no sooner accomplished than
the woman resumed her sway; Judith looked over the stern to ascertain what
had become of the man, and the expression of her eyes softened to concern,
next, her cheek crimsoned between shame and surprise, at her own temerity,
and then she laughed in her own merry and sweet manner. All this occupied
less than a minute, when the arm of Deerslayer was thrown around her waist,
and she was dragged swiftly within the protection of the cabin. This retreat
was not effected too soon. Scarcely were the two in safety, when the forest
was filled with yells, and bullets and began to patter against the logs.
The ark being in swift motion all this while, it was beyond the danger of
pursuit by the time these little events had occurred; and the savages, as
soon as the first burst of their anger had subsided, ceased firing, with the
consciousness that they were expending their ammunition in vain. When the
scow came up over her grapnel, Hutter tripped the latter, in a way not to
impede the motion; and being now beyond the influence of the current, the
vessel continued to drift ahead, until fairly in the open lake, though still
neat enough to the land to render exposure to a rifle-bullet dangerous.
Hutter and March got out two small sweeps, and, covered by the cabin, they
soon urged the ark far enough. from the shore to leave no inducement to their
enemies to make any further attempt to injure them.
CHAPTER V.
"Why, let the strucken deer go weep,
The hart ungalled play,
For some must watch, while some must sleep,
Thus runs the world away."
Hamlet, III.ii.271-74
Another consultation took place in the forward part of the scow, at which
both Judith and Hetty were present. As no danger could now approach unseen,
immediate uneasiness had given place to he concern which attended the
conviction that enemies were in considerable force on the shores of the lake,
and that they might be sure no practicable means of accomplishing their own
destruction would be neglected. As a matter of course Hutter felt these
truths the deepest, his daughters having an habitual reliance on his
resources, and knowing too little to appreciate fully all the risks they ran;
while his male companions were at liberty to quit him at any moment they saw
fit. His first remark showed that he had an eye to the latter circumstance,
and might have betrayed, to a keen observer, the apprehension that was just
then uppermost.
"We 'ye a great advantage over the Iroquois, or the enemy, whoever they are,
in being afloat," he said.
"There 's not a canoe on the lake that I don't know where it 's hid; and now
yours is here. Hurry, there are but three more on the land, and they 're so
snug in hollow logs that I don't believe the Indians could find them, let
them try ever so long."
"There's no telling that-no one can say that," put in Deerslayer; "a hound is
not more sartain on the scent than a redskin, when he expects to get anything
by it. Let this party see scalps afore 'em, or plunder, or honor accordin' to
their idees of what honor is, and 't will be a tight log that hides a canoe
from their eyes."
"You're right, Deerslayer," cried Harry March; "you're downright Gospel in
this matter, and I rej 'ice that my bunch of bark is safe enough here, within
reach of my arm. I calcilate they '11 be at all the rest of the canoes afore
to-morrow night, if they are in ra' al 'arnest to smoke you out, old Tom, and
we may as well overhaul our paddles for a pull."
Hutter made no immediate reply. He looked about him in silence for quite a
minute, examining the sky, the lake, and the belt of forest which inclosed
it, as it might be hermetically, like one consulting their signs. Nor did he
find any alarming symptoms. The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep
repose of nature, the heavens were placid, but still luminous with the light
of the retreating sun, while the lake looked more lovely and calm than it had
before done that day. It was a scene altogether soothing, and of a character
to lull the passions into a species of holy calm. How far this effect was
produced, however, on the party in the ark, must appear in the progress of
our narrative.
"Judith," called out the father, when he had taken this close but short
survey of the omens, "night is at hand; find our friends food; a long march
gives a sharp appetite."
"We're not starving, Master Hutter," March observed, "for we filled up just
as we reached the lake, and for one, I prefar the company of Jude even to her
supper. This quiet evening is very agreeable to sit by her side."
"Natur' is natur'," objected Hutter, "and must be fed. Judith, see to the
meal, and take your sister to help you. I 've a little discourse to hold with
you, friends," he continued, as soon as his daughters were out of hearing,
"and
wish the girls away. You see my situation, and I should like to hear your
opinions concerning what is best to be done. Three times have I been burnt
out already, but that was on the shore; and I 've considered myself as pretty
safe
ever since I got the castle built, and the ark afloat. My other accidents,
however, happened in peaceable times, being nothing more than such flurries
as a man must meet with, in the woods; but this matter looks serious, and
your
ideas would greatly relieve my mind."
"It's my notion, old Tom, that you, and your huts, and your traps, and your
whole possessions, hereaway, are in
desperate jippardy," returned the matter-of-fact Hurry, who
saw no use in concealment. "Accordin' to my idees of valie,
they 're altogether not worth half as much to-day as they
was yesterday, nor would I give more for 'em, taking the
pay in skins."
"Then I've children!" continued the father, making the
allusion in a way that it might have puzzled even an indifferent
observer to say was intended as a bait, or as an
exclamation of paternal concern, "daughters, as you know,
Hurry, and good girls too, I may say, though I am their
father."
"A man may say anything, Master Hutter, particularly
when pressed by time and circumstances. You've darters,
as you say, and one of them hasn't her equal on the frontiers
for good looks, whatever she may have for good behavior.
As for poor Hetty, she's Hetty Hutter, and that's as much
as one can say about the poor thing. Give me Jude, if her
conduct was only equal to her looks!"
"I see, Harry March, I can only count on you as a fair-
weather friend; and I suppose that your companion will be
of the same way of thinking," returned the other, with a
slight show of pride, that was not altogether without dig-
nity; "well, I must depend on Providence, which will not
turn a deaf ear, perhaps, to a father's prayers."
"If you 've understood Hurry, here, to mean that he intends to desart you,"
said Deerslayer, with an earnest simplicity that gave double assurance of its
truth, "I think you do him injustice, as I know you do me, in supposing I
would follow him, was he so ontrue-hearted as to leave a family of his own
color in such a strait as this. I 've come on this at take, Master Hutter, to
rende'vous a fri'nd, and I only wish hehe was here himself, as I make no
doubt he will be at
sunset to-morrow, when you 'd have another rifle to aid you;
an inexper'enced one, I '11 allow, like my own, but one that
has proved true so often ag'in the game, big and little, that
I ll answer for its sarvice ag'in mortals."
May I depend on you to stand by me and my daughters,
then, Deerslayer?" demanded the old man, with a father's
anxiety in his countenance.
"That may you, Floating Tom, if that's your name; and
e, as a brother would stand by a sister, a husband his wife, or a suitor his
sweetheart. In this strait you may count on
me, through all advarsities; and I think Hurry does dis-
credit to his natur' and wishes, if you can't count on him."
"Not he," cried Judith, thrusting her handsome face out
of the door; "his nature is hurry, as well as his name, and
he '11 hurry off, as soon as he thinks his fine figure in danger. Neither
'old Tom,' nor his 'gals,' will depend much on
Master March, now they know him, but you they will rely
on, Deerslayer; for your honest face and honest heart tell us
that what you promise you will perform."
This was said, as much, perhaps, in affected scorn for
Hurry, as in sincerity. Still, it was not said without feeling. The fine face
of Judith sufficiently proved the latter circumstance; and if the conscious
March fancied that he had never seen in it a stronger display of contempt-a
feeling in which the beauty was apt to indulge-than while she was looking at
him, it certainly seldom exhibited more of
a womanly softness and sensibility, than when her speaking
a blue eyes were turned on his travelling companion.
"Leave us, Judith," Hutter ordered sternly, before either
of the young men could reply; "leave us; and do not
return until you come with the venison and fish. The girl
has been spoilt by the flattery of the officers, who sometimes
find their way up here, Master March, and you '11 not think
any harm of her silly words."
"You never said truer syllable, old Tom," retorted Hurry,
who smarted under Judith's observations; "the devil-
tongued youngsters of the garrison have proved her undo'
ing. I scarce know Jude any longer, and shall soon take to
admiring her sister, who is getting to be much more to my
fancy."
"I 'm glad to hear this, Harry, and look upon it as a sign that you're coming
to your right senses. Hetty would make a much safer and more rational
companion than Jude, and would be much the most likely to listen to your
suit, as the officers have, I greatly fear, unsettled her sister's mind."
"No man needs a safer wife than Hetty," said Hurry,
laughing, "though I 'U not answer for her being of the most
rational. But no matter; Deerslayer has not misconceived
me, when he told you I should be found at my post. I '11
not quit you, Uncle Tom, just now, whatever may be my
feelin's and intentions respecting your eldest darter."
Hurry had a respectable reputation for prowess among his
associates, and Hurter heard this pledge with a satisfaction
that was not concealed. Even the great personal strength of
such an aid became of moment, in moving the ark, as well as
in the species of hand-to-hand conflicts, that were not unfre'
quent in the woods; and no commander who was hard
pressed could feel more joy at hearing of the arrival of
reinforcements, than the borderer experienced at being told
this important auxiliary was not about to quit him. A
minute before, Hutter would have been well content to com-
promise his danger, by entering into a compact to act only
on the defensive; but no sooner did he feel some security on
this point, than the restlessness of man induced him to think
of the means of carrying the war into the enemy's country.
"High prices are offered for scalps on both sides." he observed, with a grim
smile, as if he felt the force of the induce-ment, at the very time he wished
to affect a superiority to earning money by means that the ordinary feelings
of those who aspire to be civilized men repudiated, even while they were
adopted. "It isn't right, perhaps, to take gold for human blood; and yet,
when mankind is busy in killing one another, there can be no great harm in
adding a little bit of skin to the plunder. What 's your sentiments, Hurry,
touching these p'ints?"
"That you've made a vast mistake, old man, in calling
savage blood human blood, at all. I think no more of a
redskin's scalp than I do of a pair of wolf's ears; and
would just as lief finger money for the one as for the other.
With white people 't is different, for they 've a nat'ral
avarsion to being scalped; whereas your Indian shaves his
head in readiness for the knife, and leaves a lock of hair
by way of braggadocio, that one can lay hold of in the
bargain."
"That 's manly, however, and I felt from the first that
we had only to get you on our side, to have your heart
and hand," returned Tom, losing all his reserve, as he
gained a renewed confidence in the disposition of his
companions. "Something more may turn up from this
inroad of the redskins than they bargained for. Deerslayer,
I conclude you 're of Hurry's way of thinking, and look
upon money 'arued in this way as being as likely to pass
as money 'arned in trapping or hunting."
"I've no such feelin', nor any wish to harbor it, not I,"
returned the other. " My gifts are not scalpers' gifts, but
such as belong to my religion and color. I '11 stand by you,
old man, in the ark or in the castle, the canoe or the woods,
but I '11 not unhumanize my natur' by falling into ways
that God intended for another race. If you and Hurry
have got any thoughts that lean towards the colony's gold,
go by yourselves in s'arch of it, and leave the females to
my care. Much as I must differ from you both on all
gifts that do not properly belong to a white man, we shall
agree that it is the duty of the strong to take care of the
weak, especially when the last belong to them that natur'
intended man to protect and console by his gentleness and
strength."
"Hurry Harry, that is a lesson you might learn and
practise on to some advantage," said the sweet, but spirited
voice of Judith, from the cabin; a proof that she had over-
heard all that had hitherto been said.
"No more of this, Jude," called out the father angrily.
"Move farther off; we are about to talk of matters unfit
for a woman to listen to."
Hutter did not take any steps, however, to ascertain
whether he was obeyed or not; but dropping his voice a
little, he pursued the discourse.
"The young man is right, Hurry," he said; "and we
can leave the children in his care. Now, my idea is just
this; and I think you '11 agree that it is rational and correct.
There 's a large party of these savages on shore and, though
I did n't tell it before the girls, for they 're womanish, and
apt to be troublesome when anything like real work is to
be done, there 's women among 'em. This I know from
moccasin prints; and 't is likely they are hunters, after all,
who have been out so long that they know nothing of the
war, or of the bounties."
"In which case, old Tom, why was their first salute an
attempt to cut our throats?"
"We don't know that their design was so bloody. It 'S
natural and easy for an Indian to fall into ambushes and sur-
prises; and, no doubt they wished to get on hoard the ark
first, and to make their conditions afterwards. That a dis-
app' inted savage should fire at us, is in rule; and I think
nothing of that. Besides, how often they burned me out,
and robbed my traps-ay, and pulled trigger on me, in the
most peaceful times?"
"The blackguards will do such things, I must allow;nd we pay 'em off pretty
much in their own time. Women would not be on the war-path, sartainly; and,
so far,there 's reason in your idee.''
"Nor would a hunter be in his war-paint," returned
Deerslayer. "I saw the Mingos, and know that they are
out on the trail of mortal men; and not for beaver or deer."
"There you have it ag'in, old fellow," said Hurry. "In
the way of an eye, now, I 'd as soon trust this young man,
as trust the oldest settler in the colony; if he says paint,
why paint it was."
"Then a hunting-party and a war-party have met, for
women must have been with 'em. It 's only a few days
since the runner went through with the tidings of the
troubles; and it may be that warriors have come out to call
in their women and children, to get an early blow."
"That would stand the courts, and is just the truth
cried Hurry; "you 'ye got it now, old Tom, and I should
like to hear what you mean to make out of it."
we "The bounty," returned the other, looking up at his
attentive companion, in a cool, sullen manner, in which,
ct.however, heartless cupidity and indifference to the means
were far more conspicuous than any feelings of animosity
or revenge.
"If there's women, there 's children; and big to and little have scalps; the
colony pays for all alike."
"More shame to it, that it should do so," interrupted
Deerslayer; "more shame to it, that it don't understand its
gifts, and pay greater attention to the will of God."
"Hearken to reason, lad, and don't cry out afore you
understand a case," returned the unmoved Hurry; "the
savages scalp your fri'nds, the Delawares, or Mohicans
whichever they may be, among the rest; and why shouldn't
ur- we scalp? I will own, it would be ag'in right for you and
me now, to go into the settlements and bring out scalps,
but it '5 a very different matter as concerns Indians A man
shouldn't take scalps, if he is n't ready to be scalped, him-
self, on fitting occasions. One good turn desarves another,
the all the world over. That 's reason, and I believe it to be good
religion."
"Ay, Master Hurry," again interrupted the rich voice
of Judith, "is it religion to say that one bad turn deserves
another?"
"I '11 never reason ag'in you, Judy, for you beat me with
ned beauty, if you can't with sense. Here 's the Canadas
paying their Injins for scalps, and why not we pay-"
"Our Indians !" exclaimed the girl, laughing with a
'In sort of melancholy merriment. "Father, father! think no
more of this, and listen to the advice of Deerslayer, who
int, has a conscience; which is more than I can say or think of Harry
March."
Hutter now rose, and, entering the cabin, he compelled
his daughters to go into the adjoining room, when he
the secured both the doors, and returned. Then he and Hurry
call pursued the subject; but, as the purport of all that was material in
this discourse will appear in the imrrative, it need not be related here in
detail. The reader, however,
can have no difficulty in comprehending the morality that
presided over their conference. It was, in truth, that
which, in some form or other, rules most of the acts of men,
and in which the controlling principle is that one wrong
will justify another. Their enemies paid for scalps, and this was sufficient
to justify the colony for retaliating. It is true, the French used the same
argument, a circumstance,as Hurry took occasion to observe in answer to one
of Deerslayer's objections, that proved its truth, as mortal enemies would
not be likely to have recourse to the same reason unless it were a good one.
But neither Hutter nor Hurry was a man likely to stick at trifles in matters
connected with the right of the aborigines, since it is one of the
consequences of aggression that it hardens the conscience, as the only means
of quieting it. In the most
peaceable state of the country, a species of warfare was
carried on between the Indians, especially those of the
Canadas, and men of their caste; and the moment an
actual and recognized warfare existed, it was regarded as
the means of lawfully revenging a thousand wrongs, real
and imaginary. Then, again, there was some truth, and a
good deal of expediency, in the principle of retaliation, of
which they both availed themselves, in particular, to answer
the objections of their juster-minded and more scrupulous
companion.
"You must fight a man with his own we'pons, Deerslayer," cried Hurry, in his
uncouth dialect, and in his dogmatical manner of disposing of all oral
propositions; "if he's f"erce you must be f'ercer; if he's stout of heart,
you must be stouter. This is the way to get the better of
Christian or savage: by keeping up to this trail, you'll get
soonest to the ind of your journey."
"That's not Moravian doctrine, which teaches that all
are to be judged according to their talents or l'arning; the
Injin like an Injin; and the white man like a white man.
Some of their teachers say, that if you're struck on the cheek,it's a duty to
turn the other side of the face, and take another blow, instead of seeking
revenge, whereby I understand-"
"That's enough !" shouted Hurry; "that's all I want,
to prove a man's doctrine! How long would it take to
kick a man through the colony-in at one ind and out at
the other, on that principle?"
"Don't mistake me, March," returned the young hunter,
with dignity; "I don't understand by this any more than
that it 's best to do this, if possible. Revenge is an Injin
gift, and forgiveness a white man's. That 's all. Overlook
all you can is what 's meant; and not revenge all you can.
As for kicking, Master Hurry," and Deerslayer's sunburnt
cheek flushed as he continued, "into the colony, or out of
the colony, that's neither here nor there, seeing no one
proposes it, and no one would be likely to put up with it.
What I wish to say is, that a redskin's scalping don't justify a pale-face's
scalping."
"Do as you 're done by, Deerslayer; that 's ever the
Christian parson's doctrine." No, Hurry, I 'ye asked the Moravians consarning
that;and it 's altogether different. 'Do as you would be done by,' they tell
me, is the true saying, while men practyse the false. They think all the
colonies wrong that offer bounties for scalps, and believe no blessing will
follow the measures. Above all things, they forbid revenge."
"That for your Moravians!" cried March, snapping his
fingers; "they 're the next thing to Quakers; and if you'd
believe all they tell you, not even a 'rat would be skinned,
out of marcy. Who ever heard of marcy on a muskrat!"
The disdainful manner of Hurry prevented a reply, and
he and the old man resumed the discussion of their plans in
a more quiet and confidential manner. This confidence
lasted until Judith appeared, bearing the simple but savory
supper. March observed, with a little surprise, that she
placed the choicest bits before Deerslayer, and that in the
little nameless attentions it was in her power to bestow, she quite obviously
manifested a desire to let it be seen that she deemed him the honored guest.
Accustomed, however, to Lhe waywardness and coquetry of the beauty, this
discovery gave him little concern, and he ate with an appetite that was in no
degree disturbed by any moral causes. The easily-digested food of the forests
offering the fewest possible obstacles to the gratification of this great
animal indulgence, Deerslayer, notwithstanding the hearty meal both had taken
in the woods, was in no manner behind his companion in doing justice to the
viands.
An hour later the scene had greatly changed. The lake
was still placid and glassy, but the gloom of the hour had
succeeded to the soft twilight of a summer evening, and all
within the dark setting of the woods lay in the quiet repose
of night. The forests gave up no song, or cry, or even
murmur, but looked down from the hills on the lovely basin
they encircled, in solemn stillness; and the only sound that
was audible was the regular dip of the sweeps, at which
Hurry and Deerslayer lazily pushed, impelling the ark
towards the castle. Hutter had withdrawn to the stern of
the scow, in order to steer, but, finding that the young men
kept even strokes, and held the desired course by their own
skill, he permitted the oar to drag in the water, took a seat on the end of
the vessel, and lighted his pipe. He had not been thus placed many minutes,
ere Hetty came stealthily out of the cabin, or house, as they usually termed
that part of the ark, and placed herself at his feet, on a little bench that
she brought with her. As this movement was by no
means unusual in his feeble-minded child, the old man paid
no other attention to it than to lay his hand kindly on her
head, in an affectionate and approving manner; an act of
grace that the girl received in meek silence.
After a pause of several minutes, Hetty began to sing.
Her voice was low and tremulous, but it was earnest and
solemn. The words and the tune were of the simplest form,
the first being a hymn that she had been taught by her
mother, and the last one of those natural melodies that find
favor with all classes, in every age, coming from and being
addressed to the feelings. Hutter never listened to this
simple strain without finding his heart and manner softened; facts that his
daughter well knew, and by which she had often profited, through the sort of
holy instinct that
enlightens the weak of mind, more especially in their aims
toward good.
Hetty's low, sweet tones had not been raised many
moments, when the dip of the oars ceased, and the holy
strain arose singly on the breathing silence of the wilder-
ness. As if she gathered courage with the theme, her pow-
ers appeared to increase as she proceeded; and though
nothing vulgar or noisy mingled in her melody, its strength
and melancholy tenderness grew on the ear, until the air
was filled with this simple homage of a soul that seemed
almost spotless. That the men forward were not indifferent
to this touching interruption, was proved by their inaction;
nor did their oars again dip until the last of the sweet sounds had actually
died among the remarkable shores, which, at that witching hour, would waft
even the lowest modulations of the human voice more than a mile. Hutter was
much affected; for rude as he was by early habits, and even ruthless as he
had got to be by long exposure to the practices of the wilderness, his nature
was of that fearful mixture of good and evil that so generally enters into
the moral composition of man.
"You are sad to-night, child," said the father, whose
manner and language usually assumed some of the gentle-
ness and elevation of the civilized life he had led in youth, when he thus
communed with this particular child; "we have just escaped from enemies, and
ought rather to
rejoice."
"You can never do it, father!" said Hetty, in a low,
remonstrating manner, taking his hard, knotty hand into
both her own; "you have talked long with Harry March;
but neither of you have the heart to do it!"
"This is going beyond your means, foolish child; you
must have been naughty enough to have listened, or you
could know nothing of our talk."
"Why should you and Hurry kill people-especially
women and children?"
"Peace, girl, peace; we are at war, and must do to our
enemies as our enemies would do to us."
"That 's not it, father! I heard Deerslayer say how it
was. You must do to your enemies as you wish your enemies
would do to you. No man wishes his enemies to kill him."
"We kill our enemies in war, girl, lest they should kill
us. One side or the other must begin; and them that begin
first, are most apt to get the victory. You know nothing
about these things, poor Hetty, and had best say nothing."
"Judith says it is wrong, father; and Judith has sense
though I have none."
"Jude understands better than to talk to me of these
matters; for she has sense, as you say, and knows I '11 not
bear it. Which would you prefer, Hetty; to have your own
scalp taken, and sold to the French, or that we should kill
our enemies, and keep them from harming us?"
"That 's not it, father! Don't kill them, nor let them
kill us. Sell your skins, and get more, if you can; but
don't sell human blood."
"Come, come, child; let us talk of matters you under-
stand. Are you glad to see our old friend, March, back
again? You like Hurry, and must know that one day he
may be your brother-if not something nearer."
"That can't be, father," returned the girl, after a consid-
erable pause; "Hurry has had one father, and one mother;
and people never have two."
"So much for your weak mind, Hetty. When Jude
marries, her husband's father will be her father, and her
husband's sister her sister. If she should marry Hurry,
then he will be your brother."
"Judith will never have Hurry," returned the girl mildly.
but positively; "Judith don't like Hurry."
"That's more than you can know, Hetty. Harry March
is the handsomest, and the strongest, and the boldest young
man that ever visits the lake; and, as Jude is the greatest
beauty, I don't see why they shouldn't come together. He
has as much as promised that he will enter into this job with me, on
condition that I'11 consent."
Hetty began to move her body back and forth, and other-
wise to express mental agitation; but she made no answer
for more than a minute. Her father, accustomed to her
manner, and suspecting no immediate cause of concern, con-
tinued to smoke with the apparent phlegm which would
seem to belong to that particular species of enjoyment.
"Hurry is handsome, father," said Hetty, with a simple
emphasis, that she might have hesitated about using, had
her mind been more alive to the inferences of others.
"I told you so, child," muttered old Hutter, without
removing the pipe from between his teeth; "he's the
likeliest youth in these parts; and Jude is the likeliest
young woman I've met with since her poor mother was
in her best days."
"Is it wicked to be ugly, father?'"
"One might be guilty of worse things-but you 're by no
means ugly; though not so comely as Jude."
"Is Judith any happier for being so handsome?"
"She may be, child, and she may not be. But talk of
other matters now, for you hardly understand these, poor
Hetty. How do you like our new acquaintance, Deer-
slayer?"
"He isn't handsome, father. Hurry is far handsomer than Deerslayer."
"That's true; but they say he is a noted hunter! His
fame had reached me before I ever saw him; and I did hope
he would prove to be as stout a warrior as he is dexterous
with the deer. All men are not alike, howsever, child; and
it takes time, as I know by experience, to give a man a true
wilderness heart."
"Have I got a wilderness heart, father-and Hurry, is
his heart true wilderness?"
"You sometimes ask queer questions, Hetty! Your
heart is good, child, and fitter for the settlements than for the woods;
while your reason is fitter for the woods than for the settlements."
"Why has Judith more reason than I, father?"
"Heaven help thee, child: this is more than I can an-
swer God gives sense, and appearance, and all these
things; and he grants them as he seeth fit. Dost thou
wish for more sense?"
"Not I. The little I have troubles me; for when I
think the hardest, then I feel the unhappiest. I don't
believe thinking is good for me, though I do wish I was as
handsome as Judith !"
"Why so, poor child? Thy sister's beauty may cause
her trouble, as it caused her mother before her. It's no
advantage, Hetty, to be so marked for anything as to her
come an object of envy, or to be sought after more than
others."
"Mother was good, if she was handsome," returned the
girl, the tears staffing to her eyes, as usually happened
when she adverted to her deceased parent. Old Hutter, if not
equally affected, was moody and silent at this allusion to his wife.
He continued smoking, without appearing disposed to make any answer,
until his simple-minded daughter repeated her remark, in a way to
show that she felt uneasiness lest he might be inclined to deny
her assertion. Then he knocked the ashes out of his pipe, and
laying his hand in a sort of rough kindness on the girl's
head, he made a reply.
"Thy mother was too good for this world," he said;
"though others might not think so. Her good looks did
not befriend her; and you have no occasion to mourn that
you are not as much like her as your sister. Think less of
beauty, child, and more of your duty, and you '11 be as
happy on this lake as you could be in the king's palace."
"I know it, father; but Hurry says beauty is everything
in a young woman."
Hutter made an ejaculation expressive of dissatisfaction,
and went forward, passing through the house, in order to
do so. Hetty's simple betrayal of her weakness in behalf
of March gave him uneasiness on a subject concerning
which he had never felt before, and he determined to come
to an explanation at once with his visitor; for directness
of speech and decision in conduct were two of the best
qualities of this rude being, in whom the seeds of a better
education seemed to be constantly struggling upwards, to
be choked by the fruits of a life in which his hard struggles
for subsistence and security had steeled his feelings and
indurated his nature. When he reached the forward end of the
scow, he manifested an intention to relieve Deerslayer at
the oar, directing the latter to take his own place aft By
these changes, the old man and Hurry were again left alone,
while the young hunter was transferred to the other end of the ark.
Hetty had disappeared when Deerslayer reached his new
post, and for some little time he directed the course of the
slow-moving craft by himself. It was not long, however,
before Judith came out of the cabin, as if disposed to do
the honors of the place to a stranger engaged in the service
of her family. The starlight was sufficient to permit objects
to be plainly distinguished when near at hand, and the bright
eyes of the girl had an expression of kindness in them, when
they met those of the youth, that the latter was easily enabled
to discover. Her rich hair shaded her spirited and yet soft
countenance, even at that hour rendering it the more beautiful-
as the rose is loveliest when reposing amid the shadows and
contrasts of its native foliage. Little ceremony is used in
the intercourse of the woods; and Judith had acquired a
readiness of address, by the admiration that she so generally
excited, which, if it did not amount to forwardness, certainly
in no degree lent to her charms the aid of that retiring modesty
on which poets love to dwell.
"I thought I should have killed myself with laughing,
Deerslayer," the beauty abruptly, but coquettishly com-
menced, when I saw that Indian dive into the river! He
was a good-looking savage, too," the girl always dwelt on
personal beauty as a sort of merit, "and yet one could n't
stop to consider whether his paint would stand water!"
"And I thought they would have killed you with their
we'pons, Judith," returned Deerslayer; "it was an awful
risk for a female to run in the face of a dozen Mingos!"
"Did that make you come out of the cabin, in spite of
their rifles, too?" asked the girl, with more real interest
than she would have cared to betray, though with an indif-
ference of manner that was the result of a good deal of prac
tice united to native readiness.
"Men ar'n't apt to see females in danger, and not come
to their assistance. Even a Mingo knows that."
This sentiment was uttered with as much simplicity of
wanner as of feeling, and Judith rewarded it with a smile so
that literally knew no guile. To answer without saying
more or less than he wished, was consequently a delicate
duty.
"March has his say of all things in whether of
fri'nd or foe," slowly and cautiously rejoined the hunter.
"He's one of them that speak as they feel while the
tongue's a-going, and that's sometimes different from what
they'd speak if they took time to consider. Give me a
Delaware, Judith, for one that reflects and ruminates on his
idees! Inmity has made him thoughtful, and a loose
tongue is no ricommend at their council fires."
"I dare say March's tongue goes free enough when it gets
on the subject of Judith Hutter and her sister," said the
girl, rousing herself as if in careless disdain. "Young
women's good names are a pleasant matter of discourse with
some that would n't dare be so open-mouthed if there was a
brother in the way. Master March may find it pleasant to
traduce us, but sooner or later he '11 repent.
"Nay, Judith, this is taking the matter up too much in
'arnest. Hurry has never whispered a syllable ag'in the
good name of Hetty, to begin with-"
"I see how it is-I see how it is," impetuously interrupted
Judith. "I am the one he sees fit to scorch with his
withering tongue! Hetty, indeed! Poor Hetty!" she
continued, her voice sinking into low, husky tones, that
seemed nearly to stifle her in the utterance; "she is beyond
and above his slanderous malice! Poor Hetty! If God has
created her feeble-minded, the weakness lies altogether on
the side of errors of which she seems to know nothing. The
earth never held a purer being than Hetty Hutter,
Deerslayer."
"I can believe it-yes, I can believe that, Judith, and I
hope 'arnestly that the same can be said of her handsome
sister."
There was a soothing sincerity in the voice of Deerslayer,
which touched the girl's feelings; nor did the allusion to
her beauty lessen the effect with one who only knew too
well the power of her personal charms. Nevertheless, the
still, small voice of conscience was not hushed, and it prompted the
answer which she made, after giving herself time to reflect.
"I can believe it-yes, I can believe tha, Judith, and I
hope 'arnestly that the same can be said of her handsome
sister."
There was a soothing sincerity in the voice of Deerslayer,
which touched the girl's feelings; nor did the allusion
to her beauty lessen the effect with one who only knew
too well the power of her personal charms. Nevertheless,
the still, small voice of conscience was not hushed, and
it prompted the answer which she made after giving herself
time to reflect.
"I dare say Hurry had some of his vile hints about the
people of the garrisons," she added. "He knows they are
gentlemen, and can never forgive any one for being what he
feels he can never become himself."
"Not in the sense of a king's officer, Judith, sartainly,
for March has no turn thataway; but in the sense of reality,
why may not a beaver-hunter be as respectable as a governor?
Since you speak of it yourself, I'11 not deny that he did
complain of one as humble as you being so much in the
company of scarlet coats and silken sashes. But 't was jeal-
ousy that brought it out of him, and I do think he mourned
over his own thoughts as a mother would have mourned
over her child."
Perhaps Deerslayer was not aware of the full meaning
that his earnest language conveyed. It is certain that he
did not see the color that crimsoned the whole of Judith's
fine face, nor detect the uncontrollable distress that
immediately after changed its hue to deadly paleness.
A minute or two elapsed in profound stillness, the splash
of the water seeming to occupy all the avenues of sound;
and then Judith arose, and grasped the hand of the hunter,
almost convulsively, with one of her own.
"Deerslayer," she said, hurriedly, "I'm glad the ice is
broke between us. They say that sudden friendships lead
to long enmities, but I do not believe it will turn out so
with us. I know not how it is-but you are the first man I
ever met, who did not seem to wish to flatter-to wish my
ruin-to be an enemy in disguise-never mind; say nothing to
Hurry, and another time we '11 talk together again."
As the girl released her grasp, she vanished in the house,
leaving the astonished young man standing at the steering-
oar, as motionless as one of the pines on the hills. So
abstracted, indeed, had his thoughts become, that he was
hailed by Hutter to keep the scow's head in the right
direction, before he remembered his actual situation.
CHAPTER VI
"So spake the apostate Angel, though in pain,
Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair.'
Paradise lost, I.125-26.
Shortly after the disappearance of Judith, a light southerly
air arose, and Hutter set a large square sail, that had once
been the flying top-sail of an Albany sloop, but which having
become threadbare in catching the breezes of Tappan, had been
condemned and sold. He had a light, tough spar of tamarack that
he could raise on occasion, and with a little contrivance, his
duck was spread to the wind in a sufficiently professional
manner. The effect on the ark was such as to supersede the
necessity of rowing; and in about two hours the castle was seen,
in the darkness, rising out of the water, at the distance
of a hundred yards. The sail was then lowered, and by slow degrees
the scow drifted up to the building, and was secured. No one
had visited the house since Hurry and his companion left it.
The place was found in the quiet of midnight, a sort of type
of the solitude of a wilderness. As an enemy was known to be
near, Hutter directed his daughters to abstain from the use of
lights, luxuries in which they seldom indulged during the warm
months, lest they might prove beacons to direct their foes where
they might be found.
"In open daylight I shouldn't fear a host of savages behind these
stout logs, and they without any cover to skulk into," added Hutter,
when he had explained to his guests the reasons why he forbade the
use of light; "for I 'ye three or four trusty weapons always loaded,
and Killdeer, in particular, is a piece that never misses But it's a
different thing at night. A canoe might get upon us unseen, in the
dark; and the savages have so many cunning ways of attacking, that
I look upon it as bad enough to deal with 'em under a bright sun.
I built this dwelling in order to have 'em at arm's length, in case
we should ever get to blows again. Some people think it's too open
and exposed, but I'm for anchoring out here, clear of underbrush
and thickets, as the surest means of making a safe berth."
"You was once a sailor, they tell me, old Tom?" said Hurry, in his
abrupt manner, struck by one or two expressions that the other had
just used, "and some people believe you could give us strange accounts
of inimies and shipwrecks, if you 'd a mind to come out with all you know?"
"There are people in this world, Hurry," returned the other, evasively,
"who live on other men's thoughts; and some such often find their way
into the woods. What I 'ye been, or what I 'ye seen in youth, is of
less matter now than what the savages are. It 's of more account to find
out what will happen in the next twenty-four hours than to talk over
what happened twenty-four years since."
"That's judgment, Deerslayer; yes, that's sound judgment. Here's Judith
and Hetty to take care of, to say nothing of our own top-knots; and,
for my part, I can sleep as well in the dark as I could under a noonday
sun. To me it's no great matter whether there is light or not, to see
to shut my eyes by."
As Deerslayer seldom thought it necessary to answer his companion's
peculiar vein of humor, and Hutter was evidently indisposed to dwell
longer on the subject, it's discussion ceased with this remark. The
latter had something more on his mind, however, than recollections.
His daughters had no sooner left them, with an expressed intention of
going to bed, than he invited his two companions to follow him again
into the scow. Here the old man opened his project, keeping back the
portion that he had reserved for execution by Hurry and himself.
"The great object for people posted like ourselves is to command the
water," he commenced. "So long as there is no other craft on the lake,
a bark canoe is as good as a man of-war, since the castle will not be
easily taken by swimming. Now, there are but five canoes remaining in
these parts, two of which are mine, and one is Hurry's. These three
we have with us here; one being fastened in the canoe-dock beneath
the house, and the other two being alongside the scow. The other
canoes are housed on the shore, in hollow logs, and the savages,
who are such venomous enemies, will leave no likely place unexamined
in the morning, if they 're serious in s'arch of bounties-"
"Now, friend Hutter," interrupted Hurry, "the Indian don't live that
can find a canoe that is suitably wintered. I 'ye done something at
this business before now, and Deerslayer here knows that I am one that
can hide a craft in such a way that I can't find it myself."
"Very true, Hurry," put in the person to whom the appeal had been made,
"but you overlook the sarcumstance that if you could n't see the trail
of the man who did the job, I could. I 'm of Master Hutter's mind, that
it 's far wiser to mistrust a savage's ingenuity, than to build any
great expectations on his want of eye-sight. If these two canoes can
be got off to the castle, therefore, the sooner it 's done the better."
"Will you be of the party that's to do it?" demanded Hutter, in a way
to show that the proposal both surprised and pleased him.
"Sartain. I 'm ready to enlist in any enterprise that 's not ag'in a
white man's lawful gifts. Natur' orders us to defend our lives, and
the lives of others, too, when there 's occasion and opportunity.
I '11 follow you, Floating Tom, into the Mingo camp, on such an arr'nd,
and will strive to do my duty, should we come to blows; though, never
having been tried in battle, I don't like to promise more than I may
be able to perform. We all know our wishes, but none know their might
till put to the proof."
"That's modest and suitable, lad," exclaimed Hurry. "You've never yet
heard the crack of an angry rifle; and, let me tell you, 't is as
different from the persuasion of one of your venison speeches, as the
laugh of Judith Hutter, in her best humor, is from the scolding of a
Dutch house keeper on the Mohawk. I don't expect you'll prove much of
a warrior, Deerslayer, though your equal with the bucks and the does
don't exist in all these parts. As for the ra'al sarvice, however,
you'll turn out rather rearward, according to my consait."
"We'll see, Hurry, we '11 see," returned the other, meekly; so far as
human eye could discover, not at all disturbed by these expressed doubts
concerning his conduct on a point on which men are sensitive, precisely
in the degree that they feel the consciousness of demerit; "having never
been tried, I '11 wait to know, before I form any opinion of myself; and
then there '11 be sartainty, instead of bragging. I've beard of them that
was valiant afore the fight, who did little in it; and of them that waited
to know their own tempers, and found that they were n't as bad as some
expected, when put to the proof."
"At any rate, we know you can use a paddle, young man," said Hutter, "and
that 's all we shall ask of you tonight. Let us waste no more time, but
get into the canoe, and do, in place of talking."
As Hutter led the way, in the execution of his project, the boat was
soon ready, with Hurry and Deerslayer at the paddles. Before the old
man embarked himself, however, he held a conference of several minutes
with Judith, entering the house for that purpose; then, returning, he
took his place in the canoe, which left the side of the ark at the next
instant.
Had there been a temple reared to God, in that solitary wilderness, its
clock would have told the hour of midnight as the party set forth on their
expedition. The darkness had increased, though the night was still clear,
and the light of the stars sufficed for all the purposes of the adventurers.
Hutter alone knew the places where the canoes were hid, and he directed the
course, while his two athletic companions raised and dipped their paddles
with proper caution, lest the sound should be carried to the ears of their
enemies, across that sheet of placid water, in the stillness of deep night.
But the bark was too light to require any extraordinary efforts, and skill
supplying the place of strength, in about half an hour they were approaching
the shore, at a point near a league from the castle.
"Lay on your paddles, men," said Hutter, in a low voice, "and let us look
about us for a moment. We must now be all eyes and ears, for these vermin
have noses like bloodhounds."
The shores of the lake were examined closely, in order to discover any
glimmering of light that might have been left in a camp; and the men
strained their eyes, in the obscurity, to see if some thread of smoke
was not still stealing along the mountain-side, as it arose from the
dying embers of a fire. Nothing unusual could be traced; and as the
position was at some distance from the outlet, or the spot where the
savages had been met, it was thought safe to land. The paddles were
plied again, and the bows of the canoe ground upon the gravelly beach
with a gentle motion, and a sound barely audible. Hutter and Hurry
immediately landed, the former carrying his own and his friend's rifle,
leaving Deerslayer in charge of the canoe. The hollow log lay a little
distance up the side of the mountain, and the old man led the way towards
it, using so much caution as to stop at every third or fourth step, to
listen if any tread betrayed the presence of a foe. The same death-like
stillness, however, reigned on the midnight scene, and the desired place
was reached without an occurrence to induce alarm.
"This is it," whispered Hutter, laying a foot on the trunk of a fallen
linden; "hand me the paddles first, and draw the boat out with care, for
the wretches may have left it for a bait, after all."
"Keep my rifle handy, butt towards me, old fellow," answered March.
"If they attack me loaded, I shall want to unload the piece at 'em, at
least. And feel if the pan is full."
"All 's right," muttered the other; "move slow, when you get your load,
and let me lead the way."
The canoe was drawn out of the log with the utmost care, raised by
Hurry to his shoulder, and the two began to 'return to the shore, moving
but a step at a time, lest they should tumble down the steep declivity.
The distance was not great, but the descent was extremely difficult; and,
towards the end of their little journey, Deerslayer was obliged to land
and meet them, in order to aid in lifting the canoe through the bushes.
With his assistance the task was successfully accomplished, and the light
craft soon floated by the side of the other canoe. This was no sooner done,
than all three turned anxiously towards the forest and the mountain,
expecting an enemy to break out of the one, or to come rushing down the
other. Still the silence was unbroken, and they all embarked with the
caution that had been used in coming ashore.
Hutter now steered broad off towards the centre of the lake. Having got
a sufficient distance from the shore, he cast his prize loose, knowing
that it would drift slowly up the lake before the light southerly air,
and intending to find it on his return. Thus relieved of his tow, the
old man held his way down the lake, steering towards the very point
where Hurry had made his fruitless attempt on the life of the deer.
As the distance from this point to the outlet was less than a mile, it
was like entering an enemy's country; and redoubled caution became
necessary. They reached the extremity of the point, however, and landed
in safety on the little gravelly beach already mentioned. Unlike the
last place at which they had gone ashore, here was no acclivity to ascend,
the mountains looming up in the darkness quite a quarter of a mile
farther west, leaving a margin of level ground between them and the
strand. The point itself, though long, and covered with tall trees, was
nearly flat, and for some distance only a few yards in width. Hutter and
Hurry landed as before, leaving their companion in charge of the boat.
In this instance, the dead tree that contained the canoe of which they
had come in quest lay about half-way be. between the extremity of the narrow
slip of land and the place where it joined the main shore; and knowing that
there was water so near him on his left, the old man led the way along the
eastern side of the belt with some confidence walking boldly, though still
with caution. He had landed at the point expressly to get a glimpse into the
bay. and to make certain that the coast was clear; otherwise he would have
come ashore directly abreast of the hollow tree. There was no difficulty in
finding the latter, from which the canoe was drawn as before, and instead
of carrying it down to the place where Deerslayer lay, it was launched at
the nearest favorable spot. As soon as it was in the water, Hurry entered
it, and paddled round to the point, whither Hutter also proceeded, following
the beach. As the three men had now in their possession all the boats on
the lake, their confidence was greatly increased, and there was no longer
the same feverish desire to quit the shore, or the same necessity for
extreme caution. Their position on the extremity of the long, narrow bit of
land, added to the feeling of security, as it permitted an enemy to approach
in only one direction, that in their front, and under circumstances that
would render discovery, with their habitual vigilance, almost certain. The
three now landed together, and stood grouped in consultation on the gravelly
point.
"We 'ye fairly tree'd the scamps," said Hurry, chuckling at their success;
"if they wish to visit the castle, let 'em wade or swim! Old Tom, that idee
of your'n, in burrowing out in the lake, was high proof, and carries a fine
bead. There be men who would think the land safer than the water; but, after
all, reason shows it isn't; the beaver, and rats, and other l'arned creatur's
taking to the last when hard pressed. I call our position now, entrenched,
and set the Can adas at defiance."
"Let us paddle along this south shore," said Hutter, "and see if there 's no
sign of an encampment; but, first, let me have a better look into the bay,
for no one has been far enough round the inner shore of the point to make
suit of that quarter yet."
As Hutter ceased speaking, all three moved in the direction he had named.
Scarce had they fairly opened the bottom of the bay, when a general start
proved that their eyes had lighted on a common object at the same instant. It
was no more than a dying brand, giving out its flickering and failing light;
but at that hour, and in that place, it
was at once as conspicuous as "a good deed in a naughty world." There was not
a shadow of doubt that this fire had been kindled at an encampment of the
Indians. The situation, sheltered from observation on all sides but one, and
even on that except for a very short distance, proved that more care had been
taken to conceal the spot than would be used for ordinary purposes, and
Hutter, who knew that a spring was near at hand, as well as one of the best
fishing-stations on the lake, immediately inferred that this encampment
contained the women and children of the party.
"That's not a warrior's encampment," he growled to Hurry; "and there 's
bounty enough sleeping round that fire to make a heavy division of head-
money. Send the lad to the canoes, for there '11 come no good of him in such
an onset, and let us take the matter in hand at once, like men."
"There 's judgment in your notion, old Tom, and I like it to the backbone.
Deerslayer, do you get into the canoe, lad, and paddle off into the lake with
the spare one, and set it adrift, as we did with the other; after which you
can float along shore, as near as you can get to the head of the bay, keeping
outside the point, howsever, and outside the rushes, too. You can hear us
when we want you; and if there's any delay, I '11 call like a loon-yes, that
'll do it- the call of a loon shall be the signal. If you hear rifles, and
feel like sogering, why, you may close in, and see if you can make the same
hand with the savages that you do with the deer."
"If my wishes could be followed, this matter would not be undertaken, Hurry-"
"Quite true-nobody denies it, boy; but your wishes can't be followed; and
that inds the matter. So just canoe yourself off into the middle of the lake,
and by the time you get back there'11 be movements in that camp !"
The young man set about complying with great reluctance and a heavy heart. He
knew the prejudices of the frontiermen too well, however, to attempt a
remonstrance. The latter, indeed, under the circumstances, might prove
dangerous, as it would certainly prove useless. He paddled the canoe,
therefore, silently, and with the former caution, to a spot near the centre
of the placid sheet of water, and set the boat just recovered adrift, to
float towards the castle, before the light southerly air. This expedient had
been adopted, in both cases, under the certainty that the drift could not
carry the light barks more than a league or two, before the return of light,
when they might easily be overtaken In order to prevent any wandering savage
from using them, by swimming off and getting possession, a possible but
scarcely a probable event, all the paddles were retained.
No sooner had he set the recovered canoe adrift, than Deerslayer turned the
bows of his own towards the point on the shore that had been indicated by
Hurry. So light was the movement of the little craft, and so steady the sweep
of its master's arm, that ten minutes had not elapsed ere it was again
approaching the land, having, in that brief time, passed over fully half a
mile of distance. As soon as Deer-slayer's eye caught a glimpse of the
rushes, of which there were many growing in the water a hundred feet from the
shore, he arrested the motion of the canoe, and anchored his boat by holding
fast to the delicate but tenacious stem of one of the drooping plants. Here
he remained, awaiting, with an intensity of suspense that can be easily
imagined, the result of the hazardous enterprise.
It would be difficult to convey to the minds of those who have never
witnessed it, the sublimity that characterizes the silence of a solitude as
deep as that which now reigned over the Glimmerglass. In the present
instance, this sublimity was increased by the gloom of night, which threw its
shadowy and fantastic forms around the lake, the forest, and the hills. It is
not easy, indeed, to conceive of any place more favorable to heighten these
natural impressions, than that Deerslayer now occupied. The size of the lake
brought all within the reach of human senses, while it displayed so much of
the imposing scene at a single view, giving up, as it might be, at a glance,
a sufficiency to produce the deepest impressions. As has been said, this was
the first lake Deerslayer had ever seen. Hitherto, his experience was at once
as conspicuous as "a good deed in a naughty world." There was not a shadow of
doubt that this fire had been kindled at an encampment of the Indians. The
situation sheltered from observation on all sides but one, and even on that
except for a very short distance, proved that more care had been taken to
conceal the spot than would be used for ordinary purposes, and Hutter, who
knew that a spring was near at hand, as well as one of the best fishing
stations on the lake, immediately inferred that this encampment contained
the women and children of the party.
"That's not a warrior's encampment," he growled to Hurry; "and there 's
bounty enough sleeping round that fire to make a heavy division of head-
money. Send the lad to the canoes, for there '11 come no good of him in such
an onset, and let us take the matter in hand at once, like men."
"There 's judgment in your notion, old Tom, and I like it to the backbone.
Deerslayer, do you get into the canoe, lad, and paddle off into the lake with
the spare one, and set it adrift, as we did with the other; after which you
can float along shore, as near as you can get to the head of the bay, keeping
outside the point, howsever, and outside the rushes, too. You can hear us
when we want you; and if there's any delay, I '11 call like a loon-yes, that
'11 do it- the call of a loon shall be the signal. If you hear rifles, and
feel like sogering, why, you may close in, and see if you can make the same
hand with the savages that you do with the deer.""
"If my wishes could be followed, this matter would not be undertaken, Hurry-"
"Quite true-nobody denies it, boy; but your wishes can't be followed; and
that inds the matter. So just canoe yourself off into the middle of the lake,
and by the time you get back there '11 be movements in that camp."
The young man set about complying with great reluctance and a heavy heart. He
knew the prejudices of the frontiermen too well, however, to attempt a
remonstrance. the latter, indeed, under the circumstances, might prove
dangerous, as it would certainly prove useless. He paddled the canoe,
therefore, silently, and with the former caution, to a spot near the centre
of the placid sheet of water, and set the boat just recovered adrift, to
float towards the castle, before the light southerly air. This expedient had
been adopted, in both cases, under the certainty that the drift could not
carry the light barks more than a league or two, before the return of light,
when they might easily be overtaken. In order to prevent any wandering savage
from using them, by swimming off and getting possession, a possible, but
scarcely a probable event, all the paddles were retained.
No sooner had he set the recovered canoe adrift, than Deerslayer turned the
bows of his own towards the point on the shore that had been indicated by
Hurry. So light was the movement of the little craft, and so steady the sweep
of its master's arm, that ten minutes had not elapsed ere it was again
approaching the land, having, in that brief time, passed over fully half a
mile of distance. As soon as Deerslayer's eye caught a glimpse of the
rushes, of which there were many growing in the water a hundred feet from the
shore, he arrested the motion of the canoe, and anchored his boat by holding
fast to the delicate but tenacious stem of one of the drooping plants. Here
he remained, awaiting, with an intensity of suspense that can be easily
imagined, the result of the hazardous enterprise.
It would be difficult to convey to the minds of those who have never
witnessed it, the sublimity that characterizes the silence of a solitude as
deep as that which now reigned over the Glimmerglass. In the present
instance, this sublimity was increased by the gloom of night, which threw its
shadowy and fantastic forms around the lake, the forest, and the hills. It is
not easy, indeed, to conceive of any place more favorable to heighten these
natural impressions, than that Deerslayer now occupied. The size of the lake
brought all within the reach of human senses, while it displayed so much of
the imposing scene at a single view, giving up, as it might be, at a glance,
a sufficiency to produce the deepest impressions. As has been said, this was
the first lake Deerslayer had ever seen. Hitherto, his experience had been
limited to the courses of rivers and smaller streams, and never before had he
seen so much of that wilderness, which he so well loved, spread before his
gaze. Accustomed to the forest, however, his mind was capable of portraying
all its hidden mysteries, as he looked upon its leafy surface. This was also
the first time he had been on a trail where human lives depended on the
issue. His ears had often drunk in the traditions of frontier warfare, but he
had never yet been confronted with an enemy.
The reader will readily understand, therefore, how intense must have been the
expectation of the young man, as be sat in his solitary canoe, endeavoring to
catch the smallest sound that might denote the course of things on shore. His
training had been perfect, so far as theory could go, and his self-
possession, notwithstanding the high excitement, that was the fruit of
novelty, would have done credit to a veteran. The visible evidences of the
existence of the camp, or of the fire could not be detected from the spot
where the canoe lay, and he was compelled to depend on the sense of hearing
alone. He did not feel impatient, for the lessons he had heard taught him the
virtue of patience, and, most of all, inculcated the necessity of wariness in
conducting any covert assault on the Indians. Once he thought he heard the
cracking of a dried twig, but expectation was so intense it might mislead
him. In this manner minute after minute passed, until the whole time since he
left his companions was extended to quite an hour. Deerslayer knew not
whether to rejoice in or to mourn over this cautious delay, for, if it
augured security to his associates, it foretold destruction to the feeble and
innocent.
It might have been an hour and a half after his companions and he had parted,
when Deerslayer was aroused by a sound that filled him equally with concern
and surprise. The quavering call of a loon arose from the opposite side of
the lake, evidently at no great distance from its outlet. There was no
mistaking the note of this bird, which is so familiar to all who know the
sounds of the American lakes. Shrill, tremulous, loud, and sufficiently
prolonged, it seems the very cry of warning. It is often raised, also, at
night, an exception to the habits of most of the other feathered inmates of
the wilderness; a circumstance which had induced Hurry to select it as his
own signal. There had been sufficient time, certainly, for the two
adventurers to make their way by land from the point where they had been left
to that whence the call had come, but it was not probable that they would
adopt such a course. Had the camp been deserted they would have summoned
Deerslayer to the shore, and, did it prove to be peopled, there could be no
sufficient motive for circling it, in order to re-embark at so great a
distance. Should he obey the signal, and be drawn away from the landing, the
lives of those who depended on him might be the forfeit-and, should he
neglect the call, on the supposition that it had been really made, the
consequences might be equally disastrous, though from a different cause. In
this indecision he waited, trusting that the call, whether feigned or
natural, would be speedily renewed. Nor was he mistaken. A very few minutes
elapsed before the same shrill warning cry was repeated, and from the same
part of the lake. This time, being on the alert, his senses were not
deceived. Although he had often heard admirable imitations of this bird, and
was no mean adept himself in raising its notes, he felt satisfied that Hurry,
to whose efforts in that way he had attended, could never so completely and
closely follow nature. He determined, therefore, to disregard that cry, and
to wait for one less perfect and nearer at hand.
Deerslayer had hardly come to this determination, when the profound stillness
of night and solitude was broken by a cry so startling, as to drive all
recollection of the more melancholy call of the loon from the listener's
mind. It was a shriek of agony, that came either from one of the female sex,
or from a boy so young as not yet to have attained a manly voice. This appeal
could not be mistaken. Heart rending terror-if not writhing agony-was in the
sounds, and the anguish that had awakened them was as sudden as it was
fearful. The young man released his hold of the rush, and dashed his paddle
into the water; to do, he knew not what-to steer, he knew not whither. A very
few moments, however, removed his indecision. The breaking of branches, the
cracking of dried sticks, and the fall of feet were distinctly audible; the
sounds appearing to approach the water though in a direction that led
diagonally towards the shore, and a little farther north than the spot that
Deerslayer had been ordered to keep near. Following this clue, the young man
urged the canoe ahead, paying but little attention to the manner in which he
might betray its presence. He had reached a part of the shore, where its
immediate bank was tolerably high and quite steep. Men were evidently
threshing through the bushes and trees on the summit of this bank, following
the line of the shore, as if those who fled sought a favorable place for
descending. Just at this instant five or six rifles flashed, and the
opposite hills gave back, as usual, the sharp reports in prolonged rolling
echoes. One or two shrieks, like those which escape the bravest when suddenly
overcome by unexpected anguish and alarm, followed; and then the threshing
among the bushes was renewed, in a way to show that man was grappling with
man.
"Slippery devil!" shouted Hurry with the fury of disappointment-" his skin's
greased! I sha'n't grapple! Take that for your cunning!"
The words were followed by the fall of some heavy object among the smaller
trees that fringed the bank, appearing to Deerslayer as if his gigantic
associate had hurled an enemy from him in this unceremonious manner. Again
the flight and pursuit were renewed, and then the young man saw a human form
break down the hill, and rush several yards into the water. At this critical
moment the canoe was just near enough to the spot to allow this movement,
which was accompanied by no little noise, to be seen, and feeling that there
he must take in his companion, if anywhere, Deerslayer urged the canoe
forward to the rescue. His paddle had not been raised twice, when the voice
of Hurry was heard filling the air with imprecations, and he rolled on the
narrow beach, literally loaded down with enemies. While prostrate, and almost
smothered with his foes, the athletic frontierman gave his loon-call, in a
manner that would have excited laughter under circumstances less terrific.
The figure in the water seemed suddenly to repent his own flight, and rushed
to the shore to aid his companion, but was met and immediately overpowered by
half a dozen fresh pursuers, who, just then, came leaping down the bank.
"Let up, you painted riptyles-let up!" cried Hurry, too hard pressed to be
particular about the terms he used; "isn't it enough that I am withed like a
saw-log that ye must choke too!"
This speech satisfied Deerslayer that his friends were prisoners, and that to
land would be to share their fate He was already within a hundred feet of the
shore, when a few timely strokes of the paddle not only arrested his advance,
but forced him off to six or eight times that distance from his enemies.
Luckily for him, all of the Indians had dropped their rifles in the pursuit,
or this retreat might not have been effected with impunity; though no one had
noted the canoe in the first confusion of the melee.
"Keep off the land, lad," called out Hutter; "the girls depend only on you,
now; you will want all your caution to escape these savages. Keep off, and
God prosper you, as you aid my children!"
There was little sympathy in general between Hutter and the young man, but
the bodily and mental anguish with which this appeal was made served at the
moment to conceal from the latter the former's faults. He saw only the father
in his sufferings, and resolved at once to give a pledge of fidelity to its
interests, and to be faithful to his word.
"Put your heart at ease, Master Hutter," he called out; "the gals shall be
looked to, as well as the castle. The inimy has got the shore, 't is no use
to deny, but he hasn't got the water. Providence has the charge of all, and
no one can say what will come of it; but, if good-will can sarve you and your
'n, depend on that much. My exper'ence is small, but my will is good."
"Ay, ay, Deerslayer," returned Hurry, in this stentorian voice, which was
losing some of its heartiness, notwith' standing,-" Ay, ay, Deerslayer. you
mean well enough
believed himself to have reached a point in a line with that where he had set
the last canoe adrift, he changed his direction northward, keeping the light
air as nearly on his back as possible. After paddling a quarter of a mile in
this direction, a dark object became visible on the lake, a little to the
right; and turning on one side for the purpose, he had soon secured his lost
prize to his own boat. Deerslayer now examined the heavens, the course of the
air, and the position of the two canoes. Finding nothing in either to induce
a change of plan, he lay down, and prepared to catch a few hours' sleep, that
the morrow might find him equal to its exigencies.
Although the hardy and the tired sleep profoundly, even in scenes of danger,
it was some time before Deerslayer lost his recollection. His mind dwelt on
what had passed, and his half-conscious faculties kept figuring the events of
the night, in a sort of waking dream. Suddenly he was up and alert, for he
fancied he heard the preconcerted signal of Hurry summoning him to the shore.
But all was still as the grave again. The canoes were slowly drifting
northward, the thoughtful stars were glimmering in their mild glory over his
head, and the forest-bound sheet of water lay embedded between its mountains,
as calm and melancholy as if never troubled by the winds, or brightened by a
noonday sun. Once more the loon raised his tremulous cry, near the foot of
the lake, and the mystery of the alarm was explained. Deerslayer adjusted his
hard pillow, stretched his form in the bottom of the canoe, and slept.
CHAPTER VII.
"Clear, placid Leman I Thy contrasted lake
With the wild world I dwelt in, is a thing
Which warns me, with its stillness, to forsake
Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring.
This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing
To waft me from distraction; once I loved
Torn ocean's roar, but thy soft murmuring
Sounds sweet as if a sister's voice reproved,
That I with stern delights should e'er have been so moved."
BYRON.
Day had fairly dawned before the young man, whom we have left in the
situation described in the last chapter, again opened his eyes. This was no
sooner done, than he started up, and looked about him with the eagerness of
one who suddenly felt the importance of accurately ascertaining his precise
position. His rest had been deep and undisturbed; and when he awoke, it was
with a clearness of intellect and a readiness of resources that were very
much needed at that particular moment. The sun had not risen, it is true, but
the vault of heaven was rich with the winning softness that "brings and shuts
the day," while the whole air was filled with the carols of birds, the hymns
of the feathered tribe. These sounds first told Deerslayer the risks he ran.
The air, for wind it could scarce be called, was still light, it is true, but
it had increased a little in the course of the night, and as the canoes were
feathers on the water, they had drifted twice the expected distance; and,
what was still more dangerous, had approached so near the base of the
mountain that here rose precipitously from the eastern shore, as to render
the carols of the birds plainly audible. This was not the worst. The third
canoe had taken the same direction, and was slowly drifting towards a point
where it must inevitably touch, unless turned aside by a shift of wind, or
human hands. In other respects, nothing presented itself to attract
attention, or to awaken alarm. The castle stood on its shoal, nearly abreast
of the canoes, for the drift had amounted to miles in the course of the
night, and the ark lay fastened to its piles, as both had been left so many
hours before.
As a matter of course, Deerslayer's attention was first given to the canoe
ahead. It was already quite near the point, and a very few strokes of the
paddle sufficed to tell him that it must touch before he could possibly
overtake it. Just at this moment, too, the wind inopportunely freshened,
rendering the drift of the light craft much mote rapid than certain. Feeling
the impossibility of preventing a contact with the land, the young man wisely
determined not to heat himself with unnecessary exertions; but first looking
to the priming of his piece, he proceeded slowly and warily towards the
point, taking care to make a little circuit, that he might be exposed on only
one side, as he approached.
The canoe adrift being directed by no such intelligence, pursued its proper
way, and grounded on a small sunken rock, at the distance of three or four
yards from the shore. Just at that moment, Deerslayer had got abreast of the
point, and turned the bows of his own boat to the land; first casting loose
his tow, that his movements might be unencumbered. The canoe hung an instant
to the rock; then it rose a hair's breadth on an almost imperceptible swell
of the water, swung round, floated clear, and reached the strand. All this
the young man noted, but it neither quickened his pulses, nor hastened his
hand. If any one had been lying in wait for the arrival of the waif, he must
be seen, and the utmost caution in approaching the shore became
indispensable; if no one was in ambush, hurry was unnecessary. The point
being nearly diagonally opposite to the Indian encampment, he hoped the last,
though the former was not only possible, but probable; for the savages were
prompt in adopting all the expedients of their particular modes of warfare,
and quite likely had many scouts searching the shores for craft to carry them
off to the castle. As a glance at the lake from any height or projection
would expose the smallest object on its surface, there was little hope that
either of the canoes would pass unseen; and Indian sagacity needed no
instruction to tell which way a boat or a log would drift, when the direction
of the wind was known. As Deerslayer drew nearer and nearer to the land, the
stroke of his paddle grew slower, his eye became more watchful, and his ears
and nostrils almost dilated with the effort to detect any lurking danger. 'T
was a trying moment for a novice, nor was there the encouragement which even
the timid sometimes feel, when conscious of being observed and commended. He
was entirely alone, thrown on his own resources, and was cheered by no
friendly eye, emboldened by no encouraging voice. Notwithstanding all these
circumstances, the most experienced veteran in forest warfare could not have
behaved better. Equally free from recklessness and hesitation, his advance
was marked by a sort of philosophical prudence that appeared to render him
superior to all motives but those which were best calculated to effect his
purpose. Such was the commencement of a career in forest exploits, that
afterwards rendered this man, in his way, and under the limits of his habits
and opportunities, as renowned as many a hero whose name has adorned the
pages of works more celebrated than legends simple as ours can ever become.
When about a hundred yards from the shore, Deerslayer rose in the canoe, gave
three or four vigorous strokes with the paddle, sufficient of themselves to
impel the bark to land, and then quickly laying aside the instrument of
labor, he seized that of war. He was in the very act of raising the rifle,
when a sharp report was followed by the buzz of a bullet that passed so near
his body as to cause him involuntarily to start. The next instant Deerslayer
staggered, and fell his whole length in the bottom of the canoe. A yell-it
came from a single voice-followed, and an Indian leaped from the bushes upon
the open area of the point, bounding towards the canoe. This was the moment
the young man desired. He rose on the instant, and levelled his own rifle at
his uncovered foe; but his finger hesitated about pulling the trigger on one
whom he held at such a disadvantage. This little delay, probably, saved the
life of the Indian, who bounded back into the cover as swiftly as he had
broken out of it. In the meantime Deerslayer had been swiftly approaching the
land, and his own canoe reached the point just as his enemy disappeared. As
its movements had not been directed, it touched the shore a few yards from
the other boat; and though the rifle of his foe had to be loaded, there was
not time to secure his prize, and carry it beyond danger, before he would be
exposed to another shot. Under the circumstances, therefore, he did not pause
an instant, but dashed into the woods and sought a cover.
On the immediate point there was a small open area, partly in native grass,
and partly beach, but a dense fringe of bushes lined its upper side. This
narrow belt of dwarf vegetation passed, one issued immediately into the high
and gloomy vaults of the forest. The land was tolerably level for a few
hundred feet, and then it rose precipitously in a mountainside. The trees
were tall, large, and so free from underbrush, that they resembled vast
columns, irregularly scattered, upholding a dome of leaves. Although they
stood tolerably close together, for their ages and size, the eye could
penetrate to considerable distances; and bodies of men, even, might have
engaged beneath their cover, with concert and intelligence.
Deerslayer knew that his adversary must be employed in re-loading, unless he
had fled. The former proved to be the case, for the young man had no sooner
placed himself behind a tree, than he caught a glimpse of the arm of the
Indian, his body being concealed by an oak, in the very act of forcing the
leathered bullet home. Nothing would have been easier than to spring forward,
and decide the affair by a close assault on his unprepared foe; but every
feeling of Deerslayer revolted at such a step, although his own life had
just been attempted from a cover. He was yet unpracticed in the ruthless
expedients of savage warfare, of which he knew nothing except by tradition
and theory, and it struck him as unfair advantage to assail an unarmed foe.
His color had heightened, his eye frowned, his lips were compressed, and all
his energies were collected and ready; but, instead of advancing to fire, he
dropped his rifle to the usual position of a sportsman in readiness to catch
his aim, and muttered to himself, unconscious that he was speaking-
"No, no-that may be redskin warfare, but it's not a
Christian's gifts. Let the miscreant charge, and then we'll take it out like
men; for the canoe he must not, and shall not have. No, no; let him have time
to load, and God will take care of the right!"
All this time the Indian had been so intent on his own movements, that he was
even ignorant that his enemy was in the woods. His only apprehension was,
that the canoe would be recovered and carried away before he might be in
readiness to prevent it. He had sought the cover from habit, but was within a
few feet of the fringe of bushes, and could be at the margin of the forest in
readiness to fire in a moment. The distance between him and his enemy was
about fifty yards, and the trees were so arranged by nature that the line of
sight was not interrupted, except by the particular trees behind which each
party stood.
His rifle was no sooner loaded, than the savage glanced around him, and
advanced incautiously as regarded the real, but stealthily as respected the
fancied position of his enemy, until he was fairly exposed. Then Deerslayer
stepped from behind its own cover, and hailed him.
"This a way, redskin; this a way, if you're looking for me," he called out.
"I'm young in war, but not so young as to stand on an open beach to be shot
down like an owl, by daylight. It rests on yourself whether it's peace or war
atween us; for my gifts are white gifts, and I'm not one of them that thinks
it valiant to slay human mortals, singly, in the woods."
The savage was a good deal startled by this sudden discovery of the danger he
ran. He had a little knowledge of English, however, and caught the drift of
the other's meaning. He was also too well schooled to betray alarm, but,
dropping the butt of his rifle to the earth, with an air of confidence, he
made a gesture of lofty courtesy. All this was done with the ease and self-
possession of one accustomed to consider no man his superior. In the midst of
this consummate acting, however, the volcano that raged within caused his
eyes to glare, and his nostrils to dilate, like those of some wild beast that
is suddenly prevented from taking the fatal leap.
"Two canoes," he said, in the deep guttural tones of his race, holding up the
number of fingers he mentioned, by way of preventing mistakes; "one for you--
one for me."
"No, no, Mingo, that will never do. You own neither; and neither shall you
have, as long as I can prevent it. I know it's war atween your people and
mine, but that's no reason why human mortals should slay each other, like
savage creatur's that meet in the woods; go your way, then, and leave me to
go mine. The world is large enough for us both; and when we meet fairly in
battle, why, the Lord will order the fate of each of us."
"Good!" exclaimed the Indian; "my brother missionary-great talk; all about
Manitou."
"Not so-not so, warrior. I'm not good enough for the Moravians, and am too
good for most of the other vagabonds that preach about in the woods. No, no;
I'm only a hunter, as yet, though afore the peace is made, 't is like enough
there'll be occasion to strike a blow at some of your people. Still, I wish
it to be done in fair fight, and not in a quarrel about the ownership of a
miserable canoe."
"Good I My brother very young-but he is very wise. Little warrior-great
talker. Chief, sometimes, in council."
" I don't know this, nor do I say it, Injin," returned Deerslayer, coloring a
little at the ill-concealed sarcasm of the other's manner; "I look forward to
a life in the woods, and I only hope it may be a peaceable one. All young men
must go on the war-path, when there's occasion, but war is n't needfully
massacre. I've seen enough of the last, this very night, to know that
Providence frowns on it; and I now invite you to go your own way, while I go
mine; and hope that we may part frinds."
"Good! My brother has two scalp-gray hair under 'other. Old wisdom-young
tongue."
Here the savage advanced with confidence, his hand extended, his face
smiling, and his whole bearing denoting amity and respect. Deerslayer met his
offered friendship in a proper spirit, and they shook hands cordially, each
endeavoring to assure the other of his sincerity and desire to be at peace.
All have his own," said the Indian; "my canoe, mine; your canoe, your'n. Go
look; if your'n, you keep; if mine, I keep."
"That's just, redskin; thought you must be wrong in thinking the canoe your
property. Howsever, seem' is believin ', and we'll go down to the shore,
where you may look with your own eyes; for it's likely you'll object to
trustin' altogether to mine."
The Indian uttered his favorite exclamation of "Good!" and then they walked
side by side, towards the shore. There was no apparent distrust in the manner
of either, the Indian moving in advance, as if he wished to show his
companion that he did not fear turning his back to him. As they reached the
open ground, the former pointed towards Deerslayer' s boat, and said
emphatically- "No mine-pale-face canoe. This redman's. No want other man's
canoe-want his own."
"You're wrong, redskin, you 're altogether wrong. This canoe was left in old
Hutter's keeping, and is his'n according to law, red or white, till its owner
comes to claim it. Here's the seats and the stitching of the bark to speak
for themselves. No man ever know'd an Injin to turn off such work."
"Good! My brother little old-big wisdom. Injin no make him. White man's
work."
"I'm glad you think so, for holding out to the contrary might have made ill
blood atween us, every one having a right to take possession of his own. I'll
just shove the canoe out of reach of dispute at once, as the quickest way of
settling difficulties."
While Deerslayer was speaking, he put a foot against the end of the light
boat, and giving a vigorous shove, he sent it out into the lake a hundred
feet or more, where, taking the true current, it would necessarily float past
the point, and be in no further danger of coming ashore. The savage started
at this ready and decided expedient, and his companion saw that he cast a
hurried and fierce glance at his own canoe, or that which contained the
paddles. The change of manner, however, was but momentary, and then the
Iroquois resumed his air of friendliness, and a smile of satisfaction.
"Good !" he repeated, with stronger emphasis than ever. "Young head, old
mind. Know how to settle quarrel. Farewell, brother. He go to house in water-
muskrat house- Injin go to camp; tell chiefs no find canoe."
Deerslayer was not sorry to hear this proposal, for he felt anxious to join
the females, and he took the offered hand of the Indian very willingly. The
parting words were friendly, and while the redman walked calmly towards the
wood, with the rifle in the hollow of his arm, without once looking back in
uneasiness or distrust, the white man moved towards the remaining canoe,
carrying his piece in the same pacific manner, it is true, but keeping his
eye fastened on the movements of the other. This distrust, however, seemed to
be altogether uncalled for, and as if ashamed to have entertained it, the
young man averted his look, and stepped carelessly up to his boat. Here he
began to push the canoe from the shore, and to make his other preparations
for departing. He might have been thus employed a minute, when, happening to
turn his face towards the land, his quick and certain eye told him, at a
glance, the imminent jeopardy in which his life was placed. The black,
ferocious eyes of the savage were glancing on him, like those of the
crouching tiger, through a small opening in the bushes, and the muzzle of his
rifle seemed already to be opening in a line with his own body.
Then, indeed, the long practice of Deerslayer, as a hunter did him good
service. Accustomed to fire with the deer on the bound, and often when the
precise position of the animal's body had in a manner to be guessed at, he
used the same expedients here. To cock and poise his rifle were the acts of a
single moment and a single motion: then aiming almost without sighting, he
fired into the bushes where he knew a body ought to be, in order to sustain
the appalling countenance which alone was visible. There was not time to
raise the piece any higher, or to take a more deliberate aim. So rapid were
his movements that both parties discharged their pieces at the same instant,
the concussions mingling in one report. The mountains, indeed, gave back but
a single echo. Deerslayer dropped his piece, and stood with head erect,
steady as one of the pines in the calm of a June morning, watching the
result; while the savage gave the yell that has become historical for its
appalling influence, leaped through the bushes, and came bounding across the
open ground, flourishing a tomahawk. Still Deerslayer moved not, but stood
with his unloaded rifle fallen against his shoulders, while, with a hunter's
habits, his hands were mechanically feeling for the powder-horn and charger.
When about forty feet from his enemy, the savage hurled his keen weapon; but
it was with an eye so vacant, and a hand so unsteady and feeble, that the
young man caught it by the handle as it was flying past him. At that instant
the Indian staggered and fell his whole length on the ground.
"I know' d it-I know' d it!" exclaimed Deerslayer, who was already preparing
to force a fresh bullet into his rifle; "I know'd it must come to this, as
soon as I had got the range from the creatur's eyes. A man sights suddenly,
and fires quick when his own life's in danger; yes, I know'd it would come to
this. I was about the hundredth part of a second too quick for him, or it
might have been bad for me! The riptyle's bullet has just grazed my side- but
say what you will for or ag'in 'em, a redskin is by no means as sartain with
powder and ball as a white man. Their gifts don't seem to lie that a way.
Even Chingachgook, great as he is in other matters, isn't downright deadly
with the rifle."
By this time the piece was reloaded, and Deerslayer, after tossing the
tomahawk into the canoe, advanced to his victim, and stood over him, leaning
on his rifle, in melancholy attention. It was the first instance in which he
ha seen a man fall in battle-it was the first fellow-creature against whom he
had ever seriously raised his own hand. The sensations were novel; and
regret, with the freshness of our better feelings, mingled with his triumph.
The Indian was not dead, though shot directly through the body. He lay on his
back motionless, but his eyes, now full of consciousness, watched each action
of his victor-as the fallen bird regards the fowler-jealous of every
movement. The man probably expected the fatal blow which was to precede the
loss of his scalp; or perhaps he anticipated that this latter act of cruelty
would precede his death. Deerslayer read his thoughts; and he found a
melancholy satisfaction in relieving the apprehensions of the helpless
savage.
"No, no, redskin," he said; "you've nothing more to fear from me. I am of a
Christian stock, and scalping is not of my gifts. I '11 just make sartain of
your rifle, and then come back and do you what sarvice I can. Though here I
can't stay much longer, as the crack of three rifles will be apt to bring
some of your devils down upon me."
The close of this was said in a sort of a soliloquy, as the young man went in
quest of the fallen rifle. The piece was found where its owner had dropped
it, and was immediately put into the canoe. Laying his own rifle at its
side, Deerslayer then returned and stood over the Indian again.
"All inmity atween you and me's at an ind redskin," he said; "and you may set
your heart at rest on the score of the scalp, or any further injury. My gifts
are white, as I 'ye told you; and I hope my conduct will be white also."
Could looks have conveyed all they meant, it is probable Deerslayer's
innocent vanity on the subject of color would have been rebuked a little; but
he comprehended the gratitude that was expressed in the eyes of the dying
savage, without in the least detecting the bitter sarcasm that struggled with
the better feeling.
"Water !" ejaculated the thirsty and unfortunate creature; "give poor Injin
water."
"Ay, water you shall have, if you drink the lake dry. I'll just carry you
down to it that you may take your fill.
This is the way, they tell me, with all wounded people- water is their
greatest comfort and delight."
So saying, Deerslayer raised the Indian in his arms, and carried him to the
lake. Here he first helped him to take an attitude in which he could appease
his burning thirst; after which he seated himself on a stone, and took the
head of his wounded adversary in his own lap, and endeavored to soothe his
anguish in the best manner he could.
"It would be sinful in me to tell you your time had n't come, warrior," he
commenced, "and therefore I '11 not say it. You 'ye passed the middle age
already, and, considerin' the sort of lives ye lead, your days have been
pretty well filled The principal thing now, is to look forward to what comes
next. Neither redskin nor pale-face, on the whole, calculates much on
sleepin' forever; but both expect to live in another world. Each has his
gifts, and will be judged by 'em, and I suppose you 'ye thought these matters
over enough not to stand in need of sarmons when the trial comes. You '11
find your happy hunting-grounds, if you 'ye been a just Injin; if an onjust,
you'll meet your desarts in another way. I'ye my own idees about these
things; but you're too old and exper'enced to need any explanations from one
as young as I."
"Good!" ejaculated the Indian, whose voice retained its depth even as life
ebbed away; "young head-old wisdom I"
"It's sometimes a consolation, when the ind comes, to know that them we 'ye
harmed, or tried to harm, forgive us. I suppose natur' seeks this relief, by
way of getting a pardon on 'arth; as we never can know whether He pardons,
who is all in all, till judgment itself comes. It's soothing to know that any
pardon at such times; and that, I conclude, is the secret. Now, as for
myself, I overlook altogether your designs ag'in my life; first, because no
harm came of 'em; next, because it 's your gifts, and natur', and trainin',
and I ought not to have trusted you at all; and, finally and chiefly, because
I can bear no ill-will to a dying man, whether heathen or Christian. So put
your heart at ease, so far as I'm consarned; you know best what other matters
ought to trouble you, or what ought to give you satisfaction in so trying a
moment."
It is probable that the Indian had some of the fearful glimpses of the
unknown state of being which God, in mercy, seems at times to afford to all
the human race; but they were necessarily in conformity with his habits and
prejudices Like most of his people, and like too many of our own, he thought
more of dying in a way to gain applause among those he left than to secure a
better state of existence hereafter. While Deerslayer was speaking, his mind
was a little bewildered, though he felt that the intention was good; and when
he had done, a regret passed over his spirit that none of his own tribe were
present to witness his stoicism, under extreme bodily suffering, and the
firmness with which he met his end. With the high innate courtesy that so
often distinguishes the Indian warrior before he becomes corrupted by too
much intercourse with the worst class of the white men, he endeavored to
express his thankfulness for the other's good intentions, and to let him
understand that they were appreciated.
"Good!" he repeated, for this was an English word much used by the savages,
"good! young head ; young heart, too. Old heart tough; no shed tear. Hear
Indian when he die, and no want to lie-what he call him?"
"Deerslayer is the name I bear now, though the Delawares have said that when
I get back from this war-path, I shall have a more manly title, provided I
can am one."
"That good name for boy-poor name for warrior. He get better quick. No fear
there, "-the savage had strength sufficient, under the strong excitement he
felt, to raise a hand and tap the young man on his breast,-" eye sartain-
finger lightning-aim, death-great warrior soon. No Deerslayer -Hawkeye-
Hawkeye-Hawkeye. Shake hand."
Deerslayer-or Hawkeye, as the youth was then first named, for in after years
he bore the appellation throughout all that region-Deerslayer took the hand
of the savage, whose last breath was drawn in that attitude, gazing in
admiration at the countenance of a stranger, who had shown so much readiness,
skill, and firmness, in a scene that was
equally trying and novel. When the reader remembers it is the highest
gratification an Indian can receive to see his enemy betray weakness, he will
be better able to appreciate the conduct which had extorted so great a
concession at such a moment.
"His spirit has fled!" said Deerslayer, in a suppressed, melancholy voice.
"Ah's me! Well, to this we must all come, sooner or later; and he is
happiest, let his skin be what color it may, who is best fitted to meet it.
Here lies the body of no doubt a brave warrior, and the soul is already
flying towards its heaven or hell, whether that be a happy huntingground, a
place scant of game, regions of glory, according to Moravian doctine, or
flames of fire! So it happens too, as regards other matters! Here have old
Hutter and Hurry Harry got themselves into difficulty, if they have n't got
themselves into torment and death, and all for a bounty that luck offers to
me in what many would think a lawful and suitable manner. But not a farthing
of such money shall cross my hand. White I was born, and white will I die;
clinging to color to the last, even though the King's majesty, his governors,
and all his councils, both at home and in the colonies, forget from what they
come, and where they hope to go, and all for a little advantage in warfare.
No, no, warrior, hand of mine shall never molest your scalp, and so your soul
may rest in peace on the p'int of making a decent appearance when the body
comes to join it, in your own land of spirits."
Deerslayer arose as soon as he had spoken. Then he placed the body of the
dead man in a sitting posture, with its back against the little rock, taking
the necessary care to prevent it from falling or in any way settling into an
attitude that might be thought unseemly by the sensitive, though wild notions
of a savage. When this duty was performed, the young man stood gazing at the
grim countenance of his fallen foe, in a sort of melancholy abstraction. As
was his practice, however, a habit gained by living so much alone in the
forest, he then began again to give utterance to his Thoughts and feelings
aloud.
"I didn't wish your life, redskin," he said "but you
left me no choice atween killing or being killed. each party acted according
to his gifts, I suppose, and blame can light on neither. You were
treacherous, according to your natur' in war, and I was a little
oversightful, as I'm apt to be in trusting others. Well, this is my first
battle with a human mortal, though it's not likely to be the last. I have
fou't most of the creatur's of the forest, such as bears, wolves, painters,
and catamounts, but this is the beginning with the redskins. If I was Injin
born, now, I might tell of this, or carry in the scalp, and boast of the
expl'ite afore the whole tribe; or, if my inimy had only been even a bear, 't
would have been nat'ral and proper to let everybody know what had happened;
but I don't well see how I'm to let even Chingachgook into this secret, so
long as it can be done only by boasting with a white tongue. And why should I
wish to boast of it a'ter all? It's slaying a human, although he was a
savage; and how do I know that he was a just Injin; and that he has not been
taken away suddenly to anything but happy hunting-grounds. When it 's
onsartain whether good or evil has been done, the wisest way is not to be
boastful-still, I should like Chingachgook to know that I haven't discredited
the Delawares, or my training!"
Part of this was uttered aloud, while part was merely muttered between the
speaker's teeth; his more confident opinions enjoying the first advantage,
while his doubts were expressed in the latter mode. Soliloquy and reflection
received a startling interruption, however, by the sudden appearance of a
second Indian on the lake shore, a few hundred yards from the point. This
man, evidently another scout, who had probably been drawn to the place by the
reports of the rifles, broke out of the forest with so little caution that
Deerslayer caught a view of his person before he was himself discovered. When
the latter event did occur, as was the case a moment later, the savage gave a
loud yell, which was answered by a dozen voices from different parts of the
mountain-side. There was no longer any time for delay; in another minute the
boat was quitting the shore under long and steady sweeps of the paddle.
As soon as Deerslayer believed himself to be at a safe distance he ceased his
efforts, permitting the little bark to drift, while he leisurely took a
survey of the state of things. The canoe first sent adrift was floating
before the air, quite a quarter of a mile above him, and a little nearer to
the shore than he wished, now that he knew more of the savages were so near
at hand. The canoe shoved from the point was within a few yards of him, he
having directed his own course towards it on quitting the land. The dead
Indian lay in grim quiet where he had left him, the warrior who had shown
himself from the forest had already vanished, and the woods themselves were
as silent and seemingly deserted as the day they came fresh from the hands of
their great Creator. This profound stillness, however, lasted but a moment.
When time had been given to the scouts of the enemy to reconnoitre, they
burst out of the thicket upon the naked point, filling the air with yells of
fury at discovering the death of their companion. These cries were
immediately succeeded by shouts of delight when they reached the body and
clustered eagerly around it. Deerslayer was a sufficient adept in the usages
of the natives to understand the reason of the change. The yell was the
customary lamentation at the loss of a warrior, the shout a sign of rejoicing
that the conqueror had not been able to secure the scalp; the trophy, without
which a victory is never considered complete. The distance at which the
canoes lay probably prevented any attempts to injure the conqueror, the
American Indian, like the panther of his own woods, seldom making any effort
against his foe unless tolerably certain it is under circumstances that may
be expected to prove effective.
As the young man had no longer any motive to remain near the point, he
prepared to collect his canoes, in order to tow them off to the castle. That
nearest was soon in tow, when he proceeded in quest of the other, which was
all this time floating up the lake. The eye of Deerslayer was no sooner
fastened on this last boat, than it struck him that it was nearer to the
shore than it would have been had it merely followed the course of the gentle
current of air. He began to suspect the influence of some unseen current in
the water, and he quickened his exertions, in order to regain possession of
it before it could drift into a dangerous proximity to the woods. On getting
nearer, he thought that the canoe had a perceptible motion through the water,
and, as it lay broadside to the air, that this motion was taking it towards
the land. A few vigorous strokes of the paddle carried him still nearer, when
the mystery was explained. Something was evidently in motion on the off-side
of the canoe, or that which was farthest from himself, and closer scrutiny
showed that it was a naked human arm. An Indian was lying in the bottom of
the canoe, and was propelling it slowly but certainly to the shore, using
his hand as a paddle. Deerslayer understood the whole artifice at a glance. A
savage had swum off to the boat while he was occupied with his enemy on the
point, got possession, and was using these means to urge it to the shore.
Satisfied that the man in the canoe could have no arms, Deerslayer did not
hesitate to dash close alongside of the retiring boat, without deeming it
necessary to raise his own rifle. As soon as the wash of the water, which he
made in approaching, became audible to the prostrate savage, the latter
sprang to his feet, and uttered an exclamation that proved how completely he
was taken by surprise.
"If you've enj'yed yourself enough in that canoe, redskin," Deerslayer
coolly observed, stopping his own career in sufficient time to prevent an
absolute collision between the two boats,-" if you 'ye enj'yed yourself
enough in that canoe, you 'Il do a prudent act by taking to the lake ag'in.
I'm reasonable in these matters, and don't crave your blood, though there 's
them about that would look upon you more as a due-bill for the bounty than a
human mortal. Take to the lake this minute, afore we get to hot words."
The savage was one of those who did not understand a word of English, and he
was indebted to the gestures of Deerslayer, and to the expression of an eye
that did not often deceive, for an imperfect comprehension of his meaning.
Perhaps, too, the sight of the rifle that lay so near the hand of the white
man quickened his decision. At all events, he crouched like a tiger about to
take his leaps uttered a yell, and the next instant his naked body
disappeared in the water. When he rose to take breath, it was at the
distance of several yards from the canoe, and the hasty glance he threw
behind him denoted how much he feared the arrival of a fatal messenger from
the rifle of his foe. But the young man made no indication of any hostile
intention. Deliberately securing the canoe to the others, he began to paddle
from the shore; and by the time the Indian reached the land, and had shaken
himself, like a spaniel, on quitting the water, his dreaded enemy was already
beyond rifle-shot on his way to the castle. As was so much his practice,
Deerslayer did not fail to soliloquize on what had just occurred, while
steadily pursuing his course towards the point of destination.
"Well, well,' '-he commenced,-" 't would have been wrong to kill a human
mortal without an object. Scalps are of no account with me, and life is
sweet, and ought not to be taken marcilessly by them that have white gifts.
The savage was a Mingo, it 's true; and I make no doubt he is, and will be as
long as he lives, a ta"l' al riptyle and vagabond; but that's no reason I
should forget my gifts and color. No, no,-let him go; if ever we meet ag'in,
rifle in hand, why then 'twill be seen which has the stoutest heart and the
quickest eye. Hawkeye! That's not a bad name for a warrior, sounding much
more manful and valiant than Deerslayer! 'T wouldn't be a bad title to begin
with, and it has been fairly arned. If 't was Chingachgook, now, he might go
home and boast of his deeds, and the chiefs would name him Hawkeye in a
minute; but it don't become white blood to brag, and 't is n't easy to see
how the matter can be known unless I do. Well, well,-everything is in the
hands of Providence; this affair as well as another; I'11 trust to that for
getting my desarts in all things."
Having thus betrayed what might be termed his weak spot, the young man
continued to paddle in silence, making his way diligently, and as fast as his
tows would allow him, towards the castle. By this time the sun had not only
risen, but it had appeared over the eastern mountains, and was shedding a
flood of glorious light on this as yet unchristened sheet of water. The whole
scene was radiant with beauty; and no one unaccustomed to the ordinary
history of the woods would fancy it had so lately witnessed incidents so
ruthless and barbarous. As he approached the building of old Hutter,
Deerslayer thought, or rather felt that its appearance was in singular
harmony with all the rest of the scene. Although nothing had been consulted
but strength and security, the rude, massive logs, covered with their rough
bark, the projecting roof, and the form, would contribute to render the
building picturesque in almost any situation, while its actual position added
novelty and piquancy to its other points of interest.
When Deerslayer drew nearer to the castle, however, objects of interest
presented themselves that at once eclipsed any beauties that might have
distinguished the scenery of the lake, and the site of the singular edifice.
Judith and Hetty stood on the platform before the door, Hurry's dooryard
awaiting his approach with manifest 'anxiety; the former, from time to time,
taking a survey of his person and of the canoes through the old ship's spy-
glass that has been already mentioned. Never probably did this girl seem more
brilliantly beautiful than at that moment; the flush of anxiety and alarm
increasing her color to its richest tints, while the softness of her eyes, a
charm that even poor Hetty shared with her, was deepened by intense concern.
Such, at least, without pausing or pretending to analyze motives, or to draw
any other very nice distinction between cause and effect, were the opinions
of the young man as his canoes reached the side of the ark, where he
carefully fastened all three before he put his foot on the platform.
CHAPTER VIII.
"His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles;
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate;
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart;
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth."
Two Gentle men of Verona, II.vii,75-78
Neither of the girls spoke as Deerslayer stood before them alone, his
countenance betraying all the apprehension he felt on account of two absent
members of their party.
"Father!" Judith at length exclaimed, succeeding in uttering the word, as it
might be by a desperate effort.
He 's met with misfortune, and there 's no use in concealing it," answered
Deerslayer, in his direct and simpleminded manner. "He and Hurry are in
Mingo hands, and Heaven only knows what's to be the tarmination. I 'ye got
the canoes safe, and that's a consolation, since the vagabonds will have to
swim for it, or raft off, to come near this p1ace. At sunset we '11 be
reinforced by Chingachgook, if I can manage to get him into a canoe; and
then, I think, we two can answer for the ark and the caste, till some of the
officers in the garrisons hear of this war-path, which sooner or later must
be the case, when we may look for succor from that quarter, if from no
other."
"The officers!" exclaimed Judith, impatiently, her color deepening, and her
eye expressing a lively but passing emotion. "Who thinks or speaks of the
heartless gallants now? We are sufficient of ourselves to defend the castle.
But what of my father, and of poor Hurry Harry?"
"'T is natural you should feel this consarn for your own parent, Judith, and
I suppose it 's equally so that you should feel it for Hurry Harry, too."
Deerslayer then commenced a succinct but clear narrative of all that occurred
during the night, in no manner concealing what had befallen his two
companions, or his own opinion of what might prove to be the consequences.
The girls listened with profound attention, but neither betrayed that
feminine apprehension and concern which would have followed such a
communication when made to those who were less accustomed to the hazards and
accidents of a frontier life. To the surprise of Deerslayer, Judith seemed
the most distressed, Hetty listening eagerly, but appearing to brood over the
facts in melancholy silence, rather than betraying any outward signs of
feeling. The former's agitation, the young man did not fail to attribute to
the interest she felt in Hurry, quite as much as to her filial love, while
Hetty's apparent indifference was ascribed to that mental darkness which, in
a measure, obscured her intellect, and which possibly prevented her from
foreseeing all the consequences. Little was said, however, by either, Judith
and her sister busying themselves in making the preparations for the morning
meal, as they who habitually attend to such matters toil on mechanically even
in the midst of suffering and sorrow. The plain but nutritious breakfast was
taken by all three in sombre silence. The girls ate little, but Deerslayer
gave proof of possessing one material requisite of a good soldier, that of
preserving his appetite in the midst of the most alarming and embarrassing
circumstances. The meal was nearly ended before a syllable was uttered;
then, however, Judith spoke in the convulsive and hurried manner in which
feeling breaks through restraint, after the latter has become more painful
than even the betrayal of emotion.
"Father would have relished this fish " she exclaimed; "he says the salmon of
the lakes is almost as good as the salmon of the sea."
"Your father has been acquainted with the sea, they tell me, Judith,"
returned the young man., who could not for
bear throwing a glance of inquiry at the girl; for in common with all who
knew Hutter, he had some curiosity on the subject of his early history.
"Hurry Harry tells me he was once a sailor."
Judith first looked perplexed; then, influenced by feelings that were novel
to her, in more ways than one, she became suddenly communicative, and
seemingly much interested in the discourse.
"If Hurry knows anything of father's history, I would he had told it to me!"
she cried. "Sometimes I think, too, he was once a sailor, and then again I
think he was not. If that chest were open, or if it could speak, it might let
us into his whole history. But its fastenings are too strong to be broken
like packthread."
Deerslayer turned to the chest in question, and for the first time examined
it closely. Although discolored, and bearing proofs of having received much
ill-treatment, he saw that it was of materials and workmanship altogether
superior to anything of the same sort he had ever before beheld. The wood was
dark, rich, and had once been highly polished, though the treatment it had
received left little gloss on its surface, and various scratches and
indentations proved the rough collisions that it had encountered with
substances still harder than itself. The corners were firmly bound with
steel, elaborately and richly wrought, while the locks, of which it had no
less than three, and the hinges, were of a fashion and workmanship that would
have attracted attention even in a warehouse of curious furniture. This chest
was quite large; and when Deerslayer arose, and endeavored to raise an end by
its massive handle, he found that the weight fully corresponded with the
external appearance.
"Did you never see that chest opened, Judith?" the young man demanded with
frontier freedom, for delicacy on such subjects was little felt among the
people on the verge of civilization, in that age, even if it be to-day.
"Never. Father has never opened it in my presence, if he ever opens it at
all. No one here has ever seen its lid raised, unless it be father; nor do I
even know that he has ever seen it."
"Now you're wrong, Judith, "Hetty quietly answered. "Father has raised the
lid, and I've seen him do it."
A feeling of manliness kept the mouth of Deerslayer shut; for, while he would
not have hesitated about going far beyond what would be thought the bounds of
propriety, in questioning the older sister, he had just scruples about taking
what might be thought an advantage of the feeble intellect of the younger.
Judith, being under no such restraint, howevever, turned quickly to the last
speaker and continued the discourse.
"When and where did you ever see that chest opened, Hetty?"
"Here, and again and again. Father often opens it when you are away, though
he don't in the least mind my being by, and seeing all he does, as well as
hearing all he says."
"And what is it that he does, and what does he say?"
"That I cannot tell youU, Judith," returned the other in a low but resolute
voice. "Father's secrets are not my secrets."
"Secrets! This is stranger still, Deerslayer, that father should tell them
to Hetty, and not tell them to me!"
"There's a good reason for that, Judith, though you"re not to know it.
Father's not here to answer for himself, and I'll say no more about it."
Judith and Deerslayer looked surprised, and for a minute the first seemed
pained. But, suddenly recollecting herself, she turned away from her sister,
as if in pity for her weakness and addressed the young man.
"You've told but half your story," she said, "breaking off at the place where
you went to sleep in the canoe-- or rather where you rose to listen to the
cry of the loon. we heard the call of the loons, too, and thought their
cries might bring a storm, though we are little used to tempests on this lake
at this season of the year."
"The winds blow and the tempests howl as God pleases; sometimes at one
season, and sometimes at another," answered Deerslayer; "and the loons speak
accordin' to their natur'. Better would it be if men were as honest and
frank. After I rose to listen to the birds, finding it could not be Hurry's
signal, I lay down and slept. When the day dawned I was up and stirring, as
usual, and then I went in chase of the two canoes, lest the Mingos should lay
hands on 'em."
"You have not told us all, Deerslayer," said Judith earnestly. "We heard
rifles under the eastern mountain; the echoes were full and long, and came so
soon after the reports, that the pieces must have beenfied on or quite near
to the shore. Our ears are used to these sigs, and are no to be deceived."
"They've done their duty, gal, this tiime; yes, they've done their duty.
Rifles have been sighted this morning, ay, and triggers pulled, too, thoug
not as often a they might have been. One warrior has gone to his happy
hunting-grounds, and that's the whole of it. A man of white blood and white
gifts is not to be expected to boast of his expl'ites and to flourish
scalps."
Judith listened almost beathlessly; and when Deerslayer, in his quiet, modest
manner, seemed disposed to quit the subject, she rose, and crossing the room,
took a seat by his side. The manner of the girl had nothing forward about i,
though it betrayed the quick instinct of a female's affection, and the
sympathizing kindness of a woman's heart. She even took the hard hand of the
hunter, and pressed it in both her own, unconsciously to herself, perhaps,
while she looked earnestly and even reproachfully into his sun burnt face.
"You have been fighting the savages, Deerslayer, sinly and by yourself!" she
said. "In your wish to take care of us--of Hetty -- of me, perhaps, you've
fought the enemy bravely, with no eye to encourage your deeds, or o witness
your fall, had it pleased Providence to suffer so great a calamity!"
"I've fou't, Judith; yes, I have fou't the inimy, and thattoo, for the first
time in my life. These thins must be, and they bring with 'em a mixed
feelin' of sorrow and triumph. Human natur' is a fightin'natur', I suppose,,
as all nations kill in battle, and we must be true to our rights and gifts.
What has yet been done is no great matter, but should Chingachgook come to
the rock this
evening, as is agreed atween us, and I get him off it onbe known to the
savages or, if known to them, ag'in their wishes and designs, then may we all
look to something like warfare, afore the Mingos shall get possession of
either the castle, or the ark, or yourselves."
"Who is this Chingachgook; from what place does he come, and why does he come
here ?"
"The questions are nat'ral and right, I suppose, though the youth has a great
name, already, in his own part of the country. Chingachgook is a Mohican by
blood, consorting with the Delawares by usage, as is the case with most of
his tribe, which has long been broken up by the increase of our color. He is
of the family of the great chiefs; Uncas, his father, having been the
considerablest warrior and counsellor of his people. Even old Tamenund honors
Chingachgook, though he is thought to be yet too young of lead in war; and
then the nation is so disparsed and diminished, that chieftainship among 'em
has got to be little more than a name.
Well, this war having commenced in 'arnest, the Delaware and I rendezvous'd
an app'intment, to meet this evening at sunset on the rendezvous-rock at the
foot of this very lake, intending to come out on our first hostile expedition
ag'in the Mingos. Why we come exactly this a way is our own secret; but
thoughtful young men on the war-path, as you may suppose, do nothing without
a calculation and a design."
"A Delaware can have no unfriendly intentions towards us," said Judith, after
a moment's hesitation, "and we know you to be friendly."
"Treachery is the last crime I hope to be accused of," returned Deerslayer,
hurt at the gleam of distrust that had shot through Judith's mind; "and least
of all, treachery to my own color."
"No one suspects you, Deerslayer," the girl impetuously cried. "No-no-your
honest countenance would be sufficient surety for the truth of a thousand
hearts! If all men had as honest tongues, and no more promised what they did
not mean to perform, there would be less wrong done in the world, and fine
feathers and scarlet cloaks would not be excuses for baseness and deception.'
Tne girl spoke with strong, nay, even with convulsed feel' ing, and her fine
eyes, usually so soft and alluring, flashed fire as she concluded. Deerslayer
could not but observe this extraordinary emotion; but with the tact of a
courtier, he avoided not only any allusion to the circumstance, but succeeded
in concealing the effect of his discovery on himself. Judith gradually grew
calm again, and as she was obviously anxious to appear to advantage in the
eyes of the young man, she was soon able to renew the conversation as
composedly as if nothing had occurred to disturb her.
"I have no right to look into your secrets, or the secrets of your friend,
Deerslayer," she continued, "and am ready to take all you say on trust. If we
can really get another male ally to join us at this trying moment, it will
aid us much; and I am not without hope that when the savages find that we are
able to keep the lake, they will offer to give up their prisoners in exchange
for skins, or at least for the keg of powder that we have in the house."
The young man had the words scalps,'' and ''bounty," on his lips, but a
reluctance to alarm the feelings of the daughters prevented him from making
the allusion he had intended to the probable fate of their father. Still, so
little was he practised in the arts of deception, that his expressive
countenance was, of itself, understood by the quick-witted Judith, whose
intelligence had been sharpened by the risks and habits of her life.
"I understand what you mean," she continued, hurriedly, "and what you would
say, but for the fear of hurting me- us, I mean ; for Hetty loves her father
quite as well as I do. But this is not as we think of Indians. They never
scalp an unhurt prisoner, but would rather take him away alive, unless,
indeed, the fierce wish for totturing should get the mastery of them. I fear
nothing for my father's scalp, and little for his life. Could they steal on
us in the night, we should all probably suffer in this way; but men taken in
open strife are seldom injured; not, at least, until the time of torture
comes."
"That's tradition, I'11 allow. and it's accordin' to practice-but, Judith, do
you know the arr'nd on which your father and Hurry went ag'in the savages?"
"I do; and a cruel errand it was! But what will you have? Men will be men,
and some even that flaunt in their gold and silver, and carry the King's
commission in their pockets, are not guiltless of equal cruelty." Judith's
eye again flashed, but by a desperate struggle she resumed her composure. "I
get warm when I think of all the wrong that men do," she added, affecting to
smile, an effort in which she only succeeded indifferently well. "All this is
silly. What is done is done, and it cannot be mended by complaints. But the
Indians think so little of the shedding of blood, and value men so much for
the boldness of their undertakings, that, did they know the business on which
their prisoners came, they would be more likely to honor than to injure them
for it."
"For a time, Judith; yes, I allow that, for a time. But when that feelin'
dies away, then will come the love of revenge. We must indivor, -Chingachgook
and I,-we must indivor to see what we can do to get Hurry and your father
free; for the Mingos will no doubt hover about this lake some days, in order
to make the most of their success."
"You think this Delaware can be depended on, Deerslayer?" demanded the girl,
thoughtfully.
"As much as I can myself. You say you do not suspect me, Judith?"
"You!" taking his hand again, and pressing it between her own, with a warmth
that might have awakened the vanity of one less simple-minded, and more
disposed to dwell on his own good qualities, ' I would as soon suspect a
brother! I have known you but a day, Deerslayer, but it has awakened the
confidence of a year. Your name, however, is not unknown to me; for the
gallants of the garrisons frequently speak of the lessons you have given them
in hunting, and all proclaim your honesty."
''Do they ever talk of the shooting, gal?" inquired the other eagerly, after,
however, laughing in a silent but heartfelt manner. "Do they ever talk of
the shooting? I want to hear nothing about my own, for if that is n't
sartified to by this time, in all these parts, there's little use in being
skilful and sure; but what do the officers say of their own-yes, what do they
say of their own? Arms, as they call it, is their trade, and yet there 's
some among 'em that know very little how to use 'em !"
"Such I hope will not be the case with your friend Chingachgook, as you call
him-what is the English of his Indian name?"
"Big Sarpent-so called for his wisdom and cunning, Uncas is his ra'al name-
all his family being called Uncas. until they get a title that has been
'arned by deeds."
"If he has all this wisdom, we may expect a useful friend in him, unless his
own business in this part of the country should prevent him from serving us."
"I see no great harm in telling you his arr'nd, a'ter all, and, as you may
find means to help us, I will let you and Hetty into the whole matter,
trusting that you '11 keep the secret as if it was your own. You must know
that Chingachgook is a comely Injin, and is much looked upon and admired by
the young women of his tribe, both on account of his family, and on account
of himself. Now, there is a chief that has a daughter called Wah-ta-Wah,
which is intarpreted into Hist-oh-Hist, in the English tongue, the rarest gal
among the Delawares, and the one most sought a'ter and craved for a wife by
all the young warriors of the nation. Well, Chingachgook, among others, took
a fancy to Wah-taWab, and Wah-ta-Wah took a fancy to him." Here Deerslayer
paused an instant; for, as lie got thus far in his tale, Hetty Hutter arose,
approached, and stood attentive at his knee, as a child draws near to listen
to the legends of its mother. "Yes, he fancied her, and she fancied him,"
resumed Deerslayer, casting a friendly and approving glance at the innocent
and interested girl; "and when that is the case, and all the elders are
agreed, it does not often happen that the young couple keep apart.
Chingachgook could n' t well carry off such a prize without making inimies
among them that wanted her as much as he did himself. A sartain Briarthorn,
as we call him in English, or Yocommon, as he is tarmed in Injin, took it
most to heart, and we mistrust him of having a hand in all that followed.
Wah-ta-Wah went with her father and mother, two moons ago, to fish for salmon
on the western streams, where it is agreed by all in these parts that fish
most abounds, and while thus empl'yed the gal vanished. For several weeks we
could get no tidings of her; but' here, ten days since, a runner, that came
through the Delaware country, brought us a message, by which we learn that
Wah-ta-Wah was stolen from her people, we think, but do not know it, by
Briarthorn's sarcumventions,-and that she was now with the inimy, who had
adopted her, and wanted her to marry a young Mingo. The message said that the
party intended to hunt and forage through this region for a month or two,
afore it went back into the Canadas, and that if we could contrive to get on
a scent in this quarter, something might turn up that would lead to our
getting the maiden off."
"And how does that concern you, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith, a little
anxiously.
"It consarns me, as all things that touches a fri'nd consarns a fri'nd. I 'm
here as Chingachgook's aid and helper, and if we can get the young maiden he
likes back ag'in, it will give me almost as much pleasure as if I had got
back my own sweetheart."
"And where, then, is your sweetheart, Deerslayer?"
"She 's in the forest, Judith-hanging from the boughs of the trees, in a soft
rain-in the dew on the open grass- the clouds that float about in the blue
heavens-the birds that sing in the woods-the sweet springs where I slake my
thirst-and in all the other glorious gifts that come from God's Providence!"
"You mean that, as yet, you've never loved one of my sex, but love best your
haunts, and your own manner of life."
"That's it-that's just it. I am white-have a white heart and can't, in
reason, love a red-skinned maiden, who must have a redskin heart and
feelin's. No, no, I 'm sound enough in them partic'lars, and hope to remain
so, at least till this war is over. I find my time too much taken up with
Chingachgook's affair, to wish to have one of my own on my hands afore that
is settled."
"The girl that finally wins you, Deerslayer, will at least win an honest
heart,-one without treachery or guile; and that will be a victory that most
of her sex ought to envy."
As Judith uttered this, her beautiful face had a resentful frown on it; while
a bitter smile lingered around a mouth that no derangement of the muscles
could render anything but handsome. Her companion observed the change, and
though little skilled in the workings of the female heart, he had sufficient
native delicacy to understand that it might be well to drop the subject.
As the hour when Chingachgook was expected still remained distant,
Deerslayer had time enough to examine into the state of the defences, and to
make such additional arrangements as were in his power, and the exigency of
the moment seemed to require. The experience and foresight of Hutter had
left little to be done in these particulars; still, several precautions
suggested themselves to the young man, who may be said to have studied the
art of frontier warfare, through the traditions and legends of the people
among whom he had so long lived. The distance between the castle and the
nearest point on the shore, prevented any apprehension on the subject of
rifle-bullets thrown from the land. The house was within musket-shot in one
sense, it was true, but aim was entirely out of the question, and even Judith
professed a perfect disregard of any danger from that source. So long, then,
as the party remained in possession of the fortress, they were safe, unless
their assailants could find the means to come off and carry it by fire or
storm, or by some of the devices of Indian cunning and Indian treachery.
Against the first source of danger Hutter had made ample provision, and the
building itself, the bark roof excepted, was not very combustible. The floor
was scuttled in several places, and buckets provided with ropes were in
daily use, in readiness for any such emergency. One of the girls could easily
extinguish any fire that might be lighted, provided it had not time to make
much headway. Judith, who appeared to understand all her father's schemes of
defence, and who had the
into the building, when Deerslayer had ended his task, even allowing the
assailants the use of any tools but the axe, and to be unresisted. This
attention to security arose from Hutter's having been robbed once or twice by
the lawless whites of the frontiers, during some of his many absences from
home.
As soon as all was fast in the inside of the dwelling, Deerslayer appeared at
a trap, from which he descended into the canoe of Judith. When this was done,
he fastened the door with a massive staple and stout padlock. Hetty was then
received in the canoe, which was shoved outside of the palisadoes. The next
precaution was to fasten the gate, and the keys were carried into the ark.
The three were now fastened out of the dwelling, which could only be entered
by violence, or by following the course taken by the young man in quitting
it.
The glass had been brought outside as a preliminary step, and Deerslayer next
took a careful survey of the entire shore of the lake, as far as his own
position would allow. Not a living thing was visible, a few birds excepted,
and even the last fluttered about in the shades of the trees, as if unwilling
to encounter the heat of a sultry afternoon. All the nearest points, in
particular, were subjected to severe scrutiny, in order to make certain that
no raft was in preparation; the result everywhere giving the same picture of
calm solitude. A few words will explain the greatest embarrassment belonging
to the situation of our party. Exposed themselves to the observation of any
watchful eyes, the movements of their enemies were concealed by the drapery
of a dense forest. While the imagination would be very apt to people the
latter with more warriors than it really contained, their own weakness must
be too apparent to all who might chance to cast a glance in their direction.
Nothing is stirring, howsever," exclaimed Deerslayer, as he finally lowered
the glass, and prepared to enter the ark. "If the vagabonds do harbor
mischief in their minds, they are too cunning to let it be seen ; it 's true,
a raft may be in preparation in the woods, but it has not yet been brought
down to the lake. They can't guess that we are about to Quit the castle, and,
if they did, they 'ye no means of knowing where we intend to go."
"This is so true, Deerslayer," returned Judith, "that now all is ready, we
may proceed at once, boldly, and with. out the fear of being followed; else
we shall be behind our time."
"No, no; the matter needs management; for, though the savages are in the dark
as to Chingachgook and the rock, they they 'ye eyes and legs, and will see in
what direction we steer, and will be sartain to follow us. I shall strive to
baffle 'em, howsever, by heading the scow in all manner of ways, first in one
quarter and then in another, until they get to be a-leg-weary, and tired of
tramping a'ter us."
So far as it was in his power, Deerslayer was as good as his word. In less
than five minutes after this speech was made, the whole party was in the ark,
and in motion. There was a gentle breeze from the north, and boldly hoisting
the sail, the young man laid the bead of the unwieldy craft in such a
direction, as, after making a liberal but necessary allowance for leeway,
would have brought it ashore a couple of miles down the lake, and on its
eastern side. The sailing of the ark was never very swift, though, floating
as it did on the surface, it was not difficult to get it in motion, or to
urge it along over the water at the rate of some three or four miles in the
hour. The distance between the castle and the rock was a little more than two
leagues. Knowing the punctuality of an Indian, Deerslayer had made his
calculations closely, and had given himself a little more time than was
necessary to reach the place of rendezvous, with a view to delay or to press
his arrival, as might prove most expedient. . When he hoisted the sail, the
sun lay above the western hills, at an elevation that promised rather more
than two hours of day; and a few minutes satisfied him that the progress of
the scow was such as to equal his expectations.
It was a glorious June afternoon, and never did that solitary sheet of water
seem less like an arena of strife and bloodshed. The light air scarce
descended as low as the bed of the lake, hovering over it, as if unwilling to
disturb its deep tranquillity, or to ruffle its mirror-like surface- Even the
forests appeared to be slumbering in the sun, and a few piles of fleecy
clouds had lain for hours along the northern horizon like fixtures in the
atmosphere, placed there purely to embellish the scene. A few aquatic fowls
occasionally skimmed along the water, and a single raven was visible, sailing
high above the trees, and keeping a watchful eye on the forest beneath him,
in order to detect anything having life that the mysterious woods might offer
as prey.
The reader will probably have observed, that, amidst the frankness and
abruptness of manner which marked the frontier habits of Judith, her
language was superior to that used by her male companions, her own father
included. This difference extended as well to pronunciation as to the choice
of words and phrases. Perhaps nothing so soon betrays the education and
association as the modes of speech; and few accomplishments so much aid the
charm of female beauty as a graceful and even utterance, while nothing so
soon produces the disenchantment that necessarily follows a discrepancy
between appearance and manner, as a mean intonation of voice, or a vulgar use
of words. Judith and her sister were marked exceptions to all the girls of
their class, along that whole frontier; the officers of the nearest garrison
having often flattered the former with the belief that few ladies of the
towns acquitted themselves better than herself, in this important particular.
This was far from being literally true, but it was sufficiently near the fact
to give birth to the compliment. The girls were indebted to their mother for
this proficiency, having acquired from her, in childhood, an advantage that
no subsequent study or labor can give without a drawback, if neglected beyond
the earlier periods of life. Who that mother was, or rather had been, no one
but Hutter knew. She had now been dead two summers, and, as was stated by
Hurry, she had been buried in the lake; whether in indulgence of a prejudice,
or from a reluctance to take the trouble to dig her grave, had frequently
been a matter of discussion between the rude beings of that region. Judith
had never visited the spot, but Hetty was present at the interment, and she
often paddled a canoe, about sunset. or by the light of the moon, to the
place, and gazed down into the limpid water, in the hope of being able to
catch a glimpse of the form that she had so tenderly loved from infancy to
the sad hour of their parting.
"Must we reach the rock exactly at the moment the sun sets?" Judith demanded
of the young man, as they stood near each other, Deerslayer holding the
steering-oar, and she working with a needle at some ornament of dress, that
much exceeded her station in life, and was altogether a novelty in the woods.
"Will a few minutes, sooner or later, alter the the matter? it will be very
hazardous to remain long as near the shore as that rock!"
"That's it, Judith; that 's the very difficulty! The rock 's within p'int
blank for a shot-gun, and 'twill never do to hover about it too close and too
long. When you have to deal with an Injin, you must calculate and manage, for
a red natur' dearly likes sarcumvention. Now you see, Judith, that I do not
steer towards the rock at all, but here to the eastward of it, whereby the
savages will be tramping off in that direction, and get their legs a-wearied,
and all for no advantage."
"You think, then, they see us, and watch our movements, Deerslayer? I was in
hopes they might have fallen back into the woods, and left us to ourselves
for a few hours."
"That's altogether a woman's consait. There 's no let-up in an Injin's
watchfulness when he 's on a war-path, and eyes are on us at this minute,
'though the lake presarves us. We must draw near the rock on a calculation,
and indivor to get the miscreants on a false scent. The Mingos have good
noses, they tell me; but a white man's reason ought always to equalize their
instinct."
Judith now entered into a desultory discourse with Deerslayer, in which the
girl betrayed her growing interest in the young man; an interest that his
simplicity of mind and her decision of character, sustained as it was by the
consciousness awakened by the consideration her personal charms so
universally produced, rendered her less anxious to conceal than might
otherwise have been the case. She was scarcely forward in her manner, though
there was sometimes a freedom in her glances that it required all the aid of
her exceeding beauty to prevent from awakening suspicions unfavorable to her
discretion, if not to her morals. With Deerslayer, however, these glances
were rendered less obnoxious to so unpleasant a construction; for she seldom
looked at him without discovering much of the sincerity and nature that
accompany the purest emotions of woman. It was a little remarkable that, as
his captivity lengthened, neither of the girls manifested any great concern
for her father; but, as has been said already, their habits gave them
confidence, and they looked forward to his liberation, by means of a ransom,
with a confidence that might, in a great degree, account for their apparent
indifference. Once before, Hutter had been in the hands of the Iroquois, and
a few skins had readily effected his release. This event, however, unknown to
the sisters, had occurred in a time of peace between England and France, and
when the savages were restrained, instead of being encouraged to commit
their excesses, by the policy of the different colonial governments. While
Judith was loquacious and caressing in her manner, Hetty remained thoughtful
and silent. Once, indeed, she drew near to Deerslayer, and questioned him a
little closely as to his intentions, as well as concerning the mode of
effecting his purpose; but her wish to converse went no further. As soon as
her simple queries were answered -and answered they all were, in the fullest
and kindest manner-she withdrew to her scat, and continued to work on a
coarse garment that she was making for her father, sometimes humming a low
melancholy air, and frequently sighing.
In this manner the time passed away; and when the sun was beginning to glow
behind the fringe of the pines that bounded the western hill, or about twenty
minutes before it actually set, the ark was nearly as low as the point where
Hutter and Hurry had been made prisoners. By sheering first to one side of
the lake, and then to the other, Deerslayer managed to create an uncertainty
as to his object; and, doubtless, the savages, who were unquestionably
watching his movements, were led to believe that his aim was to communicate
with them, at or near this spot, and would hasten in that direction, in order
to be in readiness t, profit by circumstances. This artifice was well
managed; since the sweep of the bay, the curvature of the lake, and the low
marshy land that intervened, would probably allow the ark to reach the rock
before its pursuers, if really collected near this point, could have time to
make the circuit that would be required to get there by land. With a view to
aid this deception, Deerslayer stood as near the western shore as was at all
prudent; and then causing Judith and Hetty to enter the house, or cabin, and
crouching himself so as to conceal his person by the frame of the scow, he
suddenly threw the head of the latter round, and began to make the best of
his way towards the outlet. Favored by an increase in the wind, the progress
of the ark was such as to promise the complete success of this plan, though
the crab-like movement of the craft compelled the helmsman to keep its head
looking in a direction very different from that in which it was actually
moving.
Chapter IX.
"Yet art thou prodigal of smiles-
Smiles, sweeter than thy frowns are stern:
Earth sends from all her thousand isles,
A shout at thy return.
The glory that comes down from thee
Bathes, in deep joy, the land and sea."
Bryant, 'The Firmament," 11.19-24
It may assist the reader in understanding the events we are about to record,
if he has a rapidly sketched picture of the scene, placed before his eyes at
a single view. It will be remembered that the lake was an irregularly shaped
basin, of an outline that, in the main, was oval, but with bays and points to
relieve its formality and ornament its shores. The surface of this beautiful
sheet of water was now glittering like a gem, in the last rays of the evening
sun, and the setting of the whole, hills clothed in the richest forest
verdure, was lighted up with a sort of radiant smile, that is best described
in the beautiful lines we have placed at the head of this chapter. As the
banks, with few exceptions, rose abruptly from the water, even where the
mountain did not immediately bound the view, there was a nearly unbroken
fringe of leaves overhanging the placid lake, the trees starting out of the
acclivities, inclining to the light, until, in many instances they extended
their long limbs and straight trunks some forty or fifty feet beyond the line
of the perpendicular. In these cases we allude only to the giants of the
forest, pines of a hundred or a hundred and fifty feet in height, for of the
smaller growth, very many inclined so far as to steep their lower branches in
the water.
In the position in which the Ark had now got, the castle was concealed from
view by the projection of a point, as indeed was the northern extremity of
the lake itself. A respectable mountain, forest clad, and rounded, like all
the rest, limited the view in that direction, stretching immediately across
the whole f the fair scene, with the exception of a deep bay that passed the
western end, lengthening the basin, for more than a mile.
The manner in which the water flowed out of the lake, beneath the leafy
arches of the trees that lined the sides of the stream, has already been
mentioned, and it has also been said that the rock, which was a favorite
place of rendezvous throughout all that region, and where Deerslayer now
expected to meet his friend, stood near this outlet, and at no great distance
from the shore. It was a large, isolated stone that rested on the bottom of
the lake, apparently left there when the waters tore away the earth from
around it, in forcing for themselves a passage down the river, and which had
obtained its shape from the action of the elements, during the slow progress
of centuries. The height of this rock could scarcely equal six feet, and, as
has been said, its shape was not unlike that which is usually given to
beehives, or to a hay-cock. The latter, indeed, gives the best idea not only
of its form, but of its dimensions. It stood, and still stands, for we are
writing of real scenes, within fifty feet of the bank, and in water that was
only two feet in depth, though there were seasons in which its rounded apex,
if such a term can properly be used, was covered by the lake. Many of the
trees stretched so far forward, as almost to blend the rock with the shore,
when seen from a little distance, and one tall pine in particular overhung it
in a way to form a noble and appropriate canopy to a seat that had held many
a forest chieftain, during the long succession of unknown ages, in which
America, and all it contained, had existed apart, in mysterious solitude, a
world by itself; equally without, a familiar history, and without an origin
that the annals of man can reach.
When distant some two or three hundred feet from the shore, Deerslayer took
in his sail. He dropped his grapnel, as soon as he found the Ark had drifted
in a line that was directly to windward of the rock. The motion of the scow
was then checked, when it was brought head to wind, by the action of the
breeze. As soon as this was done, Deerslayer "paid out line," and suffered
the vessel to "set down" upon the rock, as fast as the light air could force
it to leeward. Floating entirely on the surface, this was soon effected, and
the young man checked the drift when he was told that the stern of the scow
was within fifteen or eighteen feet of the desired spot.
In executing this maneuver, Deerslayer had proceeded promptly, for, while he
did not in the least doubt that he was both watched and followed by the foe,
he believed he distracted their movements, by the apparent uncertainty of his
own, and he knew they could have no means of ascertaining that the rock was
his aim, unless indeed one of their prisoners had betrayed him; a chance so
improbable in itself, as to give him no concern. Notwithstanding the celerity
and decision his movements, he did not, however, venture so near the shore
without taking due precautions to effect a retreat, in the event of its
becoming necessary. He held the line in his hand, and Judith was stationed at
a loop, on the side of the cabin next the shore, where she could watch the
beach and the rock, and give timely notice of the approach of either friend
or foe. Hetty was also placed on watch, but it was to keep the trees over
head in view, lest some enemy might ascend one, and, by completely commanding
the interior of the scow render the defence of the hut, or cabin, useless.
The sun had disappeared from the lake and valley, when Deerslayer checked the
Ark, in the manner mentioned. Still it wanted a few minutes to the true
sunset, and he knew Indian punctuality too well to anticipate any unmanly
haste in his friend. The great question was, whether, by enemies as he was
known to be, he had escaped their toils. The occurrences of the last twenty-
four hours must be a secret to him, and like himself, Chingachgook was yet
young on a path. It was true, he came prepared to encounter the party that
withheld his promised bride, but he had no means ascertaining the extent of
the danger he run, or the precise positions occupied by either friends, or
foes. In a word, the trained sagacity, and untiring caution of an Indian were
had to rely on, amid the critical risks he unavoidably ran.
"Is the rock empty, Judith?" enquired Deerslayer, as soon as he had checked
the drift of the Ark, deeming it imprudent to venture unnecessarily near the
shore. "Is any thing to be seen of the Delaware chief?"
"Nothing, Deerslayer. Neither rock, shore, trees, nor lake seems to have ever
held a human form."
'Keep close, Judith-keep close, Hetty-a rifle has a prying eye, a nimble
foot, and a desperate fatal tongue. Keep close then, but keep up actyve
looks, and be on the alart T would grieve me to the heart, did any harm befal
either of you.'
"And you Deerslayer-" exclaimed Judith, turning her handsome face from the
loop, to bestow a gracious and grateful look on the young man - "do you
'keep close', and have a proper care that the savages do not catch a glimpse
of you! A bullet might be as fatal to you as to one of us; and the blow that
you felt, would be felt by us all."
"No fear of me, Judith-no fear of me, my good gal. Do not look this-a-way,
although you look so pleasant and comely, but keep your eyes on the rock, and
the shore, and the-"
Deerslayer was interrupted by a slight exclamation from the girl, who, in
obedience to his hurried gestures, as much as in obedience to his words, had
immediately bent her looks again, in the opposite direction.
"What is't? -What is't, Judith?" he hastily demanded-"Is any thing to be
seen?"
"There is a man on the rock! - An Indian warrior, in his paint-and armed!"
"Where does he wear his hawk's feather?" eagerly added Deerslayer, relaxing
his hold of the line, in readiness to drift nearer to the place of
rendezvous. "Is it fast to the war-lock, or does he carry it above the left
ear?"
Tis as you say, above the left ear; he smiles, too, and mutters the word
'Mohican.'"
"God be praised, 'tis the Sarpent, at last!" exclaimed the young man,
suffering the line to slip through his hands, until hearing a light bound, in
the other end of the craft, he instantly checked the rope, and began to haul
it in, again, under the assurance that his object was effected.
At that moment the door of the cabin was opened hastily, and, a warrior,
darting through the little room, stood at Deerslayer's side, simply uttering
the exclamation "Hutty!" At the next instant, Judith and Hetty shrieked, and
the air was filled with the yell of twenty savages, who came leaping
through the branches, down the bank, some actually falling headlong into the
water, in their haste.
"Pull, Deerslayer," cried Judith, hastily barring the door, in order to
prevent an inroad by the passage through which the Delaware had just entered;
"pull, for life and death-the lake is full of savages, wading after us!"
The young men - for Chingachgook immediately came to his friend's assistance-
needed no second bidding, but they applied themselves to their task in a way
that showed how urgent they deemed the occasion. The great difficulty was in
suddenly overcoming the inertia of so large a mass, for, once in motion, it
was easy to cause the scow to skim the water, with all the necessary speed.
"Pull, Deerslayer, for Heaven's sake!" cried Judith, again at the loop-"These
wretches rush into the water like hounds following their prey! Ah - the scow
moves! and now, the water deepens, to the arm-pits of the foremost, but they
reach forward, and will seize the Ark!"
A slight scream, and then a joyous laugh followed from the girl; the first
produced by a desperate effort of their pursuers, and the last by its
failure; the scow, which had now got fairly in motion gliding ahead into deep
water, with a velocity that set the designs of their enemies at nought. As
the two men were prevented by the position of the cabin, from seeing what
passed astern, they were compelled to enquire of the girls, into the state of
the chase.
"What now, Judith? - What next? - Do the Mingos still follow, or are we quit
of'em, for the present," demanded Deerslayer, when he felt the rope yielding
as if the scow was going fast ahead, and heard the scream and the laugh of
the girl, almost in the same breath.
"They have vanished! -One-the last-is just burying himself in the bushes of
the bank - There, he has disappeared in the shadows of the trees! You have
got your friend, and we are all safe!"
The two men now made another great effort, pulled the Ark up swiftly to the
grapnel, tripped it, and when the scow had shot some distance, and lost its
way, they let the anchor drop again. Then, for the first time since their
meeting, they ceased their efforts. As the floating house now lay several
hundred feet from the shore, and offered a complete protection against
bullets, there was no longer any danger, or any motive for immediate
exertion.
The manner in which the two friends now recognised each other, was highly
characteristic. Chingachgook, a noble, tall, handsome and athletic young
Indian warrior, first examined his rifle, with care, opening the pan to make
sure that the priming was not wet, and, assured of this important fact, he
next cast furtive but observant glances around him, at the strange
habitation, and at the two girls. Still he spoke not, and most of all, did he
avoid the betrayal of a womanish curiosity, by asking questions.
"Judith and Hetty" said Deerslayer, with an untaught, natural courtesy-"this
is the Mohican chief of whom you've heard me speak; Chingachgook as he is
called; which signifies Big Sarpent; so named for his wisdom and prudence,
and cunning, and my 'arliest and latest fri'nd. I know'd it must be he, by
the hawk's feather, over the left ear, most other warriors wearing 'em on the
war-lock."
As Deerslayer ceased speaking, he laughed heartily, excited more perhaps by
the delight of having got his friend safe at his side, under circumstances so
trying, than by any conceit that happened to cross his fancy, and exhibiting
this outbreaking of feeling in a manner that was a little remarkable, since
his merriment was not accompanied by any noise. Although Chingachgook both
understood and spoke English, he was unwilling to communicate his thoughts
in it, like most Indians, and when he had met Judith's cordial shake of the
hand, and Hetty's milder salute, in the courteous manner that became a chief,
he turned away, apparently to await the moment when it might suit his friend
to enter into an explanation of his future intentions, and to give a
narrative of what had passed since their separation. The other understood his
meaning, and discovered his own mode of reasoning. in the matter, by
addressing the girls.
"This wind will soon die away altogether, now the sun is down," he said, "and
there is no need for rowing ag'in it. In half an hour, or so, it will either
be a flat calm, or the air will come off from the south shore, when we will
begin our journey back ag'in to the castle; in the mean while, the Delaware
and I will talk over matters, and get correct idees of each other's notions
consarning the course we ought to take."
No one opposed this proposition, and the girls withdrew into the cabin to
prepare the evening meal, while the two young men took their seats on the
head of the scow and began to converse. The dialogue was in the language of
the Delawares. As that dialect, however, is but little understood, even by
the learned, we shall, not only on this, but on all subsequent occasions
render such parts, as it may be necessary to give closely, into liberal
English; preserving, as far as possible, the idion' and peculiarities of the
respective speakers, by way of presenting the pictures in the most graphic
forms to the minds of the readers.
It is unnecessary to enter into the details first related by Deerslayer, who
gave a brief narrative of the facts that an already familiar to those who
have read our pages. In relating these events, however, it may be well to say
that the speaker touched only on the outlines, more particularly abstaining
from saying .any thing about his encounter with, and victory over the
Iroquois, as well as to his own exertions in behalf of the two deserted young
women. When Deerslayer ended, the Delaware took up the narrative, in turn,
speaking sententiously and with grave dignity. His account was both clear and
short, nor was it embellished by any incidents that did not directly concern
the history of his departure from the villages of his people, and his arrival
in the valley of the Susquehannah. On reaching the latter, which was at a
point only half a mile south of the outlet, he had soon struck a trail, which
gave him notice of the probable vicinity of enemies. Being prepared for such
an occurrence, the object of the expedition calling him directly into the
neighborhood of the party of Iroquois that was known to be out, he considered
the discovery as fortunate, rather than the reverse, and took the usual
precautions to turn it to account. First following the river to its source,
and ascertaining the position of the rock, he met another trail, and had
actually been hovering for hours on the flanks of his enemies, watching
equally for an opportunity to meet his mistress, and to take a scalp; and it
may be questioned which he most ardently desired. He kept near the lake, and
occasionally he ventured to some spot, where he could get a view of what was
passing on its suffice. The Ark had been seen and watched, from the moment
it hove in sight, though the young chief was necessarily ignorant that it was
to be the instrument of his effecting the desired junction with his friend.
The uncertainty of its movements, and the fact that it was unquestionably
managed by white men, soon led him to conjecture the truth, however, and he
held himself in readiness to get on board whenever a
suitable occasion might offer. As the sun drew near the horizon he repaired
to the rock, where, on emerging from the forest, he was gratified in finding
the Ark lying, apparently in readiness to receive him. The manner of his
appearance, and of his entrance into the craft is known.
Although Chingachgook had been closely watching his enemies for hours, their
sudden and close pursuit, as he reached the scow, was as much a matter of
surprise to himself, as it had been to his friend. He could only account for
it, by the fact of their being more numerous than he had at first supposed,
and by their having out parties of the existence of which he was ignorant.
Their regular, and permanent encampment, if the word permanent can be applied
to the residence of a party that intended to remain out, in all probability,
but a few weeks, was not far from the spot where Hutter and Hurry had fallen
into their hands, and, as a matter of course, near a spring.
"Well, Sarpent," asked Deerslayer, when the other had ended his brief but
spirited narrative, speaking always in the Delaware tongue, which for the
reader's convenience only we render into the peculiar vernacular of the
speaker-"Well, Sarpent, as you've been scouting around these Mingos, have
you any thing to tell us of their captyves, the father of these young women,
and of another, who, I somewhat conclude, is the lovyer of one of 'em."
"Ghingachgook has seen them. An old man, and a young warrior- the falling
hemlock and the tall pine."
"You're not so much out, Delaware; you're not so much out. Old Hutter is
decaying, of a sartainty, though many solid blocks might be hewn out of his
trunk yet, and, as for Hurry Harry, so far as heighth, and strength and
comliness go, he may be called the pride of the human forest. Were the men
bound, or, in any manner, suffering torture? I ask on account of the young
women, who, I dare to say, would be glad to know."
"It is not so, Deerslayer. The Mingos are too many to cage their game. Some
watch; some sleep; some scout; some hunt. The pale faces are treated like
brothers to-day; to-morrow they will lose their scalps."
"Yes, that's red natur', and must be submitted to! Judith and Hetty, here's
comforting tidings for you, the Delaware telling me that neither your father
nor Hurry Harry is in suffering, but, bating the loss of liberty, as well
off, as we are ourselves. Of course they are kept in the camp; otherwise they
do much as they please."
"I rejoice to hear this, Deerslayer," returned Judith, "and now we are joined
by your friend, I make no manner of question that we shall find an
opportunity to ransom the prisoners. If there are any women in the camp, I
have articles of dress that will catch their eyes, and, should the worst come
to the worst, we can open the great chest, which, I think will be found to
hold things that may tempt the chiefs."
"Judith," said the young man, looking up at her, with a smile, and an
expression of earnest curiosity, that, spite of the growing obscurity did not
escape the watchful looks of the girl, "can you find it in your heart, to
part with your own finery, to release prisoners; even though one be your own
father, and the other is your sworn suitor and lovyer?"
The flush on the face of the girl arose in part from resentment, but more
perhaps from a gentler and a novel feeling, that, with the capricious
waywardness of taste, had been rapidly rendering her more sensitive to the
good opinion of the youth who questioned her, than to that of any other
person. Suppressing the angry sensation, with instinctive quickness, she
answered with a readiness and truth, that caused her sister to draw near to
listen, though the obtuse intellect of the latter was far from comprehending
the workings of a heart as treacherous, as uncertain, and as impetuous in its
feelings, as that of the spoiled and flattered beauty.
"Deerslayer," answered Judith, after a moment's pause, "I shall be honest
with you. I confess, that the time 'has been when what you call finery, was
to me the dearest thing on earth; but I begin to feel differently. Though
Hurry Harry is nought to me nor ever can be, I would give all I own to set
him free. If I would do this, for blustering, bullying, talking Hurry, who
has nothing but good looks to recommend him, you may judge what I would do
for my own father."
"This sounds well, and is according to woman's gifts. Ah's, me! The same
feelin's is to be found among the young women of the Delawares. I've known
'em, often and often, sacrifice their vanity to their hearts. Tis as it
should be-'tis as it should be I suppose, in both colours. Woman was created
for the feelin's, and is pretty much ruled by feelin'."
"Would the savages let father go, if Judith and I give them all our best
things?" demanded Hetty, in her innocent, mild, manner.
"Their women might interfere, good Hetty; yes, their women might interfere
with such an ind in view. But, tell me, Sarpent, how is it as to squaws among
the knaves; have they many of their own women in the camp?"
The Delaware heard, and understood all that passed, though with Indian
gravity and finesse he had sat, with averted face, seemingly inattentive to a
discourse in which he had no direct concern. Thus appealed to, however, he
answered his friend in his ordinary sententious manner.
"Six-" he said, holding up all the fingers of one hand, and the thumb of the
other, "beside this." The last number denoted his betrothed, whom, with the
poetry and truth of nature, he described by laying his hand on his own heart.
"Did you see her, chief- did you get a glimpse of her pleasant countenance,
or come close enough to her ear, to sing in it the song she loves to hear?"
"No, Deerslayer- the trees were too many, and leaves covered their boughs
like clouds hiding' the heavens, in a storm. But"- and the young warrior
turned his dark face towards his friend, with a smile on it that illuminated
its fierce-looking paint, and naturally stern lineaments, with a bright gleam
of human feeling, "Ghingachgook heard the laugh of Wah-ta--Wah, and knew it
from the laugh of the women of the Iroquois. It sounded in his ears, like the
chirp of the wren."
"Ay, trust a lovyer's ear for that, and a Delaware's ear for all sounds that
are ever heard in the woods. I know not why it is so, Judith, but when young
men- and I dares to say it may be all the same with young women, too - but
when they get to have kind feelin's towards each other, it's wonderful how
pleasant the laugh, or the speech becomes, to the other person. I've seen
grim warriors listening to the chattering and the laughing of young gals, as
if it was church music, such as is heard in the old Dutch church that stands
in the great street of Albany, where I've been, more than once, with peltry
and game."
"And you, Deerslayer," said Judith quickly, and with more
sensibility than marked her usually light and thoughtless manner, -"have you
never felt how pleasant it is to listen to the laugh of the girl you love?"
"Lord bless you gal! -Why I've never lived enough among my own colour to drop
into them sort of feelin's, - no never! I dares to say, they are nat'ral and
right, but to me there's no music so sweet as the sighing of the wind in the
tree tops, and the rippling of a stream from a full; sparkling, natyve
fountain of pure forest water-unless, indeed," he continued, dropping his
head for an instant in a thoughtful manner-"unless indeed it be the open
mouth of a sartain hound, when I'm on the track of a fat buck-As for
unsartain dogs, I care little for their cries, seem' they are as likely to
speak when the deer is not in sight, as when it is."
Judith walked slowly and pensively away, nor was there any of her ordinary
calculating coquetry, in the light tremulous sigh, that, unconsciously to
herself, arose to her lips. On the other hand Hetty listened with guileless
attention, though it struck her simple mind as singular that the young man
should prefer the melody of the woods, to the songs of girls, or even to the
laugh of innocence and joy. Accustomed, however, to defer, in most things, to
her sister, she soon followed Judith into the cabin, where she took a seat,
and remained pondering intensely over some occurrence, or resolution, or
opinion-which was a secret to all but herself. Left alone, Deerslayer and his
friend resumed their discourse.
"Has the young pale-face hunter been long on this lake?" demanded the
Delaware, after courteously waiting for the other to speak first.
"Only since yesterday noon, Sarpent, though that has been long enough to see
and do much." The gaze that the Indian fastened on his companion was so keen
that it seemed to mock the gathering darkness of the night. As the other
furtively returned his look, he saw the two black eyes glistening on him,
like the balls of the panther, or those of the penned wolf. He understood the
meaning of this glowing gaze, and answered evasively, as he fancied would
best become the modesty of a white man's gifts.
"Tis as you suspect, Sarpent; yes, 'tis somewhat that-a-way.
I have fell in with the inimy, and I suppose it may be said I've fou't them,
too."
An exclamation of delight and exultation escaped the Indian, and then laying
his hand eagerly on the arm of his friend, he asked if there were any scalps
taken.
"That I will maintain in the face of all the Delaware tribe, old Tamenund,
and your own father, the great Uncas, as well as the rest, is ag'in white
gifts! My scalp is on my head, as you can see, Sarpent, and that was the only
scalp that was in danger, when one side was altogether Christian and white."
"Did no warrior fall? - Deerslayer did not get his name, by being slow of
sight, or clumsy with the rifle!"
"In that particular, chief, you're nearer reason, and therefore nearer being
right. I may say one Mingo fell."
"A chief'." demanded the other with startling vehemence.
"Nay, that's more than I know, or can say. He was artful, and treacherous,
and stout-hearted, and may well have gained popularity enough with his people
to be named to that rank. The man fou't well, though his eye was'n't quick
enough for one who had had his schooling in your company, Delaware."
"My brother and friend struck the body?"
"That was uncalled for, seeing that the Mingo died in my arms. The truth may
as well be said, at once; he fou't like a man of red gifts, and I fou't like
a man with gifts of my own colour. God gave me the victory; I coul'n't fly in
the face of his Providence by forgetting my birth and natur'. White he made
me, and white I shall live and die."
"Good! Deerslayer is a pale face, and has pale-face hands. A Delaware will
look for the scalp, and hang it on a pole, and sing a song in his honour,
when we go back to our people. The glory belongs to the tribe; it must not be
lost."
"This is easy talking, but 'twill not be as easy doing. The Mingo's body is
in the hands of his fri'nds, and, no doubt, is hid in some hole, where
Delaware cunning will never be able to get at the scalp."
The young man then gave his friend a succinct, but clear account, of the
event of the morning, concealing nothing of any moment, and yet touching on
every thing modestly and with a careful attention to avoid the Indian habit
of boasting.Chingachgo ok again expressed his satisfaction at the honour won
by his friend, and then both arose, the hour having arrived when it became
prudent to move the Ark further from the land.
It was now quite dark, the heavens having become clouded, and the stars hid.
The north wind had ceased, - as was usual with the setting of the sun, and a
light air arose from the south. This change favoring the design of
Deerslayer, he lifted his grapnel, and the scow immediately and quite
perceptibly began to drift more into the lake. The sail was set, when the
motion of the craft increased to a rate not much less than two miles in the
hour. As this superseded the necessity of rowing, an occupation that an
Indian would not be likely to desire, Deerslayer, Chingachgook and Judith
seated themselves in the stern of the scow, where they first governed its
movements by holding the oar. Here they discoursed on their future movements,
and on the means that ought to be used in order to effect the liberation of
their friends.
In this dialogue Judith held a material part, the Delaware readily
understanding all she said, while his own replies and remarks, both of which
were few and pithy, were occasionally rendered into English by his friend.
Judith rose greatly in the estimation of her companions, in the half hour
that followed. Prompt of resolution and firm of purpose, her suggestions and
expedients partook of her spirit and sagacity, both of which were of a
character to find favor with men of the frontier. The events that had
occurred since their meeting, as well as her isolated and dependant
situation, induced the girl to feel towards Deerslayer like the friend of a
year instead of an acquaintance of a day, and so completely had she been won
by his guileless truth of character and of feeling, pure novelties in our
sex, as respected her own experience, that his peculiarities excited her
curiosity, and created a confidence that had never been awakened by any other
man. Hitherto she had been compelled to stand on the defensive, in her
intercourse with men, with what success was best known to herself, but here
had she been suddenly thrown into the society, and under the protection of a
youth, who evidently as little contemplated evil towards herself, as if he
had been her brother. The freshness of his integrity, the poetry and truth of
his feelings, and even the quaintness of his forms of speech, all had their
influence, and aided in awakening an interest that she found as pure as it
was sudden and deep. Hurry's fine face and manly form had never compensated
for his boisterous and vulgar tone, and her intercourse with the officers
had prepared her to make comparisons under which even his great natural
advantages suffered. But this very intercourse with the officers who
occasionally came upon the lake to fish and hunt, had an effect in producing
her present sentiments towards the young stranger. With them, while her
vanity had been gratified, and her self-love strongly awakened, she had many
causes deeply to regret the acquaintance-if not to mourn over it, in secret
sorrow-for it was impossible for one of her quick intellect not to perceive
how hollow was the association between superior and inferior, and that she
was regarded as the play thing of an idle hour, rather than as an equal and a
friend, by even the best intentioned and least designing of her scarlet-clad
admirers. Deerslayer, on the other hand, had a window in his breast, through
which the light of his honesty was ever shining; and even his indifference to
charms that so rarely failed to produce a sensation, piqued the pride of the
girl, and gave him an interest that another, seemingly more favored by
nature, might have failed to excite.
In this manner half an hour passed, during which time the Ark had been slowly
stealing over the water, the darkness thickening around it; though it was
easy to see that the gloom of the forest at the southern end of the lake, was
getting to be distant, while the mountains that lined the sides of the
beautiful basin were overshadowing it, nearly from side to side. There was,
indeed, a narrow stripe of water, in the centre of the lake where the dim
light that was still shed from the heavens, fell upon its surface in a line
extending north and south; and along this faint track, a sort of inverted
milky way, in which the obscurity was not quite as dense as in other places,
the scow held her course, he who steered well knowing that it led in the
direction he wished to go. The reader is not to suppose, however, that any
difficulty could exist as to the course. This would have been determined by
that of the air, had it not been possible to distinguish the mountains, as
well as by the dim opening to the south, which marked the position of the
valley in that quarter, above the plain of tall trees, by a sort of
lessened obscurity; the difference between the darkness of the forest, and
that of the night, as seen only in the air. The peculiarities at length
caught the attention of Judith and the Deerslayer, and the conversation
ceased, to allow each to gaze at the solemn stillness and deep repose of
nature.
"Tis a gloomy night-" observed the girl, after a pause of several minutes-"I
hope we may be able to find the castle.'
"Little fear of our missing that, if we keep this path, in the middle of the
lake," returned the young man. "Natur' has mad us a road here, and, dim as it
is, there'll be little difficulty following it."
"Do you hear nothing, Deerslayer? - It seemed as if the water was stirring
quite near us!"
"Sartainly something did move the water, oncommon like; must have been a
fish. Them creatur's prey upon each other like men, and animals on the land;
one has leaped into the ail and fallen hard, back into his own element. Tis
of little us Judith, for any to strive to get out of their elements, since it
natur' to stay in 'em, and natur' will have its way. Ha! That sounds like a
paddle, used with more than common caution!
At this moment the Delaware bent forward, and pointed significantly into the
boundary of gloom, as if some object had suddenly caught his eye. Both
Deerslayer and Judith followed the direction of his gesture, and each got a
view of a canoe a the same instant. The glimpse of this startling neighbor
was dim, and to eyes less practised, it might have been uncertain though to
those in the Ark, the object was evidently a canoe with a single individual
in it; the latter, standing erect, and paddling. How many lay concealed in
its bottom, of course could not be known. Flight, by means of oars, from a
bar: canoe impelled by vigorous and skilful hands, was utterly im
practicable, and each of the men seized his rifle, in expectation of a
conflict.
"I can easily bring down the paddler," whispered Deer slayer, "but we'll
first hail him, and ask his ar'n'd." Then raising his voice, he continued in
a solemn manner-"hold! I ye come nearer, I must fire, though contrary to my
wishes and then sartain death will follow. Stop paddling, and answer."
"Fire, and slay a poor, defenceless, girl," returned a soft tremulous female
voice. "And God will never forgive you! Go your way, Deerslayer, and let me
go mine."
"Hetty!" exclaimed the young man and Judith in a breath; and the former
sprang instantly to the spot where he had left the canoe they had been
towing. It was gone, and he understood the whole affair. As for the
fugitive, frightened at the menace, she ceased paddling, and remained dimly
visible, resembling a spectral outline of a human form, standing on the
water. At the next moment, the sail was lowered, to prevent the Ark from
passing the spot where the canoe lay. This last expedient, however, was not
taken in time, for the momentum of so heavy a craft, and the impulsion of the
air, soon set her by, bringing Hetty directly to windward, though still
visible, as the change in the positions of the two boats, now placed her in
that species of milky way which has been mentioned.
"What can this mean, Judith?" demanded Deerslayer- "Why has your sister taken
the canoe, and left us?"
"You know she is feeble-minded, poor girl! - and she has her own ideas of
what ought to be done. She loves her father more than most children love
their parents - and - then -"
"Then, what, gal? This is a trying moment; one in which truth must be
spoken!"
Judith felt a generous and womanly regret at betraying her sister, and she
hesitated ere she spoke again. But once more urged by Deerslayer, and
conscious herself of all the risks the whole party was running by the
indiscretion of Hetty, she could refrain no longer.
"Then, I fear, poor, weak-minded, Hetty has not been altogether able to see
all the vanity, and rudeness and folly, that lie hid behind the handsome face
and fine form of Hurry Harry. She talks of him, in her sleep, and sometimes
betrays the inclination, in her waking moments."
"You think, Judith, that your sister is now bent on some mad scheme to serve
her father and Hurry, which will, in all likelihood, give them riptyles the
Mingos, the mastership of a canoe?"
"Such, I fear, will turn out to be the fact, Deerslayer: Poor Hetty has
hardly sufficient cunning to outwit a savage."
All this while, the canoe, with the form of Hetty, erect in one end of it,
was dimly perceptible, though the greater drift of the Ark, rendered it, at
each instant, less and less distinct. It was evident no time was to be lost,
lest it should altogether disappear. The rifles were now laid aside, as
useless, the two men seizing the oars, and sweeping the head of the scow
round, in the direction of the canoe. Judith, accustomed to the office, flew
to the other end of the Ark, and placed herself at what might be called the
helm. Hetty took the alarm, at these preparations, which could not be made
without noise, and started off like a bird, that had been suddenly put up by
the approach of unexpected danger.
As Deerslayer and his companion rowed with the energy of those who felt the
necessity of straining every nerve, and Hetty's strength was impaired by a
nervous desire to escape, the chase would have quickly terminated in the
capture of the fugitive, had not the girl made several short and unlooked-for
deviations in her course. These turnings gave her time, and they had also the
effect of gradually bringing both canoe and Ark within the deeper gloom, cast
by the shadows from the hills. They also gradually increased the distance
between the fugitive and her pursuers, until Judith called out to her
companions to cease rowing, for she had completely lost sight
of the canoe.
When this mortifying announcement was made, Hetty was actually so near as to
understand every syllable her sister uttered, though the latter had used the
precaution of speaking as low as circumstances would allow her to do, and to
make herself heard. Hetty stopped paddling at the same moment, and waited the
result with an impatience that was breathless, equally from her late
exertions, and her desire to land. A dead silence immediately fell on the
lake, during which the three in the Ark were using their senses differently,
in order to detect the position of the canoe. Judith bent forward to listen,
in the hope of catching some sound that might betray the direction in which
her sister was stealing away, while her two companions brought their eyes, as
near as possible, to a level with the water, in order to detect any object
that might be floating on its surface. All was vain, however, for neither
sound, nor sight, rewarded their efforts. All this time Hetty, who had not
the cunning to sink into the canoe, stood erect, a finger pressed on her
lips, gazing in the direction in which the voices had last been heard,
resembling a statue of profound and timid attention. Her ingenuity had
barely sufficed to enable her to seize the canoe and to quit the Ark, in the
noiseless manner related, and then it appeared to be momentarily exhausted.
Even the doublings of the canoe had been as much the consequence of an
uncertain hand, and of nervous agitation, as of any craftiness, or
calculation.
The pause continued several minutes, during which Deerslayer and the
Delaware conferred together, in the language of the latter. Then the oars
dipped, again, and the Ark moved away, rowing with as little noise as
possible. It steered westward, a little southerly, or in the direction of the
encampment of the enemy. Having reached a point, at no great distance from
the shore, and where the obscurity was intense, on account of the proximity
of the land, it lay there near an hour, in waiting for the expected approach
of Hetty, who, it was thought, would make the best of her way, to that spot,
as soon as she believed herself released from the danger of pursuit. No
success rewarded this little blockade, however, neither appearance nor sound
denoting the passage of the canoe. Disappointed at this failure, and
conscious of the importance of getting possession of the fortress, before it
could be seized by the enemy, Deerslayer now took his way towards the castle,
with the apprehension that all his foresight in securing the canoes would be
defeated, by this unguarded and alarming movement on the part of the feeble
minded Hetty.
Chapter X
"But who in this wild wood
May credit give to either eye, or ear?
From rocky precipice or hollow cave,
'Midst the confused sound of rustling leaves;,
And creaking boughs, and cries of nightly birds,
Returning seeming answer!"
Joanna Baihie, Rayner: A Tragedy, II.L3-4, 6-g.
Fear as much as calculation, had induced Hetty to cease paddling, when she
found that her pursuers did not know in which direction to proceed. She
remained stationary until the Ark had pulled in near the encampment, as has
been related in the preceding chapter, when she resumed the paddle and with
cautious strokes made the best of her way towards the western shore. In order
to avoid her pursuers, however, who, she rightly suspected, would soon be
rowing along that shore themselves, the head of the canoe was pointed so far
north, as to bring her to land on a point that thrust itself into the lake,
at the distance of near a league from the outlet. Nor was this altogether the
result of a desire to escape, for, feeble minded as she was, Hetty Hutter
had a good deal of that instinctive caution which so often keeps those whom
God has thus visited from harm. She was perfectly aware of the importance of
keeping the canoes from falling into the hands of the Iroquois, and long
familiarity with the lake had suggested one of the simplest expedients, by
which this great object could be rendered compatible with her own purpose.
The point in question, was the first projection that offered on that side of
the lake, where a canoe, if set adrift with a southerly air would float clear
of the land, and where it would be no great violation of probabilities to
suppose it might even hit the castle; the latter lying above it, almost in a
direct line with the wind. Such then was Hetty's intention, and she landed on
the extremity of the gravelly point, beneath an overhanging oak, with the
express intention of shoving the canoe off from the shore, in order that it
might drift up towards her father's insulated abode. She knew, too, from the
logs that occasionally floated about' the lake, that did it miss the castle,
and its appentages tje wind would be likely to change before the canoe could
reach the northern extremity of the lake, and that Deerslayer might have an
opportunity of regaining it, in the morning, when no doubt he would be
earnestly sweeping the surface of the water, and the whole of its wooded
shores, with glass. In all this, too, Hetty was less governed by any chain of
reasoning than by her habits, the latter often supplying the of mind, in
human beings, as they perform the same for animals of the inferior classes.
The girl was quite an hour finding her way to the point, the distance and the
obscurity equally detaining her, but she was no sooner on the gravelly beach,
than she prepared to set the canoe adrift, in the manner mentioned. While in
the act of pushing it from her, she heard low voices, that seemed to come
among the trees behind her. Startled at this unexpected danger Hetty was on
the point of springing into the canoe in order to seek safety in flight, when
she thought she recognised the tones of Judith's melodious voice. Bending
forward, so as to catch the sounds more directly, they evidently came from
the water, and then she understood that the Ark Was approaching from the
south, and so close in with the western shore, as necessarily to cause it. to
pass the point, within twenty yards of the spot where she stood. Here, then,
was all she could desire; the canoe was shoved off into the lake, leaving its
late occupant alone on the narrow strand.
When this act of self-devotion was performed, Hetty did not retire. The
foliage of the overhanging trees and bushes would have almost concealed her
person, had there been light, but in that obscurity, it was utterly
impossible to discover any object thus shaded, at the distance of a few feet.
Flight, too, was perfectly easy, as twenty steps would effectually bury her
in the forest. She remained, therefore, watching with intense anxiety the
result of her expedient, intending to call the attention of the others to the
canoe, with her voice, should they appear to pass without observing it. The
Ark approached under its sail, again, Deerslayer standing in its bow, with
Judith near him, and the Delaware at the helm. It would seem that, in the bay
below, it had got too close to the shore, in the lingering hope of
ntercepting Hetty, for, as it caine nearer, the latter distinctly heard the
directions that the young man forward, gave to his companion aft, in order to
clear the point.
"Lay her head more off the shore, Delaware," said Deerslayer for the third
time, speaking in English that his fair companion might understand his
words-"Lay her head well off shore. We have got embayed here, and needs keep
the mast clear of the trees. Judith, there's a canoe!"
The last words were uttered with great earnestness, and Deerslayer's hand was
on his rifle, ere they were fairly out of his mouth. But the truth flashed on
the mind of the quickwitted girl, and she instantly told her companion that
the boat must be that in which her sister had fled.
"Keep the scow straight, Delaware; steer-as straight as your bullet flies
when sent agin a buck - There, - I have it."
The canoe was seized, and immediately secured again to the side of the Ark.
At the next moment the sail was lowered, and the motion of the Ark arrested,
by means of the oars.
"Hetty!" called Qut Judith, concern, even affection betraying itself in her
tones. "Are you within hearing, sister- for God's sake answer, and let me
bear the sound of your voice, again! Hetty! -dear Hetty."
"I'm here, Judith - here on the shore, where it will be useless to follow me,
as I will hide in the woods."
"Oh! Hetty what is't you 4o! Remember 'tis drawing near midnight, and that
the woods are filled with savages and wild beasts!"
"Neither will harm a poor half-witted girl, Judith. God is as much with me,
here, as he would be in the Ark or in the hut. I am going to help my father,
and poor Hurry Harry, who will be tortured and slain, unless some one cares
for them."
"We all care for them, and intend to-morrow to,send them a flag of truce, to
buy their' ransom. Come back then, sister; trust to us, who have better heads
than you, and who will do all we can for father."
"1 know your head is better than mine, Judith, for mine is very weak; to be
sure; but, I must go to father and poor Hurry. Do y~u and Deerslayer keep the
castle, sister; leave me in the hands of God."
"God is with us all, Hetty-in the castle, or on the shore - father as well as
ourselves, and it is sinful not to trust to his goodness. You can do nothing
in the dark; will lose your way in the forest, and perish for want of food."
"God will not let that happen to a poor child that goes to serve her father,
sister. I must try and find the savages."
"Come back for this night only; in the morning, we will put you ashore, and
leave you to do as you may think right."
"You say so, Judith, and you think so; but you would not. Your heart would
soften, and you'd see tomahawks and scalping knives, in the air. Besides,
I've got a thing to tell the Indian chief that will answer all our wishes,
and I'm afraid I may forget it, if I do'n't tell it to him at once. You'll
see that he will let father go, as soon as he hears it!"
"Poor Hetty! What can you say to a ferocious savage that will be likely to
change his bloody purpose!"
"That which will frighten him, and make him let father go-" returned the
simple minded girl, positively. "You'll see, sister; you'll see, how soon it
will bring him to, like a gentle child!"
"Will you tell me, Hetty, what you intend to say?' asked DeerSlayer. "I know
the savages well, and can form some idee how far fair words will be likely,
or not, to work on their bloody natux's. If it~ not suited to the gifts of a
red skin, twill, be of no use; for reason goes by gifts, as well as conduct."
"Well, then," answered Hetty, dropping her voice to a low, confidential,
tone, for the stillness of the night, and the nearness of the Ark, permitted
her to do this, and still to be heard-"Well, then, Deerslayer, as you seem a
good and honest young man I will tellyeu. I mean not to say a word to any of
the savages until I get face to face with their head chief, let them plague
me with as many questions as they please I'll answer none of them, unless it
be to tell them to lead me to their wisest man-Then, Deerslayer, I'll tell
him that God will not forgive murder, and thefts; and that if father and
Hurry did go after the scalps of the Iroquois, he must return good for evil,
for so the bible commands, else he will go into everlasting punishment. When
he hears this, and feels it to be true, as feel it he must, how long will it
be before he sends father, and Hurry, and me to the shore, opposite the
castle, telling us all three to go our way in peace?"
The last question was put in a triumphant manner, and then the simple minded
girl laughed at the impression she never doubted that her project had made on
her auditors. Deerslayer was dumb-founded at this proof of guileless
feebleness of mind, but Judith had suddenly bethought her of a means of
counteracting this wild project, by acting on the very feelings that had
given it birth. Without adverting to the closing question, or the laugh,
therefore, she hurriedly called to her sister by name, as one suddenly
impressed with the importance of what she had to say. But no answer was given
to the call.
By the snapping of twigs, and the rustling of leaves, Hetty had evidently
quitted the shore, and was already burying herself in the forest. To follow
would have been bootless, since the darkness, as well as the dense cover that
the woods every where. offered, would have rendered her capture next to
impossible, and there was also the never ceasing danger of falling into the
hands of their enemies. After ~ short and melancholy discussion, therefore,
the sail was again set, and the Ark pursued its course towards its habitual
moorings, Deerslayer silently felicitating himself on the recovery of the
canoe, and brooding over his plans for the morrow. The wind rose as the party
quitted the point, and in less than an hour they reached the castle. Here all
was found, as it had been left, and the reverse of the ceremonies had to be
taken, in entering the building, that had been used on quitting it. Judith
occupied a solitary bed that nights bedewing the pillow with her tears, as
she thought of the innocent and hitherto neglected creature, who had been~
her companion, from childhood, and bitter regrets came over her mind, from
more causes than one, as the weary hours passed away, making it nearly
morning before' she lost her recollection in sleep. Deerslayer and the
Delaware took their rest in the Ark, where we shall leave them enjoying the
deep sleep of the honest, the healthful and fearless, to return to the girl
we have last seen in the midst of the forest.
When Hetty left the shore, she took her way unhesitatingly into the woods,
with a nervous apprehension of being followed. Luckily, this course was the
best she could have hit on to effect her own purpose, since it was the only
one that led her from the point. The night was so intensely dark, beneath the
branches of the trees, that her progress was very slow, and the direction
she went altogether a matter of chance, after the first few yards. The
formation of the ground, however, did not permit her to deviate far from the
line in which she desired to proceed. On one hand it was soon bounded by the
acclivity of the hill, while the lake, on the other, served as a guide. For
two hours did this single-hearted and simple-minded girl toil through the
mazes of the forest, sometimes finding herself on the brow of the bank that
bounded the water, and at others struggling up an ascent that warned her to
go no farther in that direction, since it necessarily ran at right angles to
the course on which she wished to proceed. Her feet often slid from beneath
her, and she got many falls, though none to do her injury; but, by the end
of the period mentioned, she had become so weary as to want strength to go
any farther. Rest was indispensable, and she set about preparing a bed, with
the readiness and coolness of one to whom the wilderness presented no
unnecessary terrors. She knew that wild beasts roamed through all the
adjacent forest, but animals that preyed on the human species were rare, and
of dangerous serpents there were literally none. These facts had been taught
her by her father, and whatever her feeble mind received at all, it received
so confidingly as to leave her no uneasiness from any doubts, or scepticism.
To her the sublimity of the solitude in which she was placed, was soothing,
rather than appalling, and she gathered a bed of leaves, with as much
indifference to the circumstances that would have driven the thoughts of
sleep entirely from the minds of most of her sex, as if she had been
preparing her place of nightly rest, beneath the paternal roof.
As soon as Hetty had collected a sufficient number of the dried leaves to
protect her person from the damps of the ground, she kneeled beside the
humble pile, clasped her raised hands in an attitude of deep devotion, and in
a soft, low, but audible voice repeated the Lord's Prayer. This was followed
by those simple and devout verses, so familiar to children, in which she
recommended her soul to God, should it be called away to another state of
existence, ere the returirof morning. This duty done, she lay down and
disposed herself to sleep. The attire of the girl, though suited to the
season, was sufficiently 'warm for all ordinary purposes, but the forest is
ever cool, and the nights of that elevated region of country, have always a
freshness about them, that renders clothing more necessary than is commonly
the case in the summers of a low latitude. This had been foreseen by Hetty,
who had brought with her, a coarse heavy mantle, which, when laid over her
body, answered all the useful purposes of a blanket Thus protected, she
dropped asleep, in a few minutes, as tranquilly as if watched over by the
guardian care of that mother, who had so recently been taken from her
forever, affording in this partirular, a most striking contrast between her
own humble couch, and the sleepless pillow of her sister.
Hour passed after hour, in a tranquility as undisturbed and a rest as sweet,
as if angels, expressly commissioned for that object, watched around the bed
of Hetty Hutter. Not once did her soft eyes open, until the grey of the dawn
came struggling through the tops of the trees, falling on their lids, and,
united to the freshness of a summer's morning, giving the usual summons to
awake. Ordinarily, Hetty was up ere the rays of the sun tipped the summits of
the mountains, but on this occasion her fatigue had been so great, and her
rest was so profound, that the customary warnings failed of their effect. The
girl murmured in her sleep, threw an arm forward, smiled as gently as an
infant in its cradle, but still slumbered. In making this unconscious
gesture, her hand fell on some object that was warm, and in the half
unconsciouss state in which she lay, she connected the circumstance with her
habits. At the next moment, a rude attack was made on her side, as if a
rooting animal were thrusting its snout beneath, with a desire to force her
position, and then, uttering the name of "Judith" she awoke. As the startled
girl arose to a sitting attitude she perceived that some dark object sprang
from her, scattering the leaves and soaping the fallen twigs in its haste.
Opening her eyes, and recovering from the first confusion and astonishment
of her situation, Hetty perceived a cub, of the common American brown bear,
balancing itself on its hinder legs, and still looking towards her, as if
doubtful whether it would be safe to trust itself near her person again. The
first impulse of Hetty, who had been mistress of several of these cubs, was
to run and seize the little creature as a prize, but a loud growl warned her
of the danger of such a procedure. Recoiling a few steps, the girl looked
hurly round, and perceived the dam, watching her moveftts, with fiery eyes,
at no great distance. A hollow tree; that once been the home of bees, having
recently fallen, the ther with two more cubs, was feasting on the dainty food
it this accident had placed within her reach; while the firsta jealous eye on
the situation of its truant and reckless young.
It would exceed all the means of human knowledge to presume to analyze the
influences that govern the acts of the lower animals. On this occasion, the
dam, though proverbially fierce when its young is thought to be in danger,
manifested no intention to attack the girl. It quitted the honey, and
advanced to a place within twenty feet of her, where it raised itself on its
hind legs, and balanced its body in a sort of angry, growling discontent, but
approached no nearer. Happily, Hetty did not fly. On the contrary, though not
without terror, she knelt with' her face towards the animal, and with clasped
hands and uplifted eyes, repeated the prayer of the previous night. This act
of devotion was not the result of alarm, but it was a duty she ne4~'er
neglected to perform ere she slept, and w~hen the return of consciousness
awoke her to the business of the day. As the girl arose from her knees, the
bear dropped on its feet again, and collecting its cubs around her, permitted
them to draw their natural sustenance. Hetty was delighted with this proof of
tenderness in an animal that has but a very indutThrent reputation for the
gentler feelings, and as a cub would quit its mother to frisk and leap about
in wantonness, she felt a strong desireagaintocatchitupinherarms,
anciplaywithit. Butadmonished by the growl, she had self command sufficient
not to put this dangerous project in execution, and recollecting her errand
among the hills, she tore herself away from the group, and proceeded on her
course, along the margin of the lake, of which she now caught glimpses again
through the trees. To her surprise, though not to her alarm, the family of
bears arose and followed her steps, keeping a short distance behind her;
appaiently watching every movement as if they had a near interest in all she
did.
In this manner, escorted by the dam and cubs, the girl proceeded nearly a
mile, thrice the distance she had been able to achieve in the darkness,
during the same period of time. She then reached a brook that had dug a
channel for itself into the earth, and went brawling into the lake, between
steep and high banks, covered with trees. Here, Hetty performed her
ablutions; then drinking of the pure mountain water, she went her way,
refreshed and lighter of heart, still attended by her singular companions.
Her course now lay along a- broad and nearly level terrace, which stretched
from the top of the bank that bounded the water, to a low acclivity that rose
to a second and irregular platform above. This was at a part of the valley
where the mountains ran obliquely, forming the commencement of a plain that
spread between the hills, southward of the sheet of water. J-Ietty knew, by
this circumstance, that she was getting near to the encampment, and had she
not, the bears would have given her warning of the vicinity of human beings.
Snuffing the air, the dam refused to follow any further, though the girl
looked back and invited her to come by childish signs, and even by direct
appeals made in her own sweet voice. It was while making her way slowly
through some bushes, in this manner, with averted face and eyes riveted on
the immovable animals, that the girl suddenly foundher steps arrested by a
human hand, that was laid lightly on her shoulder.
"Where go? -" said a soft female voice, speaking hurriedly, and in concern.-
"Indian- red-man-savage- wicked warrior- thataway."
This unexpected salutation alarmed the girl no more than the presence of the
fierce inhabitants of the woods. It took her a little by surprise, it is
true, but she was in a measure prepared for some such meeting, and the
creature who stopped her, was as-little likely to excite terror as any who
ever appeared in the guise of an Indian. It was a girl, not much older than
herself, whose smile was sunny asJudith's in her brightest moments, whose
voice was melody itself, and whose accents and manner had all the rebuked
gentleness that characterizes the sex among a peQple, who habitually treat
their women as the attendants and servitors of the warriors. Beauty among the
women of the aboriginal Americans, before they have become exposed to the
hardships of wives and mothers, is by no means uncommon. In this particular,
the original owners of the country were not unlike their more civilized
successors, nature appearing -to have bestowed that delicacy of mien and
outline that forms so great a charm in the youthful female, but of which they
are so early deprived; and that, too, as much by~the habits of domestic life,
as from any other cause.
The girl who had so suddenly arrested the steps of Hetty was dressed in a
calico mantle that effectually protected all the upper part of her person,
while a short petticoat of blue cloth edged with gold lace, that fell no
lower than her knees, leggings of the same, and moccasins of deer-skin,
completed her attire. Her hair fell in long dark braids down her shoulders
and back, and was parted above a low smooth forehead, in a way to soften the
expression of eyes that were full bf archness and natural feeling. Her face
was oval, with delicate features, the teeth were even and white, while the
mouth expressed a melancholy tenderness, as if it wore this peculiar meaning
in intuitive perception of the fate of a being who was doomed from birth to
endure a woman's sufferings, relieved by a woman's affections. Her voice, as
has been already intimated, was soft as the sighing of the night air, a
characteristic of the females of her race, but which was so conspicuous in
herself as to have produced for her the name of Wah-ta!-Wah; which rendered
into English means Hist-oh!-Hist.
In a word, this was the betrothed of Chingachgook, who -having succeeded in
lulling their suspicions, was permitted to wander around the encampment of
her captors. This indulgence w~s in accordance with the general policy of
the red man, who well knew, moreover, that her trail could have been easily
followed in the event of flight. It will also be remembered that the
Iroquois, or Hurons, as it would be better to call them, were entirely
ignorant of the proximity of her lover, a fact, indeed, that she did not know
herself.
It is not easy to say which manifested the most self-possession at this
unexpected meeting; the pale face, or the red-girl. But, though a little
surprised, Wah-ta!-Wah was the most willing to speak, and far the readier in
foreseeing consequences, as well as in devising means to avert them. Her
father, during her childhood, had been much employed as a warrior by the
authorities of the Colony, and dwelling for several years near the forts, she
had caught a knowledge of~he English tongue, which she spoke in the usual,
abbreviated manner of an Indian, but fluently, and without any of the
ordinary reluctance of her people.
"Where go?-" repeated Wah-ta!-Wah, returning the smile of Hetty, in her own
gentle, winning, manner - "wicked warrior that-a-way - good warrior, far
off."
"What's your name?" asked Hetty, with the simplicity of a child.
"Wah-ta! -Wah. I no Mingo - good Delaware - Yengeese friend. Mingo cruel, and
love scalp, for blood- Delaware love him, for honor. Come here, where no
eyes."
Wah-ta!-Wah now led her companion towards the lake, descending the bank so as
to place its overhanging trees and bushes between them, and any probable
observers. Nor did she stop until they were both seated, side by side, on a
fallen log, one end of which actually lay buried in the water.
"Why you come for?" the young Indian eagerly inquired- "Where you come for?"
Hetty told her tale in her own simple and truth-loving manner. She explained
the situation of her father, and stated her desire to serve him, and if
possible to procure his release.
"Why your fader come to Mingo 'camp in night?" asked the Indian girl, with a
directness, which if not borrowed from the other, partook largely of its
sincerity. "He know it war-time, and he no boy - he no want beard - no want
to be told Iroquois carry tomahawk, and knife, and rifle. Why he come night
time, seize me by hair, and try to scalp, Delaware girl?"
"You!" said Hetty, almost sickening with horror-"Did he seize you-did he try
to scalp you?"
"Why no? Delaware scalp sell for much as Mingo scalp. Governor no tell
difference. Wicked t'ing for pale face to scalp. No his gifts, as the good
Deerslayer alway tell me."
"And doyou know the Deerslayer?" said Hetty, coloring with delight and
surprise; forgetting her regrets, at the moment, in the influence of this new
feeling. "I know him, too. He is now in the Ark, with Judith and a Delaware
who is called the Big Serpent. A bold and handsome warrior is this Serpent,
too!"
Spite of the rich deep colour that nature had bestowed on the Indian beauty,
the tell-tale blood deepened on her cheeks, until the blush gave new
animation and intelligence to her jet-black eyes. Raising a finger in an
attitude of warning, she dropped her voice, already so soft and sweet, nearly
to a whisper, as she continued the discourse.
"Chingachgook!" returned the Delaware girl, sighing out the harsh name, in
sounds so softly guttural, as to cause it to reach the ear in melody - "His
father, Uncas-great chief of the Mahicanni - next to old Tamenund! - More as
warrior, not so much gray hair, and less at Council Fire. You know Serpent?"
"He joined us last evening, and was in the Ark with me, for two or three
hours before I left it. I'm afraid, Hist-" Hetty could not pronounce the
Indian name of her new friend, but having heard Deerslayer give her this
familiar appellation, she used it without any of the ceremony of civilized
life - "I'm afraid Hist, he has come after scalps, as well as my poor father
and Hurry Harry."
"Why he should'n't - ha? Chingachgook red warrior - very red-scalp make his
honor-Be sure he take him."
"Then," said Hetty, earnestly, "he will be as wicked as any other. God will
not pardon in a red-man, what he will not pardon in a white man.
"No true-" returned the Delaware girl, with a warmth, that nearly amounted to
passion. "No true, I tell you! The Manitou smile and pleased when he see
young warrior come back from the war path, with two, ten, hundred scalp on a
pole! Chingachgook father take scalp - grandfather take scalp - all old
chief take scalp, and Chingachgook take as many scalp as he can carry,
himself"
"Then, Hist, his sleep, of nights, must be terrible to think of No one can be
cruel, and hope to be forgiven."
"No cruel-plenty forgiven-" returned Wah-ta!-Wah, stamping her little foot on
the stony strand, and shaking her head in a way to show how completely
feminine feeling, in one of its aspects, had gotten the better of feminine
feeling in another. "I tell you, Serpent brave; he go home, this time, with
four, -yes-two scalp."
"And is that his errand, here? - Did he really come all this distance, across
mountain, and valley, rivers and lakes, to torment his fellow creatures, and
do so wicked a thing?"
This question at once appeased the growing ire of the half-offended Indian
beauty. It completely got the better of the prejudices of education, and
turned all her thoughts to a gentler and more feminine channel. At first, she
looked around her, suspiciously, as if distrusting eaves-droppers; then she
gazed wistfully into the face of her attentive companion; after which this
exhibition of girlish coquetry and womanly feeling, terminated by her
covering her face with both her hands, and laughing in a strain that might
well be termed the melody of the woods. Dread of discovery, however, soon put
a stop to this naive exhibition of feeling, and removing her hands, this
creature of impulses, gazed again wistfully into the face of her companion,
as if inquiring how far she might trust a stranger with her secret. Although
Hetty had no claims to her sister's extraordinary beauty, many thought her
countenance the most winning of the two. It expressed all the undisguised
sincerity of her character, and it was totally free from any of the
unpleasant physical accompaniments, that so frequently attend mental
imbecility. It is true that one accustomed to closer observations than
common, might have detected the proofs of her feebleness of intellect in the
language of her sometimes vacant eyes, but they were signs that attracted
sympathy by their total want of guile, rather than by any other feeling. The
effect on Hist, to use the English and more familiar translation of the name,
was favorable, and yielding to an impulse of tenderness, she threw her arms
around Hetty, and embraced her with an outpouring emotion, so natural that it
was only equalled by its warmth.
"You good-" whispered the young Indian-"you good, I know; it so long since
Wah-ta!-Wah have a friend-a sister-any body to speak her heart to! You Hist
friend; do'n't I say trut'?"
"I never had a friend," answered Hetty returning the warm embrace with
unfeigned earnestness. "I've a sister, but no friend. Judith loves me, and I
love Judith; but that's natural, and as we are taught in the bible-but I
should like to have a friend! I'll be your friend, with all my heart, for I
like your voice and your smile, and your way of thinking in every thing,
except about the scalps-"
"No t'ink more of him-no say more of scalp-" interrupted Hist, soothingly-
"You pale face, I red skin; we bring up different fashion. Deerslayer and
Chingachgook great friend,
and no the same colour, Hist and-what your name, pretty pale face?"
"I am called Hetty, though when they spell the name in the bible, they always
spell it, Esther."
"What that make?-no good, no harm. No need to spell name at all-Moravian try
to make Wah-ta!-Wah spell, but no won't let him. No good for Delaware girl to
know too much-know more than warrior some time; that great shame. My name
Wah-ta!-Wah-that say Hist in your tongue; you call him, Hist-I call him,
Hetty."
These preliminaries settled to their mutual satisfaction, the two girls began
to discourse of their several hopes and projects. Hetty made her new friend
more fully acquainted with her intentions in behalf of her father, and, to
one in the least addicted to prying into the affairs, Hist would have
betrayed her own feelings and expectations in connection with the young
warrior of her own tribe. Enough was revealed on both sides, however, to let
each party get a tolerable insight into the views of the other, though enough
still remained in mental reservation, to give rise to the following
questions and answers, with which the interview in effect closed. As the
quickest witted, Hist was the first with her interrogatories. Folding an arm
about the waist of Hetty, she bent her head so as to look up playfully into
the face of the other, and, laughing, as if her meaning were to be extracted
from her looks, she spoke more plainly.
"Hetty got broder, as well as fader?-" she said-"Why no talk of broder, as
well as fader?"
"I have no brother, Hist. I had one once, they say, but he is dead many a
year, and lies buried in the lake, by the side of my mother."
"No got broder- got a young warrior- Love him, almost as much as fader, eh?
Very handsome, and brave-looking; fit to be chief, if he good as he seem to
be."
"It's wicked to love any man as well as I love my father, and so I strive not
to do it, Hist," returned the conscientious Hetty. who knew not how to
conceal an emotion, by an approach to an untruth as venial as an evasion,
though powerfully tempted by female shame to err, "though I sometimes think
wickedness
will get the better of me, if Hurry comes so often to the lake. I must tell
you the truth, dear Hist, because you ask me, but I should fall down and
die in the woods, if he knew it!"
"Why he no ask you, himself?-Brave looking-why not bold speaking? Young
warrior ought to ask young girl, no make young girl speak first. Mingo girls
too shame for that."
This was said indignantly, and with the generous warmth a young female of
spirit would be apt to feel, at what she deemed an invasion of her sex's most
valued privilege. It had little influence on the simple-minded, but also
just-minded Hetty, who, though inherently feminine in all her impulses, was
much more alive to the workings of her own heart, than to any of the usages
with which convention has protected the sensitiveness of her sex.
"Ask me what?' the startled girl demanded, with a suddenness that proved how
completely her fears had been aroused. 'Ask me, if I like him as well as I do
my own father! Oh! I hope he will never put such a question to me, for I
should have to answer, and that would kill me!"
"No-no-no kill, quite-almost," returned the other, aughing in spite of
herself. "Make blush come - make shame come too: but he no stay great while;
then feel happier than ever Young warrior must tell young girl he want to
make Nife, else never can live in his wigwam."
"Hurry do'n't want to marry me- No body will ever want to marry me, Hist."
"How you can know? P'raps every body want to marry you, and by-and-bye,
tongue say what heart feel. Why nobody want to marry you?"
"I am not full witted, they say. Father often tells me this; and so does
Judith, sometimes, when she is vexed; but I hould'n't so much mind them, as I
did mother. She said so once and then she cried as if her heart would break;
and, so, I know I'm not full witted."
Hist gazed at the gentle, simple, girl, for quite a minute vithout speaking,
and then the truth appeared to flash all at nce on the mind of the young
Indian maid. Pity, reverence Lnd tenderness seemed struggling together in her
breast, and hen rising, suddenly, she indicated a wish to her companion hat
she would accompany her to the camp, which was situated at no great distance.
This unexpected change from the precautions that Hist had previously
manifested a desire to use, in order to prevent being seen, to an open
exposure of the person of her friend, arose from the perfect conviction that
no Indian would harm a being whom the Great Spirit had disarmed, by depriving
it of its strongest defence, reason. In this respect, nearly all
unsophisticated nations resemble each other, appearing to offer
spontaneously, by a feeling creditable to human nature, that protection by
their own forbearance, which has been withheld by the inscrutable wisdom of
Providence. Wah-ta!-Wah, indeed, knew that, in many tribes, the mentally
imbecile and the mad, were held in a species of religious reverence,
receiving from these untutored inhabitants of the forest respect and honors,
instead of the contumely and neglect that it is their fortune to meet with,
among the more pretending and sophisticated.
Hetty accompanied her new friend without apprehension, or reluctance. It was
her wish to reach the camp, and, sustained by her motives, she felt no more
concern for the consequences, than did her companion herself, now the latter
was apprized of the character of the protection that the pale face maiden
carried with her. Still, as they proceeded slowly along a shore that was
tangled with overhanging bushes, Hetty continued the discourse, assuming the
office of interrogating, which the other had instantly dropped, as soon as
she ascertained the character of the mind to which her questions had been
addressed.
"But you are not half-witted," said Hetty, and there's no reason why the
Serpent should not marry you.
"Hist prisoner, and Mingo got big ear. No speak of Chingachgook when they
by. Promise Hist that, good Hetty."
"I know-I know-" returned Hetty, half-whispering, in her eagerness to let the
other see she understood the necessity of caution. "I know-Deerslayer and the
Serpent mean to get you away from the Iroquois, and you wish me not to tell
the secret.
"How you know?" said Hist, hastily, vexed at the moment, that the other was
not even more feeble minded than was actually the case. "How you know?
Better not talk of any but fader and Hurry- Mingo understand dat; he no
understand t'udder. Promise you no talk about what you no understand."
"But I do understand this, Hist, and so I must talk about it. Deerslayer as
good as told father all about it, in my presence, and as nobody told me not
to listen, I overheard it all, as I did Hurry and father's discourse about
the scalps."
"Very bad for pale faces to talk about scalps, and very bad for young woman
to hear! Now you love Hist, I know, Hetty, and so, among Injins, when love
hardest never talk most."
"That's not the way among white people, who talk most about them they love
best. I suppose it's because I'm only halfwitted that I do'n't see the
reason why it should be so different among red people."
"That what Deerslayer call gift. One gift to talk; t'udder gift to hold
tongue. Hold tongue your gift, among Mingos. If Sarpent want to see Hist, so
Hetty want to see Hurry. Good girl never tell secret of friend."
Hetty understood this appeal, and she promised the Delaware girl not to make
any allusion to the presence of Chingachgook, or to the motive of his visit
to the lake.
"Maybe he get off Hurry and fader, as well as Hist, if let him have his way,"
whispered Wah~ta~~Wah to her companion, in a confiding flattering way, just
as they got near enough to the encampment to hear the voices of several of
their
own sex, who were apparently occupied in the usual toils of women of their
class. "Tink of dat, Hetty, and put two, twenty finger on mouth. No get
friend free without Sarpent do it.
A better expedient could not have been adopted, to secure the silence and
discretion of Hetty, than that which was now presented to her mind. As the
liberation of her father and the young frontier man was the great object of
her adventure, she felt the connection between it and the services of the
Delaware, and with an innocent laugh, she nodded her head, and in the same
suppressed manner, promised a due attention to the wishes of her friend. Thus
assured, Hist tarried no longer, but immediately and openly led the way into
the encampment of her captors.
Chapter XI.
-"The great King of Kings
Hath in the table of his law commanded,
That thou shalt do no murder.
Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hand,
To hurl upon their heads that break his law."
Richard III, I.iv.i95-97 199-200.
That the party to which Hist compulsorily belonged was not one that was
regularly on the war path, was evident by the presence of females. It was a
small fragment of a tribe that had been hunting and fishing within the
English limits, where it was found by the commencement of hostilities, and,
after passing the winter and spring by living on what was strictly the
property of its enemies, it chose to strike a hostile blow before it finally
retired. There was also deep Indian sagacity in the manoeuvre which had led
them so far into the territory of their foes. When the runner arrived who
announced the breaking out of hostilities between the English and French-a
struggle that was certain to carry with it all the tribes that dwelt within
the influence of the respective belligerents - this particular party of the
Iroquois were posted on the shores of the Oneida, a lake that lies some fifty
miles nearer to their own frontier than that which is the scene of our tale.
To have fled in a direct line for the Ganadas would have exposed them to the
dangers of a direct pursuit, and the chiefs had determined to adopt the
expedient of penetrating deeper into a region that had now become dangerous,
in the hope of being able to retire in the rear of their pursuers, instead of
having them on their trail. The presence of the women had induced the attempt
at this ruse, the strength of these feebler members of the party being
unequal to the effort of escaping from the pursuit of warriors. When the
reader remembers the vast extent of the American wilderness, at that early
day, he will perceive that it was possible for even a tribe to remain months
undiscovered in particular portions of it; nor was the danger of
encountering a foe, the usual precautions being observed, as great in the
woods, as it is on the high seas, in a time of active warfare.
The encampment being temporary, it offered to the eye no more than the rude
protection of a bivouac, relieved in some slight degree by the ingenious
expedients which suggested themselves to the readiness of those who passed
their lives amid similar scenes. One fire, that had been kindled against the
roots of a living oak, sufficed for the whole party; the weather being too
mild to require it for any purpose but cooking. Scattered around this centre
of attraction, were some fifteen or twenty low huts, or perhaps kennels
would be a better word, into which their different owners crept at night, and
which were also intended to meet the exigencies of a storm.
These little huts were made of the branches of trees, put together with some
ingenuity, and they were uniformly topped with bark that had been stripped
from fallen trees; of whichevery virgin forest possesses hundreds, in all
stages of decay. Of furniture they had next to none. Cooking utensils of the
simplest sort were lying near the fire, a few articles of clothing were to be
seen in, or around the huts, rifles, horns, and pouches leaned against the
trees, or were suspended from the lower branches, and the carcases of two or
three deer were stretched to view on the same natural shambles.
As the encampment was in the midst of a dense wood, the eye could not take in
its tout ensemble at a glance, but hut after hut started out of the gloomy
picture, as one gazed about him in quest of objects. There was no centre,
unless the fire might be so considered, no open area where the possessors of
this rude village might congregate, but all was dark, covert and cunning,
like its owners. A few children strayed, from hut to hut, giving the spot a
little of the air of domestic life, and the suppressed laugh, and low voices
of the women occasionally broke in upon the deep stillness of the sombre
forest. As for themen, they either ate, slept, or examined their arms. They
conversed but little, and then usually apart, or in groups withdrawn from
the females, whilst an air of untiring, innate, watchfulness and apprehension
of danger seemed to be blended even with their slumbers.
As the two girls came near the encampment, Hetty uttered a slight
exclamation, on catching a view of the person of her father. He was seated on
the ground, with his back to a tree, and Hurry stood near him, indolently
whittling a twig. Apparently they were as much at liberty as any others in,
or about the camp, and one unaccustomed to Indian usages would have mistaken
them for visiters, instead of supposing them to be captives. Wah-ta!-Wah led
her new friend quite near them, and then modestly withdrew, that her own
presence might be no restraint on her feelings. But Hetty was not
sufficiently familiar with caresses, or outward demonstrations of fondness,
to indulge in any outbreaking of feeling. She merely approached and stood at
her father's side without speaking, resembling a silent statue of filial
affection. The old man expressed neither alarm, nor surprise, at her sudden
appearance. In these particulars, he had caught the stoicism of the Indians,
well knowing that there was no more certain mode of securing their respect
than by imitating their self-command. Nor did the savages themselves betray
the least sign of surprise at this sudden appearance of a stranger among
them. In a word, this arrival produced much less visible sensation, though
occurring under circumstances so peculiar, than would be seen in a village of
higher pretensions to civilization, did an ordinary traveller drive up to the
door of its principal inn. Still a few warriors collected, and it was evident
by the manner in which they glanced at Hetty as they conversed together, that
she was the subject of their discourse, and probable that the reasons of her
unlooked-for appearance were matters of discussion. This phlegm of manner is
characteristic of the North American Indian - some say of his white successor
also - but, in this case much should be attributed to the peculiar situation
in which the party was placed. The force in the Ark, the presence of
Ghingachgook excepted, was well known, no tribe or body of troops was
believed to be near, and vigilant eyes were posted round the entire lake,
watching, day and night, the slightest movement of those whom it would not be
exaggerated now to term the besieged.
Hutter was inwardly much moved by the conduct of Hetty, though he affected so
much indifference of manner. He recollected her gentle appeal to him, before
he left the Ark, and misfortune rendered that of weight, which might have
been forgotten amid the triumph of success. Then he knew thesimple, single-
hearted fidelity of his child, and understood why she had come, and the total
disregard of self that reigned in all her acts.
"This is not well, Hetty," he said, deprecating the consequences to the girl
herself, more than any other evil. "These are fierce Iroquois, and are as
little apt to forget an injury, as a favor."
"Tell me, father-" returned the girl, looking furtively about her, as if
fearful of being overheard, "did God let you do the cruel errand on which you
came? I want much to know this, that I may speak to the Indians plainly, if
he did not."
"You should not have come hither, Hetty; these brutes will not understand
your nature, or your intentions!"
"How was it, father; neither you, nor Hurry, seems to have any thing that
looks like scalps."
"If that will set your mind at peace, child, I can answer you, no. I had
caught the young creatur' who came here with you, but her screeches soon
brought down upon me a troop of the wild cats, that was too much for any
single christian to withstand. If that will do you any good, we are as
innocent of having taken a scalp, this time, as I make no doubt we shall
also be innocent of receiving the bounty."
"Thank god for that, father! Now I can speak boldly to the Iroquois, and with
an easy conscience. I hope Hurry, too, has not been able to harm any of the
Indians?"
"Why, as to that matter, Hetty," returned the individual in question, "you've
put it pretty much in the natyve character of the religious truth. Hurry has
not been able, and that is the long and short of it. I've seen many squalls,
old fellow, both on land and on the water, but never did I feel one as lively
and as snappish as that which come down upon us, night afore last, in the
shape of an Indian hurrah-boys! Why, Hetty, you're no great matter at a
reason, or an idee that lies a little deeper than common, but you're human,
and have some human notions -now, I'll just ask you to look at them
circumstances. Here was old Tom, your father, and myself, bent on a legal
operation, as is to be seen in the words of the law and the proclomation;
thinking no harm; when we were set upon by critturs that were more like a
pack of hungry wolves, than mortal savages even,and there they had us
tethered like two sheep, in less time than it has taken me to tell you the
story."
"You are free, now, Hurry," returned Hetty, glancing timidly at the fine
unfettered limbs of the young giant-"You have no cords, or withes, to pain
your arms, or legs, now.
"Not I, Hetty. Natur' is natur', and freedom is natur', too. My limbs have a
free look, but that's pretty much the amount of it, sin' I can't use them in
the way I should like. Even these trees have eyes; ay, and tongues too; for
was the old man, here, or I, to start one single rod beyond our gaol limits,
sarvice would be put on the bail afore we could 'gird up our loins' for a
race, and, like as not, four or five rifle bullets would be travelling arter
us, carrying so many invitations to curb our impatience. There is'n't a gaol
in the colony as tight as this, we are now in; for I've tried the vartues of
two or three on 'em, and I know the mater'als they are made of, as well as
the men that made 'em; takin' down being the next step in schoolin', to
puttin' up, in all such fabrications."
Lest the reader should get an exaggerated opinion of Hurry's demerits, from
this boastful and indiscreet revelation, it may be well to say that his
offences were confined to assaults and batteries, for several of which he had
been imprisoned, when, as he has just said, he often escaped by demonstrating
the flimsiness of the constructions in which he was confined, by opening for
himself doors, in spots where the architects had neglected to place them. But
Hetty had no knowledge of gaols, and little of the nature of crimes, beyond
what her unadulterated and almost instinctive perceptions of right and wrong
taught her, and this sally of the rude being who had spoken, was lost upon
her. She understood his general meaning, however, and answered in reference
to that alone.
"It's so best, Hurry," she said. "It is best father and you should be quiet
and peaceable, 'till I have spoken to the Iroquois, when all will be well
and happy. I do'n't wish either of you to follow, but leave me to myself. As
soon as all is settled, and you are at liberty to go back to the castle, I
will come and let you know it."
Hetty spoke with so much simple earnestness, seemed so confident of success,
and wore so high an air of moral feelingand truth, that both the listeners
felt more disposed to attach an importance to her mediation, than might
otherwise have happened. When she manifested an intention to quit them,
therefore, they offered no obstacle, though they saw she was about to join
the group of chiefs who were consulting apart, seemingly on the manner and
motive of her own sudden appearance.
When Hist-for so we love best, to call her-quitted her companion, she strayed
near one or two of the elder warriors, who had shown her most kindness in her
captivity, the principal man of whom, had even offered to adopt her as his
child, if she would consent to become a Huron. In taking this direction, the
shrewd girl did so to invite inquiry. She was too well trained in the habits
of her people, to obtrude the opinions of one of her sex and years on men and
warriors, but nature had furnished a tact and ingenuity that enabled her to
attract the attention she desired, without wounding the pride of those to
whom it was her duty to defer, and respect. Even her affected indifference
stimulated curiosity, and Hetty had hardly reached the side of her father,
before the Delaware girl was brought within the circle of the warriors, by a
secret but significant gesture. Here she was questioned as to the person of
her companion, and the motives that had brought her to the camp. This was
all that Hist desired. She explained the manner in which she had detected the
weakness of Hetty's reason, rather exaggerating than lessening the deficiency
in her intellect, and then she related, in general terms, the object of the
girl in venturing among her enemies. The effect was all that the speaker
expected, her account investing the person and character of their visiter
with a sacredness and respect, that she well knew would prove her protection.
As soon as her own purpose was attained, Hist withdrew to a distance, where,
with female consideration, and a sisterly tenderness she set about the
preparation of a meal, to be offered to her new friend, as soon as the
latter might be at liberty to partake of it. While thus occupied, however,
the ready girl in no degree relaxed in her watchfulness, noting every change
of countenance among the chiefs, every movement of Hetty's, and the smallest
occurrence that could be likely to affect her own interests, or that of her
new friend.
As Hetty approached the chiefs, they opened their little circle, with an
ease and deference of manner, that would have done credit to men of more
courtly origin. A fallen tree lay near, and the oldest of the warriors made a
quiet sign for the girl to be seated on it, taking his place at her side,
with the gentleness of a father. The others arranged themselves around the
two, with grave dignity, and then the girl, who had sufficient observation
to perceive that such a course was expected of her, began to reveal the
object of her visit. The moment she opened her mouth to speak, however, the
old chief gave a gentle sign for her to forbear, said a few words to one of
his juniors, and then waited in silent patience until the latter had summoned
Hist to the party. This interruption proceeded from the chief's having
discovered that there existed a necessity for an interpreter, few of the
Hurons present understanding the English language, and they but imperfectly.
Wah-ta!-Wah was not sorry to be called upon to be present at the interview,
and least of all in the character in which she was now wanted. She was aware
of the hazards she run in attempting to deceive one or two of the party, but
was none the less resolved to use every means that offered, and to practice
every artifice that an Indian education could supply, to conceal the facts
of the vicinity of her betrothed, and of the errand on which he had come. One
unpractised in the expedients and opinions of savage life, would not have
suspected the readiness of invention, the wariness of action, the high
resolution, the noble impulses, the deep self-devotion, and the feminine
disregard of self when the affections were concerned, that lay concealed
beneath the demure looks, the mild eyes, and the sunny smiles of this young
Indian beauty. As she approached them, the grim old warriors regarded her
with pleasure, for they had a secret pride in the hope of engrafting so rare
a scion on the stock of their own nation; adoption being as regularly
practised, and as distinctly recognized among the tribes of America, as it
ever had been among those nations that submit to the sway of the Civil Law.
As soon as Hist was seated by the side of Hetty, the old chief desired her to
ask "the fair young pale-face" what had brought her among the Iroquois, and
what they could do to serve her.
"Tell them, Hist, who I am-Thomas Hutter's youngest daughter; Thomas Hutter,
the oldest of their two prisoners; he who owns the castle and the Ark, and
who has the best right to be thought the owner of these hills, and that lake,
since he has dwelt so long, and trapped so long, and fished so long, among
them - They'll know whom you mean by Thomas Hutter, if you tell them, that.
And then tell them that I've come here to convince them they ought not to
harm father, and Hurry, but let them go, in peace, and to treat them as
brethren, rather than as enemies. Now tell them all this plainly, Hist, and
fear nothing for yourself, or me. God will protect us.
Wah-ta!-Wah did as the other desired, taking care to render the words of her
friend as literally as possible into the Iroquois tongue, a language she used
with a readiness almost equal to that with which she spoke her own. The
chiefs heard this opening explanation, with grave decorum, the two who had a
little knowledge of English, intimating their satisfaction with the
interpreter, by furtive but significant glances of the eyes.
"And, now, Hist," continued Hetty, as soon as it was intimated to her that
she might proceed, "and, now, Hist, I wish you to tell these red men, word
for word, what I am about to say. Tell them first, that father and Hurry came
here with an intention to take as many scalps as they could, for the wicked
governor and the province have offered money for scalps, whether of warriors,
or women, men or children, and the love of gold was too strong for their
hearts to withstand it. Tell them this, dear Hist, just as you have heard it
from me, word for word."
Wah-ta!-Wah hesitated about rendering this speech as literally as had been
desired, but detecting the intelligence of those who understood English, and
apprehending even a greater knowledge than they actually possessed she found
herself compelled to comply. Contrary to what a civilized man would have
expected, the admission of the motives and of the errands of their prisoners,
produced no visible effect, on either the countenances or the feelings of the
listeners. They probably considered the act meritorious, and that which
neither of them would have hesitated to perform in his own person, he would
not be apt to censure in another.
"And, now, Hist," resumed Hetty, as soon as she perceived that her first
speeches were understood by the chiefs, "you can tell them more. They know
that father and Hurry did not succeed, and therefore they can bear them no
grudge for any harm that has been done. If they had slain their children and
wives, ii would not alter the matter, and I'm not certain that what I am
about to tell them would not have more weight had there been mischief done.
But ask them first, Hist, if they know there is a God, who reigns over the
whole earth, and is ruler and chief of all who live, let them be red, or
white, or what color they may?"
Wah-ta!-Wah looked a little surprised at this question, for the idea of the
Great Spirit is seldom long absent from the mind of an Indian girl. She put
the question, as literally as possible, however, and received a grave answer
in the affirmative.
"This is right," continued Hetty, "and my duty will now be light. This Great
Spirit, as you call our God, has caused a book to be written, that we call a
bible, and in this book have been set down all his commandments, and his holy
will and pleasure, and the rules by which all men are to live, and
directions how to govern the thoughts even, and the wishes, and the will.
Here, this is one of these holy books, and you must tell the chiefs what I am
about to read to them, from its sacred pages."
As Hetty concluded, she reverently unrolled a small English bible from its
envelope of coarse calico, treating the volume with the sort of external
respect that a Roman ist would be apt to show to a religious relic. As she
slowly proceeded in her task the grim warriors watched each movement with
riveted eyes, and when they saw the little volume appear a slight expression
of surprise escaped one or two of them. But Hetty held it out towards them,
in triumph as if she expected the sight would produce a visible miracle, and
then, without betraying either surprise or mortification at the Stoicism of
the Indian, she turned eagerly to her new friend, in order to renew the
discourse.
"This is the sacred volume, Hist," she said-"and these words, and lines, and
verses, and chapters, all came from God."
"Why Great Spirit no send book to Injin, too?" demanded Hist, with the
directness of a mind that -was totally unsophisticated.
"Why?' answered Hetty, a little bewildered by a question so unexpected.
"Why?-Ah! you know the Indians do'n't know how to read."
If Hist was not satisfied with this explanation, she did not deem the point
of sufficient importance to be pressed. Simply bending her body, in a gentle
admission of the truth of what she heard, she sat patiently awaiting the
further arguments of the pale-face enthusiast.
"You can tell these chiefs that throughout this book, men are ordered to
forgive their enemies; to treat them as they would brethren; and never to
injure their fellow creatures, more especially on account of revenge, or any
evil passions. Do you think you can tell them this, so that they will
understand ii, Hist?'
"Tell him well enough, but he no very easy to understand." Hist then conveyed
the ideas of Hetty, in the best manner she could, to the attentive Indians,
who heard her words, with some such surprise as an American of our own times
would be apt to betray at a suggestion that the great modern, but vacillating
ruler of things human, public opinion, might be wrong. One or two of their
number, however, having met with missionaries, said a few words in
explanation, and then the group gave all its attention to the communications
that were to follow. Before Hetty resumed she enquired earnestly of Hist if
the chiefs had understood her, and receiving an evasive answer, was fain to
be satisfied.
"I will now read to the warriors some of the verses that it is good for them
to know,' continued the girl, whose manner grew more solemn and earnest as
she proceeded - "and they will remember that they are the very words of the
Great Spirit. First, then, ye are commanded to 'love thy neighbor as thyself'
Tell them that, dear Hist.'
"Neighbor, for Injin, no mean pale face,' answered the Delaware girl, with
more decision than she had hitherto thought it necessary to use. "Neighbor
mean Iroquois for Iroquois, Mohican for Mohican, Pale face for pale face. No
need tell chief any thing else.'
"You forget, Hist, these are the words of the Great Spirit, and the chiefs
must obey them as well as others. Here is another commandment-'Whasoever
shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other aLso.~"
"What that mean?' demanded Hist, with the quickness of lightning.
Hetty explained that it was an order not to resent injuries, but rather to
submit to receive fresh wrongs from the offender.
"And hear this, too, Hist," she added. " 'Love your enemies, bless them that
curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you and persecute you.''
By this time Hetty had become excited; her eye gleamed with the earnestness
of her feelings, her cheeks flushed, and her voice, usually so low and
modulated, became stronger and more impressive. With the bible she had been
early made familiar by her mother, and she now turned from passage to
passage, with surprising rapidity, taking care to cull such verses as taught
the sublime lessons of christian charity and christian forgiveness. To
translate half she said, in her pious earnestness, Wah-ta!-Wah would have
found impracticable, had she made the effort, but wonder held her tongue
tied, equally with the chiefs, and the young, simple-minded enthusiast had
fairly become exhausted with her own efforts, before the other opened her
mouth, again, to utter a syllable. Then, indeed, the Delaware girl gave a
brief translation of the substance of what had been both read and said,
confining herself to one or two of the more striking of the verses, those
that had struck her own imagination as the most paradoxical, and which
certainly would have been the most applicable to the case, could the
uninstructed minds of the listeners embrace the great moral truths they
conveyed.
It will be scarcely necessary to tell the reader the effect that such novel
duties would be likely to produce among a group of Indian warriors, with whom
it was a species of religious principle never to forget a benefit, or to
forgive an injury. Fortunately, the previous explanations of Hist had
prepared the minds of the Hurons for something extravagant, and most of that
which to them seemed inconsistent and paradoxical, was accounted for by the
fact that the speaker possessed a mind that was constituted differently from
those of most of the human race. Still there were one or two old men who had
heard similar doctrines from the missionaries, and these felt a desire to
occupy an idle moment by pursuing a subject that they found so curious.
"This is the Good Book of the pale faces," observed one of these chiefs,
taking the volume from the unresisting hands of Hetty, who gazed anxiously at
his face, while he turned the leaves, as if she expected to witness some
visible results from the circumstance. "This is the law by which my white
brethren professes to live?"
Hist, to whom this question was addressed, if it might be considered as
addressed to any one, in particular, answered simply in the affirmative;
adding that both the French of the Canadas, and the Yengeese of the British
provinces equally admitted its authority, and affected to revere its
principles.
"Tell my young sister," said the Huron, looking directly at Hist, "that I
will open my mouth and say a few words."
"The Iroquois chief go to speak-My pale face friend listen,' said Hist.
"I rejoice to hear it!" exclaimed Hetty. "God has touched his heart, and he
will now let father and Hurry go."
"This is the pale face law," resumed the chief. 'It tells him to do good to
them, that hurt him, and when his brother asks him for his rifle to give him
the powder horn, too. Such is the pale face law?"
"Not so-not so-" answered Hetty earnestly, when these words had been
interpreted - "There is not a word about rifles in the whole book, and powder
and bullets give offence to the Great Spirit."
"Why then does the pale face use them? If he is ordered to give double to him
that asks only for one thing, why does he take double from the poor Indian
who ask for no thing. He comes from beyond the rising sun, with this book in
his hand, and he teaches the red man to read it, but why does he forget
himself all it says? When the Indian gives, he is never satisfied; and now he
offers gold for the scalps of our women and children, though he calls us
beasts if we take the scalp of a warrior killed in open war. My name is
Rivenoak."
When Hetty had got this formidable question fairly presented to her mind in
the translation, and Hist did her duty with more than usual readiness on this
occasion, it scarcely need be said that she was sorely perplexed. Abler heads
than that of this poor girl have frequently been puzzled by questions of a
similar drift, and it is not surprising that with all her own earnestness and
sincerity she did not know what answer to make.
"What shall I tell them, Hist," she asked imploringly - "I know that all I
have read from the book is true, and yet it would'n't seem so, would it, by
the conduct of those to whom the book was given?"
"Give 'em pale-face reason," returned Hist, ironically- "that always good for
one side; though he bad for t'other."
"No-no-Hist there can't be two sides to truth-and yet it does seem strange!
I'm certain I have read the verses right, and no one would be so wicked as to
print the word of God wrong. That can never be, Hist."
"Well, to poor Injin girl, it seem every thing can be to pale faces,"
returned the other, coolly. "One time 'ey say white, and one time 'ey say
black. Why never can be?"
Hetty was more and more embarrassed, until overcome with the apprehension
that she had failed in her object, and that the lives of her father and Hurry
would be the forfeit of some blunder of her own, she burst into tears. From
that moment the manner of Hist lost all its irony and cool indifference, and
she became the fond caressing friend, again. Throwing her arms around the
afflicted girl, she attempted to soothe her sorrows, by the scarcely ever
failing remedy of feniale sympathy.
"Stop cry-no cry-" she said, wiping the tears from the face of Hetty, as she
would have performed the same office for a child, and stopping to press her
occasionally to her own warm bosom with the affection of a sister. "Why you
so trouble? You no make he book, if he be wrong, and you no make he pale face
if he wicked. There wicked red man, and wicked white man - no colour all good
- no colour all wicked. Chiefs know that well enough."
Hetty soon recovered from this sudden burst of grief, and then her mind
reverted to the purpose of her visit, with all its single-hearted
earnestness. Perceiving that the grim looking
196 The Deerslayer
chiefs were still standing around her in grave attention, she hoped that
another effort to convince them of the right might be successful.
"Listen, Hist," she said, struggling to suppress her sobs, and to speak
distinctly - "Tell the chiefs that it matters not what the wicked do-right is
right-The words of The Great Spirit are the words of The Great Spirit - and
no one can go harmless for doing an evil act, because another has done it
before him. 'Render good for evil,' says this book, and that is the law for
the red man as well as for the white man."
"Never hear such law among Delaware, or among Iroquois-" answered Hist
soothingly. "No good to tell chiefs any such laws as dat. Tell 'em somet'ing
they believe."
Hist was about to proceed, notwithstanding, when a tap on the shoulder, from
the finger of the oldest chief caused her to look up. She then perceived that
one of the warriors had left the group, and was already returning to it with
Hutter and Hurry. Understanding that the two last were to become parties in
the inquiry, she became mute, with the unhesitating obedience of an Indian
woman. In a few seconds the prisoners stood face to face with the principal
men of the captors.
"Daughter," said the senior chief to the young Delaware, "ask this grey beard
why he came into our camp?"
The question was put by Hist, in her own imperfect English, but in a way
that was easy to be understood. Hutter was too stern and obdurate by nature,
to shrink from the consequences of any of his acts, and he was also too
familiar with the opinions of the savages not to understand that nothing was
to be gained by equivocation or an unmanly dread of their anger. Without
hesitating, therefore, he avowed the purpose with which he had landed, merely
justifying it by the fact that the government of the province had bid high
for scalps. This frank avowal was received by the Iroquois, with evident
satisfaction, not so much, however, on account of the advantage it gave them
in a moral point of view, as by its proving that they had captured a man
worthy of occupying their thoughts and of becoming a subject of their
revenge. Hurry, when interrogated, confessed the truth, though he would have
been more disposed to concealment than his sterner companion, did
thecircumstances very well admit of its adoption. But he had tact enough to
discover that equivocation would be useless, at that moment, and he made a
merit of necessity by imitating a frankness, which, in the case of Hutter,
was the offspring of habits of indifference acting on a disposition that was
always ruthless, and reckless of personal consequences.
As soon as the chiefs had received the answers to their questions, they
walked away, in silence, like men who deemed the matter disposed of, all
Hetty's dogmas being thrown away on beings trained in violence, from infancy
to manhood. Hetty and Hist were now left alone with Hutter and Hurry, no
visible restraint being placed on the movements of either; though all four,
in fact, were vigilantly and unceasingly watched. As respects the men, care
was had to prevent them from getting possession of any of the rifles, that
lay scattered about, their own included; and there all open manifestations of
watchfulness ceased. But they, who were so experienced in Indian practices,
knew too well how great was the distance between appearances and reality, to
become the dupes of this seeming carelessness. Although both thought
incessantly of the means of escape, and this without concert, each was aware
of the uselessness of attempting any project of the sort that was not deeply
laid, and promptly executed. They had been long enough in the encampment, and
were sufficiently observant to have ascertained that Hist, also, was a sort
of captive, and, presuming on the circumstance, Hutter spoke in her presence,
more openly than he might otherwise have thought it prudent to do; inducing
Hurry to be equally unguarded by his example.
"I'll not blame you, Hetty, for coming on this errand, which was well meant
if not very wisely planned," commenced the father, seating himself by the
side of his daughter, and taking her hand; a sign of affection that this rude
being was accustomed to manifest to this particular child. "But preaching,
and the bible, are not the means to turn an Indian from his ways. Has
Deerslayer sent any message; orhas he any scheme by which he thinks to get us
free?"
Ay, that's the substance of it!" put in Hurry. "If you can help us, gal, to
half a mile of freedom, or even a good start of a short quarter, I'll answer
for the rest. Perhaps the old man may want a little more, but for one of my
height and years that will meet all objections."
Hetty looked distressed, turning her eyes from one to the other, but she had
no answer to give to the question of the reckless Hurry.
"Father," she said, "neither Deerslayer, nor Judith knew of my coming, until
I had left the Ark. They are afraid the Iroquois will make a raft, and try to
get off to the hut, and think more of defending that, than of coming to aid
you."
"No-no-no-" said Hist hurriedly, though in a low voice, and with her face
bent towards the earth, in order to conceal from those whom she knew to be
watching them the fact of her speaking at all. "No - no - no - Deerslayer
different man. He no t'ink of defending 'self, with friend in danger. Help
one another, and all get to hut."
"This sounds well, old Tom," said Hurry, winking and laughing, though he too
used the precaution to speak low-"Give me a ready witted squaw for a fri'nd,
and though I'll not downright defy an Iroquois, I think I would defy the
devil."
"No talk loud," said Hist. "Some Iroquois got Yengeese
tongue, and all got Yengeese ear."
"Have we a friend in you, young woman?" enquired Hutter with an increasing
interest in the conference. "If so, you may calculate on a solid reward, and
nothing will be easier than to send you to your own tribe, if we can once
fairly get you off with us to the castle. Give us the Ark and the canoes, and
we can command the lake, spite of all the savages in the Canadas. Nothing but
artillery could drive us out of the castle, if we can get back to it.
"'S'pose 'ey come ashore to take scalp?" retorted Hist, with cool irony, at
which the girl appeared to be more expert than is common for her sex.
"Ay - ay - that was a mistake; but there is little use in
lamentations, and less still, young woman, in flings."'Father," said Hetty,
"Judith thinks of breaking open the big chest, in hopes of finding something
in that which may buy your freedom of the savages."
A dark look came over Hutter at the announcement of this fact, and he
muttered his dissatisfaction in a way to render it intelligible enough.
'What for no break open chest?" put in Hist. "Life sweeter than old chest -
scalp sweeter than old chest. If no tell darter to break him open, Wah-ta!-
Wah no help him to run away."
"Ye know not what ye ask-ye are but silly girls, and the wisest way for ye
both is to speak of what ye understand and to speak of nothing else. I little
like this cold neglect of the savages, Hurry; it's a proof that they think of
something serious, and if we are to do any thing, we must do it soon. Can we
count on this young woman, think you?"
"Listen-" said Hist quickly, and with an earnestness that proved how much her
feelings were concerned-"Wah-ta!-Wah no Iroquois - All over Delaware - got
Delaware heart - Delaware feeling. She prisoner, too. One prisoner help
t'udder prisoner. No good to talk more, now. Darter stay with fader - Wah-ta!
-Wah come and see friend-all look right- Then tell what he do."
This was said in a low voice, but distinctly, and in a manner to make an
impression. As soon as it was uttered the girl arose, and left the group,
walking composedly towards the hut she occupied, as if she had no further
interest in what might pass between the pale-faces.
Chapter XII.
"She speaks much of her father; says she hears,
There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her breast;
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense; her speech is nothing,
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
The hearers to collection; -Hamlet, IV.v.4-9.
We left the occupants of the castle and the ark, buried in sleep. Once, or
twice, in the course of the night, it is true, "Deerslayer, or the Delaware,
arose and looked out upon the ranquil lake; when, finding all safe, each
returned to his and slept like a man who was not easily deprived of his
pallet,
natural rest. At the first signs of the dawn, the former arose, however, and
made his personal arrangements for the day; though his companion, whose
nights had not been tranquil, or without disturbances, of late, continued on
his blanket, until the sun had fairly risen; Judith too, was later than
common, that morning, for the earlier hours of the night had brought her
little of either refreshment, or sleep. But ere the sun had shown himself
over the eastern hills, these too were up and afoot, even the tardy in that
region seldom remaining on their pallets, after the appearance of the great
luminary.
Ghingachgook was in the act of arranging his forest toilet, when Deerslayer
entered the cabin of the Ark and threw him a few coarse but light summer
vestments that belonged to Hutter.
"Judith hath given me them for your use, chief," said the latter, as he cast
the jacket and trousers at the feet of the Indian, 'for it's ag'in all
prudence and caution to be seen in your war dress and paint. Wash off all
them fiery streaks from your cheeks, put on these garments, and here is a
hat, such as it is, that will give you an awful oncivilized sort .of
civilization, as the missionaries call it. Remember that Hist is at hand, and
what we do for the maiden, must be done while we are doing for others. I know
it's ag'in your gifts and your natur' to wear clothes, unless they are cut
and carried in a red man's fashion,but make a vartue of necessity, and put
these on, at once, even if they do rise a little in your throat."
Chingachgook, or the Serpent, eyed the vestments with strong disgust; but he
saw the usefulness of the disguise, if not its absolute necessity. Should the
Iroquois discover a red-man, in or about the Castle, it might, indeed, place
them more on their guard, and give their suspicions a direction towards their
female captive. Any thing was better than a failure as it regarded his
betrothed, and, after turning the different garments round and round,
examining them with a species of grave irony, affecting to draw them on in a
way that defeated itself, and otherwise manifesting the reluctance of a young
savage to confine his limbs in the usual appliances of civilized life, the
chief submitted to the directions of his companion, and finally stood forth,
so far as the eye could detect, a red man in colour alone. Little was to be
apprehended from this last peculiarity, however, the distance from the shore,
and the want of glasses preventing any very close scrutiny, and Deerslayer,
himself, though of a brighter and fresher tint, had a countenance that was
burnt by the sun to a hue scarcely less red than that of his Mohican
companion. The awkwardness of the Delaware in his new attire, caused his
friend to smile, more than once that day, but he carefully abstained from the
use of any of those jokes, which would have been bandied among white men on
such an occasion, the habits of a chief, the dignity of a warrior on his
first path, and the gravity of the circumstances in which they were placed,
uniting to render so much levity out of season.
The meeting at the morning meal of the three islanders, if we may use the
term, was silent, grave and thoughtful. Judith showed by her looks that she
had passed an unquiet night, while the two men had the future before them,
with its unseen and unknown events. A few words of courtesy passed between
Deerslayer and the girl, in the course of the breakfast, but no allusion was
made to their situation. At length Judith, whose heart was full, and whose
novel feelings disposed her to entertain sentiments more gentle and tender
than common, introduced the subject, and this in a way to show how much of
her thoughts it had occupied, in the course of the last sleepless night.
"It would be dreadful, Deerslayer,' the girl abruptly exclaimed, "should any
thing serious befall my father and Hetty! We cannot remain quietly here, and
leave them if: the hands of the Iroquois, without bethinking us of some means
of serving them."
"I'm ready, Judith, to sarve them, and a11 others who are in trouble, could
the way to do it be p'inted out. It's no trifling matter to fall into redskin
hands, when men set out on an ar'n'd like that which took Hutter and Hurry
ashore; that I know as well as another, and 1 would'n't wish my worst inimy
in such a strait, much less them with whom I've journeyed, and eat, and
slept. Have you any scheme, that you would like to have the Sarpent and me,
indivour to carry out?'
"I know of no other means to release the prisoners, than by bribing the
Iroquois. They are not proof against presents, and we might offer enough,
perhaps, to make them think it better to carry away what to them will be rich
gifts, than to carry away poor prisoners; if, indeed, they should carry them
away at all!"
"This is well enough, Judith; yes, it's well enough, if the inimy is to be
bought, and we can find articles to make the purchase with. Your father has a
convenient lodge, and it is most cunningly placed, though it does'n't seem
overstock'd with riches that will be likely to buy his ransom. There's the
piece he calls Killdeer, might count for something, and I understand there's
a keg of powder about, which might be a make weight, sprain; and yet two able
bodied men are not to be bought off for a trifle- besides- "
"Besides what?'' demanded Judith impatiently, observ'ing that the other
hesitated to proceed, probably from a reluctance to distress her.
'Why, Judith, the Frenchers offer bounties as well as our own side, and the
price of two scalps would purchase a keg of powder, and a rifle; though 1'11
not say one of the latter altogether as good as Killdeer, there, which your
father va'nts as uncommon, and unequalled, like. But fair powder, and a
pretty captain rifle; then the red men are not the expartest in fire arms,
and do'n't always know the difference atwixt that
which is ra'al, and that which is seeming."
''This is horriblel' muttered the girl, struck by the homely manner in which
her companion was accustomed to state his facts. "But you overlook my own
clothes, Deerslayer, and they, I think, might go far with the women of the
Iroquois."
"No doubt they would; no doubt they would. Judith," returned the other,
looking at her keenly, as if he would ascertain whether she were really
capable of making such a sacrifice. 'But, are you sustain, gal, you could and
it in your heart, to part with your own finery for such a purpose? Many is
the man who has thought he was valiant 'till danger stared him in the face;
l've known them, too, that conspired they were kind and ready to give away
all they had to the poor, when they've been listening to other people's hard
learnedness; but whose fists have clench'd as tight as the riven hickory when
it came to downright offerings of their own. Besides, Judith, you're
handsome- uncommon in that way, one might observe and do no harm to the
truth- and they that have beauty, like to have that which will adorn it. Are
you bargain you could find it in your heart to part with your own finery?'
The soothing allusion to the personal charms of the girl, was well timed, to
counteract the effect produced by the distrust that the young man expressed
of Judith's devotion to her filial duties. Had another said as much as
Deerslayer, the compliment would most probably have been overlooked in the
indignation awakened by the doubts, but even the unpolished sincerity, that
so often made this simple minded hunter bare his thoughts, had a charm for
the girl; and, while she colored, and, for an instant her eyes flashed fire,
she could not find it in her heart to be really angry with one whose very
soul seemed truth and manly kindness. Look her reproaches she did, but
conquering the desire to retort, she succeeded in answering in a mild and
friendly manner.
"You must keep all your favorable opinions, for the Delaware girls,
Deerslayer, if you seriously think thus of those of your own colour," she
said, affecting to laugh. 'But, try me; if you find that I regret either
hibbard or feather, silk or muslin, then may you think what you please of my
heart, and say what you think."
"That's justice! -The rarest thing to find on 'arth, is a truly just man. So
says Tamenund, the wisest prophet of the Delawares, and so all must think,
that have occasion to see, and talk and act among Mankind. I love a just man,
Sargent. His eyes are never covered with darkness towards his unifies, while
they are all sunshine and brightness towards his fri'nds. He uses the reason
that God has given him, and he uses it with ' a feelin' of his being ordered
to look at, and to consider things as they are, and not as he wants them to
be. It's easy enough to find men who call themselves just, but it's wonderful
oncommon to find them that are the very thing, in fact. How often have I seen
Indians; gal, who believed they were lookin' into a matter agreeable to the
will of the Great Spirit, when, in truth, they were only striving to act up
to their own will and pleasure, and this, half the time, with a temptation to
go wrong that could no more be seen by themselves, than the stream that runs
in the next valley, can be seen by us through yonder mountain', though any
looker on might have discovered it, as plainly as we can discover the parch
that are swimming around this hull'
"Very true, Deerslayer," rejoined Judith, losing every trace of displeasure
in a bright smile- "very true, and I hope to see you act on this love of
justice, in all matters in which I am concerned. Above all, I hope you will
judge for yourself, and not believe every evil story that a prating idler,
like Hurry Harry, may have to tell, that goes to touch the good name of any
young woman, who may not happen to have the same opinion of his face and
person that the blustering gallant has of himself."
"Hurry Harry's idlees do not pass for gospel with me, Judith; but even worse
than he may have eyes and ears", returned the other gravely. "
"Enough of this" exclaimed Judith, with flashing eye and a flush that mounted
to her temples, "and more of my father and his ransom. "T' s you say,
Deerslayer; the Indians will not be likely to give up their prisoners,
without a heavier bribe than my clothes can offer, and father's rifle and
powder. There is the chest."
"Ay, there is, the chest, as you say. Judith, and when the question gets to
be between a secret and a scalp, I should think most men would prefer keeping
the last. Did your father ever give you any downright commands conserving
that chist?"
'Never. He has always appeared to think its locks, and its steel bands, and
its strength, its best protection."
"T'is a rare chest, and altogether of curious build," returned Deerslayer,
rising and approaching the thing in question, on which he seated himself,
with a view to examine it with greater ease. "Chingachgook, this is no wood
that comes of any forest that you or I have ever trailed through! 'T'is'n't
the black walnut, and yet it's quite as comely, if not more so, did the smoke
and the treatment give it fair play.''
The Delaware drew near, felt of the wood, examined its grain, endeavored to
indent the surface with a nail, and passed his hand curiously over the steel
bands, the heavy padlocks, and the other novel peculiarities of the massive
box. "No- nothing like this grows in these regions, "resumed Deerslayer.
"I've seen all the oaks, both the maples, the elms, the bass woods, all the
walnuts, the butternuts, and every tree that has a substance and colour,
wrought into some form or other, but never have I before seen such a wood as
this! Judith, the chest itself, would buy your father's freedom, or Iroquois
cur'osity isn't as strong as redskin cur'osity, in general; especially in the
matter of woods."
"The purchase might be cheaper made, perhaps, Deerslayer. The chest is full,
and it would be better to part with half than to part with the whole.
Besides, father- l know not why- but, father values that chest highly."
"He would seem to prize what it holds more than the chest, itself, judging by
the manner in which he treats the outside, and secures the inside. Here are
three locks, Judith; is there no key?'
"I've never seen one; and yet key there must be, since Hetty told us, she had
often seen the chest opened."
"Keys no more lie in the air, or float on the water, than humans, gal; if
there is a key, there must be a place in which it is kept."
''That is true, and it might not be difficult to find it, did we dare to
search!
''This is for you, Judith; it is altogether for you. The chist is your'n, or
your father's; and Hutter is your father, not mine. Cur'osity is a woman's,
and not a man's failing, and there you have got all the reasons before you.
If the chist has articles for ransom, it seems to me they would be wisely
used in redeeming their owner's life, or even in saving his scalp; but that
is a matter for your judgment, and not for ourn. When the lawful owner of a
trap, or a buck, or a canoe, is'n't present, his next of kin becomes his
riprisentyve by all the laws of the woods. We therefore leave you to say
whether the chist shall, or shall not be opened."
"I hope you do not believe I can hesitate, when my father's life's in danger,
Deerslayer'"
"Why, it's pretty much putting a scolding ag'in tears and mourning. It's not
onreasonable to foretell that old Tom may find fault with what you've done,
when he sees himself, once more, in his hut, here, but there's nothing
unusual in men s falling out with what has been done for their own good; I
dare to say that even the moon would seem a different thing from what it now
does, could we look at it from the other side."
"Deerslayer, if we can find the key, I will authorize you to open the chest,
and to take such things from it, as you may think will buy father's ransom."
"First find the key, gal; we'll talk of the rest a'terwards. Sarpent, you've
eyes like a fly, and a judgment that's seldom out; can you help us, in
calculating where Floating Tom would be apt to keep the key of a chist that
he holds to be as private as this."
The Delaware had taken no part in the discourse, until he was thus directly
appealed to, when he quitted the chest, which had continued to attract his
attention, and cast about him for the place in which a key would be likely to
be concealed, under such circumstances. As Judith and Deerslayer were not
idle, the while, the whole three were soon engaged in an anxious and spirited
search. As it was certain that the desired key was not to be found in any of
the common drawers, or closets, of which there were several in the building,
none looked there, but all turned their enquiries to those places that struck
them as ingenious hiding places, and more likely to be used for such a
purpose. In this manner the outer room was thoroughly but fruitlessly
examined, when they entered the sleeping apartment of H utter. This part of
the rude building was better furnished than the rest of the structure,
containing several articles that had been especially devoted to the service
of the deceased wife, of its owner, but as Judith had all the rest of the
keys, it was soon rummaged, without bringing to light the particular key
desired.
They now entered the bed room of the daughters. Chingachgook was immediately
struck with the contrast between the articles, and the arrangement, of that
side of the room that might be called Judith's and that which more properly
belonged to Hetty. A slight exclamation escaped him, and pointing in each
direction he alluded to the fact in a low voice, speaking to his friend in
the Delaware tongue.
"Tis as you think, Sarpent," answered Deerslayer, whose remarks we always
translate into English, preserving as much as possible of the peculiar
phraseology and manner of the man, "Tis just so, as any one may see, and 'tis
all founded in natur'. One sister loves finery, some say overmuch; while
t'other is as meek and lowly as God ever created goodness and truth. Yet,
after all, I dare say that Judith has her vartues, and Hetty has her
failin's."
"And the 'Feeble-Mind' has seen the chist opened?" inquired Chingachgook,
with curiosity in his glance.
"Sartain; that much I've heard from her own lips; and, for that matter, so
have you. It seems her father does'n't misgive her discretion, though he does
that of his eldest darter."
"Then, the key is hid only from the Wild Rose'?" for so Chingachgook had
begun gallantly to term Judith, in his private discourse with his friend.
"That's it! That's just it! One he trusts, and the other he does'n't. There's
red and white in that, Sarpent, all tribes and nations agreeing in trusting
some, and refusing to trust other some. It depends on character and
judgment."
"Where could a key be put, so little likely to be found by the Wild Rose, as
among coarse clothes?"
Deerslayer started, and turning to his friend, with admiration expressed in
every lineament of his face, he fairly laughed, in his silent but hearty
manner, at the ingenuity and readiness of the conjecture.
"Your name's well bestowed, Sarpent- yes, 'tis well bestowed! Sure enough,
where would a lover of finery be so little likely to s'arch, as among
garments as coarse and onseemly as these of poor Hetty's. I dares to say,
Judith's delicate fingers have'n't touched a bit of cloth as rough and
oncomely as that petticoat, now, since she first made acquaintance with the
officers! Yet, who knows? The key may be as likely to be on the same peg, as
in any other place. Take down the garment, Delaware, and let us see if you
are ra'ally a prophet."
Chingachgook did as desired, but no key was found. A coarse pocket,
apparently empty, hung on the adjoining peg, and this was next examined. By
this time, the attention of Judith was called in that direction, and she
spoke hurriedly and like one who wished to save unnecessary trouble.
"Those are only the clothes of poor Hetty, dear simple girl!" she said,
"nothing we seek, would be likely to be there."
The words were hardly out of the handsome mouth of the speaker, when
Chingachgook drew the desired key from the pocket. Judith was too quick of
apprehension, not to understand the reason a hiding place so simple and
exposed, had been used. The blood rushed to her face, as much with
resentment perhaps, as with shame, and she bit her lip, though she continued
silent. Deerslayer and his friend now discovered the delicacy of men of
native refinement, neither smiling or even by a glance betraying how
completely he understood the motives and ingenuity of this clever artifice.
The former, who had taken the key from the Indian, led the way into the
adjoining room, and applying it to a lock ascertained that the right
instrument had actually been found. There were three padlocks, each of
which however was easily opened by this single key. Deerslayer removed them
all, loosened the hasps, raised the lid a little to make certain it was
loose, and then he drew back from the chest, several feet, signing to his
friend to follow.
"This is a family chist, Judith," he said, "and 'tis like to hold family
secrets. The Sarpent and I will go into the Ark, and look to the canoes, and
paddles, and oars, while you can examine it by yourself, and find out
whether any thing that will be a make weight in a ransom, is, or is not,
among the articles. When you've got through, give us a call, and we'll all
sit in council, together, touching the valie of the articles."
"Stop, Deerslayer," exclaimed the girl, as he was about to withdraw. "Not a
single thing will I touch - I will not even raise the lid-unless you are
present. Father and Hetty have seen fit to keep the inside of this chest a
secret from me, and I am much too proud to pry into their hidden treasures,
unless it were for their own good. But, on no account, will I open the chest
alone. Stay with me, then; I want witnesses of what I do."
"I rather think, Sarpent, that the gal is right! Confidence and reliance
beget security, but suspicion is like to make us all wary. Judith has a right
to ask us to be present, and should the chist hold any of Master Hutter's
secrets, they will fall into the keeping of two as close mouthed young men as
are to be found. We will stay with you, Judith - but, first let us take a
look at the lake and the shore, for this chist will not be emptied in a
minute."
The two men now went out on the platform, and Deerslayer swept the shore with
the glass, while the Indian gravely turned his eye on the water and the
woods, in quest of any sign that might betray the machinations of their
enemies. Nothing was visible, and assured of their temporary security, the
three collected around the chest, again, with the avowed object of opening
it.
Judith had held this chest, and its unknown contents, in a species of
reverence as long as she could remember. Neither her father, nor her mother,
ever mentioned it, in her presence, and there appeared to be a silent
convention, that in naming the different objects that occasionally stood near
it, or even lay on its lid, care should be had to avoid any allusion to the
chest itself. Habit had rendered this so easy, and so much a matter of
course, that it was only quite recently the girl had began even to muse on
the singularity of the circumstance. But there had never been sufficient
intimacy between Hutter and his eldest daughter to invite confidence. At
times he was kind, but in general, with her more especially, he was stern and
morose. Least of all had his authority been exercised in a way to embolden
his child to venture on the liberty she was about to take, without many
misgivings of the consequences, although the liberty proceeded from a desire
to serve himself. Then Judith was not altogether free from a little
superstition, on the subject of this chest, which had stood a sort of tabooed
relic before her eyes, from childhood to the present hour. Nevertheless the
time had come when it would seem that this
mystery was to be explained, and that under circumstances, too, which left
her very little choice in the matter.
Finding that both her companions were watching her movements, in grave
silence, Judith placed a hand on the lid, and endeavored to raise it. Her
strength, however, was insufficient, and it appeared to the girl, who was
fully aware that all the fastenings were removed, that she was resisted in an
unhallowed attempt by some supernatural power.
"I cannot raise the lid, Deerslayer!" she said-"Had we not better give up the
attempt, and find some other means of releasing the prisoners?"
"Not so-Judith; not so, gal. No means are as sartain and easy, as a good
bribe," answered the other. "As for the lid, 'tis held by nothing but its own
weight, which is prodigious for so small a piece of wood, loaded with iron as
it is."
As Deerslayer spoke, he applied his own strength to the effort, and
succeeded in raising the lid against the timbers of the house, where he took
care to secure it, by a sufficient prop. Judith fairly trembled, as she cast
her first glance at the interior, and she felt a temporary relief in
discovering that a piece of canvass, that was carefully tucked in, around the
edges, effectually concealed all beneath it. The chest was apparently well
stored, however, the canvass lying within an inch of The lid.
"Here's a full cargo," said Deerslayer, eyeing the arrangement, "and we had
needs go to work leisurely, and at our ease. Sarpent, bring some stools,
while I spread this blanket on the floor, and then we'll begin work orderly,
and in comfort."
The Delaware complied, Deerslayer civilly placed a stool for Judith, took one
himself, and commenced the removal of the canvas covering. This was done
deliberately, and in as cautious a manner, as if it were believed that
fabrics of a delicate construction lay hidden beneath. When the canvass was
removed, the first articles that came in view were some of the habiliments of
the male sex. They were of fine materials, and, according to the fashions of
the age, were gay in colours, and rich in ornaments. One coat in particular
was of scarlet, and had button holes worked in gold thread. Still it was not
military, but was part of the attire of a civilian of condition, at a period
when social rank was rigidly respected in dress. Chingachgook could not
refrain from an exclamation of pleasure, as soon as Deerslayer opened this
coat, and held it up to view, for, notwithstanding all his trained self-
command, the splendor of the vestment was too much for the philosophy of an
Indian. Deerslayer turned quickly, and he regarded his friend with momentary
displeasure, as this burst of weakness escaped him, and then he soliloquized
as was his practice, whenever any strong feeling suddenly got the ascendant.
"Tis his gift! -yes, 'tis the gift of a redskin to love finery, and he is not
to be blamed. This is an extr'ornary garment, too, and extr'ornary things get
up extr'ornary feelin's. I think this will do, Judith, for the Indian heart
is hardly to be found in all America, that can withstand, colours like these,
and glitter like that. If this coat was ever made for your father, you've
come honestly by the taste for finery, you have."
'That coat was never made for father," answered the girl, quickly-"it is much
too long, while father is short and square."
"Cloth was plenty if it was, and glitter cheap," answered Deerslayer, with
his silent, joyous laugh. "Sarpent, this garment was made for a man of your
size, and I should like to see it on your shoulders."
Chingachgook, nothing loth, submitted to the trial, throwing aside the
coarse and thread bare jacket of Hutter, to deck his person in a coat that
was originally intended for a gentleman. The transformation was ludicrous,
but as men are seldom struck with incongruities in their own appearance, any
more than in their own conduct, the Delaware studied this change in a common
glass, by which Hutter was in the habit of shaving, with grave interest. At
that moment he thought of Hist, and we owe it to truth, to say, though it may
militate a little against the stern character of a warrior to avow it, that
he wished he could be seen by her, in his present improved aspect.
"Off with it, Sarpent-off with it," resumed the inflexible Deerslayer. "Such
garments as little become you, as they would become me. Your gifts are for
paint, and hawk's feathers, and blankets, and wampum, and mine are for
doublets of skins, tough leggings, and sarviceable moccasins. I say
moccasins, Judith, for though white, living as I do in the woods, it's
necessary to take to some of the practyces of the woods, for comfort's sake,
and cheapness."
"I see no reason, Deerslayer, why one man may not wear a scarlet coat, as
well as another," returned the girl. "I wish I could see you in this handsome
garment."
"See me in a coat fit for a Lord! -Well, Judith, if you wait till that day,
you'll wait until you see me beyond reason and memory. No-no-gal, my gifts
are my gifts, and I'll live and die in 'em, though I never bring down another
deer, or spear another salmon. What have I done that you should wish to see
me in such a flaunting coat, Judith."
"Because I think, Deerslayer, that the false-tongued and false-hearted young
gallants of the garrisons, ought not alone to appear in fine feathers, but
that truth and honesty have their claims to be honored and exalted."
"And what exaltification -" the reader will have remarked that Deerslayer had
not very critically studied his dictionary-"and what exaltification would it
be to me,Judith, to be bedizzened and bescarleted like a Mingo chief that has
just got his presents up from Quebec? No - no - I'm well as I am; and if not,
I can be no better. Lay the coat down on the blanket, Sarpent, and let us
look farther into the chist."
The tempting garment, one surely that was never intended for Hutter, was laid
aside, and the examination proceeded. The male attire, all of which
corresponded with the coat in quality, was soon exhausted, and then succeeded
female. A beautiful dress of brocade, a little the worse from negligent
treatment, followed, and this time open exclamations of delight escaped the
lips of Judith. Much as the girl had been addicted to dress, and favorable as
had been her opportunities of seeing some little pretension in that way,
among the wives of the different commandants, and other ladies of the forts,
never before had she beheld a tissue, or tints, to equal those that were now
so unexpectedly placed before her eyes. Her rapture was almost childish, nor
would she allow the enquiry to proceed, until she had attired her person in a
robe so unsuited to her habits and her abode. With this end, she withdrew
into her own room, where with hands practised in such offices, she soon got
rid of her own neat gown of linen, and stood forth in the gay tints of the
brocade. The dress
happened to fit the fine, full, person of Judith, and certainly it had never
adorned a being, better qualified by natural gifts, to do credit to its
really rich hues and fine texture. When she returned, both Deerslayer and
Chingachgook, who had passed the brief time of her absence, in taking a
second look at the male garments, arose in surprise, each permitting
exclamations of wonder and pleasure to escape him, in a way so unequivocal
as to add new lustre to the eyes of Judith, by flushing her cheeks with a
glow of triumph. Affecting, however, not to notice the impression she had
made, the girl seated herself with the stateliness of a queen, desiring that
the chest might be looked into, further.
"I do'n't know a better way to treat with the Mingos, gal," cried Deerslayer,
"than to send you ashore, as you be, and to tell 'em that a queen has arrived
among 'em! They'll give up old Hutter, and Hurry, and Hetty, too, at such a
spectacle!"
"I thought your tongue too honest to flatter, Deerslayer," returned the girl,
gratified at this admiration more than she would have cared to own. "One of
the chief reasons of my respect for you, was your love for truth."
"And 'tis truth, and solemn truth, Judith, and nothing else. Never did eyes
of mine gaze on as glorious a lookin' creatur', as you be yourself, at this
very moment! I've seen beauties in my time too; both white and red; and them
that was renowed and talk'd of, far and near; but never have I beheld one
that could hold any comparison with what you are at this blessed instant,
Judith; never."
The glance of delight which the girl bestowed on the frank-speaking hunter,
in no degree lessened the effect of her charms, and as the humid eyes blended
with it a look of sensibility, perhaps Judith never appeared more truly
lovely, than at what the young man had called that "blessed instant." He
shook his head, held it suspended a moment over the open chest, like one in
doubt, and then proceeded with the examination.
Several of the minor articles of female dress came next, all of a quality to
correspond with the gown. These were laid at Judith's feet, in silence, as if
she had a natural claim to their possession. One or two, such as gloves, and
lace, the girl caught up, and appended to her already rich attire in affected
playfulness, but with the real design of decorating her person as far as
circumstances would allow. When these two remarkable suits, male and female
they might be termed, were removed, another canvass covering separated the
remainder of the articles from the part of the chest which they had occupied.
As soon as Deerslayer perceived this arrangement, he paused, doubtful of the
propriety of proceeding any further.
"Every man has his secrets, I suppose," he said, "and all men have a right to
their enj'yment. We've got low enough in this chist, in my judgment to answer
our wants, and it seems to me we should do well by going no farther; and by
letting Master Hutter have to himself, and his own feelin's, all that's
beneath this cover.
"Do you mean, Deerslayer, to offer these clothes to the Iroquois, as
ransom?" demanded Judith, quickly.
"Sartain. What are we prying into another man's chist for, but to sarve its
owner, in the best way we can. This coat, alone, would be very apt to gain
over the head chief of the riptyles, and if his wife or darter should happen
to be out with him, that there gownd would soften the heart of any woman that
is to be found atween Albany and Montreal. I do not see that we want a larger
stock in trade than them two articles."
"To you it may seem so, Deerslayer," returned the disappointed girl, "but of
what use could a dress like this be to any Indian woman? She could not wear
it among the branches of the trees, the dirt and smoke of the wigwam would
soon soil it, and how would a pair of red arms appear, thrust through these
short, laced sleeves!"
"All very true, gal, and you might go on and say, it is altogether out of
time, and place and season, in this region at all. What is it to us how the
finery is treated, so long as it answers our wishes? I do not see that your
father can make any use of such clothes, and it's lucky he has things that
are of no valie to himself, that will bear a high price with others. We can
make no better trade for him, than to offer these duds for his liberty. We'll
throw in the light frivol'ties, and get Hurry off in the bargain."
"Then you think, Deerslayer, that Thomas Hutter has no one in his family - no
child - no daughter, to whom this dress may be thought becoming, and whom you
could wish to see in it, once and awhile, even though it should be at long
intervals, and only in playfulness?"
"I understand you, Judith-yes, I now understand your meaning, and I think I
can say, your wishes. That you are as glorious, in that dress, as the sun
when it rises, or sets, in a soft October day, I'm ready to allow, and that
you greatly become it, is a good deal more sartain than that it becomes you.
There's gifts in clothes, as well as in other things. Now I do not think that
a warrior on his first path, ought to lay on the same awful paints as a chief
that has had his virtue tried, and knows from exper'ence he will not disgrace
his pretensions. So it is with all of us, red or white. You are Thomas
Hutter's darter, and that gownd was made for the child of some governor, or
a lady of high station, and it was intended to be worn among fine furniture,
and in rich company. In my eyes, Judith, a modest maiden never looks more
becoming, than when becomingly clad, and nothing is suitable that is out of
character. Besides, gal, if there's a creatur' in the colony that can afford
to do without finery, and to trust to her own good looks, and sweet
countenance, it's yourself."
"I'll take off the rubbish this instant, Deerslayer," cried the girl,
springing up to leave the room, "and never do I wish to see it on any human
being, again."
"So it is with 'em, all, Sarpent," said the other, turning to his friend and
laughing, as soon as the beauty had disappeared. "They like finery, but they
like their natyve charms most of all. I'm glad the gal has consented to lay
aside her furbelows, howsever, for it's ag'in reason for one of her class to
wear em; and then she is handsome enough, as I call it, to go alone. Hist
would show oncommon likely, too, in such a gownd, Delaware!"
"Wah-ta!-Wah is a red skin girl, Deerslayer," returned the Indian, "like the
young of the pigeon, she is to be known by her own feathers. I should pass by
without knowing her, were she dressed in such a skin. It's wisest always to
be so clad that our friends need not ask us for our names. The 'Wild Rose' is
very pleasant, but she is no sweeter for so many colours."
"That's it! - that's natur', and the true foundation for love and protection.
When a man stoops to pick a wild strawberry, he does not expect to find a
melon; and when he wishes to gather a melon, he's disapp'inted if it proves
to be a squash;
though squashes be often brighter to the eye than melons. That's it, and it
means, stick to your gifts, and your gifts will stick to you."
The two men had now a little discussion together, touching the propriety of
penetrating any farther into the chest of Hutter, when Judith re-appeared,
divested of her robes, and in her own simple, linen frock again.
"Thank you, Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her kindly by the hand-"for I
know it went a little ag'in the nat'ral cravings of woman, to lay aside so
much finery, as it might be in a lump. But you're more pleasing to the eye as
you stand, you be, than if you had a crown on your head, and jewels dangling
from your hair. The question now is, whether to lift this covering, to see
what will be ra'ally the best bargain we can make for Master Hutter, for we
must do as we think he would be willing to do, did he stand here in our
places."
Judith looked very happy. Accustomed as she was to adulation, the homely
homage of Deerslayer had given her more true satisfaction, than she had ever
yet received from the tongue of man. It was not the terms in which this
admiration had been expressed, for they were simple enough, that produced so
strong an impression; nor yet their novelty, or their warmth of manner, nor
any of those peculiarties that usually give value to praise; but the
unflinching truth of the speaker, that carried his words so directly to the
heart of the listener. This is one of the great advantages of plain dealing
and frankness. The habitual and wily flatterer may succeed until his
practises recoil on himself, and like other sweets his aliment cloys by its
excess; but he who deals honestly, though he often necessarily offends,
possesses a power of praising that no quality but sincerity can bestow, since
his words go directly to the heart, finding their support in the
understanding. Thus it was with Deerslayer and Judith. So soon and so deeply
did this simple hunter impress those who knew him, with a conviction-of his
unbending honesty, that all he uttered in commendation was as certain to
please, as all he uttered in the way of rebuke was as certain to rankle and
excite enmity, where his character had not awakened a respect and affection,
that in another sense rendered it painful. In after life, when the career of
this untutored being brought him in contact with officers of rank, and
others entrusted with the care of the interests of the state, this same
influence was exerted on a wider field, even generals listening to his
commendations with a glow of pleasure, that it was not always in the power of
their official superiors to awaken. PerhapsJudith was the first individual of
his own colour, who fairly submitted to this natural consequence of truth
and fair-dealing, on the part of Deerslayer. She had actually pined for his
praise, and she had now received it, and that in the form which was most
agreeable to her weaknesses and habits of thought. The result will appear in
the course of the narrative.
'If we knew all that chest holds, Deerslayer," returned the girl, when she
had a little recovered from the immediate effect produced by his
commendations of her personal appearance, "we could better determine on the
course we ought to take."
"That's not onreasonable, gal, though it's more a pale-face than a red-skin
gift to be prying into other people's secrets."
"Curiosity is natural, and it is expected that all human beings, should have
human failings. Whenever I've been at the garrisons, I've found that most, in
and about them, had a longing to learn their neighbor's secrets."
"Yes, and sometimes to fancy them, when they could'n't find 'em out! That's
the difference atween an Indian gentleman, and a white gentleman. The
Sarpent, here, would turn his head aside, if he found himself onknowingly
lookin' into another chief's wigwam, whereas, in the settlements while all
pretend to be great people, most prove they've got betters, by the manner in
which they talk of their consarns. I'll be bound, Judith, you would'n't get
the Sarpent, there, to confess there was another in the tribe so much greater
than himself, as to become the subject of his idees, and to empl'y his tongue
in conversations about his movements, and ways, and food, and all the other
little matters that occupy a man when he's not empl'y'd in his greater
duties. He who does this, is but little better than a blackguard, in the
grain, and them that encourages him, is pretty much of the same kidney, let
them wear coats as fine as they may, or of what dye they please."
"But this is not another man's wigwam; it belongs to my father, these are his
things, and they are wanted in his service."
"That's true, gal; that's true, and it carries weight with it.
Well, when all is before us, we may, indeed, best judge, which to offer for
the ransom, and which to withhold."
Judith was not altogether as disinterested in her feelings, as she affected
to be. She remembered that the curiosity of Hetty had been indulged, in
connection with this chest, while her own had been disregarded, and she was
not sorry to possess an opportunity of being placed on a level with her less
gifted sister, in this one particular. It appearing to be admitted all round,
that the enquiry into the contents of the chest ought to be renewed,
Deerslayer proceeded to remove the second covering of canvass.
The articles that lay uppermost, when the curtain was again raised on the
secrets of the chest, were a pair of pistols, curiously inlaid with silver.
Their value would have been considerable, in one of the towns, though as
weapons, in the woods, they were a species of arms seldom employed; never,
indeed, unless it might be by some officer from Europe, who visited the
colonies, as many were then wont to do, so much impressed with the
superiority of the usages of London, as to fancy they were not to be laid
aside on the frontiers of America. What occurred on the discovery of these
weapons, will appear, in the succeeding chapter.
Chapter XIII.
"An oaken, broken, elbow-chair;
A caudle-cup without an ear;
A battered, shattered ash bedstead;
A box of deal without a lid;
A pair of tongs, but out of joint;
A back-sword poker, without point;
A dish which might good meat afford once;
An Ovid, and an old Concordance."
Thomas Sheridan, "A True and Faithful Inventory of the Goods belonging to Dr.
Swift," ll.i-6, 13-14.
No sooner did Deerslayer raise the pistols, than he turned to the Delaware
and held them up, for his admiration.
"Child gun," said the Serpent, smiling, while he handled one of the
instruments as if it had been a toy.
"Not it, Sarpent; not it-t'was made for a man and would satisfy a giant, if
rightly used. But stop; white men are remarkable for their carelessness in
putting away fire arms, in chists and corners. Let me look if care has been
given to these."
As Deerslayer spoke, he took the weapon from the hand of his friend, and
opened the pan. The last was filled with priming, caked like a bit of
cinder, by time, moisture and compression. An application of the ramrod
showed that both the pistols were charged, although Judith could testify that
they had probably lain for years in the chest. It is not easy to portray the
surprise of the Indian, at this discovery, for he was in the practice of
renewing his priming daily, and of looking to the contents of his piece, at
other short intervals.
"This is white neglect," said Deerslayer, shaking his head, "and scarce a
season goes by, that some one, in the settlements does n't suffer from it.
It's extr'ornary too, Judith-yes, it's downright extr'ornary that the owner
shall fire his piece at a deer, or some other game, or perhaps at an inimy,
and twice out of three times he'll miss; but let him catch an accident with
one of these forgotten charges, and he makes it sartain death to a child, or
a brother, or a fri'nd! Well, we shall do a good turn to the owner if we fire
these pistols for him, and as they're novelties to you and me, Sarpent, we'll
try our hands at a mark. Freshen that priming, and I'll do the same with
this, and then we'll see who is the best man with a pistol; as for the rifle,
that's long been settled atween us."
Deerslayer laughed heartily, at his own conceit, and, in a minute or two,
they were both standing on the platform, selecting some object in the Ark for
their target. Judith was led by curiosity to their side.
"Stand back, gal, stand a little back; these we'pons have been long loaded,"
said Deerslayer, "and some accident may happen in the discharge."
"Then you shall not fire them! Give them both to the Delaware; or it would be
better to unload them, without firing."
"That's ag'in usage-and some people say, ag'in manhood; though I hold to no
such silly doctrine. We must fire 'em, Judith; yes, we must fire 'em; though
I foresee that neither will have any great reason to boast of his skill."
Judith, in the main, was a girl of great personal spirit, and her habits
prevented her from feeling any of the terror that is apt to come over her
sex, at the report of fire arms. She had discharged many a rifle, and had
even been known to kill a deer, under circumstances that were favorable to
the effort. She submitted therefore, falling a little back by the side of
Deerslayer, giving the Indian the front of the platform to himself.
Chingachgook raised the weapon several times, endeavored to steady it by
using both hands, changed his attitude, from one that was awkward, to
another still more so, and finally drew the trigger with a sort of desperate
indifference, without having, in reality, secured any aim at all. The
consequence was, that instead of hitting the knot which had been selected for
the mark, he missed the ark altogether; the bullet skipping along the water,
like a stone that was thrown by hand.
"Well done - Sarpent - well done -" cried Deerslayer laughing, with his
noiseless glee, "you've hit the lake, and that's an expl'ite for some men! I
know'd it, and as much as said it, here, to Judith; for your short we'pons
do'n't belong to red skin gifts. You've hit the lake, and that's better than
only hitting the air! Now, stand back and let us see what white gifts can do
with a white we'pon. A pistol is'n't a rifle, but colour is colour."
The aim of Deerslayer was both quick and steady, and the report followed
almost as soon as the weapon rose. Still the pistol hung fire, as it is
termed, and fragments of it flew in a dozen directions, some falling on the
roof of the castle, others in the Ark, and one in the water. Judith screamed,
and when the two men turned anxiously towards the girl, she was as pale as
death, trembling in every limb.
"She's wownded - yes, the poor gal's wownded - Sarpent, though one could'n't
foresee it, standing where she did. We'll lead her in to a seat, and we must
do the best for her, that our knowledge and skill can afford."
Judith allowed herself to be supported to a seat, swallowed a mouthful of the
water that the Delaware offered her in a gourd, and, after a violent fit of
trembling, that seemed ready to shake her fine frame to dissolution, she
burst into tears.
"The pain must be borne, poor Judith-yes, it must be borne," said Deerslayer,
soothingly, "though I am far from wishing you not to weep; for weeping often
lightens galish feelin's. Where can she be hurt, Sarpent? - I see no signs of
blood, nor any rent of skin, or garments?"
'I am uninjured, Deerslayer-" stammered the girl, through her tears. "It's
fright-nothing more, I do assure you, and, God be praised! no one, I find,
has been harmed by the accident."
"This is extr'ornary!" exclaimed the unsuspecting and simple minded hunter-"I
thought, Judith, you'd been above settlement weaknesses, and that you was a
gal not to be frightened by the sound of a bursting we'pon - No - I didn't
think you so skeary! Hetty might well have been startled; but you've too much
judgment and reason to be frightened when the danger's all over. They're
pleasant to the eye, chief, and changeful, but very unsartain in their
feelin's!"
Shame kept Judith silent. There had been no acting in her agitation, but all
had fairly proceeded from sudden and uncontrollable alarm - an alarm that
she found almost as inexplicable to herself, as it proved to be to her
companions. Wip ing away the traces of tears, however, she smiled again, and
was soon able to join in the laugh at her own folly.
"And you, Deerslayer," she at length succeeded in saying-"are you, indeed,
altogether unhurt? It seems almost miraculous that a pistol should have burst
in your hand, and you escape without the loss of a limb, if not of life!"
"Such wonders ar'n't oncommon, at all, among worn out arms. The first rifle
they gave me play'd the same trick, and yet I liv'd through it, though not as
onharmless as I've got out of this affair. Thomas Hutter is master of one
pistol less than he was this morning, but, as it happened in trying to sarve
him, there's no ground of complaint. Now, draw near, and let us look farther
into the inside of the chist."
Judith, by this time, had so far gotten the better of her agitation as to
resume her seat, and the examination went on. The next article that offered
was enveloped in cloth, and on opening it, it proved to be one of the
mathematical instruments that were then in use among seamen, possessing the
usual ornaments and fastenings in brass. Deerslayer and Chingachgook
expressed their admiration and surprise at the appearance of the unknown
instrument, which was bright and glittering, having apparently been well
cared for.
"This goes beyond the surveyors, Judith!" Deerslayer exclaimed, after
turning the instrument several times in his hands. "I've seen all their tools
often, and wicked and heartless enough are they, for they never come into the
forest but to lead the way to waste and destruction; but none of them have as
designing a look as this! I fear me, after all, that Thomas Hutter has
journeyed into the wilderness with no fair intentions towards its happiness.
Did you ever see any of the cravings of a surveyor about your father, gal?"
"He is no surveyor, Deerslayer, nor does he know the use of that instrument,
though he seems to own it. Do you suppose that Thomas Hutter ever wore that
coat? It is as much too large for him, as this instrument is beyond his
learning."
"That's it-that must be it, Sarpent, and the old fellow, by some onknown
means, has fallen heir to another man's goods! They say he has been a
mariner, and no doubt this chist, and all it holds - ha! What have we here? -
This far out does the brass and black wood of the tool!"
Deerslayer had opened a small bag, from which he was taking, one by one, the
pieces of a set of chess-men. They were of ivory, much larger than common,
and exquisitely wrought. Each piece represented the character, or thing after
which it is named; the knights being mounted, the castles stood on elephants,
and even the pawns possessed the heads and busts of men. The set was not
complete, and a few fractures betrayed bad usage; but all that was left had
been carefully put away and preserved. Even Judith expressed wonder, as these
novel objects were placed before her eyes, and Chingachgook fairly forgot his
Indian dignity in admiration and delight. The latter took up each piece, and
examined it with never tiring satisfaction, pointing out to the girl, the
more ingenious and striking portions of the workmanship. But the elephants
gave him the greatest pleasure. The "Hugh's!" that he uttered, as he passed
his fingers over their trunks, and ears, and tails, were very distinct, nor
did he fail to note the pawns, which were armed as archers. This exhibition
lasted several minutes, during which time Judith and the Indian had all the
rapture to themselves. Deerslayer sate silent, thoughtful, and even gloomy,
though his eyes followed each movement of the two principal actors, noting
every new peculiarity about the pieces as they were held up to view. Not an
exclamation of pleasure, nor a word of condemnation passed his lips. At
length his companions observed his silence, and, then, for the first time
since the chess men had been discovered, did he speak.
'Judith," he asked earnestly, but with a concern that amounted almost to
tenderness of manner, "did your parents ever talk to you of religion?"
The girl coloured, and the flashes of crimson that passed over her beautiful
countenance were like the wayward tints of a Neapolitan sky in November.
Deerslayer had given her so strong a taste for truth, however, that she did
not waver in her answer, replying simply and with sincerity.
"My mother did often," she said, "my father never. I thought it made my
mother sorrowful to speak of our prayers and duties, but my father has never
opened his mouth on such matters, before or since her death."
"That I can believe-that I can believe. He has no God-no such God as it
becomes a man of white skin to worship, or even a red-skin. Them things are
idols!"
Judith started, and for a moment she seemed seriously hurt. Then she
reflected, and in the end she laughed. "And you think, Deerslayer, that these
ivory toys are my father's Gods? I have heard of idols, and know what they
are."
"Them are idols!" repeated the other, positively. "Why should your father
keep 'em, if he does'n't worship 'em."
"Would he keep his gods in a bag, and locked up in a chest? No - no -
Deerslayer; my poor father carries his God with him, wherever he goes, and
that is in his own cravings. These things may really be idols - I think they
are myself, from what I have heard and read of idolatry, but they have come
from some distant country, and like all the other articles, have fallen into
Thomas Hutter's hands, when he was a sailor."
"I'm glad of it-I am downright glad to hear it, Judith, for I do not think I
could have mustered the resolution to strive to help a white idolater out of
his difficulties! The old man is of my colour and nation and I wish to sarve
him, but as one who denied all his gifts, in the way of religion, it would
have come hard to do so. That animal seems to give you great satisfaction,
Sarpent, though it's an idolatrous beast at the best."
"It is an elephant," interrupted Judith. "I've often seen pictures of such
animals, at the garrisons, and mother had a book in which there was a printed
account of the creature. Father burnt that with all the other books, for he
said Mother loved reading too well. This was not long before mother died, and
I've sometimes thought that the loss hastened her end."
This was said equally without levity and without any very deep feeling. It
was said without levity, for Judith was saddened by her recollections, and
yet she had been too much accustomed to live for self, and for the indulgence
of her own vanities, to feel her mother's wrongs very keenly. it required
extraordinary circumstances to awaken a proper sense of her situation, and
to stimulate the better feelings of this beautiful, but misguided girl, and
those circumstances had not yet occurred in her brief existence.
"Elephant, or no elephant, t'is an idol," returned the hunter, "and not fit
to remain in christian keeping."
"Good for Iroquois!" said Chingachgook, parting with one of the castles with
reluctance, as his friend took it from him to replace it in the bag-"Elephon
buy whole tribe-Buy Delaware, almost!"
"Ay, that it would, as any one who comperhends red-skin natur' must know,"
answered Deerslayer, "but the man that passes false money, Sarpent, is as bad
as he who makes it. Did you ever know a just Injin that would'n't scorn to
sell a 'coon skin, for the true marten, or to pass off a mink for a beaver. I
know that a few of these idols, perhaps one of them elephants, would go far
towards buying Thomas Hutter's liberty, but it goes ag'in conscience to pass
such counterfeit money. Perhaps no Injin tribe, hereaway, is downright
idolators but there's some that come so near it, that white gifts ought to be
particular about encouraging them in their mistake."
"If idolatry is a gift, Deerslayer, and gifts are what you seem to think
them, idolatry in such people can hardly be a sin," said Judith with more
smartness than discrimination.
'God grants no such gifts to any of his creatur's, Judith," returned the
hunter, seriously. "He must be adored, under some name or other, and not
creatur's of brass or ivory. It matters not whether the Father of All is
called God , or Manitou, Deity or Great Spirit, he is none the less our
common maker and master; nor does it count for much whether the souls of the
just go to Paradise, or Happy Hunting Grounds, since He may send each his own
way, as suits his own pleasure and wisdom; but it curdles my blood, when I
find human mortals so bound up in darkness and consait, as to fashion the
'arth, or wood, or bones, things made by their own hands, into motionless,
senseless iffigies, and then fall down afore them, and worship 'em as a
Deity!"
"After all, Deerslayer, these pieces of ivory may not be idols, at all. I
remember, now, to have seen one of the officers, at the garrison, with a set
of fox and geese made in some such a design as these, and here is something
hard, wrapped in cloth, that may belong to your idols."
Deerslayer took the bundle the girl gave him, and unrolling it, he found the
board within. Like the pieces it was large, rich, and inlaid with ebony and
ivory. Putting the whole in conjunction, the hunter, though not without many
misgivings, slowly came over to Judith's opinion, and finally admitted that
the fancied idols must be merely the curiously carved men of some unknown
game. Judith had the tact to use her victory with great moderation, nor did
she once, even in the most indirect manner, allude to the ludicrous mistake
of her companion.
This discovery of the uses of the extraordinary-looking little images,
settled the affair of the proposed ransom. It was agreed generally, and all
understood the weaknesses and tastes of Indians, that nothing could be more
likely to tempt the cupidity of the Iroquois, than the elephants, in
particular. Luckily the whole of the castles were among the pieces, and these
four tower-bearing animals it was finally determined should be the ransom
offered. The remainder of the men, and, indeed, all the rest of the articles
in the chest, were to be kept out of view, and to be resorted to only as a
last appeal. As soon as these preliminaries were settled, every thing but
those intended for the bribe was carefully replaced in the chest, all the
covers were 'tucked in', as they had been found, and it was quite possible,
could Hutter have been put in possession of the castle again, that he might
have passed the remainder of his days in it, without even suspecting the
invasion that had been made on the privacy of the chest. The rent pistol
would have been the most likely to reveal the secret, but this was placed by
the side of its fellow, and all were pressed down as before, some half a
dozen packages in the bottom of the chest not having been opened at all. When
this was done, the lid was lowered, the padlocks replaced, and the key
turned. The latter was then replaced in the pocket from which it had been
taken.
More than an hour was consumed in settling the course proper to be pursued,
and in returning every thing to its place. The pauses to converse were
frequent, and Judiih, who experienced a lively pleasure in the open,
undisguised admiration, with which Deerslayer's honest eyes gazed at her
handsome face, found the means to prolong the interview, with a dexterity
that seems to be innate in female coquetry. Deerslayer, indeed, appeared to
be the first who was conscious of the time that had been thus wasted, and to
call the attention of his companions to the necessity of doing something
towards putting the plan of ransoming into execution. Chingachgook had
remained in Hutter's bed room, where the elephants were laid, to feast his
eyes with the images of animals so wonderful, and so novel. Perhaps an
instinct told him that his presence would not be as acceptable to his
companions, as this holding himself aloof, for Judith had not much reserve in
the manifestations of her preferences, and the Delaware had not got so far as
one betrothed without acquiring some knowledge of the symptoms of the master
passion.
"Well, Judith," said Deerslayer, rising, after the interview had lasted much
longer than even he himself suspected, "t'is pleasant convarsing with you,
and settling all these matters, but duty calls us another way. All this time,
Hurry and your father, not to say Hetty- The word was cut short in the
speaker's mouth, for, at that critical moment, a light step was heard on the
platform, or 'court-yard', a human figure darkened the door-way, and the
person last mentioned stood before him. The low exclamation that escaped
Deerslayer and the slight scream of Judith were hardly uttered, when an
Indian youth, between the ages of fifteen and seventeen, stood beside her.
These two entrances had been made with moccasined feet, and consequently
almost without noise, but, unexpected and stealthy as they were, they had not
the effect to disturb Deerslayer's self possession. His first measure was to
speak rapidly in Delaware to his friend, cautioning him to keep out of sight,
while he stood on his guard; the second was to step to the door to ascertain
the extent of the danger. No one else, however, had come, and a simple
contrivance, in the shape of a raft, that lay floating at the side of the
Ark, at once explained the means that had been used in bringing Hetty off.
Two dead and dry, and consequently buoyant, logs of pine were bound together
with pins and withes and a little platform of riven chestnut had been rudely
placed on their surfaces. Here Hetty had been seated, on a billet of wood,
while the young Iroquois had rowed the primitive, and slow-moving, but
perfectly safe, craft, from the shore.
As soon as Deerslayer had taken a close survey of this raft, and satisfied
himself nothing else was near, he shook his head, and muttered in his
soliloquizing way- "This comes of prying into another man's chist! Had we
been watchful, and keen eyed, such a surprise could never have happened, and,
getting this much from a boy, teaches us what we may expect when the old
warriors set themselves fairly about their sarcumventions. It opens the way,
howsever, to a treaty for the ransom, and I will hear what Hetty has to say.
Judith, as soon as her surprise and alarm had a little abated, discovered a
proper share of affectionate joy, at the return of her sister. She folded her
to her bosom, and kissed her, as had been her wont in the days of their
childhood and innocence. Hetty herself was less affected, for to her there
was no surprise, and her nerves were sustained by the purity and holiness of
her purpose. At her sister's request she took a seat, and entered into an
account of her adventures since they had parted. Her tale commenced just as
Deerslayer returned, and he also became an attentive listener, while the
young Iroquois stood near the door, seemingly as indifferent to what was
passing, as one of its posts.
The narrative of the girl was sufficiently clear, until she reached the time
where we left her in the camp, after the interview with the chiefs, and, at
the moment when Hist quitted her, in the abrupt manner already related. The
sequel of the story may be told in her own language.
"When I read the texts to the chiefs, Judith, you could not have seen that
they made any changes on their minds," she said, "but if seed is planted, it
will grow. God planted the seeds of all these trees-"
"Ay that did he-that did he-" muttered Deerslayer-"and a goodly harvest has
followed."
"God planted the seeds of all these trees," continued Hetty, after a moment's
pause, "and you see to what a height and shade they have grown! So it is with
the bible. You may read a verse this year, and forget it, and it will come
back to you a year hence, when you least expect to remember it."
"And did you find any thing of this, among the savages, poor Hetty."
"Yes, Judith, and sooner, and more fully than I had even hoped. I did not
stay long with father and Hurry, but went to get my breakfast with Hist. As
soon as we had done, the chiefs came to us, and then we found the fruits of
the seed that had been planted. They said what I had read from the good book
was right- it must be right- it sounded right; like a sweet bird singing in
their ears; and they told me to come back and say as much to the great
warrior who had slain one of their braves; and to tell it to you, and to say
how happy they should be to come to church here, in the castle, or to come
out in the sun, and hear me read more of the sacred volume - and to tell you
that they wish you would lend them some canoes that they can bring father and
Hurry, and their women to the castle, that we might all sit on the platform
there, and listen to the singing of the Pale Face Manitou . There, Judith;
did you ever know of any thing that so plainly shows the power of the bible,
as that!"
"If it were true 't would be a miracle, indeed, Hetty. But all this is no
more than Indian cunning and Indian treachery, striving to get the better of
us by management, when they find it is not to be done by force."
"Do you doubt the bible, sister, that you judge the savages so harshly!"
"I do not doubt the bible, poor Hetty, but I much doubt an Indian and an
Iroquois. What do you say to this visit, Deer-slayer?"
"First let me talk a little with Hetty," returned the party appealed to;
"Was the raft made a'ter you had got your breakfast, gal, and did you walk
from the camp to the shore opposite to us, here?"
'Oh! no, Deerslayer. The raft was ready made and in the water-could that have
been by a miracle, Judith!"
"Yes- yes- an Indian miracle-" rejoined the hunter- "They're expart enough in
them sort of miracles. And you found the raft ready made to your hands, and
in the water, and in waiting like for its cargo?"
"It was all as you say. The raft was near the camp, and the Indians put me on
it, and had ropes of bark, and they dragged me to the place opposite to the
castle, and then they told that young man to row me off, here."
'And the woods are full of the vagabonds, waiting to know what is to be the
upshot of the miracle. We comperhend this affair, now, Judith, but I'll first
get rid of this young Canada blood sucker, and then we'll settle our own
course. Do you and Hetty leave us together, first bringing me the elephants,
which the Sarpent is admiring, for 'twill never do to let this loping deer be
alone a minute, or he'll borrow a canoe without asking."
Judith did as desired, first bringing the pieces, and retiring with her
sister into their own room. Deerslayer had acquired some knowledge of most of
the Indian dialects of that region, and he knew enough of the Iroquois to
hold a dialogue in the language. Beckoning to the lad, therefore, he caused
him to
take a seat on the chest, when he placed two of the castles suddenly before
him. Up to that moment, this youthful savage had not expressed a single
intelligible emotion, or fancy. There were many things, in and about the
place, that were novelties to him, but he had maintained his self-command
with philosophical composure. It is true, Deerslayer had detected his dark
eye scanning the defences and the arms, but the scrutiny had been made with
such an air of innocence, in such a gaping, indolent, boyish manner, that no
one but a man who had himself been taught in a similar school, would have
even suspected his object. The instant, however, the eyes of the savage fell
upon the wrought ivory, and the images of the wonderful, unknown, beasts,
surprise and admiration got the mastery of him. The manner in which the
natives of the South Sea Islands first beheld the toys of civilized life has
been often described, but the reader is not to confound it with the manner of
an American Indian, under similar circumstances. In this particular case, the
young Iroquois or Huron, permitted an exclamation of rapture to escape him,
and then he checked himself like one who had been guilty of an indecorum.
After this, his eyes ceased to wander, but became riveted on the elephants,
one of which, after a short hesitation, he even presumed to handle.
Deerslayer did not interrupt him for quite ten minutes, knowing that the lad
was taking such note of the curiosities, as would enable him to give the most
minute and accurate description of their appearance, to his seniors, on his
return. When he thought sufficient time had been allowed to produce the
desired effect, the hunter laid a finger on the naked knee of the youth and
drew his attention to himself.
"Listen-" he said-"I want to talk with my young friend from the Canadas. Let
him forget that wonder for a minute."
"Where t'other pale brother?" demanded the boy, looking up and letting the
idea that had been most prominent in his mind, previously to the introduction
of the chess men, escape him involuntarily.
"He sleeps, -or if he is'n't fairly asleep, he is in the room, where the men
do sleep-" returned Deerslayer. "How did my young friend know there was
another?"
"See him from the shore. Iroquois have got long eyes- see beyond the clouds-
see the bottom of the Great Spring!"
"Well, the Iroquois are welcome. Two pale faces are prisoners in the camp of
your fathers, boy."
The lad nodded, treating the circumstance with great apparent indifference;
though a moment after, he laughed as if exulting in the superior address of
his own tribe.
"Can you tell me, boy, what your chiefs intend to do with these captyves, or
have'n't they yet made up their minds?"
The lad looked, a moment, at the hunter with a little surprise. Then he
coolly put the end of his fore finger on his own head, just above the left
ear, and passed it round his crown with an accuracy and readiness that showed
how well he had been drilled in the peculiar art of his race.
"When-" demanded Deerslayer, whose gorge rose at this cool demonstration of
indifference to human life. "And why not take them to your wigwams?"
"Road too long, and full of pale faces. Wigwam full, and scalps sell high.
Small scalp, much gold."
"Well that explains it-yes, that does explain it. There's no need of being
any plainer. Now, you know, lad, that the oldest of your prisoners, is the
father of these two young women, and the other is the suitor of one of them.
The gals nat'rally wish to save the scalps of such fri'nds, and they will
give them two ivory creaturs, as ransom. One for each scalp. Go back and tell
this to your chiefs, and bring me the answer before the sun sets.
The boy entered zealously into this project, and with a sincerity that left
no doubt of his executing his commission with intelligence and promptitude.
For a moment he forgot his love of honor, and all his clannish hostility to
the British and their Indians, in his wish to have such a treasure in his
tribe, and Deerslayer was satisfied with the impression he had made. It is
true the lad proposed to carry one of the elephants with him, as a specimen
of the other, but to this his brother negotiator was too sagacious to
consent; well knowing that it might never reach its destination if confided
to such hands. This little difficulty was soon arranged, and the boy prepared
to depart. As he stood on the platform, ready to step aboard of the raft, he
hesitated, and turned short with a proposal to borrow a canoe, as the means
most likely to shorten the negotiations. Deerslayer quietly refused the
request, and, after lingering a little longer, the boy rowed slowly away from
the castle, taking the direction of a thicket on the shore, that lay less
than half a mile distant. Deerslayer seated himself on a stool, and watched
the progress of the ambassador, sometimes closely scanning the whole line of
shore, as far as eye could reach, and then placing an elbow on a knee, he
remained a long time with his chin resting on the hand.
During the interview between Deerslayer and the lad, a different scene took
place in the adjoining room. Hetty had enquired for the Delaware, and being
told why and where he remained concealed, she joined him. The reception
which Chingachgook gave his visiter was respectful and gentle. He understood
her character, and, no doubt, his disposition to be kind to such a being was
increased by the hope of learning some tidings of his betrothed. As soon as
the girl entered, she took a seat, and invited the Indian to place himself
near her; then she continued silent, as if she thought it decorous for him to
question her, before she consented to speak on the subject she had on her
mind. But, as Chingachgook did not understand this feeling, he remained
respectfully attentive to any thing she might be pleased to tell him.
"You are Chingachgook, -the Great Serpent of the Delawares, ar'n't you?" the
girl at length commenced, in her own simple way losing her self-command in
the desire to proceed, but anxious first to make sure of the individual.
"Chingachgook," returned the Delaware with grave dignity. "That say Great
Sarpent, in Deerslayer tongue."
"Well, that is my tongue. Deerslayer, and father, and Judith, and I, and poor
Hurry Harry-do you know Henry March, Great Serpent? I know you do'n't,
however, or he would have spoken of you, too."
"Did any tongue name Chingachgook, Drooping-Lily"? for so the chief had named
poor Hetty. "Was his name sung by a little bird among Iroquois?"
Hetty did not answer at first, but, with that indescribable feeling that
awakens sympathy and intelligence among the youthful and unpractised of her
sex, she hung her head, and the blood suffused her cheek ere she found her
tongue. It would have exceeded her stock of intelligence to explain this
embarrassment, but, though poor Hetty could not reason, on every emergency,
she could always feel. The colour slowly receded from her cheeks, and the
girl looked up archly at the Indian, smiling with the innocence of child,
mingled with the interest of a woman.
"My sister, the Drooping Lily hear such bird!" Chingachgook added, and this
with a gentleness of tone and manner that would have astonished those who
sometimes heard the discordant cries that often came from the same throat;
these transitions from the harsh and guttural, to the soft and melodious not
being infrequent in ordinary Indian dialogues. "My sister's ears were open-
has she lost her tongue?"
"You are Chingachgook-you must be; for there is no other red man here, and
she thought Chingachgook would come."
"Chin - gach - gook -" pronouncing the name slowly, and dwelling on each
syllable-"Great Sarpent, Yengeese * tongue."
"Chin- gach- gook-" repeated Hetty, in the same deliberate manner. "Yes, so
Hist called it, and you must be the chief."
"Wah - ta! - Wah -" added the Delaware.
"Wah - ta! - Wah, or Hist - oh! - Hist. I think Hist prettier than Wah, and
so I call her Hist."
"Wah! very sweet in Delaware ears!"
"You make it sound differently from me. But, never mind; I did hear the bird
you speak of sing, Great Serpent."
"Will my sister say words of song. What she sing most-how she look - often
she laugh?"
(("it is singular there should be any question concerning the origin of
the well known sobriquet of "Yankees." Nearly all the old writers,
who speak of the Indians first known to the Colonists, make them pronounce
the word "English," as "Yengeese." Even at this day, it is a provincialism of
New England to say "English" instead of "Inglish" and there is a close
conformity of sound between "English" and "Yengeese," more especially if the
latter word, as was probably the case, be pronounced short. The transition
from "Yengeese,' thus pronounced, to "Yankees' is quite easy. If the former
is pronounced "Yangis" it is almost identical with "Yankees," and Indian
words have seldom been spelt as they are pronounced. Thus the scene of this
tale is spelt "Otsego," and is properly pronounced "Otsago." The liquids of
the Indians would easily convert "En" into "Yen." [1841])
"She sang Chin-gach-gook oftener than any thing else; and she laughed
heartily, when I told how the Iroquois waded into the water after us, and
could'n't catch us. I hope these logs have'n't ears, Serpent!"
"No fear logs; fear sister next room-No fear Iroquois; Deerslayer stuff his
eyes and ears, with strange beast."
"I understand you, Serpent, and I understood Hist. Sometimes I think I'm not
half as feeble minded as they say I am. Now, do you look up at the roof, and
I'll tell you all. But you frighten me you look so eager, when I speak of
Hist."
The Indian controlled his looks, and affected to comply with the simple
request of the girl.
"Hist told me to say, in a very low voice, that you must'n't trust the
Iroquois in any thing. They are more artful than any Indians she knows. Then
she says that there is a large bright star that comes over the hill, about an
hour after dark, - (Hist had pointed out the planet Jupiter, without knowing
it) - and just as that star comes in sight, she will be on the point, where I
landed last night, and that you must come for her, in a canoe."
"Good-Chingachgook understand well enough, now; but he understand better if
my sister sing him, ag'in."
Hetty repeated her words, more fully explaining what star was meant, and
mentioning the part of the point where he was to venture ashore. She now
proceeded in her own unsophisticated way to relate her intercourse with the
Indian maid, and to repeat several of her expressions and opinions that gave
great delight to the heart of her betrothed. She particularly renewed her
injunctions to be on their guard against treachery, a warning that was
scarcely needed, however, as addressed to men as wary as those to whom it was
sent. She also explained, with sufficient clearness, for on all such subjects
the mind of the girl seldom failed her, the present state of the enemy, and
the movements they had made since morning. Hist had been on the raft with
her, until it quitted the shore, and was now somewhere in the woods, opposite
to the castle, and did not intend to return to the camp, until night
approached; when she hoped to be able to slip away from her companions, as
they followed the shore on their way home, and conceal herself on the point.
No one appeared to suspect the presence of Chingachgook, though it was
necessarily known that an Indian had entered the Ark, the previous night,
and it was suspected that he had since appeared in, and about the castle, in
the dress of a pale-face. Still some little doubt existed on the latter
point, for, as this was the season when white men might be expected to
arrive, there was some fear that the garrison of the castle was increasing by
these ordinary means. All this had Hist communicated to Hetty while the
Indians were dragging them along shore, the distance, which exceeded six
miles, affording abundance of time.
"Hist do'n't know, herself, whether they suspect her, or not; or, whether
they suspect you, but she hopes neither is the case. And now, Serpent, since
I have told you so much from your betrothed," continued Hetty, unconsciously
taking one of the Indian's hands, and playing with the fingers, as a child is
often seen to play with those of a parent, "you must let me tell you
something from myself. When you marry Hist, you must be kind to her, and
smile on her, as you do now on me, and not look cross as some of the chiefs
do at their squaws. Will you promise this?"
"Alway good to Wah! - too tender to twist hard; else she break."
"Yes, and smile, too; you do'n't know how much a girl craves smiles from them
she loves. Father scarce smiled on me once, while I was with him-and, Hurry-
yes- Hurry talked loud and laughed, but I do'n't think he smiled once either.
You know the difference between a smile and a laugh?"
"Laugh, best. Hear Wah! laugh, think bird sing!"
"I know that; her laugh is pleasant, but you must smile. And then, Serpent,
you must'n't make her carry burthens and hoe corn, as so many Indians do; but
treat her more as the pale faces treat their wives."
"Wah-ta!-Wah no pale face-got red skin; red heart, red feelin's. All red; no
pale. Must carry papoose."
"Every woman is willing to carry her child," said Hetty smiling, "and there
is no harm in that. But you must love Hist, and be gentle, and good to her;
for she is gentle and good herself."
Chingachgook gravely bowed, and then he seemed to think this part of the
subject might be dismissed. Before there was time for Hetty to resume her
communications, the voice of Deerslayer was heard calling on his friend, in
the outer room. At this summons the Serpent arose to obey, and Hetty joined
her sister.
Chapter XIV.
"'A stranger animal,' cries one,
'Sure never liv'd beneath the sun;
A lizard's body lean and long,
A fish's head, a serpent's tongue,
Its foot, with triple claw disjoined;
And what a length of tail behind!'"
James Merrick, "The Chameleon," 11.21-26.
THE first act of the Delaware, on rejoining his friend, was to proceed
gravely to disencumber himself of his civilized attire, and to stand forth an
Indian warrior again. The protest of Deerslayer was met by his communicating
the fact that the presence of an Indian in the hut, was known to the
Iroquois, and that maintaining the disguise would be more likely to direct
suspicions to his real object, than if he came out openly as a member of a
hostile tribe. When the latter understood the truth, and was told that he had
been deceived in supposing the chief had succeeded in entering the Ark
undiscovered, he cheerfully consented to the change, since further attempt at
concealment was useless. A gender feeling than the one avowed, however, lay
at the bottom of the Indian's desire to appear as a son of the forest. He had
been told that Hist was on the opposite shore, and nature so far triumphed
over all distinctions of habit, and tribes and people, as to reduce this
young savage warrior to the level of a feeling which would have been found in
the most refined inhabitant of a town, under similar circumstances. There
was a mild satisfaction in believing that she he loved could see him, and as
he walked out on the platform in his scanty, native attire, an Apollo of the
wilderness, a hundred of the tender fancies that fleet through lovers'
brains, beset his imagination and softened his heart.
All this was lost on Deerslayer, who was no great adept in the mysteries of
Cupid, but whose mind was far more occupied with the concerns that forced
themselves on his attention, than with any of the truant fancies of love. He
soon recalled his
companion, therefore, to a sense of their actual condition, by summoning him
to a sort of council of war, in which they were to settle their future
course. In the dialogue that followed, the parties mutually made each other
acquainted with what had passed in their several interviews. Ghingachgook was
told the history of the treaty about the ransom, and Deerslayer heard the
whole of Hetty's communications. The latter listened with generous interest
to his friend's hopes, and promised cheerfully all the assistance he could
lend.
"Tis our main ar'n'd, Sarpent, as you know, this battling for the castle and
old Hutter's darters, coming in as a sort of accident. Yes-yes- I'll be
actyve in helping little Hist, who's not only one of the best and handsomest
maidens of the tribe, but the very best and handsomest. I've always
encouraged you, chief, in that liking, and it's proper, too, that a great and
ancient race like your'n shouldn't come to an end. If a woman of red skin
and red gifts could get to be near enough to me to wish her for a wife, I'd
s'arch for just such another, but that can never be; no, that can never be.
I'm glad Hetty has met with Hist, howsever, for though the first is a little
short of wit and understanding, the last has enough for both. Yes, Sarpent-"
laughing heartily-"put 'em together, and two smarter gals is'n't to be found
in all York Colony!"
"I will go to the Iroquois camp," returned the Delaware, gravely. "No one
knows Chingachgook but Wah1, and a treaty for lives and scalps should be made
by a chiefi Give me the strange beasts, and let me take a canoe."
Deerslayer dropped his head, and played with the end of a fish-pole in the
water, as he sate dangling his legs over the edge of the platform, like a man
who was lost in thought, by the sudden occurrence of a novel idea. Instead of
directly answering the proposal of his friend, he began to soliloquize, a
circumstance however that in no manner rendered his words more true, as he
was remarkable for saying what he thought, whether the remarks were addressed
to himself, or to any one else.
"Yes- yes-" he said- "this must be what they call love! I've heard say that
it sometimes upsets reason altogether, leaving a young man as helpless, as
to calculation and caution, as a brute beast. To think that the Sarpent
should be so lost to
season, and cunning, and wisdom! We must, sartainly, manage to get Hist off,
and have 'em married as soon as we get back to the tribe, or this war will be
of no more use to the chief, than a hunt a little oncommon extr'ornary. Yes-
yes-he'll never be the man he was, till this matter is off his mind, and he
comes to his senses like all the rest of mankind. Sarpent, you can't be in
airnest, and therefore I shall say but little to your offer. But you're a
chief, and will soon be sent out on the warpath at head of the parties, and
I'll just ask if you'd think of putting your forces into the inimy's hands,
afore the battle is fou't?"
"Wah!" ejaculated the Indian.
"Ay - Wah! - I know well enough it's Wah!, and altogether Wab! - Ra'ally,
Sarpent, I'm consamed and mortified about you! I never heard so weak an idee
come from a chief, and he, too, one that's already got a name for being wise,
young and inexper'enced as he is. Canoe you sha'n't have, so long as the
v'ice of fri'ndship and warning can count for any thing."
"My pale-face friend is right. A cloud came over the face of Chingachgook,
and weakness got into his mind, while his eyes were dim. My brother has a
good memoi-y for good deeds, and a weak memory for bad. He will forget."
"Yes, that's easy enough. Say no more about it chief, but if another of them
clouds blow near you, do your endivours to get out of its way. Clouds are bad
enough in the weather, but when they come to the reason, it gets to be
serious. Now, sit down by me here, and let us calculate our movements a
little, for we shall soon either have a truce and a peace, or we shall come
to an ac"yve, and bloody war. You see the vagabonds can make logs sarve their
turn, as well as the best raftsmen on the rivers, and it would be no great
expl'ite for them to invade us in a body. I've been thinking of the wisdom of
putting all old Tom's stores into the Ark, of barring and locking up the
Castle, and of taking to the Ark, altogether. That is moveable, and by
keeping the sail up, and shifting places, we might worry through a great many
nights, without them Canada wolves finding a way into our sheep fold!"
Chingachgook listened to this plan, with approbation. Did the negotiation
fail, there was now little hope that the night would pass without an assault,
and the enemy had sagacity enough to understand that, in carrying the castle,
they would probably become masters of all it contained, the offered ransom
included, and still retain the advantages they had hitherto gained. Some
precaution of the sort appeared to be absolutely necessary, for now the
numbers of the Iroquois were known, a night attack could scarcely be
successfully met. It would be impossible to prevent the enemy from getting
possession of the canoes and the Ark, and the latter itself would be a hold
in which the assailants would be as effectually protected against bullets as
were those in the building. For a few minutes, both the men thought of
sinking the Ark, in the shallow water, of bringing the canoes into the house,
and of depending altogether on the castle for protection. But reflection
satisfied them that, in the end, this expedient would fail. It was so easy to
collect logs on the shore, and to construct a raft of almost any size, that
it was certain the Iroquois, now they had turned their attention to such
means, would resort to them seriously, so long as there was the certainty of
success by perseverance. After deliberating maturely, and placing all the
considerations fairly before them, the two young beginners in the art of
forest warfare, settled down into the opinion that the Ark offered the only
available means of security. This decision was no sooner come to, than it was
communicated to Judith. The girl had no serious objection to make, and all
four set about the measures necessary to carrying the plan into execution.
The reader will readily understand that Floating Tom's worldly goods were of
no great amount. A couple of beds, some wearing apparel, the arms and
ammunition, a few cooking utensils, with the mysterious and but half
examined chest formed the principal items. These were all soon removed, the
Ark having been hauled on the eastern side of the building, so that the
transfer could be made without being seen from the shore. It was thought
unnecessary to disturb the heavier and coarser articles of furniture, as they
were not required in the Ark, and were of but little value in themselves. As
great caution was necessary in removing the different objects, most of which
were passed out of a window with a view to conceal what was going on, it
required two or three hours before all could be effected. By the expiration
of that time, the raft made its appearance, moving from the shore. Deerslayer
immediately had recourse to the glass, by the aid of which he perceived that
two warriors were on it, though they appeared to be unarmed. The progress of
the raft was slow, a circumstance that formed one of the great advantages
that would be possessed by the scow, in any future collision between them,
the movements of the latter being comparatively swift and light. As there was
time to make the dispositions for the reception of the two dangerous
visiters, every thing was prepared for them, long before they had got near
enough to be hailed. The Serpent, and the girls retired into the building,
where the former stood near the door, well provided with rifles, while
Judith watched the proceedings without through a loop. As for Deerslayer, he
had brought a stool to the edge of the platform, at the point towards which
the raft was advancing, and taken his seat with his rifle leaning carelessly
between his legs.
As the raft drew nearer, every means possessed by the party in the castle was
resorted to, in order to ascertain if their visiters had any fire arms.
Neither Deerslayer nor Chingachgook could discover any, but Judith,
unwilling to trust to simple eye-sight, thrust the glass through the loop,
and directed it towards the hemlock boughs that lay between the two logs of
the raft, forming a sort of flooring, as well as a seat for the use of the
rowers. When the heavy moving craft was within fifty feet of him, Deerslayer
hailed the Hurons, directing them to cease rowing, it not being his intention
to permit them to land. Compliance, of course, was necessary, and the two
grim-looking warriors instantly quitted their seats, though the raft
continued slowly to approach, until it had driven in much nearer to the
platform.
"Are ye chiefs?" demanded Deerslayer with dignity-"Are ye chiefs? -Or have
the Mingos sent me warriors without names, on such an ar'n'd? If so, the
sooner ye go back, the sooner them will be likely to come that a warrior can
talk with."
"Hugh!" exclaimed the elder of the two on the raft, rolling his glowing eyes
over the different objects that were visible in and about the Castle, with a
keenness that showed how little escaped him. "My brother is very proud, but
Rivenoak (we use the literal translation of the term, writing as we do in
English) is a name to make a Delaware turn pale."
"That's true, or it's a lie, Rivenoak, as it may be; but I am not likely to
turn pale, seeing that I was born pale. What's your ar'n'd, and why do you
come among light bark canoes, on logs that are not even dug out?"
"The Iroquois are not ducks, to walk on water! Let the pale faces give them a
canoe, and they'll come in a canoe."
"That's more rational, than likely to come to pass. We have but four canoes,
and being four persons that's only one for each of us. We thank you for the
offer, howsever, though we ask leave not to accept it. You are welcome,
Iroquois, on your logs."
"Thanks- My young pale face warrior- he has got a name - how do the chiefs
call him?"
Deerslayer hesitated a moment, and a gleam of pride and human weakness came
over him. He smiled, muttered between his teeth, and then looking up
proudly, he said- "Mingo, like all who are young and actyve, I've been known
by different names, at different times. One of your warriors whose spirit
started for the Happy Grounds of your people, as lately as yesterday morning,
thought I desarved to be known by the name of Hawkeye, and this because my
sight happened to be quicker than his own, when it got to be life or death,
atween us."
Chingachgook, who was attentively listening to all that passed, heard and
understood this proof of passing weakness in his friend, and on a future
occasion he questioned him more closely concerning the transaction on the
point, where Deerslayer had first taken human life. When he had got the
whole truth, he did not fail to communicate it to the tribe, from which time
the young hunter was universally known among the Delawares, by an appellation
so honorably earned. As this, however, was a period posterior to all the
incidents of this tale, we shall continue to call the young hunter by the
name under which he has been first introduced to the reader. Nor was the
Iroquois less struck with the vaunt of the white man. He knew of the death of
his comrade, and had no difficulty in understanding the allusion, the
intercourse between the conqueror and his victim on that occasion, having
been seen by several savages on the shore of the lake, who had been stationed
at different points just within the margin of bushes to watch the drifting
canoes, and who had not time to reach the scene of action, ere the victor had
retired. The effect on this rude being of the forest, was an exclamation of
surprise; then such a smile of courtesy, and wave of the hand, succeeded, as
would have done credit to Asiatic diplomacy. The two Iroquois spoke to each
other, in low tones, and both drew near the end of the raft that was closest
to the platform.
"My brother, Hawkeye, has sent a message to the Hurons," resumed Rivenoak,
"and it has made their hearts very glad. They hear he has images of beasts
with two tails! Will he show them to his friends."
"Inimies would be truer," returned Deerslayer, "but sound is n't sense, and
does little harm. Here is One of the images; I toss it to you under faith of
treaties. If it's not returned, the rifle will settle the p'int atween us."
The Iroquois seemed to acquiesce in the conditions, and Deerslayer arose and
prepared to toss one of the elephants to the raft, both parties using all the
precaution that was necessary to prevent its loss. As practice renders men
expert in such things, the little piece of ivory was soon successfully
transferred from one hand to the other, and then followed another scene on
the raft, in which astonishment and delight got the mastery of Indian
stoicism. These two grim old warriors manifested even more feeling, as they
examined the curiously wrought chess-man, than had been betrayed by the boy;
for, in the case of the latter, recent schooling had interposed its
influence; while the men, like all who are sustained by well established
characters, were not ashamed to let some of their emotions be discovered. For
a few minutes they apparently lost the consciousness of their situation, in
the intense scrutiny they bestowed on a material so fine, work so highly
wrought, and an animal so extraordinary. The lip of the moose is, perhaps,
the nearest approach to the trunk of the elephant that is to be found in the
American forest, but this resemblance was far from being sufficiently
striking to bring the new creature within the range of their habits and
ideas, and the more they studied the image, the greater was their
astonishment. Nor did these children of the forest mistake the structure on
the back of the elephant for a part of the animal. They were familiar with
horses and oxen, and had seen towers in the Canadas, and found nothing
surprising in creatures of burthen. Still, by a very natural association,
they supposed the carving meant to represent, that the animal they saw, was
of a strength sufficient to carry a fort on its back; a circumstance that, in
no degree, lessened their wonder.
"Has my pale face brother any more such beasts?" at last the senior of the
Iroquois asked, in a sort of petitioning manner.
"There's more where them came from, Mingo," was the answer; "one is enough,
howsever, to buy off fifty scalps."
"One of my prisoners is a great warrior-tall as a pine- strong as the moose-
active as a deer-fierce as the panther! Some day he'll be a great chief, and
lead the army of King George!"
"Tut-tut-Mingo; Hurry Harry is Hurry Harry, and you'll never make more than a
corporal of him, if you do that. He's tall enough, of a sartainty; but that's
of no use, as he only hits his head ag'in the branches as he goes through the
forest. He's strong too, but a strong body is'n't a strong head, and the
king's generals are not chosen for their sinews; he's swift, if you will, but
a rifle bullet is swifter; and as for f'erceness, it's no great ricommend to
a soldier; they that think they feel the stoutest, often givin' out at the
pinch. No-no-you'll niver make Hurry's scalp pass for more than a good head
of curly hair, and a rattle pate beneath it!"
"My old prisoner very wise - king of the lake - great warrior, wise
counsellor!"
"Well, there's them that might gainsay all this, too, Mingo. A very wise man
would'n't be apt to be taken in so foolish a manner as befel Master Hutter,
and if he gives good counsel, he must have listened to very bad, in that
affair. There's only one king of this lake, and he's a long way off, and
is'n't likely ever to see it. Floating Tom is some such king of this region,
as the wolf that prowls through the woods, is king of the forest. A beast
with two tails is well worth two such scalps!"
"But my brother has another beast? - He will give two -holding up as many
fingers-"for old father?"
"Floating Tom is no father of mine, but he'll fare none the worse for that.
As for giving two beasts for his scalp, and each beast with two tails, it is
quite beyond reason. Think yourself well off, Mingo, if you make a much worse
trade."
By this time the self-command of Rivenoak had got the better of his wonder,
and he began to fall back on his usual habits of cunning, in order to drive
the best bargain he could. It would be useless to relate more than the
substance of the desultory dialogue that followed, in which the Indian
manifested no little management, in endeavoring to recover the ground lost
under the influence of surprise. He even affected to doubt whether any
original for the image of the beast existed, and asserted that the oldest
Indian had never heard a tradition of any such animal. Little did either of
them imagine, at the time, that long ere a century elapsed, the progress of
civilization would bring even much more extraordinary and rare animals into
that region, as curiosities to be gazed at by the curious, and that the
particular beast, about which the disputants contended, would be seen laying
its sides, and swimming in the very sheet of water, on which they had met. *
As is not uncommon on such occasions, one of the parties got a little warm,
in the course of the discussion, for Deerslayer met all the arguments and
prevarication of his subtle opponent, with his own cool directness of manner,
and unmoved love of truth. What an elephant was he knew little better than
the savage, but he perfectly understood that the carved pieces of ivory must
have some such value in the eyes of an Iroquois, as a bag of gold, or a
package of beaver skins would in those of a trader. Under the circumstances,
therefore, he felt it to be prudent not to concede too much at first, since
there existed a nearly unconquerable obstacle to making the transfers, even
after the contracting parties had actually agreed upon the terms. Keeping
this difficulty in view, he held the extra chessmen in reserve, as a means
of smoothing any difficulty in the moment of need.
At length the savage pretended that further negotiation was useless, since he
could not be so unjust to his tribe as to part with the honor and emoluments
of two excellent, full grown, male, scalps for a consideration so trifling as
a toy like that he had seen, and he prepared to take his departure. Both
parties now felt as men are wont to feel, when a bargain that each is anxious
to conclude, is on the eve of being broken off, in consequence of too much
pertinacity in the way of management. The effect of the disappointment was
very different, however, on the respective individuals. Deerslayer was
mortified, and filled with regret, for he not only felt for the prisoners,
but he also felt deeply for the two girls. The conclusion of the treaty,
therefore, left him melancholy and full of regret. With the savage, his
defeat produced the desire of revenge. In a moment of excitement, he had
loudly announced his intention to say no more, and he felt equally enraged
with himself and with his cool opponent, that he had permitted a pale face to
manifest more indifference and self-command than an Indian chief. When he
began to urge his raft away from the platform, his countenance lowered, and
his eye glowed,even while he affected a smile of amity and a gesture of
courtesy, at parting.
It took some little time to overcome the inertia of the logs, and while this
was being done by the silent Indian, Rivenoak stalked over the hemlock boughs
that lay between the logs, in sullen ferocity, eyeing keenly the while, the
hut, the platform, and the person of his late disputant. Once he spoke in
low, quick tones to his companion, and he stirred the boughs with his feet,
like an animal that is restive. At that moment, the watchfulness of
Deerslayer had a little abated, for he sat musing on the means of renewing
the negotiation without giving too much advantage to the other side. It was
perhaps fortunate
for him that the keen and bright eyes ofJudith were as vigilant as ever. At
the instant when the young man was least on his guard, and his enemy was the
most on the alert, she called out, in a warning voice, to the former, most
opportunely, giving the alarm.
"Be on your guard, Deerslayer," the girl cried- "I see rifles with the glass,
beneath the hemlock brush, and the Iroquois is loosening them with his feet!"
It would seem that the enemy had carried their artifices so far as to employ
an agent who understood English. The previous dialogue had taken place in
his own language, but it was evident, by the sudden manner in which his feet
ceased their treacherous occupation, and in which the countenance of Rivenoak
changed from sullen ferocity to a smile of courtesy, that the call of the
girl was understood. Signing to his companion to cease his efforts to set
the logs in motion, he advanced to the end of the raft which was nearest to
the platform, and spoke.
"Why should Rivenoak and his brother leave any cloud between them," he said.
"They are both wise, both brave, and both generous; they ought to part
friends. One beast shall be the price of one prisoner."
"And, Mingo," answered the other, delighted to renew the negotiations on
almost any terms, and determined to clinch the bargain if possible by a
little extra liberality, "you'll see that a pale face knows how to pay a full
price, when he trades with an open heart, and an open hand. Keep the beast
that you had forgotten to give back to me, as you was about to start, and
which I forgot to ask for, on account of consarn at parting in anger. Show it
to your chiefs. When you bring us our fri'nds, two more shall be added to it
- and-" hesitating a moment in distrust of the expediency of so great a
concession; then, deciding in its favor- "and, if we see them afore the sun
sets, we may find a fourth to make up an even number."
This settled the matter. Every gleam of discontent vanished from the dark
countenance of the Iroquois, and he smiled as graciously, if not as sweetly,
as Judith Hutter, herself. The piece already in his possession was again
examined, and an ejaculation of pleasure, showed how much he was pleased with
this unexpected termination of the affair. In point of fact, both he and
Deerslayer had momentarily forgotten what had become of the subject of their
discussion, in the warmth of their feelings, but such had not been the case
with Rivenoak's companion. This man retained the piece, and had fully made up
his mind, were it claimed under such circumstances as to render its return
necessary, to drop it in the lake, trusting to his being able to find it,
again, at some future day. This desperate expedient, however, was no longer
necessary, and after repeating the terms of agreement, and professing to
understand them, the two Indians finally took their departure, ving slowly
towards the shore.
any faith be put in such wretches?" asked Judith, when she and Hetty had come
out on the platform, and were standing at the side of Deerslayer, watching
the dull movement of the logs. "Will they not rather keep the toy they have,
and send us off some bloody proofs of their getting the better of us in
cunning, by way of boasting? I've heard of acts as bad as this."
"No doubt-Judith; no manner of doubt, if it was'n't for Indian natur'. But
I'm no judge of a red skin, if that two tail'd beast does'n't set the whole
tribe in some such stir, as a stick raises in a beehive! Now, there's the
Sarpent; a man with narves like flint, and no more cur'osity in every day
consarns, than is befitting prudence; why he was so overcome with the sight
of the creatur', carved as it is in bone, that I felt ashamed for him! That's
just their gifts, howsever, and one can't well quarrel with a man for his
gifts, when they are lawful. Chingachgook will soon get over his weakness,
and remember that he's a chief, and that he comes of a great stock, and has a
renowned name to support and uphold; but, as for yonder scamps, there'll be
no peace among 'em, until they think they've got possession of every thing of
the natur' of that bit of carved bone, that's to be found among Thomas
Hutter's stores!"
"They only know of the elephants, and can have no hopes about the other
things."
"That's true, Judith; still, covetousness is a craving feelin'! They'll say,
if the pale faces have these cur'ous beasts with two tails, who knows but
they've got some with three, or, for that matter, with four! That's what the
schoolmasters call nat'ral arithmetic, and t'will be sartain to beset the
feelin's of savages. They'll never be easy, till the truth is known."
"Do you think, Deerslayer," inquired Hetty, in her simple and innocent
manner, "that the Iroquois wo'n't let father and Hurry go?-I read to them
several of the very best verses in the whole bible, and you see what they
have done, already."
The hunter, as he always did, listened kindly and even affectionately to
Hetty's remarks; then he mused a moment in silence. There was something like
a flush on his cheek, as he answered, after quite a minute had passed.
"I do'n't know whether a white man ought to be ashamed, or not, to own he
can't read, but such is my case, Judith. You are skilful, I find, in all such
matters, while I have only studied the hand of God, as it is seen in the
hills and the valleys, the mountain-tops, the streams, the forests and the
springs. Much l'arning may be got in this way, as well as out of books; and,
yet, I sometimes think it is a white man's gift to read! When I hear from the
mouths of the Moravians, the words of which I-jetty speaks, they raise a
longing in my mind, and I then think I will know how to read 'em myself; but
the game in summer, and the traditions, and lessons in war, and other
matters, have always kept me behind hand."
"Shall I teach you, Deerslayer?" asked Hetty, earnestly. "I'm weak-minded,
they say, but I can read as well as Judith. It might save your life to know
how to read the bible to the savages, and it will certainly save your soul;
for mother told me that, again and again!"
"Thankee, Hetty-yes, thankee, with all my heart. These are like to be too
stirring times for much idleness, but, after it's peace, and I come to see
you ag'in on this lake, then I'll give myself up to it, as if 'twas pleasure
and profit, in a single business. Perhaps I ought to be ashamed, Judith, that
'tis so; but truth is truth. As for these Iroquois, tis'n't very likely
they'll forget a beast with two tails, on account of a varse or two from the
bible. I rather expect they'll give up the prisoners, and trust to some
sarcumvenion, or other, to get 'em back, ag'in, with us and all in the castle
and the Ark, in the bargain. Howsever, we must humour the vagabonds, first to
get your father and Hurry out of their hands, and next to keep the peace
atween us, until such time as the Sarpent there, can make out to get off his
betrothed wife. If there's any sudden outbreakin' of anger and ferocity, the
Indians will send off all their women and children to the camp, at once,
whereas, by keeping 'em calm and trustful, we may manage to meet Hist, at the
spot she has mentioned. Rather than have the bargain fall through, now, I'd
throw in haifa dozen of them effigy bow-and-arrow men, such as we've in
plenty in the chist."
Judith cheerfully assented, for she would have resigned even the flowered
brocade, rather than not redeem her father and Please Deerslayer. The
prospects of success were now so encouraging, as to raise the spirits of all
in the castle, though a due watchfulness, of the movements of the enemy was
maintained. Hour passed after hour, notwithstanding, and the sun had once
more begun to fall towards the summits of the western hills, and yet no signs
were seen of the return of the raft. By dint of sweeping the shore with the
glass, Deerslayer at length discovered a place in the dense and dark woods,
where, he entertained no doubt, the Iroquois were assembled in considerable
numbers. It was near the thicket whence the raft had issued, and a little
rill that trickled into the lake, announced the vicinity of a spring. Here,
then, the savages were probably holding their consultation, and the decision
was to be made that went to settle the question of life or death for the
prisoners. There was one ground for hope in spite of the delay, however, that
Deerslayer did not fail to place before his anxious companions. It was far
more probable that the Indians had left their prisoners in the camp, than
that they had encumbered themselves by causing them to follow through the
woods, a party that was out on a merely temporary excursion. If such was the
fact, it required considerable time to send a messenger the necessary
distance, and to bring the two white men to the spot where they were to
embark. Encouraged by these reflections, a new stock of patience was
gathered, and the declension of the sun was viewed with less alarm.
The result justified Deerslayer's conjecture. Not long before the sun had
finally disappeared, the two logs were seen coming out of the thicket, again,
and, as it drew near, Judith announced that her father and Hurry, both of
them pinioned, lay on the bushes in the centre. As before, the two Indians
were rowing. The latter seemed to be conscious that the lateness of the hour
demanded unusual exertions, and contrary to the habits of their people, who
are ever averse to toil, they labored hard at the rude substitutes for oars.
In consequence of this diligence, the raft occupied its old station, in about
half the time that had been taken in the previous visits.
Even after the conditions were so well understood, and matters had proceeded
so far, the actual transfer of the prisoners was not a duty to be executed
without difficulty. The Iroquois were compelled to place great reliance on
the good faith of their foes, though it was reluctantly given; and was
yielded to necessity rather than to confidence. As soon as Hutter and Hurry
should be released, the party in the castle numbered
two to one, as opposed to those on the raft, and escape by flight was out of
the question, as the former had three bark canoes, to say nothing of the
defences of the house and the Ark. All this was understood by both parties,
and it is probable the arrangement never could have been completed, had not
the honest countenance and manner of Deerslayer wrought their usual effect
on Rivenoak.
"My brother knows I put faith in him-" said the latter, as he advanced with
Hutter, whose legs had been released to enable the old man to ascend to the
platform. "One scalp-one more beast."
"Stop-Mingo-" interrupted the hunter- "keep your prisoner a moment. I have to
go and seek the means of payment."
This excuse, however, though true in part, was principally a fetch.
Deerslayer left the platform, and entering the house, he directed Judith to
collect all the arms, and to conceal them in her own room. He then spoke
earnestly to the Delaware, who stood on guard as before, near the entrance of
the building, put the three remaining castles in his pocket, and returned.
"You are welcome back, to your old abode, Master Hutter," said Deerslayer, as
he helped the other up on the platform, slily passing into the hand of
Rivenoak, at the same time, another of the castles. "You'll find your darters
right glad to see you, and here's Hetty come herself, to say as much in her
own behalf."
Here the hunter stopped speaking and broke out into a hearty fit of his
silent and peculiar laughter. Hurry's legs were just released, and he had
been placed on his feet. So tightly had the ligatures been drawn, that the
use of his limbs was not immediately recovered, and the young giant
presented, in good sooth, a very helpless and a somewhat ludicrous picture.
It was this unusual spectacle, particularly the bewildered countenance, that
excited the merriment of Deerslayer.
'You look like a girdled pine in a clearin', Hurry Harry, that is rocking in
a gale," said Deerslayer, checking his unseasonable mirth, more from
delicacy to the others, than from any respect to the liberated captive. "I'm
glad, howsever, to see that you have'n't had your hair dressed by any of the
Iroquois barbers, in your late visit to their camp."
"Harkee, Deerslayer," returned the other a little fiercely, "it will be
prudent for you to deal less in mirth, and more in friendship, on this
occasion. Act like a christian, for once, and not like a laughing gal, in a
country school, when the master's back is turned, and just tell me whether
there's any feet, or not, at the end of these legs of mine. I think I can see
them, but as for feelin' they might as well be down on the banks of the
Mohawk, as be where they seem to be."
"You've come off whole, Hurry, and that's not a little," answered the other,
secretly passing to the Indian the remainder of the stipulated ransom, and
making an earnest sign, at the same moment, for him to commence his retreat.
"You've come off whole, feet and all, and are only a little numb, from a
tight fit of the withes. Natur'll soon set the blood in motion, and then you
may begin to dance, to celebrate what I call a most wonderful and onexpected
deliverance from a den of wolves."
Deerslayer released the arms of his friends, as each landed, and the two were
now stamping and limping about on the platform, growling and uttering
denunciations, as they endeavored to help the returning circulation. They
had been tethered too long, however, to regain the use of their limbs in a
moment, and the Indians being quite as diligent on their return, as on their
advance, the raft was fully a hundred yards from the castle, when Hurry,
turning accidentally in that direction, discovered how fast it was getting
beyond the reach of his vengeance. By this time, he could move with tolerable
facility, though still numb and awkward. Without considering his own
situation, however, he seized the rifle that leaned against the shoulder of
Deerslayer, and attempted to cock and present it. The young hunter was too
quick for him. Seizing the piece he wrenched it from the hands of the giant,
not, however, until it had gone off in the struggle, when pointed directly
upward. It is probable that Deerslayer could have prevailed in such a
contest, on account of the condition of Hurry's limbs, but the instant the
gun went off, the latter yielded, and stumped towards the house, raising his
legs at each step, quite a foot from the ground, from an uncertainty of the
actual position of his feet. But he had been anticipated by Judith. The whole
stock of Hutter's arms, which had been left in the building, as a resource in
the event of a sudden outbreaking of hostilities, had been removed, and were
already secreted, agreeably to Deerslayer's directions. In consequence of
this precaution, no means offered by which March could put his designs in
execution.
Disappointed in his vengeance, Hurry seated himself, and like Hutter, for
half an hour, he was too much occupied in endeavoring to restore the
circulation, and in regaining the use of his limbs, to indulge in any other
reflections. By the end of this time the raft had disappeared, and night was
beginning to throw her shadows once more over the whole silvan scene. Before
darkness had completely set in, and while the girls were preparing the
evening meal, Deerslayer related to Hutter an outline of events that had
taken place, and gave him a history of the means he had adopted for the
security of his children and property.
CHAPTER 15
'As long as Edwarde rules thys lande,
Ne quiet you wylle ye know ;
Your sonnes and husbandes shall be slayne,
And brooked with bloode shall 'flowe.'
'You leave youre geode and lawfulle kynge,
Wbenne ynne adversity ;
Like me. untoe the true cause styckke.
And for the true cause dye.'
Cbatterton.
The calm of evening was again in singular contrast, while its gathering gloom
was in as singular unison, with the passions of men. The sun was set, and the
rays of the retiring luminary had ceased to gild the edges of the few clouds
that had sufficient openings to admit the passage of its fading light. Tne
canopy overhead was heavy and dense, promising another night of darkness, but
the surface of the lake was scarcely disturbed by a ripple. There was a
little air, though it scarce deserved to be termed wind. Still, being damp
and heavy, it had a certain fore. ne party in the castle were as gloomy and
silent as the scene The two ransomed prisoners felt humbled and discoloured,
but their humility partook of the rancour of revenge. They were far more
disposed to remember the indignity with which they had been treated during
the last few hours of their captivity, than to feel grateful for the previous
indulgence. Then that keensighted monitor conscience, by reminding them of
the retributive justice of all they had endured, goaded them, rather to turn
the tables
on their enemies, than to accuse themselves. As for the other they were
thoughtful equally from regret and joy. Deerslayer and Judith felt most of
the former sensation, though from very' different causes, while Hetty for the
moment was perfectly happy. The Delaware had also lively pictures of felicity
in the
prospect of so soon regaining his betrothed. Under such circumstandes, and in
this mood, all were taking the evening meal.
'Old Tom!' cried Hurry, bursting into a fit of boisterous laughter, "you
look'd amazin'ly like tethered bear, as you was stretched on them hemlock
boughs, and I only wonder you didn't growl more. Well, it's over, and syth's
lamentations won't mend the matter! There's the blackguard Rivenoak, he that
brought us off has an oncommon scalp, and I 'd give as much for it myself as
the Colony.much tor it myself as the Colony. Yes, l feel as rich as the
governor, in these matters now, and will lay down with them doubloon for
doubloon. Judith, darling, did you mourn for me much, when I was in the hands
of the Philipsteins.'
The last were a family of German descent on the Mohawk, to whom Hurry had a
great antipathy, and whom he had confounded with the enemies of Judea.
"Our tears have raised the lake, Hurry March, as you might have seen by the
shore !' returned Judith, with a feigned levity that she was far from
feeling. "That Hetty and I should have grieved for father, was to be expected
; but we fairly rained tears for you.'
"We were sorry for poor Hurry, as well as tor father, Judith !' put in her
innocent and unconscious sister.
'True, girl, true ; but we feel sorrow for everybody that's in trouble, you
know,' returned the other in a quick, admonitory manner. and a low tone.
"Nevertheless, we are glad to see you, Master March, and out of the hands of
the Philipsteins, too."
"Yes, they're a bad set, and so is the other brood of 'em, down on the
river. It's a wonderment to me, how you got us off, Deerslayer ; and l
forgive you the interference that prevented my doin' justice on that
vagabond, for this small service. Let us into the secret, that we may do you
the same good turn, at need. Was it by lying, or by coaxing ?'
'By neither, Hurry, but by buying. We paid a ransom for you both, and that,
too, at a price so high, you had well be on your guard ag'in another
captyvement, lest our stock of goods shouldn't hold out.'
'A ransom ! - Old Tom has paid the fiddler, then, for nothing of mine would
have bought off the hair, much less the skin. I didn't think men as keen set
as them vagabonds, would let a airflow up so easy, when they had him fairly
at a close hug, and Moored. But money is money, and somehow it's unnat'ral
hard to withstand. Indian! or white man. 'tis pretty much the same. It must
be owned, Judith, there's a considerable of human natur' in mankind
generally, after all !'
Hutter now rose, and signing to Deerslayer, he led him to an inner room,
where, in answer to his questions, he first learned the price that had been
paid for his release. The old man expressed neither resentment nor surprise
at the inroad that had been made on his chest, though he did manifest some
curiosity to know how far the investigation of its contents had been carried.
He also inquired where the key had been found. The habitual frankness of
Deerslayer prevented any prevarication, and the conference soon terminated by
the return of the two to the outer room, or that which served for the double
purpose of parlour and kitchen.
'1 wonder if it's peace or war, between us and the savages !' exclaimed
Hurry, just as Deerslayer, who had paused for a single instant, listened
attentively, and was passing through the outer door without stopping. This
givin' up captives has a friendly look, and when men have traded together, on
a fair and honourable footing, they ought to part fri'nds, for that occasion,
at least. Come back, Deerslayer, and let us have your judgment, for I'm
beginnin' to think more of you, since your late behav iour, than l used to
do.'
There's an answer to your question, Hurry, since you're in such haste to come
ag'in to blows.'
As Deerslayer spoke, he threw on the table, on which the other was reclining
with one elbow? a sort of miniature fagot, composed of a dozen sticks bound
tightly together with a deer- skin thong. March seized it eagerly, and
holding it close to a blazing knot of pine that lay on the hearth! and which
gave out all the light there was in the room? ascertained that the ends of
the several sticks had been dipped in blood.
"lf this isn't plain English,' said the reckless frontier man, "it's plain
Indian ! Here's what they call a declination of war, down at York, Judith.
How did you come by this defiant, Deerslayer ?' 'Fairly enough. It lay not a
minot' since, in what you call Floatin' Tom's door yard.' How came it there ?
It never fell from the clouds, Judith, as little toads sometimes do, and then
it don't rain. You must prove t where it come from, Deerslayer, or we shall
suspect some design to skear them that would have lost their wits long ago,
if fear could drive 'em away.'
Deerslayer had approached a window, and cast a glance out of it, on the dark
aspect of the lake. As if satisfied with what he beheld, he drew near Hurry,
and took the bundle of sticks into his own hand, examining it attentively.
'Yes, this is an indian declination of war, sure enough,' he said, 'and it's
a proof how little you're suited to be on the path it has travelled, Harry
March, that it has got here, and you never the wiser as to the means. The
savages may have left the scalp on your head, but they must have taken off
the ears ; else you'd have heard the stirring of the water made by the lad as
he come off ag'n on his two logs. His ar'n'd was to throw these sticks at our
door, as much as to say, we've struck the war-pool since the trade, and the
next thing will be to strike you.
' 'The prowling wolves ! But hand me that rifle, Judith, and 1'11 send an
answer back to the vagabonds through their messenger.'
'Not while l stand by, Master March,' coolly put in Deerslayer, motioning for
the other to forbear. 'Faith is faith, whether given to a red-skin, or to a
Christian. The lad lighted a knot, and came off fairly, under its blaze, to
give us this warning ; and no man here should harm him, while empl'yed on
such an ar'n'd. There's no use in words, for the boy is too cunning to leave
the knot burning, now his business is done and the night is already too dark
for a rifle to have any sartainty.
'That may be true enough, as to a gun, but there's virtue still in a canoe,'
answered Hurry, passing towards the door with enormous strides, carrying a
rifle in his hands. "T'he being doesn't live that shall stop me from
following and bringing back that riptyle's scalp. The more on 'em that you
crush in the egg, the fewer there'll be to dart at you in the woods !'
Judith trembled like the aspen, she scarce knew why herself, though there was
the prospect of a scene of violence ; for if Hurry was fierce and overbearing
in the consciousness of his Vast strength, Deerslayer had about him the calm
determination that promises greater perseverance, and a resolution more
likely to effect its object. It was the stern, resolute eye of the latter,
rather than the noisy vehemence of the first, that excited her apprehensions.
Hurry soon reached the spot where the canoe Was fastened, but not before
Deerslayer had spoke in a quick, earnest voice to the Serpent, in Delaware.
The latter had been the frst, in truth, to hear the sounds of the oars, and
he nae gone upon the platform in jealous watchfulness. The light satisfied
him that a message was coming, and when the boy cast his bundle of sticks at
his feet, it neither moved his anger. nor induced surprise. He merely stood
at watch, rifle in hand, to make certain that no treachery lay behind the
defiance. As Deerslayer now called to him, he stepped into the canoe, and
quick as thought removed the paddles. Hurry was furious when he found that he
was deprived of the means of proceeding. He frst approached the Indian with
loud menaces, and even Deerslayer stood aghast at the probable consequences.
March shook his sledge-hammer fists, and flourished his arms, as he drew neat
the Indian, and all expected he would attempt to fell the Delaware to the
earth ; one of them, at least, was well award that such an experiment would
be followed by immediate bloodshed. But even Hurry was awed by the stern
composure of the chief, and he, too, knew that such a man was not to be
outraged with impunity ; he, therefore, turned to vent his rage on
Deerslayer, where he foresaw no consequences so terrible What might have been
the result of this second demonstration if completed, is unknown, since it
was never made.
"Hurry," said a gentle, soothing voice at his elbow, "it's wicked to be so
angry, and God will not overlook it. The Iroquois treated you well, and they
didn't take your scalp, though you and father wanted to take theirs.'
The influence of mildness on passion is well known. Hetty, too, had earned a
sort of consideration, that had never before been enjoyed by her, through the
self-devotion and decision of her recent conduct. Perhaps her established
mental imbecility by removing all distrust of a wish to control aided her
influence. Let the cause be as questionable as it might, the effect we
sufficiently certain. Instead of throttling his old fellow-traveler, Hurry
turned to the girl, and poured out a portion o discontent, if none of his
anger, in her attentive ears.
"Tis too bad, Hetty !' he exclaimed ; "as bad as a county gaol or a lack of
beaver, to get a creator' into your very trap '' then to see it get off. As
much as six firrst quality skins, in valie, has paddled off on them clumsy
logs, when twenty strokes of a well-turned paddle, would overtake 'em. I say
in valie, for as to the boy in the way of natur', he is only a boy, and is
worth
neither more nor less than one. Deerslayer. you've been ontru to your fri'nds
in letting such a chance slip through my fingers well as your own.'
The answer was given quietly, but with a voice as steady as a fearless
nature, and the consciousness of rectitude could make It. "I should have been
untrue to the right, had I done otherwise,' returned the Deerslayer, steadily
; "and neither you, nor any other man has authority to demand that much of
me. The lad came on a lawful business, and the meanest red-skin that roams
the woods, would be ashamed of not respecting his ar'n'd. But he' now far
beyond your reach, Master March, and there's little use in talking, like a
couple of women, of what can no longer be helped.'
So saying, Deerslayer turned away, like one resolved to waste no more words
on the subject, while Hutter pulled Harry by the sleeve, and led him into the
ark. There they sat long in private conference. In the mean time, the Indian
and his friend had their secret consultation; for, though it wanted some
three or four hours to the rising of the star, the former could not abstain
from canvassing his scheme, and from opening his heart to the other. Judith,
too, yielded to her softer feelings, and listened to the whole of Hetty's
artless narrative of what occurred after she landed. The woods had few
terrors for either of these girls, educated as they had been, and accustomed.
as they were to look out daily at their rich expanse or to wander beneath
their dark shades ; but the elder sister felt that she would have hesitated
about thus venturing alone into an Iroquois camp. Concerning Hist, Hetty was
not very communicative. She spoke of her kindness, and gentleness and of the
meeting in the forest; but the secret of Chingachgook was guarded with a
shrewdness and fidelity, that many a sharper-witted girl might have failed to
display.
At length the several conferences were broken up by the reappearance of
Hutter on the platform. Here he assembled the Whole party, and communicated
as much of his intentions as he deemed expedient. Of the arrangement made by
Deerslayer, to Abandon the castle during the night and to take refuge in the
ark, he entirely approved. It struck him as it had the others, as toe only
effectual means of escaping destruction. Now that the savages had turned
their attention to the construction of rafts, no doubt could exist of their,
at least, making an attempt to carry the building, and the message of the
bloody sticks sufficiently showed their confidence in their own success. In
short, the old man viewed the night as critical, and he called on all to t
ready as soon as possible, in order to abandon the dwellings uporarily at
least, if not forever.
These communications made, everything proceeded promptly and with
intelligence ; the castle was secured in the manner
ready described, the canoes were withdrawn from the dock kd fastened to the
ark by the side of the other ; the few necessaries that had been left in the
house, were transferred to the cabin, the fire was extinguished and all
embarked.
The vicinity of the hills, with their drapery of pines, had the fact to
render nights that were obscure, darker than common on the lake. As usual,
however, a belt of comparative light was retched through the centre of the
sheet, while it was within the dadoes of the mountains, that the gloom rested
most heavily on the water. Thee island, or castle, stood in this belt of
imperative light, but still the night was so dark, as to cover the aperture
of the ark. At the distance of an observer on the shore, her movements could
not be seen at all, more particularly as a background of dark hillside tilled
up the perspective of every view that was taken diagonally or directly across
the water. The prevailing wind on the lakes of that region is west, but owing
to be avenues formed by the mountains, it is frequently impossible to tell
the true direction of the currents, as they often vary within, short
distances, and brief differences of time. This is truer in light fluctuating
puffs of air, than in steady breezes; thou the squalls of even the latter are
familiarly known to be uncertain and baffling in all mountainous regions and
narrow raters. On the present occasion, Hutter himself. (as he shoved the ark
from her berth, at the side of the platform,) was at a loss to pronounce
which way the wind blew. In common, this difficulty was solved by the clouds,
which, floating high above no hill tops, as a matter of course obeyed the
currents; but now the whole vault of heaven seemed a mass of gloomy wall. Not
an opening of any son was visible, and Chingachgook we already trembling lest
the non-appearance of the star might prevent his betrothed from being
punctual to her appointment. Under these circumstances, Hutter hoisted his
sail, seemingly with the sole intention of getting away from the castle, as
it might be dangerous to remain much longer in its vicinity. The air soon
filled the cloth, and when the scow was got under command, and the sail was
properly trimmed, it was found that the direction was southerly, inclining
towards the eastern shore. No better course offering for the purposes of the
party, the singular craft was suffered to skim the surface of the water in
this direction for more than hour, when a change in the currents of the air
drove them over towards the camp.
Deerslayer watched all the movements of Hutter and Harry with jealous
attention. At first, he did not know whether to ascribe the course they held
to accident, or to design ; but he now began to suspect the latter. Familiar
as Hutter was with the lake, it was easy to deceive one who had little
practice on the water; and let his intentions be what they might, it was
evident, ere two hours had elapsed, that the ark had got sufficient space to
be within a hundred rods of the shore, directly abreast of the known position
of the camp. For a considerable time previously to reaching this point,
Hurry, who had some knowledge of the Algonquin language, had been in close
conference with the Indian, and the result was now announced by the latter to
Deerslayer, who had been a cold, not to say distrusted, looker-on of all that
passed.
"My old father, and my young brother, the Big Pine,' - for so the Delaware
had named March - "want to see Huron scalps at their belts,' said
Chingachgook to his friend. "There is room for some on the girdle of the
Sarpent, and his people will look for them when he goes back to his village.
Their eyes must not be left long in a fog, but they must see what they look
for. I know that my brother has a white hand ; he will not strike even the
dead. He will wait for us ; when we come back, he will not hide his face from
shame for his friend. The great Serpent of the Mohicans must be worthy to go
on the war-path with Hawkeye.'
"Ay, ay, Sarpent, I see how it is ; that name's to stick, and in time I shall
get to be known by it instead of Deerslayer ; well, if such honours will
come, the humblest of us all must be willing to abide by 'em. As for your
looking for scalps, it belongs to your gifts, and I see no harm in it. Be
merciful. Sarpent, howsever ; be merciful, I beseech of you. It surely can do
no harm to a red-skin's honour to show a little mare. As for the Old man, the
father of two young women, who might ripen better feelin's in his heart, and
Harry March, here, who, pine as he is, might better bear the fruit of a more
christianized tree, as
CHAPTER 16
"I hear thee babbling to the vale
Of sunshine and of flowers,
But unto me thou bring'st a tale
Of visionary hours.'
Wordsworth.
One discovery mentioned at the close of the preceding chapter, was of great
moment in the eyes of Deerslayer and his friend. In the First place, there
was the danger, almost the certainty, that Huger and Hurry would make a fresh
attempt on this camp, should they awake and ascertain its position. Then
there was the increased risk of landing to bring off Hist; and there were the
general uncertainty and additional hazards that must follow from the
circumstance that their enemies had begun to change their positions. As the
Delaware was aware that the hour was near when he ought to repair to the
rendezvous, he no longer thought of trophies torn from his foes, and one of
the first things arranged between him and his associate, was to permit the
two others to sleep on, lest they should disturb the execution of their plans
by substituting some of their own. ne ark moved slowly, and it would have
taken fully a quarter of an hour to reach the point, at the rate at which
they were going, thus affording time for a little forethought. The Indians,
in the wish to conceal their fire from those who were thought to be still in
the castle. had placed it so near the southern side of the point, as to
render it extremely difficult to shut it in by the bushes, though Deerslayer
varied the direction of the scow both to the right and to the left, in the
hope of being able to effect that object.
'There's one advantage, Judith, in Ending that fire so near the water,' he
said, while executing these little manœuvres, since it shows the Mingos
believe we are in the hut, and our coming on 'em from this quarter, will be
an unlooked for event. But it's lucky Harry March and your father are asleep,
else we should have 'em prowling after scalps ag'in. Ha! there - the bushes
are beginning to shut in the fire - and now it can't be seen at all !'
Deerslayer waited a little to make certain that he had at last gained the
desired position, when he gave the signal agreed on, and Chingachgook let go
the grapnel, and lowered the sail. The situation in which the ark now lay had
its advantages and its disadvantages. The fire had been hid by sheering
towards the shore, and the latter was nearer, perhaps, than was desirable.
Still, the water was known to be very deep further off in the lake, and
anchoring in deep water, under the circumstances in which the party was
placed, was to be avoided, if possible. It was also believed no raft could be
within mites ; and though the trees in the darkness appeared almost to
overhang the scow, it would not be easy to get off to her without using a
boat. The intense darkness that prevailed so close in with the forest, too,
served as an effectual screen, and so long as care was had not to make a
noise, there was little or no danger of being detected. All these things
Deerslayer pointed out to Judith, instructing her as to the course she was to
follow in the event of an alarm ; for it was thought to the last degree
inexpedient to arouse the sleepers, unless it might be in the greatest
emergency.
"And now, Judith, as we understand one another, it is time the Sarpent and I
had taken to the canoe," the hunter concluded. 'The star has not risen yet,
it's true, but it soon must, though none of us are likely to be any the wiser
for it to-night, on account of the clouds. Howsever, Hist has a ready mind,
and she's one of them that doesn't always need to have a thing afore her, to
see it. "I'll warrant you she'll not be either two minutes or two feet out of
the way, unless them jealous vagabonds, the Mingos, have taken the alarm, and
put her as a stool-pigeon to catch us, or have hid her away, in order to
prepare her mind for a Huron instead of a Mohican husband.'
'Deerslayer,' interrupted the girl, earnestly ; this is a most dangerous
service ; why do you go on it, at all ?'
"Anan ! - Why you know, gal, we go to bring off Hist, the Sarpent's betrothed
- the maid he means to marry, as soon as we get back to the tribe."
"That is all right for the indian - but you do not mean to marry Hist - you
are not betrothed, and why should two risk their lives and liberties, to do
that which one can just as well perform ?'
"Ah- now l understand you, Judith - yes, now I begin to take the idee. You
think as Hist is the Sarpent's betrothed, as they call it, and not mine, it's
altogether his affair ; and as one man can paddle a canoed he ought to be
left to go after his gal alone ! But you forget this is our ar'n'd here, on
the lake, and it would not tell well to forget an ar'n'd just as the pinch
came. Allen, if love does count for so much with some people, particularly
with young women, fri'ndship counts for some- thing, too, with other some. l
dares to say, the Delaware can paddle a canoe by himself, and can bring off
Hist by himself, and perhaps he would like that quite as well, as to have me
with him ; but he couldn't sarcumvent sarcumventions, or stir up an
ambushment, or light with the savages, and get his sweetheart at the same
time, as well by himself as if he had a fri'nd with him to depend on, even if
that fri'nd is no better than myself. No - no - Judith, you wouldn't desert
one that counted on you, at such a moment, and you can't, in reason, expect
me to do it.
"I fear - I believe you are right, Deerslayer, and yet I wish you were not to
go ! Promise me one thing, at least, and that is, not to trust yourself among
the savages, or to do anything more than to save the girl. That will be
enough for once, and with that you ought to be satisfied.'
"Lord bless you! gal; one would thik it was Hetty that;s talking, and not the
quick-witted, and wonderful Judith Hutter! But fright makes the wise silly,
and the strong weak. Yes, I've seen proofs of that, time and ag'in ! Well,
it's kind and softhearted in you, Judith, to feel this consign for a fellow
creator', and I shall always say that you are kind and of true feelings, let
them that envy your good looks, tell as many idle stories of you as they
may.'
'Deerslayer !' hastily said the girl, interrupting him, though nearly choked
by her own emotions ; "do you believe all you hear about a poor, motherless
girl ? Is the foul tongue of Harry Hurry to blast my life ?'
'Not it, Judith - not it. I've told Hurry it wasn't manful to backbite them
he couldn't win by fair means ; and that even an indian is always tender,
touching a young woman's good name.'
'lf I had a brother, he wouldn't dare to do it !' exclaimed Judith, with
eyes flashing lire. "But, Ending me without any protector but an old man,
whose ears are getting to be as dull as his feelings, he has his way as he
pleases !'
"Not exactly that, Judith ; no, not exactly that, neither ! No man, brother
or stranger, would stand by and see as fair a gal as yourself hunted down,
without saying a word in her behalf. Hurry's in 'arnest in wanting to make
you his wife, and the little he does let out ag'in you, comes more from
jealousy, like, than from any thing else. Smile on him when he awakes, and
squeeze his hand only half as hard as you squeezed mine a bit ago, and my
life on it, the poor fellow will forget every thing but your comeliness. Hot
words don't always come from the heart, but oftener from the stomach, than
anywhere else. Try him, Judith, when he awakes, and see the virtue of a
smile.'
Deerslayer laughed, in his own manner, as he concluded, and then he intimated
to the patient-looking, but really impatient Chingachgook, his readiness to
proceed. As the young man entered the canoe, the girl stood immoveable as
stone, lost in the musings that the language and manner of the other were
likely to produce. The simplicity of the hunter had completely put her at
fault ; for, in her narrow sphere, Judith was an expert manager of the other
sex ; though in the present instance she was far more actuated by impulses,
in all she had said and done, than by calculation. We shall not deny that
some of Judith's reflections were bitter, though the sequel of the tale must
be referred to, in order to explain how merited, or how keen were her
sufferings.
Chingachgook, and his pale-face friend, set forth on their hazardous and
delicate enterprise, with a coolness and method that would have done credit
to men who were on their twentieth. instead of being on their first, war-
path. As suited his relation to the pretty fugitive, in whose service they
were engaged, the Indian took his place in the head of the canoe ; while
Deerslayer guided its movements in the stern. By this arrangement, the former
would be the first to land, and of course? the first to meet his mistress.
The latter had taken his post, without comment, but in secret influenced by
the reflection that one who had so much at stake as the indian, might not
possibly guide the canoe with the same steadiness and intelligence, as
another who had more command of his feelings. From the instant they left thc
side of the ark, the movements of the two adventurers were like the
manoeuvred of highly-drilled soldiers, who, for the first time were called on
to meet the enemy in the held. As yet, Chingachgook had never fired a shot in
anger, and the debut of his companion in warfare, is known to the reader. It
is true, the indian had been hanging about his enemy's camp for a few hours,
on his first arrival, and he had even once entered it, as related in the last
chapter, but no consequences had followed either experiment. Now, it was
certain that an important result was to be effected, or a mortifying failure
was to ensue. The rescue, or the continued captivity of Hist, depended on the
enterprise. In a word, it was virtually the maiden expedition of these two
ambitious young forest soldiers ; and while one of them set forth, impelled
by sentiments that usually carry men so far, both had all their feelings of
pride and manhood enlisted in their success.
Instead of steering in a direct line to the point, then distant from the ark
less than a quarter of a mile, Deerslayer laid the head of his canoe
diagonally towards the centre of the lake, with a view to obtain a position,
from which he might approach the shore, having his enemies in his front only.
The spot where
Hetty had landed, and where Hist had promised to meet them, moreover, was on
the upper side of the projection, rather than on the lower ; and to reach it,
would have required the two adventurers to double nearly the whole point,
close in with the shore, had not this preliminary step been taken. So well
was the
necessity for this measure understood, that Chingachgook quietly paddled on,
although it was adopted without consulting him, and apparently was taking him
in a direction nearly opposite to that one might think he most wished to go.
A few
minutes sufficed, however, to carry the canoe the necessary distance, when
both the young men ceased paddling as it were by instinctive consent, and the
boat became stationary. The darkness increased rather than diminished, but it
was still possible, from the place where the adventurers lay, to distinguish
the outlines of the mountains. In vain did the Delaware turn his head
eastward, to catch a glimpse of the promised star ; for, notwithstanding the
clouds broke a little near the horizon, in that quarter of the heavens, the
curtain continued so far drawn as effectually to conceal all behind it. In
front, as was known by
the formation of land above and behind it. lay the point, at the distance of
about a thousand feet. No signs of the castle could Fe seen, nor could any
movement in that quarter of the lake reach the ear. The latter circumstance
might have been equally owing to the distance, which was several mites, or to
the fact that nothing was in motion. As for the ark, though scarcely farther
from the canoe than the point, it lay so completely buried in the shadows of
the shore, that it would not have been visible even had there been many
degrees more of light than actually existed.
The adventurers now held a conference in low voices, consult- ing together as
to the probable time. Deerslayer thought it wanted yet some minutes to the
rising of the star, while the impatience of the chief caused him to fancy the
night further advanced, and to believe that his betrothed was already waiting
his appearance on the shore. As might have been expected, the opinion of the
latter prevailed, and his friend disposed himself to steer for the place of
rendezvous. ne utmost skill and precaution now became necessary in the
management of the canoe. ne paddles were lifted, and returned to the water in
a noiseless manner ; and when within a hundred yards of the beach,
Chingachgook took in his, altogether laying his hand on his rifle in its
stead. As they got still more within the belt of darkness that girded the
wolds, it was seen that they were steering too far north, and the course was
altered accordingly. ne canoe now seemed to move by instinct, so cautious and
deliberate were all its motions. Still it continued to advance, until its
bows grated on the gravel of the beach, at the precise spot where Hetty had
landed, and whence her voice had issued, the previous night, as the ark was
passing. There was, as usual, a narrow strand, but bushes fringed the wolds,
and in most places overhung the water.
Chingachgook stepped upon the beach, and cautiously examined it, for some
distance, on each side of the canoe. In order to do this, he was often
obliged to wade to his knees in the lake, but no Hist rewarded his search.
When he returned, he found his friend also on the shore. They next conferred
in whispers, the Indian apprehending that they must have mistaken the place
of rendezvous. But Deerslayer thought it was probable they had mistaken the
hour. While he was yet speaking, he grasped the arm of the Delaware, caused
him to turn his head in the direction of the lake, and pointed towards the
summits of the eastern mountains. ne clouds had broken a little, apparently
behind rather than above the hills, and the evening star was glittering among
the branches of a pine. This was every way a flattering omen, and the young
men leaned on their rifles, listening intently! for the sound of approaching
footsteps. Voices they often heard, and mingled with them were the suppressed
cries of children, and the low but sweet laugh of indian women. As the native
Americans are habitually cautious, and seldom break out in loud conversation,
the adventurers knew by these facts, that they must be very near the
encampment. It was easy to perceive that there was a fire within the wolds,
by the manner in which some of the upper branches of the trees were
illuminated. but it was not possible, where they stood, to ascertain exactly
how near it was to themselves. Once or twice, it seemed as if stragglers from
around the fired were approaching the place of rendezvous ; but these sounds
were either altogether illusion, or those who had drawn near, returned again
without coming to the shore. A quarter of an hour was passed in this state of
intense expectation and anxiety, when Deerslayer proposed that they should
circle the point in the canoe ; and by getting a position close in, where the
camp could be seen, reconnoitre the Indians, and thus enable themselves to
form some plausible conjectures for the non-appearance of Hist. The Delaware,
however, resolutely refused to quit the spot, reasonably enough offering as a
reason, the disappointment of the girl, should she arrive in his absence.
Deerslayer felt for his friend's concern, and offered to make the circuit of
the point by himself, leaving the latter concealed in the bushes to await the
occurrence of any fortunate event that might favour his views. With this
understanding, then, the parties separated.
As soon as Deerslayer was at his post again, in the stern of the canoe, he
left the shore with the same precautions, and in the same noiseless manner,
as he had approached it. On this occasion he did not go far from the land,
the bushes affording a sufficient cover, by keeping as close in as possible.
Indeed, it would not have been easy to devise any means more favourable to
reconnoitring round an indian camp, than those afforded by the actual state
of things. The formation of the point permitted the place to be circled on
three of its sides, and the progress of the boat was so noiseless as to
remove any apprehensions from an alarm through sound. The most practised and
guarded foot might stir a bunch of leaves, or snap a dried stick in the dark,
but a bark canoe could be made to float over the surface of smooth water,
almost with the instinctive readiness, and certaininly with the noiseless
movements of an aquatic bird.
Deerslayer had got nearly in a line between the camp and the ark, before he
caught a glimpse of the fire. This came upon him suddenly, and a little
unexpectedly, at first causing an alarm, lest he had incautiously ventured
within the circle of light it cast. But perceiving at a second glance, that
he was certainly safe from detection, so long as the Indians kept near the
centre of the illumination, he brought the canoe to a state of rest, in the
most favourable position he could find, and commenced his observations.
We have written much, but in vain, concerning this extraordinary being, if
the reader requires now to be told, that, untutored as he was in the learning
of the world, and simple as he ever showed himself to be in all matters
touching the subtleties of conventional taste, he was a man of strong,
native, poetical feeling. He loved the wolds for their freshness, their
sublime solitudes, their vastness, and the impress that they everywhere bore
of the divine hand of their creator. He seldom moved through them, without-
pausing to dwell on some peculiar beauty that gave him pleasure, though
seldom attempting to investigate the causes ; and never did a day pass
without his communing in spirit, and this, too, without the aid of forms or
language, with the infinite source of all he saw, felt, and beheld. Thus
consti- tuted, in a moral sense, and of a steadiness that no danger could
appal, or any crisis disturb, it is not surprising that the hunted felt a
pleasure at looking on the scene he now beheld, that momentarily caused him
to forget the object of his visit. This , will more fully appear when we
describe the scene. .: The canoe lay in front of a natural vista, not only
through the bushes that lined the shore, but of the trees also, that afforded
a clear view of the camp. It was by means of this same opening that the
light had been first seen from the ark. In consequence t f their recent
change of ground, the Indians had not yet retired to to their huts, but had
been delayed by their preparations, which t included lodging as well as food.
A large fire had been made, as ) much to answer the purpose of torches as for
the use of their simple cookery ; and at this precise moment it was blazing
high and bright, having recently received a large supply of dried brush. the
effect was to illuminate the arches of the forest, and to render the whole
area occupied by the camp as light as if hundreds of tapers were burning.
Most of the toil had ceased, and even the hungriest child had satisfied its
appetite. In a word, the time was that moment of relaxation and general
indolence which is apt to succeed a hearty meal. and when the labours of the
day have ended. ne hunters and the fishermen had been ttally successful ; and
food, that one great requisite of savage life, being abundant, every other
care appeared to have subsided in the sense of enjoyment dependent on this
all-important fact.
Deerslayer saw at a glance that many of the warriors were absent. His
acquaintance Rivenoak, however, was present, being seated in the foreground
of a picture that Salvator Rosa would have delighted to draw, his swarthy
features illuminated as much by pleasure as by the torchlike flame, while he
showed another of the tribe one of the elephants that had caused so much
sensation among his people. A boy was looking over his shoulder, in dull
curiosity, completing the group. More in the background eight or ten warriors
lay half recumbent on the ground, or sat with their backs reclining against
trees, so many types of indolent repose. Their arms were near them all,
sometimes leaning against the same trees as themselves, or were lying across
their bodies in careless preparation. But the group that most attracted the
attention of Deerslayer was that composed of the women and children. A1l the
females appeared to be collected together, and, almost as a matter of course,
their young were near them. The former laughed and chatted in their rebuked
and quiet manner, though one who knew the habits of the people might have
detected that every thing was not going on in its usual train. Most of the
young women seemed to be light-hearted enough ; but one old hag was seated
apart with a watchful soured aspect, which the hurter at once knew betokened
that some duty of an unpleasant character had been assigned her by the
chiefs. What that duty was, he had no means of knowing ; but he felt
satisfied it must be, in some measure connected with her own sex, the aged
among the women generally being chosen for such offices and no other.
As a matter of course, Deerslayer looked eagerly and anxiously for the form
of Hist. She was nowhere risibles though tee light penetrated to considerable
distances in all directions around the fire. Once or twice he started, as he
thought he recognized her laugh; but his ears were deceived by the soft
melody that is so common to the indian female voice. At length the old woman
spoke loud and angrily, and then he caught a glimpse of one or two dark
figures in the back-ground of trees, which turned as if obedient to the
rebuke, and walked more within the circle of the light. A young warrior's
form first came fairly into view; then followed two youthful females, one of
whom proved to be the Delaware girl. Deerslayer now comprehended it all. Hist
was watched, possibly by her young companion, certainly by the old woman. The
youth was probably some suitor of either her or her companion; but even his
discretion was distrusted under the influence of his admiration. ne known
vicinity of those who might be supposed to be her friends, and the arrival of
a strange red-man on the lake had induced more than the usual care, and the
girl had not been able to slip away from those who watched her? in order to
keep her appointment. Deerslayer traced her uneasiness, by her attempting
once or twice to look up through the branches of the trees, as if
endeavouring to get glimpses of the star she had herself named as the sign
for meeting. All was vain however, and after strolling about the camp a
little longer, in affected indifference, the two girls quitted their male
escort, and took seats among their own sex. As soon as this was done, the old
sentinel changed her place to one more agreeable to herself, a certain proof
that she had hitherto been exclusively on watch.
Deerslayer now felt greatly at a loss how to proceed. He well knew that
Chingachgook could never be persuaded to return to the ark, without making
some desperate effort for the recovery of his mistress, and his own generous
feelings well disposed him to aid in such an undertaking. He thought he saw
the signs of an intention among the females to retire for the night; and
should he remain, and the fire continue to give out its light, he might
discover the particular hut or arbour under which Hist reposed ; a
circumstance that would be of infinite use in their future proceedings.
Should he remain, however, much longer where he was, there was great danger
that the impatience of his friend would drive him into some act of
imprudence. At each instant, indeed, he expected to see the swarthy form of
the Delaware appearing in the background, like the tiger prowling around the
fold. Taking all things into consideration, therefore, he came to the
conclusion it would be better to rejoin his friend, and endeavour to temper
his impetuosity by some of his own coolness and discretion. It required but a
minute or two to put this plan in execution, the canoe returning to the
strand some ten or fifteen minutes after it had left it.
Contrary to his expectations, perhaps, Deerslayer found the Indian at his
post, from which he had not stirred, fearful that his betrothed might arrive
during his absence. A conference followed, in which Chingachgook was made
acquainted with the state of things in the camp. When Hist named the point as
the place of meeting, it was with the expectation of making her escape from
the old position, and of repairing to a spot that she expected to find
without any occupants; but the sudden change of localities had disconcerted
all her plans. A much greater degree of vigilance than had been previously
required was now emissary; and the circumstance that an aged woman was on
watch, also denoted some special grounds of alarm. All these considerations,
and many more that will readily suggest them- selves to the reader? were
briefly discussed before the young men came to any decision. The occasion,
however, being one that required act: instead of words, the course to be
pursued was soon chosen.
Disposing of the canoe in such a manner that Hist must see it, should she
come to the place of meeting previously to their return, the young men looked
to their arms. and prepared to enter the wood. The whole projection into the
lake contained about two acres of land; and the part that formed the point,
and on which the camp was placed, did not compose a surface of more than half
that size. It was principally covered with oaks, which, as is usual in the
American forests, grew to a great height without throwing out a branch, and
then arched in a dense and rich foliage. Beneath, except the fringe of thick
bushes along the shore, there was very little underbrush; though, in
consequence of their shape, the trees were closer together than is common in
regions where the axe has been freely used, resembling tall, straight, rustic
columns, upholding the usual canopy of leaves. The surface of the land was
tolerably even, but it had a small rise near its centre, which divided it
into a northern and southern half. On the latter, the Hurons had built their
fire, profiting by the formation to conceal it from their enemies, who, it
will be remembered, were supposed to be in the castle, which bore northerly.
A brook also came brawling down the sides of the adjacent hills, and found
its way into the lake on the southern ' Side of the point. It had cut for
itself a deep passage through Some of the higher portions of the ground, and,
in later days, When this spot has become subjected to the uses of
civilization, by its windings and shaded banks, it has become no mean
accessory in contributing to the beauty of the place. This brook lay west of
the encampment, and its waters found their way into the great reservoir of
that region on the same side, and quite near to the spot chosen for the fire.
All these peculiarities, so far as circumstances allowed, had been noted by
Deerslayer, and explained to his friend.
The reader will understand that the little rise in the ground, that lay
behind the Indian encampment, greatly favoured the secret advance of the two
adventurers. It prevented the light of the fire diffusing itself on the
ground directly in the rear, although the land fell away towards the water,
so as to leave what might be termed the left, or eastern flank of the
position unprotected by this covering. We have said unprotected , though that
is not properly the word since the knoll behind the huts and the Ere, offered
a cover for those who were now stealthily approaching, rather than any
protection to the Indians. Deerslayer did not break through the fringe of
bushes immediately abreast of the canoe, which might have brought him too
suddenly within the influence of the light, since the hillock did not extend
to the water; but he followed the beach northerly: until he had got nearly on
the opposite side of the tongue of land, which brought him under the shelter
of the low acclivity, and consequently more in the shadow. .
As soon as the friends emerged from the bushes, they stopped to reconnoitre.
The fire was still blazing behind the little ridge casting its light upward,
into the tops of the trees, producing an l effect that was more pleasing than
advantageous. Still the glare had its uses; for, while the background was in
obscurity, the foreground was in strong light; exposing the savages and
concealing their foes. Profiting by the latter circumstance, '1 evinced
cautiously towards the ridge, Deerslayer dfc young men a in front, for he
insisted on this arrangement, lest the Delaw should be led by his feelings
into some indiscretion. It required but a moment to reach the foot of the
little ascent, and commenced the most critical part of the enterprise. Moving
with exceeding caution, and trailing his rifle, both to keep its barrel out
of view, and in readiness for service, the hunter put before foot, until he
had got sufficiently high to over-look summit, his own head being alone
brought into the ' Chingachgook was at his side and both paused to take
another close examination of the camp. In order, however, to protect
themselves against any straggler in the rear, they placed their bodies
against the trunk of an oak, standing on the side next the fire.
The view that Deerslayer now obtained of the camp, was exactly the reverse of
that he had perceived from the water. The dim figures which he had formerly
discovered must have been on the summit of the ridge, a few feet in advance
of the spot where he was now posted. The lire was still blazing brightly and
around it were seated on logs, thirteen warriors, which accounted for all
whom he had seen from the canoe. They were conversing, with much earnestness
among themselves, the image of the elephant passing from hand to hand. The
first burst of savage wonder had abated, and the question now under
discussion, was the probable existence, the history and the habits of so
extraordinary an animal. We have not leisure to record the opinions of these
rude men on a subject so consonant to their lives and experience; but little
is hazarded in saying that they were quite as plausible, and far more
ingenious, than half the conjectures that precede the demonstrations of
science. However much they may have been at fault, as to their conclusions
and inferences, it is certain that they discussed the questions with a
zealous and most undivided attention. For the time being, all else was
forgotten, and our adventurers could not have approached at a more fortunate
instant.
The females were collected near each other, much as Deer slayer had last seen
them, nearly in a line between the place where he now stood and the fire. The
distance from the oak against which the young men leaned, and the warriors,
was about thirty yards; the women may have been half that number of yards
nigher. The latter, indeed, were so near as to make the utmost
circumspection, as to motion and noise, indispensable. Although they
conversed in their low, soft voices, it was Possible, in the profound
stillness of the wolds, even to catch Passages of the discourse; and the
light-hearted laugh that escaped the girls, might occasionally have reached
the canoe. Deerslayer felt the tremolo that passed through the frame of his
friend when the latter first caught the sweet sounds that issued from the
plump, pretty lips of Hist. He even laid a hand on the shoulder of the
Indian, as a sort of admonition to command himself. As the conversation grew
more earnest, each leaned forward to listen.
"The Hurons have more curious beasts than that,' said one of the girls,
contemptuously, for, like the men, they conversed of the elephant and his
qualities. 'The Delawares will think this creature wonderful, but tomorrow no
Huron tongue will talk of it. Our young men will End him if the animals dare
to come near our wigwams !'
This was, in fact, addressed to Wah-ta -Wah, though she who spoke uttered her
words with an assumed diffidence and humility, that prevented her looking at
the other.
The Delawares are so far from letting such creatures come into their
country,' returned Hist, "that no one has even seen their images there !
Their young men would frighten away the images as well as the beasts.'
"The Delaware young men! - the nation is women - even the deer walk when they
hear their hunters coming! Who has ever heard the name of a young Delaware
warrior ?'
This was said in good-humour, and with a laugh; but it was
also said bitingly. That Hist so felt it, was apparent by the spirit
betrayed in her answer.
'Who has ever heard the name of a young Delaware ?' she repeated earnestly.
Tamenund, himself, though now as old as the pines on the hill, or as the
eagles in the air, was once young; his name was heard from the great salt
lake, to the sweet waters of the west. What is the family of Uncas? Where is
another as
great, though the palefaces have ploughed up its grates, and trodden on its
bones ? Do the eagles fly as high, is the deer as swift or the panther as
brave ? Is there no young warrior of that Let the Huron maidens open their
eyes wider, and they may see one called Chingachgook, who is as stately as a
young ash, and as tough as the hickory.'
As the girl used her figurative language and told her companions to topes
their eyes, and they would see' the Delaware, Deerslayer thrust his angers
into the sides of his friend, and indulged in a fit of his hearty, benevolent
laughter, tne other smiled ; but the language of the speaker was too
flattering, and
the tones of her voice too sweet for him to be led away by any accidental
coincidence, however ludicrous. The speech of Hist produced a retort, and the
dispute, though conducted in good-humour, and without any of the coarse
violence of tone and gesture that often impairs the charms of the sex in what
is called civilized life, grew warm and slightly clamorous. In the midst of
this scene, the Delaware caused his friend to stoop, so as completely to
conceal himself, and then he made a noise so closely resembling the little
chirrup of the smallest species of the American squirrel, that Deerslayer
himself, though he had heard the imitation a hundred times, actually thought
it came from one of the little animals skipping about, over his head. ne
sound is so familiar in the woods, that none of the Hurons paid it the least
attention. Hist, however, instantly ceased talking, and sat motionless. Still
she had sufficient self-command to abstain from turning her head. She had
heard the signal by which her lover so often called her from the wigwam to
the stolen interview, and it came over her senses and her heart, as the
serenade affects the maiden in the land of song.
From that moment, Chingachgook felt certain that his presence was known. This
was effecting much, and he could now hope for a bolder line of conduct on the
part of his mistress than she might dare to adopt under an uncertainty of his
situation. It left no doubt of her endeavouring to aid him in his effort to
release her. Deerslayer arose as soon as the signal was given, and though he
had never held that sweet communion which is known only to lovers, he was not
slow to detect the great change that had come over the manner of the girl.
She still affected to dispute, though it was no longer with spirit and
ingenuity, but what she said was uttered more as a lure to draw her
antagonists on to an easy conquest, than with any hopes of succeeding
herself. Once or twice, it is true, her native readiness suggested a retort,
or an argument that raised a laugh, and gave her a. momentary advantage; but
these little sallies, the offspring of mother-wit, served the better to
conceal her real feelings, and to give to the triumph of the other party a
more natural air than it might have possessed without them. At length the
disputants became wearied, and they rose in a body as if about to separate.
It was now that Hist, for the first time, ventured to turn her face in the
direction whence the signal had come. In doing this, her movements were
natural, but guarded, and she stretched her arm and yawned, as if overcome
with a desire to sleep. The Chirrup was again heard, and the girl felt
satisfied as to the Position of her lover, though the strong light in which
she herself Was placed, and the comparative darkness in which the adventurers
stood, prevented her from seeing their heads, the only portions of their
forms that appeared above the ridge at all. The tree against which they were
posted had a dark shadow cast upon it by the intervention of an enormous pine
that grew
between it and the fire, a circumstance which alone would have rendered
objects within its cloud invisible at any distance. This Deerslayer well
knew, and it was one of the reasons why he had
selected this particular tree.
The moment was near when it became necessary for Hist to act. She was to
sleep in a small hut, or bower, that had been built near where she stood, and
her companion was the aged hag already mentioned. Once within the hut, with
this sleepless old woman stretched across the entrance, as was her nightly
pratice, the hope of escape was nearly destroyed, and she might at any moment
be summoned to her bed. Luckily, at this instant, one of the warriors called
to the old woman by name, and bade her bring him water to drink. There was a
delicious spring on the northern side of the point, and the hag took a gourd
from a branch, and summoning Hist to her side, she moved towards the summit
of the ridge, intending to descend and cross the point to the natural
fountain. All this was seen and understood by the adventurers, and they fell
back into the obscurity, concealing their persons by trees, until the two
females had passed them. In walking, Hist was held tightly by the hand. As
she moved by the tree that hid Chingachgook and his friend: the former felt
for his tomahawk, with the intention to bury it in the brain of the woman.
But the other saw the hazard of such a measure, since a single scream might
bring all the warriors upon them, and he was averse to the act on
considerations of humanity. His hand, therefore, prevented the blow. Still as
the two moved past, the chirrup was repeated, and the Huron woman stopped and
faced the tree whence the sounds seemed to proceed, standing, at the moment,
within six feet of her enemies. She expressed her surprise that a squirrel
should be in motion at so late an hour, and said it boded evil. Hist answered
that she had heard the same squirrel three times within the last twenty
minutes, and that she supposed it was waiting to obtain '
some of the crumbs left from the late supper. This explanation appeared
satisfactory, and they moved towards the spring, the men following stealthily
and closely. The gourd was filled, and the old woman was hurrying back, her
hand still grasping the wrist of the girl, when she was suddenly seized so
violently by the throat as to cause her to release her captive, and to
prevent her making any other sound than a sort of gurgling, suffocating else.
The Serpent passed his arm round the waist of his mistress and dashed through
the bushes with her, on the north side of the point. Here he immediately
turned along the beach, and ran towards the canoe. A more direct course could
have been taken,
but it might have led to a discovery of the place of embarking.
Deerslayer kept playing on the throat of the old woman like tile keys of an
organ, occasionally allowing her to breathe, and then compressing his angers
again nearly to strangling. The brief intervals for breath, however, were
well improved, and the hag succeeded in letting out a screech or two that
served to alarm the camp. Tne tramp of the warriors, as they sprang from the
fire, was plainly audible, and, at the next moment three or four of them
appeared on the top of the ridge, drawn against the hack-ground of light,
resembling the dim shadows of the phantasmagoria. It was now quite time for
the hunter to retreat.
Tripping up the heels of his captive, and giving her throat a parting
squeeze, quite as much in resentment at her indomitable efforts to sound the
alarm as from any policy, he left her on her back, and moved towards the
bushes, his rifle at a poise, and his head over his shoulders, like a lion at
bay.
Chapter 17
There, ye wise saints, behold your light, your star,
Ye would be dupes and victims and ye are.
Is it enough? or, must I, while a thrill
Lives in your sapient bosoms, cheat you still?"
Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh, "The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan,
The fire, the canoe, and the spring, near which Deerslayer commenced his
retreat, would have stood in the angles of a triangle of tolerably equal
sides. The distance from the fire to the boat was a little less than the
distance from the fire to the spring, while the distance from the spring to
the boat, was about equal to that between the two points first named. This,
however, was in straight lines, a means of escape to which the fugitives
could not resort. They were obliged to have recourse to a detour in order to
get the cover of the bushes, and to follow the curvature of the beach. Under
these disadvantages, then, the hunter commenced his retreat, disadvantages
that he felt to be so much the greater from his knowledge of the habits of
all Indians, who rarely fail in cases of sudden alarms, more especially when
in the midst of cover, immediately to throw out flankers, with a view to meet
their foes at all points, and if possible to turn their rear. That some such
course was now adopted he believed from the tramp of feet, which not only
came up the ascent, as related, but were also heard, under the first impulse,
diverging not only towards the hill in the rear, but towards the extremity of
the point, in a direction opposite to that he was about to take himself.
Promptitude, consequently became a matter of the last importance, as the
parties might meet on the strand, before the fugitive could reach the canoe.
Notwithstanding the pressing nature of the emergency, Deerslayer hesitated a
single instant, ere he plunged into the bushes that lined the shore. His
feelings had been awakened by the whole scene, and a sternness of purpose had
come over him, to which he was ordinarily a stranger. Four dark figures
loomed on the ridge, drawn against the brightness of the fire, and an enemy
might have been sacrificed at a glance. The Indians had paused to gaze into
the gloom, in search of the screeching hag, and with many a man less given to
reflection than the hunter, the death of one of them would have been
certain. Luckily he was more prudent. Although the rifle dropped a little
towards the foremost of his pursuers, he did not aim or fire, but disappeared
in the cover. To gain the beach, and to follow it round to the place where
Chingachgook was already in the canoe, with Hist, anxiously waiting his
appearance, occupied but a moment. Laying his rifle in the bottom of the
canoe, Deerslayer stooped to give the latter a vigorous shove from the shore,
when a powerful Indian leaped through the bushes, alighting like a panther on
his back. Every thing was now suspended by a hair; a false step ruining all.
With a generosity that would have rendered a Roman illustrious throughout all
time, but which, in the career of one so simple and humble, would have been
forever lost to the world but for this unpretending legend, Deerslayer threw
all his force into a desperate effort, shoved the canoe off with a power that
sent it a hundred feet from the shore, as it might be in an instant, and fell
forward into the lake, himself, face downward; his assailant necessarily
following him.
Although the water was deep within a few yards of the beach, it was not more
than breast high, as close in, as the spot where the two combatants fell.
Still this was quite sufficient to destroy one who had sunk, under the great
disadvantages in which Deerslayer was placed. His hands were free, however,
and the savage was compelled to relinquish his hug, to keep his own face
above the surface. For half a minute there was a desperate struggle, like the
floundering of an alligator that has just seized some powerful prey, and then
both stood erect, grasping each other's arms, in order to prevent the use of
the deadly knife, in the darkness. What might have been the issue of this
severe personal struggle cannot be known, for half a dozen savages came
leaping into the water to the aid of their friend, and, Deerslayer yielded
himself a prisoner, with a dignity that was as remarkable as his self-
devotion.
To quit the lake and lead their new captive to the fire, occupied the
Indians but another minute. So much engaged were they all with the struggle
and its consequences, that the canoe was unseen, though it still lay so near
the shore as to render every syllable that was uttered, perfectly
intelligible to the Delaware and his betrothed; and the whole party left the
spot, some continuing the pursuit after Hist, along the beach, though most
proceeded to the light. Here Deerslayer's antagonist so far recovered his
breath and his recollection, for he had been throttled nearly to
strangulation, as to relate the manner in which the girl had got off. It was
now too late to assail the other fugitives, for no sooner was his friend led
into the bushes, than the Delaware placed his paddle into the water, and the
light canoe glided noiselessly away, holding its course towards the centre of
the lake, until safe from shot, after which it sought the Ark.When Deerslayer
reached the fire, he found himself surrounded by no less than eight grim
savages, among whom was his old acquaintance Rivenoak. As soon as the latter
caught a glimpse of the captive's countenance, he spoke apart to his
companions, and a low, but general exclamation of pleasure and surprise
escaped them. They knew that the conqueror of their late friend, he who had
fallen on the opposite side of the lake, was in their hands, and subject to
their mercy, or vengeance. There was no little admiration mingled in the
ferocious looks that were thrown on the prisoner; an admiration that was as
much excited by his present composure, as by his past deeds. This scene may
be said to have been the commencement of the great and terrible reputation
that Deer-slayer, or Hawkeye, as he was afterwards called, enjoyed among all
the tribes of New York and Canada; a reputation that was certainly more
limited in its territorial and numerical extent, than those which are
possessed in civilized life, but which was compensated for what it wanted in
these particulars, perhaps, by its greater justice, and the total absence of
mystification and management.
The arms of Deerslayer were not pinioned, and he was left the free use of his
hands, his knife having been first removed. The only precaution that was
taken to secure his person was untiring watchfulness, and a strong rope of
bark that passed from ancle to ancle, not so much to prevent his walking, as
to place an obstacle in the way of his attempting to escape by any sudden
leap. Even this extra provision against flight was not made, until the
captive had been brought to the light, and his character ascertained. It was,
in fact, a compliment to his prowess, and he felt proud of the distinction.
That he might be bound when the warriors slept he thought probable, but to be
bound in the moment of capture, showed that he was already, and thus early,
attaining a name. While the young Indians were fastening the rope, he
wondered if Chingachgook would have been treated in the same manner, had he
too fallen into the hands of the enemy. Nor did the reputation of the young
pale face rest altogether on his success in the previous combat, or in his
discriminating and cool manner of managing the late negotiation, for it had
received a great accession by the occurrences of the night. Ignorant of the
movements of the Ark, and of the accident that had brought their fire into
view, the Iroquois attributed the discovery of their new camp to the
vigilance of so shrewd a foe. The manner in which he ventured upon the point,
the abstraction or escape of Hist, and most of all the self-devotion of the
prisoner, united to the readiness with which he had sent the canoe adrift,
were so many important links in the chain of facts, on which his growing
fame was founded. Many of these circumstances had been seen, some had been
explained, and all were understood.
While this admiration, and these honors were so unreservedly bestowed on
Deerslayer, he did not escape some of the penalties of his situation. He was
permitted to seat himself on the end of a log, near the fire, in order to dry
his clothes, his late adversary standing opposite, now holding articles of
his own scanty vestments to the heat, and now feeling his throat, on which
the marks of his enemy's fingers were still quite visible. The rest of the
warriors consulted together, near at hand, all those who had been out having
returned to report that no signs of any other prowlers near the camp were to
be found. In this state of things, the old woman, whose name was Shebear, in
plain English, approached Deerslayer, with her fists clenched and her eyes
flashing fire. Hitherto, she had been occupied with screaming, an employment
at which she had played her part with no small degree of success, but having
succeeded in effectually alarming all within reach of a pair of lungs that
had been strengthened by long practice, she next turned her attention to the
injuries her own person had sustained in the struggle. These were in no
manner material, though they were of a nature to arouse all the fury of a
woman who had long ceased to attract by means of the gentler qualities, and
who was much disposed to revenge the hardships she had so long endured, as
the neglected wife and mother of savages, on all who came within her power.
If Deerslayer had not permanently injured her, he had temporarily caused her
to suffer, and she was not a person to overlook a wrong of this nature, on
account of its motive.
"Skunk of the pale-faces -" commenced this exasperated and semi-poetic fury,
shaking her fist under the nose of the impassable hunter, "you are not even
a woman. Your friends the Delawares are only women, and you are their sheep.
Your own people will not own you, and no tribe of red men would have you in
their wigwams; you skulk among petticoated warriors. You slay our brave
friend who has left us? - No- his great soul scorned to fight you, and left
his body rather than have the shame of slaying you! But the blood that you
spilt when the spirit was not looking on, has not sunk into the ground. It
must be buried in your groans. What music do I hear? Those are not the
wailings of a red man! - no red warrior groans so much like a hog. They come
from a pale face throat - a Yengeese bosom, and sound as pleasant as girls
singing - Dog - skunk - wood-chuck - mink - hedge-hog- pig-toad-spider-
yengee -"
Here the old woman having expended her breath, and exhausted her epithets,
was fain to pause a moment, though both her fists were shook 'in the
prisoner's face, and the whole of her wrinkled countenance was filled with
fierce resentment. Deerslayer looked upon these impotent attempts to arouse
him, as indifferently as a gentleman in our own state of society, regards the
vituperative terms of a blackguard: the one party feeling that the tongue of
an old woman could never injure a warrior, and the other knowing that
mendacity and vulgarity can only permanently affect those who resort to their
use; but he was spared any further attack at present, by the interposition
of Rivenoak, who shoved aside the hag, bidding her quit the spot, and
prepared to take his seat at the side of his prisoner. The old woman
withdrew, but the hunter well understood that he was to be the subject of all
her means of annoyance, if not of positive injury, so long as he remained in
the power of his enemies, for nothing rankles so deeply as the consciousness
that an attempt to irritate has been met by contempt, a feeling that is
usually the most passive of any that is harbored in the human breast.
Rivenoak quietly took the seat we have mentioned, and, after a short pause,
he commenced a dialogue, which we translate as usual, for the benefit of
those readers who have not studied the North American languages.
"My paleface friend is very welcome," said the Indian, with a familiar nod,
and a smile so covert that it required all Deer-slayer's vigilance to detect,
and not a little of his philosophy to detect unmoved-"he is welcome. The
Hurons keep a hot fire to dry the white man's clothes by."
"I thank you, Huron-or Mingo, as I most like to call you-" returned the
other-"I thank you for the welcome, and I thank you for the fire. Each is
good in its way, and the last is very good, when one has been in a spring as
cold as the Glimmerglass. Even Huron warmth may be pleasant, at such a time,
to a man with a Delaware heart."
"The paleface-but my brother has a name? So great a warrior would not have
lived without a name?"
"Mingo," said the hunter, a little of the weakness of human nature exhibiting
itself in the glance of his eye, and the colour on his cheek-"Mingo, your
brave, called me Hawkeye, I suppose on account of a quick and sartain aim,
when he was lying with his head in my lap, afore his spirit started for the
Happy Hunting Grounds."
"Tis a good name! The hawk is sure of his blow. Hawkeye is not a woman; why
does he live with the Delawares?"
"I understand you, Mingo, but we look on all that as a sarcumvention of some
of your subtle devils, and deny the charge. Providence placed me among the
Delawares young, and, 'bating what christian usages demand of my colour and
gifts, I hope to live and die in their tribe. Still I do not mean to throw
away altogether, my natyve rights, and shall strive to do a pale face's duty,
in red skin society."
"Good; a Huron is a red skin, as well as a Delaware. Hawkeye is more of a
Huron than of a woman."
"I suppose you know, Mingo, your own meaning; if you do'n't I make no
question t'is well known to Satan. But if you wish to get any thing out of
me, speak plainer, for bargains can not be made blindfolded, or tongue tied."
"Good; Hawkeye has not a forked tongue, and he likes to say what he thinks.
He is an acquaintance of the Muskrat;" this was the name by which all the
Indians designated Hutter-"and has lived in his wigwam. But he is not a
friend. He wants no scalps, like a miserable Indian, but fights like a stout-
hearted pale face. The Muskrat is neither white, nor red. Neither a beast nor
a fish. He is a water snake; sometimes in the spring and sometimes on the
land. He looks for scalps, like an out-cast. Hawkeye can go back and tell him
how he has outwitted the Hurons, how he has escaped, and when his eyes are
in a fog, when he ca'n't see as far as from his cabin to the shore, then
Hawkeye can open the door for the Hurons. And how will the plunder be
divided? Why, Hawkeye, will carry away the most, and the Hurons will take
what he may choose to leave behind him. The scalps can go to Canada, for a
pale-face has no satisfaction in them."
"Well, well, Rivenoak-for so I hear 'em tarm you-This is plain English,
enough, though spoken in Iroquois. I understand all you mean, now, and must
say it out-devils even Mingo deviltry! No doubt, twould be easy enough to go
back and tell the Muskrat, that I had got away from you, and gain some
credit, too, by the expl'ite."
"Good. That is what I want the paleface to do."
"Yes - yes - That's plain enough. I know what you want me to do, without more
words. When inside the house, and eating the Muskrat's bread, and laughing
and talking with his pretty darters, I might put his eyes into so thick a
fog, that he could'n't even see the door, much less the land."
"Good! Hawkeye should have been born a Huron! His blood is not more than half
white!"
"There you're out, Huron; yes,' there you're as much out, as if you mistook a
wolf for a catamount. I'm white in blood, heart, natur' and gifts, though a
little red skin in feelin's and habits. But when old Hutters eyes are well
be-fogged, and his pretty darters perhaps in a deep sleep, and Hurry Harry,
the Great Pine as you Indians tarm him, is dreaming of any thing but
mischief, and all suppose Hawkeye is acting as a faithful sentinel, all I
have to do is set a torch somewhere in sight for a signal, open the door,
andet in the Hurons, to knock 'em all on the head."
"Surely my brother is mistaken he cannot be white! He is worthy to be a great
chief among the Hurons!"
"That is true enough, I dares to say, if he could do all this. Now, harkee,
Huron, and for once hear a few honest words from the mouth of a plain I am I
am christian born, and them that come of such a stock and that listen to the
words that were spoken to their fathers and will be spoken to their children,
until 'arth, and all it holds perishes, can never lend themselves to such
wickedness Sarcumventions in war, may be, and are, lawful; but
sarcumventions, and deceit, and treachery, among fri'inds are fit only for
the pale-face devils. I know that there are white men enough, to give you
this wrong idee of our natur', but suchre ontrue to their blood and gifts,
and ought to be, if they are not, out casts and vagabonds. No upright pale-
face could do what you wish, and to be as plain with you as I wish to be in
my judgment no upright Delaware either. With a Mingo it may be different."
The Huron listened to this rebuke with obvious disgust, but he had his ends
in view and was too wily to lose all chance of effecting them, by a
precipitate avowal of resentment. Affecting to smile, he seemed to listen
eagerly, and he then pondered on what he had heard.
"Does Hawkeye love the Muskrat he abruptly demanded. "Or does he love his
daughters
"Neither, Mingo. Old Tom is not a man to gain my love, and, as for the
darters, the are comely enough to gain the liking of any young man but
here's reason ag'in any very great love for either. Hetty is a god soul, but
natur' has laid a heavy hand on her mind, poor thing
"And the Wild Rose!" exclaimed the Huron- for the fame of Judith's beauty had
spread among those who could travel the wilderness, as well as the highway by
means of old eagles' nests, rocks, and riven trees known to them by report
and tradition, as well as among the white borderers, "And the Wild Rose; is
she not sweet enough to be put in the bosom of my brother?"
Deerslayer had far too much of the innate gentleman to insinuate aught
against the fair fame of one who, by nature and position was so helpless, and
as he did not choose to utter an untruth, he preferred being silent. The
Huron mistook the motive, and supposed that disappointed affection lay at the
bottom of his reserve. Still bent on corrupting, or bribing his captive, in
order to obtain possession of the treasures with which his imagination filled
the Castle, he persevered in his attack.
"Hawkeye is talking with a friend," he continued. "He knows that Rivenoak is
a man of his word, for they have traded together, and trade opens the soul.
My friend has come here, on account of a littlie string held by a girl, that
can pull the whole body of the sternest warrior?"
"You are nearer the truth, now, Huron, than you've been afore, since we began
to talk. This is true. But one end of that string was not fast to my heart,
nor did the Wild Rose hold the other."
"This is wonderful! Does my brother love in his head, and not in his heart?
And can the Feeble Mind pull so hard against so stout a warrior?"
"There it is ag'in; sometimes right, and sometimes wrong! The string you
mean, is fast to the heart of a great Delaware; one of Mohican stock in fact,
living among the Delawares since the disparsion of his own people, and of the
family of Uncas - Chingachgook by name, or Great Sarpent. He has come here,
led by the string, and I've followed, or rather come afore, for I got here
first, pulled by nothing stronger than fri'ndship; which is strong enough for
such as are not niggardly of their feelin's, and are willing to live a little
for their fellow creatur's, as well as for themselves."
"But a string has two ends - one is fast to the mind of a Mohican; and the
other?"- "Why the other was here close to the fire, half an hour since. Wah-
ta!-Wah held it in her hand, if she did'n't hold it to her heart."
"I understand what you mean, my brother," returned the Indian gravely, for
the first time catching a direct clue to the adventures of the evening. "The
Great Serpent, being strongest, pulled the hardest, and Hist was forced to
leave us.
"I do'n't think there was much pulling about it," answered the other,
laughing, always in his silent manner, with as much heartiness as if he were
not a captive, and in danger of torture or death-"I do'n't think there was
much pulling about it; no I do'n't. Lord help you, Huron! He likes the gal,
and the gal hikes him, and it surpassed Huron sarcumventions to keep two
young people, apart, where there was so strong a feelin' to bring 'em
together."
"And Hawkeye and Chingachgook came into our camp on this errand, only?"
"That's a question that'll answer itself, Mingo! Yes, if a question could
talk it would answer itself, to your parfect satisfaction. For what else
should we come? And yet, it Is'n't exactly so, neither; for we did'n't come
into your camp at all, but only as far as that pine, there, that you see on
the other side of the ridge, where we stood watching your movements, and
conduct, as long as we liked. When we were ready, the Sarpent gave his
signal, and then all went just as it should, down to the moment when yonder
vagabond leaped upon my back. Sartain; we come for that, and for no other
purpose, and we got what we come for; there's no use in pretending
otherwise. Hist is off with a man who's the next thing to her husband, and
come what will to me, that's one good thing detarmined."
"What sign, or signal, told the young maiden that her lover was nigh?" asked
the Huron with more curiosity than it was usual for him to betray.
Deerslayer laughed again, and seem'd to enjoy the success of the exploit,
with as much glee, as if he had not been its victim.
"Your squirrels are great gadabouts, Mingo," he cried still laughing-"yes,
they're sartainly, great gadabouts! When other folk's squirrels are at home
and asleep, yourn keep in motion among the trees, and chirrup and sing, in a
way that even a Delaware gal can understand their musick! Well, there's four
legged squirrels, and there's two legged squirrels, and give me the last,
when there's a good tight string atween two hearts. If one brings 'em
together, t'other tells when to pull hardest!"
The Huron look'd vexed, though he succeeded in suppressing any violent
exhibition of resentment. He now quitted his prisoner, and joining the rest
of the warriors, he communicated the substance of wheat he had learned. As
in his own case, admiration was mingled with anger, at the boldness and
success of their enemies. Three or four of them ascended the little acclivity
and gazed at the tree where it was understood the adventurers had posted
themselves, and one even descended to it, and examined for foot prints
around its roots, in order to make sure that the statement was true. The
result confirmed the story of the captive, and they all returned to the fire,
with increased wonder and respect. The messenger who had arrived with some
communication from the party above, while the two adventurers were watching
the camp, was now despatched with some answer, and doubtless bore with him
the intelligence of all that had happened.
Down to this moment, the young Indian who had been seen walking in company
with Hist and another female, had made no advances to any communication with
Deerslayer. He had held himself aloof from his friends even, passing near the
bevy of younger women, who were clustering together, apart as usual, and
conversed in low tones on the subject of the escape of their late companion.
Perhaps it would be true to say, that these last were pleased as well as
vexed at what had just occur-red. Their female sympathies were with the
lovers, while their pride was bound up in the success of their own tribe. It
is possible too, that the superior personal advantages of Hist, rendered her
dangerous to some of the younger part of the group, and they were not sorry
to find she was no longer in the way of their own ascendency. On the whole,
however, the better feeling was most prevalent, for neither the wild
condition in which they lived, the clannish prejudices of tribes, nor their
hard fortunes as Indian women , could entirely conquer the inextinguishable
leaning of their sex to the affections. One of the girls even laughed at the
disconsolate look of the swain who might fancy himself deserted, a
circumstance that seemed suddenly to arouse his energies, and induce him to
move towards the log, on which the prisoner was still seated, drying his
clothes.
"This is Gatamount!" said the Indian, striking his hand boastfully on his
naked breast, as he uttered the words in a manner to show how much weight he
expected them to carry.
"This is Hawkeye -" quietly returned Deerslayer, adopting the name by which
he
knew he would be known in future, among all the tribes of the Iroquois. "My
sight is keen- is my brother's leap long?"
"From here to the Delaware villages. Hawkeye has stolen my wife - he must
bring her back, or his scalp will hang on a pole, and dry in my wigwam."
"Hawkeye has stolen nothing, Huron. He does'n't come of a thieving breed, nor
has he thieving gifts. Your wife, as you call Wah-ta!-Wah, will never be the
wife of any red skin of the Canadas; her mind is in the cabin of a Delaware,
and her body has gone to find it. The catamount is actyve I know, but its
legs can't keep pace with a woman's wishes."
"The Serpent of the Delawares is a dog-he is a poor bull-pout, that keeps in
the water; he is afraid to stand on the hard earth, like a brave Indian!"
"Well, well, Huron, that's pretty impudent, considering it's not an hour
since the Sarpent stood within a hundred feet of you, and would have tried
the toughness of your skin with a rifle bullet, when I pointed .you out to
him, had'n't I laid the weight of a little judgment on his hand. You may take
in timersome gals in the settlements, with your catamount whine, but the ears
of a man can tell truth from ontruth."
"Hist laughs at him! She sees he is lame, and a poor hunter, and he has never
been on a war path. She will take a man for a husband, and not a fish."
"How do you know that, Catamount; how do you know that," returned Deerslayer
laughing. "She has gone into the lake, you see, and may be she prefars a
trout to a mongrel cat. As for war paths, neither the Sarpent nor I, have
much exper'ence, we are ready to own, but if you do n't call this one, you
must tarm it, what the gals in the settlements tarm it, the high road to
matrimony. Take my advice Catamount, and s'arch for a wife among the Huron
women; you'll never get one, with a willing mind, from among the Delawares."
Catamount's hand felt for his tomahawk, and when thee fingers reached the
handle, they worked convulsively, as if their owner hesitated between policy
and resentment. At this critical moment Rivenoak approached, and by a gesture
of authority, induced the young man to retire, assuming his former position,
himself, on thee log, at the side of Deerslayer. Here he continued silent for
a little time, maintaining the grave reserve of an Indian chief.
"Hawkeye is right-" the Iroquois at length began; "his sight is so strong
that he can see truth in a dark night, and our eyes have been blinded. He is
an owl, darkness hiding nothing from him. He ought not to strike his friends.
He is right."
"I'm glad you think so, Mingo," returned the other, "for a traitor, in my
judgment, is worse than a coward. I care as little for the Muskrat, as one
pale face ought to care for another, but I care too much for him, to ambush
him in the way you wished. In short, according to my idees, any
sarcumventions, except open-war sarcumventions, are ag'in both law, and what
we whites call 'gospel', too."
"My pale-face brother is right; he is no Indian, to forget his Manitou and
his colour. The Hurons know that they have a great warrior for their
prisoner, and they will treat him as one. If he is to be tortured, his
torments shall be such as no common man can bear; if he is to be treated as
a friend, it will be the friendship of chiefs."
As the Huron uttered this extraordinary assurance of consideration, his eye
furtively glanced at the countenance of his listener, in order to discover
how he stood the compliment, though his gravity and apparent sincerity would
have prevented any man but one practised in artifices, from detecting his
motives. Deerslayer belonged to the class of the unsuspicious, and
acquainted with the Indian notions of what constitutes respect, in matters
connected with the treatment of captives, he felt his blood chill at the
announcement, even while he maintained an aspect so steeled that his quick
sighted enemy could discover in it, no signs of weakness.
"God has put me in your hands, Huron," the captive at length answered, "and I
suppose you will act your will on me. I shall not boast of what I can do,
under torment, for I've never been tried, and no man can say 'till he has
been; but I'll do my endivours not to disgrace the people among whom I got my
training. Howsever, I wish you now to bear witness that I'm altogether of
white blood, and, in a nat'ral way of white gifts too; so, should I be
overcome and forget myself, I hope you'll lay the fault where it properly
belongs, and, in no manner put it on the Delawares, or their allies and
friends the Mohicans. We're all created with more or less weakness, and I'm
afeard it's a pale face's to give in, under great bodily torment, when a red
skin will sing his songs, and boast of his deeds in the very teethe of his
foes."
"We shall see. Hawkeye has a good countenance, and he is tough-But why should
he be tormented, when the Hurons love him? - He is not born their enemy, and
the death of one warrior will not cast a cloud between them forever."
"So much the better, Huron; so much the better. Still I do'n't wish to owe
any thing to a mistake about each other's meaning. It is so much the better
that you bear no malice for thee loss of a warrior who fell in war, and yet
it is ontrue that there is no inmity - lawful inmity I mean - atween us. So
far as I have red skin feelin's at all, I've Delaware feelin's, and I leave
you to judge for yourself how far they are likely to be fri'ndly to the
Mingos"- Deerslayer ceased, for a sort of spectre stood before him, that put
a stop to his words, and, indeed, caused him for a moment to doubt the
fidelity of his boasted vision. Hetty Hutter was standing at the side of the
fire as quietly as if she belonged to the tribe.
As the hunter and the Indian sat watching the emotions that were betrayed in
each other's countenance, the girl had approached unnoticed, doubtless
ascending from the beach on the southern side of the point, or that next to
the spot where the Ark had anchored, and had advanced to the fire with the
fearlessness that belonged to her simplicity, and which was certainly
justified by the treatment formerly received from the Indians. As soon as
Rivenoak perceived the girl, she was recognised, and calling to two or three
of the younger wariors, thee chief sent them out to reconnoitre, lest her
appearance should be the forerunner of another attack. He then motioned to
Hetty to draw near.
"I hope your visit is a sign that the Sarpent and Hist are in safety, Hetty,"
said Deerslayer, as soon as the girl had complied with the Huron's request.
"I do'n't think you'd come ashore ag'in, on the ar'n'd that brought you here
afore."
"Judith told me to come this time, Deerslayer," Hetty replied, ."she paddled
me ashore herself, in a canoe as soon as the Serpent had shown her Hist, and
told his story. How handsome Hist is to-night, Deerslayer, and how much
happier she looks than when she was with the Hurons!"
"That's natur' gal; yes, that may be set down as human natur'. She's with her
betrothed, and no longer fears a Mingo husband. In my judgment, Judith,
herself, would lose most of her beauty if she thought she was to bestow it
all on a Mingo! Content is a great fortifier of good looks, and I'll warrant
you, Hist is contented enough, now she is out of the hands of these
miscreants, and with her chosen warrior! Did you say that Judith told you to
come ashore - why should your sister do that?"
"She bid me come to see you, and to try and persuade the savages to take more
elephants to let you off, but I've brought the bible with me - that will do
more than all the elephants in father's chest!"
"And your father, good little Hetty-and Hurry; did they know of your ar'n'd?"
"Not they. Both are asleep, and Judith and the Serpent thought it best they
should not be woke, lest they might want to come again after scalps, when
Hist had told them how few warriors, and how many women and children there
were in the camp. Judith would give me no peace, 'till I had come ashore to
see wheat had happened to you."
"Well, that's remarkable as consarns Judith! Whey should she feel so much
unsartainty about me? - Ah - - I see how it is , now; yes, I see into the
whole matter, now. You must understand, Hetty, that your sister is oneasy
lest Harry March should wake, and come blundering here into the hands of the
inimy ag'in, under some idee that, being a travelling comrade, he ought to
help me in this matter! Hurry is a blunderer, I will allow, but I do n't
think he'd risk as much for my sake, as he would for his own."
"Judith do n't care for Hurry, though Hurry cares for her," replied Hetty
innocently, but quite positively.
"I've heard you say as much as that afore; yes, I've heard that from you,
afore, gal, and yet it is'n't true. One don't live in a tribe, not to see
something of the way in which liking works in a woman's heart. Though no way
given to marrying myself, i've been a looker on among the Delawares, and this
is a matter in which pale-face and red skin gifts are all as one as the
same. When the feelin' begins, the young woman is thoughtful, and has no
eyes or ears onless for the warrior that has taken her fancy; then follows
melancholy and sighing, and such sort of actions; after which, especially if
matters don't come to plain discourse, she often flies round to back biting
and fault finding, blaming the youth for the very things she likes best in
him. Some young creatur's are forward in this way of showing their love, and
I'm of opinion, Judith is one of 'em. Now, I've heard her as much as deny
that Hurry was good-looking, and the young woman who could do that, must be
far gone indeed!"
"Thee young woman who liked Hurry would own that he is handsome. I think
Hurry very handsome, Deerslayer, and I'm sure every body must think so, that
has eyes. Judith do n't like Harry March, and that's the reason she finds
fault with him."
"Well - well - my good little Hetty, have it your own way. If we should talk
from now 'till winter, each would think as at present, and there's no use in
words. I must believe that Judith is much wrapped up in Hurry, and that,
sooner or later, she'll have him; and this, too, all the more from the manner
in which she abuses him; and I dare to say, you think just the contrary. But
mind what I now tell you, gal, and pretend not to know it-" continued this
being, who was so obtuse on a point on which men are usually quick enough to
make discoveries, and so acute in matters that would baffle the observation
of much the greater portion of mankind, "I see how it is, with them
vagabonds. Rivenoak has left us, you see, and is talking yonder with his
young men, and though too far to be heard, I can see what he is telling them.
Their orders is to watch your movements, and to find where thee canoe is to
meet you, to take you back to the 'Ark, and then to seize all and what they
can. I'm sorry Judith sent you, for I suppose she wants you to go back
ag'in."
"All that's settled, Deerslayer," returned the girl, in a low, confidential
and meaning manner, "and you may trust me to out-wit the best Indian of them
all. I know lam feeble minded, but I've got some sense, and you'll see how
I'll use it, in getting back, when my errand is done!"
"Ahs! me, poor girl; I'm afeard all that's easier said than done. They're a
venomous set of riptyles and their p'ison's none the milder, for the loss of
Hist. Well, I'm glad the Sarpent was the one to get off with the gal, for now
there'll be two happy at least, whereas had he fallen into thee hands of thee
Mingos, there'd been two miserable, and another far from feelin' as a man
likes to feel."
"Now you put me in mind of a part of my errand, that I had almost forgotten,
Deerslayer. Judith told me to ask you, what you thought the Hurons would do
with you, if you could'n't be bought off, and what she had best do to serve
you. Yes, this was the most important part of the errand - what she had best
do, in Order to serve you?"
"That's as you think, Hetty; but it's no matter. Young women are apt to lay
most stress on wheat most touches their feelin's; but no matter; have it your
own way, so you be but careful not to let the vagabonds get the mastery of a
canoe. When you get back to the Ark, tell 'em to keep close, and to keep
moving too, most especially at night. Many hours can't go by, without the
troops on the river hearing of this party, and then your fri'nds may look for
relief. Tis but a day's march from the nearest garrison, and true soldiers
will never lie idle with the foe in their neighborhood. This is my advice,
and you may say to your father and Hurry, that scalp-hunting will be a poor
business now, as the Mingos are up and awake, and nothing can save 'em, 'till
the troops come, except keeping a good belt of water atween 'em and the
savages."
"What shall I tell Judith about you, Deerslayer; 1 know she will send me back
again, if I don't bring her the truth about you."
"Then tell her the truth. I see no reason Judith Hutter should n't hear the
truth about me, as well as a lie. I'm a captyve in Indian hands, and
Providence only knows what will come of it! Harkee, Hetty-" dropping his
voice and speaking still more confidentially, "you are a little weak minded,
it must be allowed, but you know something of Injins. Here I am in their
hands, after having slain one of their stoutest warriors, and they've been
endivouring to work upon me through fear of consequences, to betray your
father, and all in the Ark. I understand the blackguards as well as if they'd
told it all out plainly, with their tongues. They hold up avarice afore me,
on one side, and fear on t'other, and think honesty will give way, atween 'em
both. But let your father and Hurry know, 'tis all useless; as for the
Sarpent, he knows it already."
"But what shall I tell Judith?- She will certainly send me back, if I don't
satisfy her mind."
"Well, tell Judith the same. No doubt the savages will try the torments, to
make me give in, and to revenge the loss of their warrior, but I must hold
out ag'in nat'ral weakness in the best manner I can. You may tell Judith to
feel no consarn on my account- it will come hard I know, seeing that a white
man's gifts don't run to boasting and singing under torment, for he generally
feels smallest when he suffers most-but you may tell her not to have any
consarn. I think I shall make out to stand it, and she may rely on this, let
me give in, as much as I may, and prove completely that I am white, by
wailings, and howlings, and even tears, yet I'll never fall so far as to
betray my fri'nds. When it gets to burning holes in the flesh, with heated
ramrods, and to hacking the body, and tearing the hair out by the roots,
natur' may get the upperhand, so far as groans, and complaints are consarned,
but there the triumph of the vagabonds will ind; nothing short of god's
abandoning him to the devils, can make an honest man ontrue to his colour and
duty.
Hetty listened with great attention, and her mild but speaking countenance
manifested a strong sympathy in the anticipated agony of the supposititious
sufferer. At first she seemed at a loss how to act; then, taking a hand of
Deerslayer's she affectionately recommended to him to borrow her bible, and
to read it, while the savages were inflicting their torments. When the other
honestly admitted that it exceeded his power to read, she even volunteered to
remain with him, and to perform this holy office in person. Thee offer was
gently declined, and Rivenoak being about to join them, Deerslayer requested
the girl to leave him, first enjoining her again, to tell those in the Ark to
have full confidence in his fidelity. Hetty now walked away, and approached
the group of females, with as much confidence and self-possession, as if she
were a native of the tribe. On the other hand thee Huron resumed his seat by
the side of his prisoner the one continuing to ask questions with all the
wily ingenuity of a practised Indian counsellor, and thee other baffling him
by thee very means that are known to be the most efficacious in defeating the
finesse of the more pretending diplomacy of civilisation or by confining his
answers to the truth, and thee truth only.
Chapter XVIII
"Thus died she; never more on her
Shall sorrow light, or shame. She was not made
Through years or moons the inner weight to bear,
Which colder hearts endure till they are laid
By age in earth; her days and pleasure were
Brief but delightful - such as had not stayed
Long with her destiny; but she sleeps well
By the sea-shore whereon she loved to dwell."
Byron. Don Juan,IV,lxxi.
The young men who had been sent out to reconnoitre, on the sudden appearance
of Hetty soon returned to report their want of success in making any
discovery. One of them had even been along the beach as far as the spot
opposite to the ark, but the darkness had completely concealed that vessel
from his notice. Others had examined in different directions, and everywhere
the stillness of night was added to the silence and solitude of the woods.
It was consequently believed that the girl had come alone, as on her former
visit, and on some similar errand. The Iroquois were ignorant that the ark
had left the castle, and there were movements projected, if not in the course
of actual execution, by this time, which also greatly added to the sense of
security. A watch was set, therefore, and all but the sentinels disposed
themselves to sleep. Sufficient care was had to the safe keeping of the
captive,
without inflicting on him any unnecessary suffering; and, as for Hetty, she
was permitted to find a place among the Indian girls in the best manner she
could. She did not find the friendly offices of Hist, though her character
not only bestowed impunity from pain and captivity, but it procured for her a
consideration and an attention that placed her, on the score of comfort,
quite on a level with the wild but gentle beings around her. She was supplied
with
a skin, and made her own bed on a pile of boughs a little apart from the
huts. Here she was soon in a profound sleep, like all around her.
There were now thirteen men in the party, and three kept watch at a time. One
remained in shadow, not far from the fire. however. His duty was to guard the
captive, to take care that the fire neither blazed up so as to illuminate the
spot, nor yet become wholly extinguished, and to keep an eye generally or the
state of the camp. Another passed from one beach to the other, crossing the
base of the point, while the third kept moving slowly around the strand on
its outer
extremity, to prevent a repetition of the surprise that had already taken
place that night. This arrangement was far from being usual among savages,
who ordinarily rely more on the secrecy of their movements, than or vigilance
of this nature; but it had been called for by the peculiarity of the
circumstances in which the Hurons were now placed. Their position was known
to their foes, and it could not easily be changed at an hour which demanded
rest. Perhaps, too, they placed most of their confidence on the knowledge of
what they believed to be passing higher up the lake, and which, it was
thought would fully occupy the whole of the pale-faces, who were at liberty,
with their solitary Indian ally. It was, also, probable Rivenoak was aware,
that, in holding his captive, he had in his own hands the most dangerous of
all his enemies.
The precision with which those accustomed to watchfulness, or lives of
disturbed rest, sleep, is not the least of the phenomena of our mysterious
being. The head is no sooner on the pillow than consciousness is lost; and
yet, at a necessary hour, the mind appears to arouse the body, as promptly as
if it had stood entinel the while over it. There can be no doubt that they
who are thus roused, awake by the influence of thought over matter, though
the mode in which
this influence is exercised must remain hidden from our curiosity until it
shall be explained, should that hour ever arrive, by the entire enlightenment
of the soul on the subject of all human mysteries. Thus it was with Hetty
Hutter. Feeble as the immaterial portion of her existence was thought to be,
it was sufficiently active to cause her to open her eyes at midnight. At that
hour she awoke, and leaving her bed of skin and boughs she walked innocently
and openly to the embers of the fire, stirring the latter, as the coolness of
the night and the woods, in connection with an exceedingly unsophisticated
bed, had a little chilled her. As the flame shot up, it lighted the swarthy
countenance of the Huron on watch, whose dark eyes glistened under its light
like the balls of the panther that is pursued to his den with burning brands.
But Hetty felt no fear, and she approached the spot where the Indian stood.
Her movements were so natural, and so perfectly devoid of any of the
stealthiness of cunning or deception, that he imagined she had merely arisen
on account of the coolness of the night, a common occurrence in a bivouac,
and the one of all others,
perhaps, the least likely to excite suspicion. Hetty spoke to him, but he
understood no English. She then gazed near a minute at the sleeping captive,
and moved slowly away in a sad and melancholy manner. The girl took no pains
to conceal her movements. Any ingenious expedient of this nature, quite
likely exceeded her powers; still her step was habitually light, and scarcely
audible. As she took the direction of the extremity of the point, or the
place where she had landed in the first adventure, and where Hist had
embarked, the sentinel saw her light form gradually disappear in the gloom
without uneasiness or changing his own position. He knew that others were on
the look-out, and he did not believe that one who had twice come into the
camp voluntarily, and had already left it openly, would take refuge in
flight. In short, the conduct of the girl excited no more attention that that
of any person of feeble intellect would excite in civilized society, while
her person met with more consideration and respect.
Hetty certainly had no very distinct notions of the localities, but she found
her way to the beach, which she reached on the same side of the point as that
on which the camp had been made. By following the margin of the water, taking
a northern direction, she soon encountered the Indian who paced the strand as
sentinel. This was a young warrior, and when he heard her light tread coming
along the gravel, he approached swiftly, though with any thing but menace in
his manner. The darkness was so intense that it was not easy to discover
forms within the shadows of the woods at the distance of twenty feet, and
quite impossible to distinguish persons until near enough to touch them. The
young Huron manifested disappointment when he found whom he had met;
for, truth to say, he was expecting his favourite, who had promised to
relieve the ennui of a midnight watch with her presence. This man was also
ignorant of English, but he was at no loss to understand why the girl should
be up at that hour. Such things were usual in an Indian village and camp,
where sleep is as irregular as the meals. Then poor Hetty's known imbecility
as in most things connected with the savages, stood her friend on this
occasion. Vexed at his disappointment, and impatient of the presence of one
he thought an intruder the young warrior signed for the girl to move forward,
holding the direction of the beach. Hetty complied; but, as she walked away,
she spoke aloud in
English in her usual soft tones, which the stillness of the night made
audible at some little distance. 'If you took me for a Huron girl, warrior,'
she said, 'I don't wonder you are so little pleased. I am Hetty Hutter,
Thomas Hutter's daughter, and have never met any man at night, for mother
always said it was wrong, and modest young women should never do it; modest
young women of the pale-faces, I mean; for customs are different in different
parts of the world, I know. No, no; I'm Hetty Hutter, and wouldn't meet even
Harry Hurry, though he should fall down on his knees and ask me! mother said
it was wrong.'
By the time Hetty had said this, she reached the place where the
canoes had come ashore, and, owing to the curvature of the land and the
bushes, would have been completely hid from the sight of the sentinel, had it
been broad day. But another footstep had caught the lover's ear, and he was
already nearly beyond the sound of the girl's silvery voice. Still Hetty,
bent only on her own thoughts and purposes, continued to speak, though the
gentleness of her tones
prevented the sounds from penetrating far into the woods. On the water they
were more widely diffused 'Here I am, Judith,' she added, 'and there is no
one near me. The Huron on watch has gone to meet his sweetheart, who is an
Indian girl you know, and never had a Christian mother to tell her how wrong
it is to meet a man at night -'
Hetty's voice was hushed by a 'hist!' that came from the Water, and then she
caught a dim view of the canoe, which approached noiselessly, and soon grated
on the shingle with its bow. The moment the weight of Hetty was felt in the
light craft, the canoe withdrew, stern foremost, as if possessed of life and
Volition until it was a hundred yards from the shore. Then it turned, and,
making a
wide sweep, as much to prolong the passage as to get beyond the sound of
voices, it held its way towards the ark. For several minutes nothing was
uttered; but, believing herself to be in a favourable position to confer with
her sister, Judith, who alone sat in the stern, managing the canoe with a
skill little short of that of a man, began a discourse which she had been
burning to commence ever since they had quitted the point.
'Here we are safe, Hetty,' she said, 'and may talk without the fear of being
overheard. You must speak low, however, for sounds are heard far on the water
in a still night. I was so close to the point some of the time while you were
on it, that I have heard the voices of the warriors, and I heard your shoes
on the gravel of the beach, even before you spoke.'
'I don't believe, Judith, the Hurons know I have left them.' 'Quite likely
they do not, for a lover makes a poor sentry, unless it be to watch for his
sweetheart! But tell me, Hetty, did you see and speak with Deerslayer?'
'Oh, yes - there he was seated near the fire, with his legs tied, though they
left his arms free, to move them as he pleased.' 'Well, what did he tell you,
child? Speak quick; I am dying to know what message he sent me.'
'What did he tell me? why, what do you think, Judith; he told me that he
couldn't read! Only think of that! a white man, and not know how to read his
Bible even! He never could have had a mother, sister!'
'Never mind that, Hetty. All men can't read; though mother knew so much and
taught us so much, father knows very little about books, and he can barely
read the Bible you know.'
'Oh! I never thought fathers could read much, but mothers ought all to read,
else how can they teach their children? Depend on it, Judith, Deerslayer
could never have had a mother, else he would know how to read.'
'Did you tell him I sent you ashore, Hetty, and how much concern I feel for
his misfortune?' asked the other, impatiently.
'I believe I did, Judith; but you know I am feeble-minded, and I may have
forgotten. I did tell him you brought me ashore. And he told me a great deal
that I was to say to you, which I remember well, for it made my blood run
cold to hear him. He told me to say that his friends - I suppose you are one
of them, sister?'
'How can you torment me thus, Hetty! Certainly, I am one of the truest
friends he has on earth.'
'Torment you! yes, now I remember all about it. I am glad you used that word,
Judith, for it brings it all back to my mind. Well, he said he might be
tormented by the savages, but he would try to bear it as becomes a Christian
white man, and that no one need be afeard - why does Deerslayer call it
afeard, when mother always taught us to say afraid?'
'Never mind, dear Hetty, never mind that, now,' cried the other almost
gasping for breath. 'Did Deerslayer really tell you that he thought the
savages would put him to the torture? Recollect now, well, Hetty, for this is
a most awful and serious thing.'
'Yes he did; and I remember it by your speaking about my tormenting you. Oh!
I felt very sorry for him, and Deerslayer took all so quietly and without
noise! Deerslayer is not as handsome as Harry Hurry, Judith, but he is more
quiet.'
'He's worth a million Hurrys! yes, he's worth all the young men who
ever came upon the lake put together,' said Judith, with an energy
and positiveness that caused her sister to wonder. 'He is true. -
There is no lie about Deerslayer. You, Hetty, may not know what a
merit it is in a man to have truth, but when you get - no - I hope you
will never know it. Why should one like you be ever made to learn
the hard lesson to distrust and hate!'
Judith bowed her face, dark as it was, and unseen as she must have
been, by any eye but that of Omniscience, between her hands, and
groaned. This sudden paroxysm of feeling, however, lasted but for a
moment, and she continued more calmly, still speaking frankly to her
sister, whose intelligence, and whose discretion in any thing that
related to herself, she did not in the least distrust. Her voice,
however, was low and husky, instead of baying its former clearness
and animation.
'It is a hard thing to fear truth, Hetty,' she said, 'and yet do I more
dread Deerslayer's truth, than any enemy! One cannot tamper with
such truth - so much honesty - such obstinate uprightness! But we are
not altogether unequal, sister - Deer-slayer and I? He is not altogether
my superior ?'
It was not usual for Judith so far to demean herself as to appeal to
Hetty's judgment. Nor did she often address her by the title of sister,
a distinction that is commonly given by the junior to the senior, even
where there is perfect equality in all other respects. As trifling
departures from habitual deportment oftener strike the imagination
than more important changes, Hetty perceived the circumstances,
and wondered at them in her own simple way. Her ambition was a
little quickened, and the answer was as much out of the usual course
of things, as the question; the poor girl attempting to refine beyond
her strength.
'Superior, Judith!' she repeated with pride. 'In what can
Deerslayer be your superior? Are you not mother's child - and
does he know how to read - and wasn't mother before any woman
in all this part of the world? I should think, so far from supposing
himself your superior, he would hardly believe himself mine. You
are handsome, and he is ugly -'
'No, not ugly, Hetty,' interrupted Judith. 'Only plain. But his honest
face has a look in it, that is far better than beauty. In my eyes, Deerslayer
is handsomer than Harry Hurry.'
'Judith Hutter! you frighten me. Hurry is the handsomest mortal in the world
- even handsomer than you are yourself; because a man's good looks, you
know, are always better than a woman's good looks.'
This little innocent touch of natural taste did not please the elder sister
at the moment, and she did not scruple to betray it. 'Hetty, you now speak
foolishly, and had better say no more, on this subject,' she answered.
'Hurry is not the handsomest mortal in the world, by many; and there are
officers in the garrisons - ' Judith stammered at the words - 'there are
officers in the garrisons, near us, far comelier than he. But, why do you
think me the equal of Deerslayer - speak of that, for I do not like to hear
you show so much admiration of a man like Hurry Harry, who has neither
feelings, manners, nor conscience. You are too good for him, and he ought to
be told it, at once.'
'I! Judith, how you forget! Why I am not beautiful, and am
feeble-minded.'
'You are good, Hetty, and that is more than can be said of Henry March. He
may have a face, and a body, but he has no heart. But enough of this, for the
present. Tell me what raises me to an equality with Deerslayer.'
'To think of you asking me this, Judith! He can't read, and you can. He don't
know how to talk, but speaks worse than Hurry even; - for, sister, Harry
doesn't always pronounce his words right! Did you ever notice that ?'
'Certainly, he is as coarse in speech as in every thing else. But, I fear
you flatter me, Hetty, when you think I can be justly called the equal of a
man like Deerslayer. It is true, I have been better taught; in one sense am
more comely; and perhaps might look higher; but then his truth - his truth -
makes a fearful difference between us! Well, I will talk no more of this; and
we will bethink us of the means of getting him out of the hands of the
Hurons. We have father's chest in the ark, Hetty, and might try the
temptation of more elephants; though I fear such baubles will not buy the
liberty of a man like Deerslayer. I am afraid father and Hurry will not be
as willing to ransom Deerslayer, as Deerslayer was to ransom them!'
'Why not, Judith? Hurry and Deerslayer are friends, and friends should
always help one another.'
'Alas! poor Hetty, you little know mankind! Seeming friends are often more to
be dreaded than open enemies; particularly by females. But you'll have to
land in the morning, and try again what can be done for Deerslayer. Tortured
he shall not be, while Judith Hutter lives, and can find means to prevent
it.' The conversation now grew desultory, and was drawn out, until the
elder sister had extracted from the younger every fact that the feeble
faculties of the latter permitted her to retain, and to communicate.
When Judith was satisfied - though she could never be said to be satisfied,
whose feelings seemed to be so interwoven with all that related to the
subject, as to have excited a nearly inappeasable curiosity - but, when
Judith could think of no more questions to ask, without resorting to
repetition, the canoe was paddled towards the scow. The intense darkness of
the night, and the deep shadows which the hills and forest cast upon the
water, rendered it difficult to find the vessel, anchored, as it had been, as
close to the shore as a regard to safety rendered prudent. Judith was expert
in the management of a bark canoe, the lightness of which demanded skill
rather than strength; and she forced her own little vessel swiftly over the
water, the moment she had ended her conference with Hetty, and had come to
the determination to return. Still no ark was seen. Several times the sisters
fancied they saw it, looming up in the obscurity, like a low black rock; but
on each occasion it was found to be either an optical illusion, or some swell
of the foliage on the shore. After a search that lasted half an hour, the
girls were forced to the unwelcome conviction that the ark had departed. Most
young women would have felt the awkwardness of their situation, in a physical
sense, under the circumstances in which the sisters were left, more than any
apprehensions of a different nature. Not so with Judith, however; and even
Hetty felt more concern about the motives that might have influenced her
father and Hurry, than any fears for her own safety.
'It cannot be, Hetty,' said Judith, when a thorough search had satisfied them
both that no ark was to be found; 'it cannot be that the Indians have rafted,
or swum off and surprised our friends as they slept ?'
'I don't believe that Hist and Chingachgook would sleep until they had told
each other all they had to say after so long a separation – do you, sister ?'
'Perhaps not, child. There was much to keep them awake, but one Indian may
have been surprised even when not asleep, especially as his thoughts may have
been on other things. Still we should have heard a noise; for in a night like
this, an oath of Harry Hurry's would have echoed in the eastern hills like a
clap of thunder.'
'Hurry is sinful and thoughtless about his words, Judith,' Hetty meekly and
sorrowfully answered.
'No - no; 'tis impossible the ark could be taken and I not hear the noise. It
is not an hour since I left it, and the whole time I have been attentive to
the smallest sound. And yet, it is not easy to believe a father would
willingly abandon his children!'
'Perhaps father has thought us in our cabin asleep, Judith, and has moved
away to go home. You know we often move the ark in the night.'
'This is true, Hetty, and it must be as you suppose. There is a little more
southern air than there was, and they have gone up the lake -' Judith
stopped, for, as the last word was on her tongue, the scene was suddenly
lighted, though only for a single instant, by a flash. The crack of a rifle
succeeded, and then followed the roll of the echo along the eastern
mountains. Almost at the same moment a piercing female cry rose in the air in
a prolonged shriek. The awful stillness that succeeded was, if possible, more
appalling than the fierce and sudden interruption of the deep silence of
midnight. Resolute as she was both by nature and habit, Judith scarce
breathed, while poor Hetty hid her face and trembled.
'That was a woman's cry, Hetty,' said the former solemnly, 'and it was a cry
of anguish! If the ark has moved from this spot it can only have gone north
with this air, and the gun and shriek came from the point. Can any thing have
befallen Hist?'
'Let us go and see, Judith; she may want our assistance - for, besides
herself, there are none but men in the ark.'
It was not a moment for hesitation, and ere Judith had ceased speaking her
paddle was in the water. The distance to the point, in a direct line, was not
great, and the impulses under which the girls worked were too exciting to
allow them to waste the precious moments in useless precautions. They paddled
incautiously for them, but the same excitement kept others from noting their
movements. Presently a glare of light caught the eye of Judith through an
opening in the bushes, and steering by it, she so directed the canoe as to
keep it visible, while she got as near the land as was either prudent or
necessary.
The scene that was now presented to the observation of the girls was within
the woods, on the side of the declivity so often mentioned, and in plain view
from the boat. Here all in the camp were collected, some six or eight
carrying torches of fat-pine, which cast a strong but funereal light on all
beneath the arches of the forest. With her back supported against a tree, and
sustained on one side by the young sentinel whose remissness had suffered
Hetty to escape, sat the female whose expected visit had produced his
delinquency. By the glare of the torch that was held near her face, it was
evident that she was in the agonies of death, while the blood that trickled
from her bared bosom betrayed the nature of the injury she had received. The
pungent, peculiar smell of gunpowder, too, was still quite perceptible in the
heavy, damp night air. There could be no question that she had been shot.
Judith understood it all at a glance. The streak of light had appeared on the
water a short distance from the point, and either the rifle had been
discharged from a canoe hovering near the land, or it had been fired from the
ark in passing. An incautious exclamation, or laugh, may have produced the
assault, for it was barely possible that the aim had been assisted by any
other agent than sound. As to the effect, that was soon still more apparent,
the head of the victim dropping, and the body sinking in death. Then all the
torches but one were extinguished - a measure of prudence; and the melancholy
train that bore the body to the camp was just to be distinguished by the
glimmering light that remained. Judith sighed heavily and shuddered, as her
paddle again dipped, and the canoe moved cautiously around the point. A sight
had afflicted her senses, and now haunted her imagination, that was still
harder to be borne, than even the untimely fate and passing agony of the
deceased girl.
She had seen, under the strong glare of all the torches, the erect form of
Deerslayer, standing with commiseration, and as she thought, with shame,
depicted on his countenance, near the dying female. He betrayed neither fear
nor backwardness himself; but it was apparent by the glances cast at him by
the warriors, that fierce passions were struggling in their bosoms. All this
seemed to be unheeded by the captive, but it remained impressed on the memory
of Judith throughout the night. No canoe was met hovering near the point. A
stillness and darkness, as complete as if the silence of the forest had never
been disturbed, or the sun had never shone on that retired region, now
reigned on the point, and on the gloomy water, the slumbering woods, and
even the murky sky. No more could be done, therefore, than to seek a place
of safety; and this was only to be found in the centre of the lake. Paddling
in silence to that spot, the canoe was suffered to drift northerly, while
the girls sought such repose as their situation and feelings would permit.
dropping, and the body sinking in death. Then all the torches but one were
extinguished - a measure of prudence; and the melancholy train that bore the
body to the camp was just to be distinguished by the glimmering light that
remained.
Judith sighed heavily and shuddered, as her paddle again dipped,
and the canoe moved cautiously around the point. A sight had
afflicted her senses, and now haunted her imagination, that was still harder
to be borne, than even the untimely fate and passing agony of the deceased
girl. She had seen, under the strong glare of all the torches, the erect form
of Deerslayer, standing with commiseration, and as she thought, with shame,
depicted on his countenance, near the dying female. He betrayed neither fear
nor backwardness himself; but it was apparent by the glances cast at him by
the warriors, that fierce passions were struggling in their bosoms. All this
seemed to be unheeded by the captive, but it remained impressed on the memory
of Judith throughout the night. No canoe was met hovering near the point. A
stillness and darkness, as complete as if the silence of the forest had never
been disturbed, or the sun had never shone on that retired region, now
reigned on the point, and on the gloomy water, the slumbering woods, and even
the murky sky. No more could be done, therefore, than to seek a place of
safety; and this was only to be found in the centre of the lake, paddling in
silence to that spot, the canoe was suffered to drift northerly, while the
girls sought such repose as their situation and feelings would permit.
Chapter XVIX
"Stand to your arms, and guard the door- all's lost
Unless that fearful bell be silenced soon.
The officer hath miss'd his path, or purpose,
Or met some unforeseen and hideous obstacle.
Anselmo, with thy company proceed
Straight to the tower; the rest remain with me."
Byron, Marino Faliero, lV.ii.23o-35.
The conjecture of Judith Hutter, concerning the manner in which the Indian
girl had met her death, was accurate in the main. After sleeping several
hours, her father and March awoke. This occurred a few minutes after she had
left the Ark to go in quest of her sister, and when of course Chingachgook
and his betrothed were on board. From the Delaware the old man learned the
position of the camp, and the recent events, as well as the absence of his
daughters. The latter gave him no concern, for he relied greatly on the
sagacity of the elder, and the known impunity with which the younger passed
among the savages. Long familiarity with danger, too, had blunted his
sensibilities. Nor did he seem much to regret the captivity of Deerslayer,
for, while he knew how material his aid might be in a defence, the difference
in their views on the morality of the woods, had not left much sympathy
between them. He would have rejoiced to know the position of the camp before
it had been alarmed by the escape of Hist, but it would be too hazardous now
to venture to land, and he reluctantly relinquished for the night, the
ruthless designs that cupidity and revenge had excited him to entertain. In
this mood Hutter took a seat in the head of the scow, where he was quickly
joined by Hurry, leaving the Serpent and Hist in quiet possession of the
other extremity of the vessel.
"Deerslayer has shown himself a boy, in going among the savages at this hour,
and letting himself fall into their hands like a deer that tumbles into a
pit," growled the old man, perceiving as usual the mote in his neighbor's
eyes, while he overlooked the beam in his own; "if he is left to pay for' his
stupidity with his own flesh, he can blame no one but himself."
"That's the way of the world, old Tom," returned Hurry. "Every man must meet
his own debts, and answer for his own sins. I'm amazed, howsever, that a lad
as skilful and watchful as Deerslayer, should have been caught in such a
trap! Didn't he know any better than to go prowling about a Huron camp, at
midnight, with no place to retreat to, but a lake; or did he think himself a
buck, that by taking to the water could throw off the scent and swim himself
out of difficulty. I had a better opinion of the boy's judgment, I'll own;
but we must overlook a little ignorance in a raw hand. I say, Master Hutter,
do you happen to know what has become of the gals - I see no signs of Judith,
or Hetty, though I've been through the Ark, and looked into all its living
creatur's."
Hutter briefly explained the manner in which his daughters had taken to the
canoe, as it had been related by the Delaware, as well as the return of
Judith after landing her sister, and her second departure.
"This comes of a smooth tongue, Floating Tom," exclaimed Hurry, grating his
teeth in pure resentment-"This comes of a smooth tongue, and a silly gal's
inclinations, and you had best look into the matter! You and I were both
prisoners- Hurry could recal that circumstance now - "you and I were both
prisoners and yet Judith never stirred an inch to do us any sarvice! She is
bewitched with this lank-looking Deerslayer, and he, and she, and you, and
all of us, had best look to it. I am not a man to put up with such a wrong
quietly, and I say, all the parties had best look to it! Let's up kedge, old
fellow, and move nearer to this p'int, and see how matters are getting on.
Hutter had no objections to this movement, and the Ark was got under way, in
the usual manner; care being taken to make no noise. The wind was passing
northward, and the sail soon swept the scow so far up the lake, as to render
the dark outlines of the trees that clothed the point, dimly visible.
Floating Tom steered, and he sailed along as near the land, as the depth of
the water, and the overhanging branches would allow. It was impossible to
distinguish any thing that stood within the shadows of the shore, but the
forms of the sail and of the hut, were discerned by the young sentinel on the
beach, who has already been mentioned. In the moment of sudden surprise, a
deep Indian exclamation escaped him. In that spirit of recklessness and
ferocity that formed the essence of Hurry's character, this man dropped his
rifle and fired. The ball was sped by accident, or by that overruling
providence which decides the fates of all, and the girl fell. Then followed
the scene with the torches, which has just been described.
At the precise moment when Hurry committed this act of unthinking cruelty,
the canoe of Judith was within a hundred feet of the spot from which the Ark
had so lately moved. Her own course has been described, and it has now become
our office to follow that of her father and his companions. The shriek
announced the effects of the random shot of March, and it also proclaimed
that the victim was a woman. Hurry himself was startled at these unlooked for
consequences, and for a moment he was sorely disturbed by conflicting
sensations. At first he laughed, in reckless and rude-minded exultation; and
then conscience, that monitor planted in our breasts by God, and which
receives its more general growth from the training bestowed in the tillage of
childhood, shot a pang to his heart. For a minute, the mind of this creature
equally of civilization and of barbarism, was a sort of chaos as to feeling,
not knowing what to think of its own act; and then the obstinacy and pride of
one of his habits, interposed to assert their usual ascendency. He struck the
butt of his rifle on the bottom of the scow, with a species of defiance, and
began to whistle a low air with an affectation of indifference. All this time
the Ark was in motion, and it was already opening the bay above the point,
and was consequently quitting the land.
Hurry's companions did not view his conduct with the same indulgence, as that
with which he appeared disposed to regard it himself. Hutter growled out his
dissatisfaction, for the act led to no advantage, while it threatened to
render the warfare more vindictive than ever, and none censure motiveless
departures from the right, more severely than the mercenary and unprincipled.
Still he commanded himself, the captivity of Deerslayer rendering the arm of
the offender of double consequence to him at that moment. Chingachgook arose,
and for a single instant the ancient animosity of tribes was forgotten, in a
feeling of colour; but he recollected himself in season to prevent any of the
fierce consequences that, for a passing moment, he certainly meditated. Not
so with Hist. Rushing through the hut, or cabin, the girl stood at the side
of Hurry, almost as soon as his rifle touched the bottom of the scow, and
with a fearlessness that did credit to her heart, she poured out her
reproaches with the generous warmth of a woman.
"What for you shoot?" she said. "What Huron gal do, dat you kill him? What
you t'ink Manitou say? What you t'ink Manitou, feel? What Iroquois do? No get
honour- no get camp - no get prisoner - no get battle - no get scalp - no get
not'ing at all! Blood come after blood! How you feel, your wife killed? Who
pity you, when tear come for moder, or sister? You big as great pine - Huron
gal little slender birch - why you fall on her and crush her! You t'ink Huron
forget it? No; red skin never forget! Never forget friend; never forget
enemy. Red man Manitou in dat. Why you so wicked, great pale-face?"
Hurry had never been so daunted as by this close and warm attack of the
Indian girl. It is true that she had a powerful ally in his conscience and
while she spoke earnestly, it was in tones so feminine as to deprive him of
any pretext for unmanly anger. The softness of her voice added to the weight
of her remonstrance, by lending to the latter an air of purity and truth.
Like most vulgar minded men, he had only regarded the Indians through the
medium of their coarser and fiercer characteristics. It had never struck him
that the affections are human, that even high principles- modified by habits
and prejudices, but not the less elevated within their circle-can exist in
the savage state, and that the warrior who is most ruthless in the field, can
submit to the softest and gentlest influences, in the moments of domestic
quiet. In a word, it was the habit of his mind to regard all Indians as being
only a slight degree removed from the wild beasts that roamed the woods, and
to feel disposed to treat them accordingly, whenever interest or caprice
supplied a motive, or an impulse. Still, though daunted by these reproaches,
the handsome barbarian could hardly be said to be penitent. He was too much
rebuked by conscience to suffer an outbreak of temper to escape him, and
perhaps he felt that he had already committed an act that might justly bring
his manhood in question. Instead of resenting, or answering the simple but
natural appeal of Hist, he walked away, like one who disdained entering into
a controversy with a woman.
In the mean while, the Ark swept onward, and by the time the scene with the
torches, was enacting beneath the trees, it had reached the open lake,
Floating Tom causing it to sheer further from the land, with a sort of
instinctive dread of retaliation. An hour now passed in gloomy silence, no
one appearing disposed to break it. Hist had retired to her pallet, and
Chingachgook lay sleeping in the forward part of the scow. Hutter and Hurry
alone remained awake, the former at the steering oar, while the latter
brooded over his own conduct, with the stubbornness of one little given to a
confession of his errors, and the secret goadings of the worm that never
dies. This was at the moment when Judith and Hetty reached the centre of the
lake, and had lain down to endeavor to sleep, in their drifting canoe.
The night was calm, though so much obscured by clouds. The season was not one
of storms, and those which did occur in the month of June, on that embedded
water, though frequently violent were always of short continuance.
Nevertheless, there was the usual current of heavy, damp night air, which,
passing over the summits of the trees, scarcely appeared to descend as low as
the surface of the glassy lake, but kept moving a short distance above it,
saturated with the humidity that constantly arose from the woods, and
apparently never proceeding far in any one direction. The currents were
influenced by the formation of the hills, as a matter of course, a
circumstance that rendered even fresh breezes baffling, and which reduced the
feebler efforts of the night air to be a sort of capricious and fickle
sighings of the woods. Several times the head of the Ark pointed east, and
once it was actually turned towards the south, again; but, on the whole, it
worked its way north; Hutter making always a fair wind, if wind it could be
be a wish called, his principal motive appearing to keep in motion, in order
to defeat any treacherous design of his enemies. He, now, felt some little
concern about his daughters, and perhaps as much about the canoe; but, on the
whole, this uncertainty did not much disturb him, as he had the reliance
already mentioned on the intelligence of Judith.
It was the season of the shortest nights, and it was not long before the deep
obscurity which precedes the day began to yield to the returning light. If
any earthly scene could be presented to the senses of man that might soothe
his passions and temper his ferocity, it was that which grew upon the eyes of
Hutter and Hurry, as the hours advanced, changing night to morning. There
were the usual soft tints of the sky, in which neither the gloom of darkness
nor the brilliancy of the sun prevails, and under which objects appear more
unearthly and we might add holy, than at any other portion of the twenty four
hours. The beautiful and soothing calm of even tide has been extolled by a
thousand poets, and yet it does not bring with it, the far-reaching and
sublime thoughts of the half hour that precedes the rising of a summer sun.
In the one case the panorama is gradually hid from the sight, while in the
other, its objects start out from the unfolding picture, first dim and misty;
then marked in, in solemn back ground; next seen in the witchery of an
increasing, a thing as different as possible from the decreasing twilight,
and finally mellow, distinct and luminous, as the rays of the great centre of
light diffuse themselves in the atmosphere. The hymns of birds, too, have no
moral counterpart in the retreat to the roost, or the flight to the nest, and
these invariably accompany the advent of the day, until the appearance of the
sun itself- "Bathes in deep joy, the land and sea.
All this, however, Hutter and Hurry witnessed without experiencing any of
that calm delight, which the spectacle is wont to bring, when the thoughts
are just, and the aspirations pure. They not only witnessed it, but they
witnessed it under circumstances that had a tendency to increase its power,
and to heighten its charms. Only one solitary object became visible in the
returning light, that had received its form or uses from human taste, or
human desires which as often deform as beautify a landscape. This was the
castle, all the rest being native, and fresh from the hand of God. That
singular residence, too, was in keeping with the natural objects of the view,
starting out from the gloom, quaint, picturesque, and ornamental.
Nevertheless the whole was lost on the observers, who knew no feeling of
poetry, had lost their sense of natural devotion in lives of obdurate and
narrow selfishness, and had little other sympathy with nature, than that
which originated with her lowest wants.
As soon as the light was sufficiently strong to. allow of a distinct view of
the lake, and more particularly of its shores, Hutter turned the head of the
Ark directly towards the castle, with the avowed intention of taking
possession, for the day at least, as the place most favorable for meeting his
daughters, and for carrying on his operations against the Indians. By this
time, Chingachgook was up, and Hist was heard stirring among the furniture of
the kitchen. The place for which they steered was distant only a mile, and
the air was sufficiently favorable to permit it to be reached by means of the
sail. At this moment, too, to render the appearances generally auspicious,
the canoe of Judith was seen floating northward in the broadest part of the
lake; having actually passed the scow in the darkness, in obedience to no
other power than that of the elements. Hutter got his glass, and took a long
and anxious survey, to ascertain if his daughters were in the light craft, or
not, and a slight exclamation like that of joy escaped him, as he caught a
glimpse of what he rightly conceived to be a part of Judith's dress above the
top of the canoe. At the next instant the girl arose, and was seen gazing
about her, like one assuring herself of her situation. A minute later, Hetty
was seen on her knees, in the other end of the canoe, repeating the prayers
that had been taught her, in childhood, by a misguided but repentant mother.
As Hutter laid down the glass, still drawn to its focus, the Serpent raised
it to his eye, and turned it towards the canoe. It was the first time he had
ever used such an instrument, and Hist understood by his "hugh!," the
expression of his face, and his entire mien, that something wonderful had
excited his admiration. It is well known that the American Indians, more
particularly those of superior characters and stations, singularly maintain
their self-possession and stoicism, in the midst of the flood of marvels that
present themselves in their occasional visits to the abodes of civilization,
and Chingachgook had imbibed enough of this impassibility to suppress any
very undignified manifestation of surprise. With Hist, however, no such law
was binding, and when her lover managed to bring the glass in a line with a
canoe, and her eye was applied to the smaller end, the girl started back in
alarm; then she clapped her hands with delight, and a laugh, the usual
attendant of untutored admiration, followed. A few minutes sufficed to enable
this quick witted girl to manage the instrument for herself, and she directed
it at every prominent object that struck her fancy. Finding a rest in one of
the windows, she and the Delaware first surveyed the lake; then the shores,
the hills, and, finally, the castle attracted their attention. After a long
steady gaze at the latter, Hist took away her eye, and spoke to her lover in
a low' earnest manner. Chingachgook immediately placed his eye to the glass,
and his look even exceeded that of his betrothed in length and intensity.
Again they spoke together, confidentially, appearing to compare opinions,
after which the glass was laid aside, and the young warrior quitted the cabin
to join Hutter and Hurry.
The Ark was slowly but steadily advancing, and the castle was materially
within half a mile, when Ghingachgook joined the two white men in the stern
of the scow. His manner was calm, but it was evident to the others, who were
familiar with the habits of the Indians, that he had something to
communicate. Hurry was generally prompt to speak and, according to custom, he
took the lead on this occasion.
"Out with it, red-skin," he cried, in his usual rough manner. "Have you
discovered a chip-munk in a tree, or is there a salmon-trout swimming under
the bottom of the scow? You find what a pale-face can do in the way of eyes,
now, Sarpent, and must n't wonder that they can see the land of the Indians
from afar off."
"No good to go to Castle," put in Chingachgook with emphasis, the moment the
other gave him an opportunity of speaking. "Huron there."
"The devil he is! - If this should turn out to be true, Floating Tom, a
pretty trap were we about to pull down on our heads! Huron, there! -Well,
this may be so; but no signs can I see of any thing, near or about the old
hut, but logs, water, and bark-bating two or three windows, and one door."
Hutter called for the glass, and took a careful survey of the spot, before he
ventured an opinion, at all; then he somewhat cavalierly expressed his
dissent from that given by the Indian.
"You've got this glass wrong end foremost, Delaware," continued Hurry.
"Neither the old man, nor I can see any trail in the lake."
"No trail - water make no trail," said Hist, eagerly. "Stop boat - no go too
near. Huron there! "
"Ay, that's it! - Stick to the same tale, and more people will believe you. I
hope Sarpent, you and your gal will agree in telling the same story arter
marriage, as well as you do now. 'Huron, there!'- Whereabouts is he to be
seen-in the padlock, or the chains, or the logs. There is n't a gaol in the
colony that has a more lock up look about it, than old Tom's chiente, and, I
know something about gaols from exper'ence. "
"No see moccasin-" said Hist, impatiently-"why no look- and see him."
"Give me the glass, Harry," interrupted Hutter, "and lower the sail. It is
seldom that an Indian woman meddles, and when she does, there is generally a
cause for it. There is, truly, a moccasin floating against one of the piles,
and it may, or may not be a sign that the castle has n't escaped visitors, in
our absence. Moccasins are no rarities, however, for I wear 'em myself; and
Deerslayer wears 'em, and you wear 'em, March, and, for that matter so does
Hetty, quite as often as she wears shoes, though I never yet saw Judith trust
her pretty foot in a moccasin."
Hurry had lowered the sail, and by this time the Ark was within two hundred
yards of the castle, setting in, nearer and nearer, each moment, but at a
rate too slow to excite any uneasiness. Each now took the glass in turn, and
the castle, and every thing near it, was subjected to a scrutiny still more
rigid than ever. There the moccasin lay, beyond a question, floating so
lightly, and preserving its form so well, that it was scarcely wet. It had
caught by a piece of the rough bark of one of the piles, on the exterior of
the water-palisade that formed the dock already mentioned, which circumstance
alone prevented it from drifting away before the air. There were many modes,
however, of accounting for the presence of the moccasin, without supposing it
to have been dropped by an enemy. It might have fallen from the platform,
even while Hutter was in possession of the place, and drifted to the spot
where it was now seen, remaining unnoticed until detected by the acute vision
of Hist. It might have drifted from a distance, up or down the lake, and
accidentally become attached to the pile, or palisade. It might have been
thrown from a window, and alighted in that particular place; or it might
certainly have fallen from a scout, or an assailant, during the past night,
who was obliged to abandon it, to the lake, in the deep obscurity which then
prevailed.
All these conjectures passed from Hutter to Hurry, the former appearing
disposed to regard the omen as a little sinister, while the latter treated it
with his usual reckless disdain. As for the Indian, he was of opinion that
the moccasin should be viewed as one would regard a trail in the woods, which
might, or might not, equally, prove to be threatening. Hist, however, had
something available to propose. She declared her readiness to take a canoe,
to proceed to the palisade and bring away the moccasin, when its ornaments
would show whether it came from the Canadas or not. Both the white men were
disposed to accept this offer, but the Delaware interfered to prevent the
risk. If such a service was to be undertaken, it best became a warrior to
expose himself in its execution, and he gave his refusal to let his betrothed
proceed, much in the quiet but brief manner in which an Indian husband issues
his commands.
"Well then, Delaware, go yourself if you're so tender of your squaw," put in
the unceremonious Hurry. "That moccasin must be had, or Floating Tom will
keep off, here, at arm's length, till the hearth cools in his cabin. It's but
a little deerskin, a'ter all, and cut this-a-way or that-a-way, it's not a
skear-crow to frighten true hunters from their game. What say you, Sarpent,
shall you or I canoe it?"
"Let red man go. - Better eyes than pale-face- know Huron trick better, too."
"That I'll gainsay, to the hour of my death! A white man's eyes, and a white
man's nose, and for that matter his sight and ears are all better than an
Injin's when fairly tried. Time and ag'in have I put that to the proof, and
what is proved is sartain. Still I suppose the poorest vagabond going,
whether Delaware or Huron, can find his way to yonder hut and back ag'in, and
so, Sarpent, use your paddle and welcome."
Chingachgook was already in the canoe, and he dipped the implement the other
named into the water, just as Hurry's limber tongue ceased. Wah-ta!-Wah saw
the departure of her warrior on this occasion, with the submissive silence of
an Indian girl, but with most of the misgivings and apprehensions of her sex.
Throughout the whole of the past night, and down to the moment, when they
used the glass together in the hut, Chingachgook had manifested as much manly
tenderness towards his betrothed, as one of the most refined sentiment could
have shown under similar circumstances, but now every sign of weakness was
lost in an appearance of stern resolution. Although Hist timidly endeavored
to catch his eye, as the canoe left the side of the Ark, the pride of a
warrior would not permit him to meet her fond and anxious looks. The canoe
departed and not a wandering glance rewarded her solicitude.
Nor were the Delaware's care and gravity misplaced, under the impressions
with which he proceeded on this enterprise. If the enemy had really gained
possession of the building, he was obliged to put himself under the very
muzzles of their rifles, as it were, and this too without the protection of
any of that cover, which forms so essential an ally in Indian warfare. It is
scarcely possible to conceive of a service more dangerous, and had the
Serpent been fortified by the experience of ten more years, or had his friend
the Deerslayer been present, it would never have been attempted; the
advantages in no degree compensating for the risk. But the pride of an Indian
chief was acted on by the rivalry of colour, and it is not unlikely that the
presence of the very creature from whom his ideas of manhood prevented his
receiving a single glance, overflowing as he was with the love she so well
merited, had no small influence on his determination.
Chingachgook paddled steadily towards the palisades, keeping his eyes on the
different loops of the building. Each instant he expected to see the muzzle
of a rifle protruded, or to hear its sharp crack; but he succeeded in
reaching the piles in safety. Here he was, in a measure, protected, having
the heads of the palisades between him and the hut, and the chances of any
atempt on his life while thus covered, were greatly diminished. The canoe had
reached the piles with its head inclining northward, and at a short distance
from the moccasin. Instead of turning to pick up the latter, the Delaware
slowly made the circuit of the whole building, deliberately examining every
object that should betray the presence of enemies, or the commission of
violence. Not a single sign could he discover, however, to confirm the
suspicions that had been awakened. The stillness of desertion pervaded the
building; not a fastening was displaced, not a window had been broken. The
door looked as secure as at the hour when it was closed by Hutter, and even
the gate of the dock had all the customary fastenings. In short, the most
wary and jealous eye could detect no other evidence of the visit of enemies,
than that which was connected with the appearance of the floating moccasin.
The Delaware was now greatly at a loss how to proceed. At one moment, as he
came round in front of the castle, he was on the point of stepping up on the
platform, and of applying his eye to one of the loops, with a view of taking
a direct personal inspection of the state of things within; but he hesitated.
Though of little experience in such matters, himself, he had heard so much of
Indian artifices through traditions, had listened with such breathless
interest to the narration of the escapes of the elder warriors, and, in
short, was so well schooled in the theory of his calling, that it was almost
as impossible for him to make any gross blunder on such an occasion, as it
was for a well grounded scholar, who had commenced correctly, to fail in
solving his problem in mathematics. Relinquishing the momentary intention to
land, the chief slowly pursued his course round the palisades. As he
approached the moccasin, having now nearly completed the circuit of the
building, he threw the ominous article into the canoe, by a dexterous and
almost imperceptible movement of his paddle. He was now ready to depart, but
retreat was even more dangerous than the approach, as the eye could no longer
be riveted on the loops. If there was really any one in the castle, the
motive of the Delaware in reconnoitring must be understood, and it was the
wisest way, however perilous it might be, to retire with an air of
confidence, as if all distrust were terminated by the examination. Such,
accordingly, was the course adopted by the Indian, who paddled deliberately
away, taking the direction of the Ark, suffering no nervous impulse to
quicken the motions
of his arms, or to induce him to turn even a furtive glance behind him.
No tender wife, reared in the refinements of the highest civilization, ever
met a husband on his return from the field, with more of sensibility in her
countenance, than Hist discovered, as she saw the Great Serpent of the
Delawares, step, unharmed, into the Ark. Still she repressed her emotion,
though the joy that sparkled in her dark eyes, and the smile that lighted her
pretty mouth, spoke a language that her betrothed could understand.
"Well, Sarpent," cried Hurry, always the first to speak, "what news from the
muskrats? Did they shew their teeth, as you surrounded their dwelling?"
"I no like him-" sententiously returned the Delaware. "Too still. So still,
can see silence!"
"That's downright Injin-as if any thing could make less noise than nothing!
If you've no better reason than this to give, old Tom had better hoist his
sail, and go and get his breakfast under his own roof. What has become of the
moccasin?"
"Here," returned Chingachgook, holding up his prize for the general
inspection. The moccasin was examined, and Hist confidently pronounced it to
be Huron, by the manner in which the porcupine's quills were arranged on its
front. Hutter and the Delaware, too, were decidedly of the same opinion.
Admitting all this, however, it did not necessarily follow that its owners
were in the castle. The moccasin might have drifted from a distance, or it
might have fallen from the foot of some scout, who had quitted the place when
his errand was accomplished. In short it explained nothing, while it awakened
so much distrust.
Under the circumstances, Hutter and Hurry were not men to be long deterred
from proceeding by proofs as slight as that of the moccasin. They hoisted the
sail again, and the Ark was soon in motion, heading towards the castle. The
wind, or air continued light, and the movement was sufficiently slow, to
allow of a deliberate survey of the building, as the scow approached. The
same death-like silence reigned, and it was difficult to fancy that any thing
possessing animal life could be in or around the place. Unlike the Serpent,
whose imagination had acted through his traditions, until he was ready to
perceive an artificial, in a natural stillness, the others saw nothing to
apprehend in a tranquility that, in truth, merely denoted the repose of
inanimate objects. The accessories of the scene, too, were soothing and calm,
rather than exciting. The day had not yet advanced so far as to bring the sun
above the horizon, but the heavens, the atmosphere, and the woods and lake
were all seen under that softened light which immediately precedes his
appearance, and which perhaps is the most witching period of the four and
twenty hours. It is the moment, when every thing is distinct, even the
atmosphere seeming to possess a liquid lucidity, the hues appearing gray and
softened, with the outlines of objects defined, and the perspective just as
moral truths, that are presented in their simplicity, without the
meretricious aids of ornament, or glitter. In a word, it is the moment when
the senses seem to recover their powers, in the simplest and most accurate
forms, like the mind emerging from the obscurity of doubts, into the
tranquility and peace of demonstration. Most of the influence that such a
scene is apt to produce on those who are properly constituted in a moral
sense, was lost on Hutter and Hurry; but both the Delawares, though too much
accustomed to witness the loveliness of morning-tide, to stop to analyze
their feelings, were equally sensible of the beauties of the hour, though it
was probably in a way unknown to themselves. It disposed the young warrior to
peace, and never had he felt less longings for the glory of the combat, than
when he joined Hist in the cabin, the instant the scow rubbed against the
side of the platform. From the indulgence of such gentle emotions, however,
he was aroused by a rude summons from Hurry, who called on him to come forth,
and help to take in the sail, and to secure the Ark.
Chingachgook obeyed, and by the time he had reached the head of the scow,
Hurry was on the platform, stamping his feet, like one glad to touch what, by
comparison, might be called terra firma, and proclaiming his indifference to
the whole Huron tribe, in his customary noisy, dogmatical, manner. Hutter had
hauled a canoe up to the head of the scow, and was already about to undo the
fastenings of the gate, in order to enter within the 'dock.' March had no
other motive in landing than a senseless bravado, and having shaken the door,
in a manner to put its solidity to the proof, he joined Hutter in the canoe,
and began to aid him in opening the gate. The reader will remember that this
mode of entrance was rendered necessary by the manner in which the owner of
this singular residence habitually secured it, whenever it was left empty;
more particularly at moments when danger was apprehended. Hutter had placed a
line in the Delaware's hand, on entering the canoe, intimating that the other
was to fasten the Ark to the platform and to lower the sail. Instead of
following these directions, however, Chingachgook left the sail standing, and
throwing the bight of the rope over the head of a pile, he permitted the Ark
to drift round, until it lay against the defences, in a position where it
could be entered only by means of a boat, or by passing along the summits of
the palisades; the latter being an exploit that required some command of the
feet, and which was not to be attempted in the face of a resolute enemy.
In consequence of this change in the position of the scow, which was effected
before Hutter had succeeded in opening the gate of his dock, the Ark and the
Castle, lay, as sailors would express it, yard-arm and yard-arm, kept asunder
some ten or twelve feet, by means of the piles. As the scow pressed close
against the latter, their tops formed a species of breast work, that rose to
the height of a man's head, covering in a certain degree, the parts of the
scow that were not protected by the cabin. The Delaware surveyed this
arrangement with great satisfaction, and, as the canoe of Hutter passed
through the gate, into the dock, he thought that he might defend his position
against any garrison in the castle, for a sufficient time, could he but have
had the helping arm of his friend Deer-slayer. As it was, he felt
comparatively secure, and no longer suffered the keen apprehensions he had
lately experienced in behalf of Hist.
A single shove sent the canoe from the gate, to the trap beneath the castle.
Here Hutter found all fast, neither pad lock nor chain, nor bar, having been
molested. The key was produced, the locks removed, the chain loosened, and
the trap pushed upward. Hurry now thrust his head in at the opening; the arms
followed, and the colossal legs rose without any apparent effort. At the next
instant, his heavy foot was heard stamping in the passage above; that which
separated the chambers of the father and daughters, and into which the trap
opened. He then gave a shout of triumph.
"Come on, old Tom," the reckless woodsman called out from within the
building-"here's your tenement, safe and sound; ay, and as empty as a nut
that has passed half an hour in the paws of a squirrel! The Delaware brags of
being able to see silence; let him come here, and he may feel it, in the
bargain."
"Any silence where you are, Hurry Harry," returned Hutter, thrusting his head
in at the hole, as he uttered the last word, which instantly caused his voice
to sound smothered to those without-"Any silence where you are, ought to be
both seen and felt, for it's unlike any other silence."
"Come-come-old fellow; hoist yourself up, and we'll open doors and windows
and let in the fresh air to brighten up matters. Few words in troublesome
times, make men the best fri'nds. Your by her late conduct, that it wouldn't
take a speech as long as the ten commandments to send me off to the river,
leaving you and your traps, your Ark and your children, your man servants and
your maid servants, your oxen and your asses, to fight this battle with the
Iroquois, by yourselves. Open that window, Floating Tom, and I'll blunder
through and do the same job to the front door."
A moment of silence succeeded, and a noise like that produced by the fall of
a heavy body followed. A deep execration from Hurry succeeded, and then the
whole interior of the building seemed alive. The noises that now so suddenly,
and we may add so unexpectedly even to the Delaware, broke the stillness
within, could not be mistaken. They resembled those that would be produced by
a struggle between tigers in a cage. Once or twice the Indian yell was given,
but it seemed smothered, and as if it proceeded from exhausted or compressed
throats, and, in a single instance, a deep and another shockingly revolting
execration came from the throat of Hurry. It appeared as if bodies were
constantly thrown upon the floor with violence, as often rising to renew the
struggle. Chingachgook felt greatly at a loss what to do. He had all the arms
in the Ark, Hutter and Hurry having proceeded without their rifles, but there
was no means of using them, or of passing them to the hands of their owners.
The combatants, were literally caged, rendering it almost as impossible under
the circumstances to get out, as to get into the building. Then there was
Hist to embarrass his movements, and to cripple his efforts. With a view to
relieve himself from this disadvantage, he told the girl to take the
remaining canoe, and to join Hutter's daughters, who were incautiously but
deliberately approaching, in order to save herself, and to warn the others of
their danger. But the girl positively and firmly refused to comply. At that
moment, no human power, short of an exercise of superior physical force,
could have induced her to quit the Ark. The exigency of the moment did not
admit of delay, and the Delaware seeing no possibility of serving his
friends, cut the line and by a strong shove forced the scow some twenty feet,
clear of the piles. Here he took the sweeps and succeeded in getting a short
distance to windward, if any direction could be thus termed in so light an
air, but neither the time, nor his skill at the oars, allowed the distance to
be great. When he ceased rowing, the Ark might have been a hundred yards from
the platform, and half that distance to the southward of it, the sail being
lowered. Judith and Hetty had now discovered that something was wrong, and
were stationary a thousand feet farther north.
All this while the furious struggle continued within the house. In scenes
like these, events thicken in less time than they can be related. From the
moment when the first fall was heard within the building to that when the
Delaware ceased his awkward attempts to row, it might have been three or four
minutes, but it had evidently served to weaken the combatants. The oaths and
execrations of Hurry were no longer heard, and even the struggles had lost
some of their force and fury. Nevertheless they still continued with unabated
perseverance. At this instant the door flew open, and the fight was
transferred to the platform, the light and the open air. A Huron had undone
the fastenings of the door, and three or four of his tribe rushed after him
upon the. narrow space, as if glad to escape from some terrible scene within.
The body of another followed, pitched headlong through the door, with
terrific violence. Then March appeared, raging like a lion at bay, and for an
instant free'd from his numerous enemies. Hutter was already a captive and
bound. There was now a pause in the struggle, which resembled a lull in a
tempest. The necessity of breathing was common to all, and the combatants
stood watching each other, like mastiffs that have been driven from their
holds, and are waiting for a favorable opportunity of renewing them. We shall
profit by this pause to relate the manner in which the Indians had obtained
possession of the castle, and this the more willingly because it may be
necessary to explain to the reader why a conflict which had been so close and
fierce, should have also been so comparatively bloodless.
Rivenoak and his companion, particularly the latter who had appeared to be a
subordinate and occupied solely with his raft, had made the closest
observations in their visits to the castle. Even the boy had brought away
minute and valuable information. By these means the Hurons obtained a general
idea of the manner in which the place was constructed and secured, as well as
of details that enabled them to act intelligently in the dark.
Notwithstanding the care that Hutter had taken to drop the Ark on the east
side of the building when he was in the act of transferring the furniture
from the former to the latter, he had been watched in a way to render the
precaution useless. Scouts were on the look-out on the eastern, as well as on
the western, shore of the lake, and the whole proceeding had been noted. As
soon as it was dark, rafts like that already described, approached from both
shores to reconnoitre, and the Ark had passed within fifty feet of one of
them, without its being discovered; the men it held lying at their length on
the logs, so as to blend themselves and their slow moving machine with the
water. When these two sets of adventurers drew near the castle they
encountered each other, and after communicating their respective
observations, they unhesitatingly approached the building. As had been
expected, it was found empty. The rafts were immediately sent for a
reinforcement to the shore, and two of the savages remained to profit by
their situation. These men succeeded in getting on the roof, and by removing
some of the bark, in entering what might be termed the garret. Here they were
found by their companions. Hatchets now opened a hole through the squared
logs of the upper floor, through which no less than eight of the most
athletic of the Indians dropped into the rooms beneath. Here they were left,
well supplied with arms and provisions, either to stand a siege, or to make a
sortie, as the case might require. The night was passed in sleep, as is usual
with Indians in a state of inactivity. The returning day brought them a view
of the approach of the Ark through the loops, the only manner in which light
and air were now admitted, the windows being closed most effectually with
plank, rudely fashioned to fit. As soon as it was ascertained that the two
white men were about to enter by the trap, the chief who directed the
proceedings of the Hurons took his measures accordingly. He removed all the
arms from his own people, even to the knives, in distrust of savage ferocity
when awakened by personal injuries, and he hid them where they could not be
found, without a search. Ropes of bark were then prepared, and taking their
stations in the three different rooms, they all waited for the signal to fall
upon their intended captives. As soon as the party had entered the building,
men without replaced the bark of the roof, removed every sign of their visit,
with care, and then departed for the shore. It was one of these who had
dropped his moccasin, which he had not been able to find, again, in the dark.
Had the death of the girl been known, it is probable nothing could have saved
the lives of Hurry and Hutter but that event occurred after the ambush was
laid, and at a distance of several miles from the encampment near the castle
Such were the means that had been employed to produce the state of things we
shall continue to describe.
Chapter XX
"Now all is done that man can do, And all is done in vain!
My love! my native land, adieu
For I must cross the main, My dear,
For I must cross the main."
Robert Burns, "It was a' for our Rightfu' King," II. 7-12.
THE LAST CHAPTER we left the combatants breathing in their narrow lists.
Accustomed to the rude sports of wrestling, and jumping, then so common in
America, more especially on the frontiers, Hurry possessed an advantage, in
addition to his prodigious strength, that had rendered the struggle less
unequal than it might otherwise appear to be. This alone had enabled him to
hold out so long, against so many enemies, for the Indian is by no means
remarkable for his skill, or force, in athletic exercises. As yet, no one had
been seriously hurt, though several of the savages had received severe falls,
and he, in particular, who had been thrown bodily upon the platform, might be
said to be temporarily hors de combat. Some of the rest were limping, and
March himself had not entirely escaped from bruises, though want of breath
was the principal loss that both sides wished to repair.
Under circumstances like those in which the parties were placed, a truce, let
it come from what cause it might, could not well be of long continuance. The
arena was too confined, and the distrust of treachery, too great, to admit of
this. Contrary to what might be expected, in his situation, Hurry was the
first to recommence hostilities. Whether this proceeded from policy, an idea
that he might gain some advantage by making a sudden and unexpected assault
or was the fruit of irritation and his undying hatred of an Indian, it is
impossible to say. His onset was furious, however, and at first it carried
all before it. He seized the nearest Huron by the waist, raised him entirely
from the platform, and hurled him into the water, as if he had been a child.
In half a minute, two more were at his side, one of whom received a grave
injury by the friend who had just preceded him. But four enemies remained,
and, in a hand to hand conflict, in which no arms were used but those which
nature had furnished, Hurry believed himself fully able to cope with that
number of redskins
"Hurrah! Old Tom," he shouted-"The rascals are taking to the lake, and I'll
soon have 'em all swimming!" As these words were uttered a violent kick in
the face sent back the injured Indian, who had caught at the edge of the
platform. and was endeavoring to raise himself to its level, helplessly and
hopelessly into the water. When the affray was over, his dark body was seen,
through the limpid element of the Glimmerglass, lying, with outstretched
arms, extended on the bottom of the shoal on which the Castle stood, clinging
to the sands and weeds, as if life were to be retained by this frenzied grasp
of death. A blow sent into the pit of another's stomach doubled him up like a
worm that had been trodden on, and but two able bodied foes remained to be
dealt with. One of these, however, was not only the largest and strongest, of
the Hurons, but he was also the most experienced of their warriors present,
and that one whose sinews were the best strung in fights, and by marches on
the warpath. This man fully appreciated the gigantic strength of his
opponent, and had carefully husbanded his own. He was also equipped in the
best manner for such a conflict, standing in nothing but his breech-cloth,
the model of a naked and beautiful statue of agility and strength. To grasp
him required additional dexterity and unusual force. Still Hurry did not
hesitate, but the kick that, had actually destroyed one fellow creature was
no sooner given, than he closed in with this formidable antagonist,
endeavoring to force him into the water, also. The struggle that succeeded
was truly frightful. So fierce did it immediately become, and so quick and
changeful were the evolutions of the athletes, that the remaining savage had
no chance for interfering, had he possessed the desire; but wonder and
apprehension held him spell bound. He was an inexperienced youth, and his
blood curdled as he witnessed the fell strife of human passions, exhibited
too, in an unaccustomed form.
Hurry first attempted to throw his antagonist. With this view he seized him
by the throat, and an arm, and tripped with the quickness and force of an
American borderer. The effect was frustrated by the agile movements of the
Huron, who had clothes to grasp by, and whose feet avoided the attempt with a
nimbleness equal to that with which it was made. Then followed a sort of
mêlée, if such a term can be applied to a struggle between two, in which no
efforts were strictly visible, the limbs and bodies of the combatants
assuming so many attitudes and contortions, as to defeat observation. This
confused but fierce rally lasted less than a minute, however; when, Hurry,
furious at having his strength baffled y the agility and nakedness of his
foe, made a desperate effort, which sent the Huron from him, hurling his body
violently against the logs of the hut. The concussion was so great
momentarily to confuse the latter's faculties. The pain, too, orted a deep
groan; an unusual concession to agony, to ape a red man in the heat of
battle. Still he rushed forward gain, to meet his enemy, conscious that his
safety rested on it's resolution. Hurry now seized the other by the waist,
raised him bodily from the platform, and fell with his own great weight on
the form beneath. This additional shock so stunned the sufferer, that his
gigantic white opponent now had him completely at his mercy. Passing his
hands around the throat of his victim, he compressed them with the strength
of a vice, fairly doubling the head of the Huron over e edge of the platform,
until the chin was uppermost, with the infernal strength he expended. An
instant sufficed to show the consequences. The eyes of the sufferer seemed to
start forward, his tongue protruded, and his nostrils dilated nearly to
splitting. At this instant a rope of bark, having an eye, was passed
dexterously within the two arms of Hurry, the end threaded the eye, forming a
noose, and his elbows were drawn together behind his back, with a power that
all his gigantic strength could not resist. Reluctantly, even under such
circumstances, did the exasperated borderer see his hands drawn from their
deadly grasp, for all the evil passions ;Were then in the ascendant. Almost
at the same instant, a similar fastening secured his ancles, and his body was
rolled to 4the centre of the platform as helplessly, and as cavalierly, as if
it Were a log of wood. His rescued antagonist, however, did not rise, for
while he began again to breathe, his head still hung helplessly over the edge
of the logs, and it was thought at first that his neck was dislocated. He
recovered gradually only, and it was hours before he could walk. Some fancied
that neither his body, nor his mind, ever totally recovered from this near
approach to death.
Hurry owed his defeat and capture to the intensity with which he had
concentrated all his powers, on his fallen foe While thus occupied, the two
Indians he had hurled into the water mounted to the heads of the piles, along
which they passed, and joined their companion on the platform. The latter had
so far rallied his faculties as to have gotten the ropes, which were in
readiness for use as the others appeared, and they were applied in the manner
related, as Hurry lay pressing his enemy down with his whole weight, intent
only on the horrible office of strangling him. Thus were the tables turned,
in a single moment; he who had been so near achieving a victory that would
have been renowned for ages, by means of traditions, throughout all that
region, lying, helpless, bound and a captive. So fearful had been the efforts
of the pale face, and so prodigious the strength he exhibited, that even as
he lay, tethered like a sheep before them, they regarded him with respect,
and not without dread. The helpless body of their stoutest warrior was still
stretched on the platform, and, as they cast their eyes towards the lake, in
quest of the comrade that had been hurled into it so unceremoniously, and of
whom they had lost sight in the confusion of the fray, they perceived his
lifeless form clinging to the grass on the bottom, as already described.
These several circumstances contributed to render the victory of the Hurons
almost as astounding to themselves, as a defeat.
Chingachgook, and his betrothed, witnessed the whole of this struggle from
the Ark. When the three Hurons were about to pass the cords around the arms
of the prostrate Hurry, the Delaware sought his rifle, but, before he could
use it, the white man was bound, and the mischief was done. He might still
bring down an enemy, but to obtain the scalp was impossible, and the young
chief, who would so freely risk his own life, to obtain such a trophy,
hesitated about taking that of a foe, without such an object in view. A
glance at Hist, and the recollection of what might follow, checked any
transient wish or revenge. The reader has been told that Chingachgook could
scarcely be said to know how to manage the oars of the Ark at all, however
expert he might be in the use the paddle. Perhaps there is no manual labor,
at which men are so bungling and awkward, as in their first attempts to pull
oar, even the experienced mariner, or boat man, breaking down in his efforts
to figure with the celebrated rullock of the gondollier In short it is,
temporarily, an impracticable thing for a new beginner to succeed with a
single oar, but, in this case it was necessary to handle two, at the same
time, and those of great size. Sweeps, or large oars, however, are sooner
rendered of use by the raw hand, than lighter implements, and this was the
reason that the Delaware had succeeded in moving the Ark as well as he did,
in a first trial. That trial, notwithstanding, sufficed to produce distrust,
and he was fully aware of the critical situation in which Hist and himself
were now placed, should the Hurons take to the canoe that was still lying
beneath the trap, and come against them. At the moment he thought of putting
Hist into the canoe in his own possession, and of taking to the eastern
mountain, in the hope of reaching the Delaware villages by direct flight. But
many considerations suggested themselves to put a stop to this indiscreet
step. It was almost certain that scouts watched the lake on both sides, and
no canoe could possibly approach shore without being seen from the hills.
Then a trail could not be concealed from Indian eyes, and the strength of
Hist was unequal to a flight sufficiently sustained, to outstrip the pursuit
of trained warriors. This was a part of America in which the Indians did not
know the use of horses, and every thing would depend on the physical energies
of the fugitives. Last, but far from being least, were the thoughts connected
with the situation of Deerslayer, a friend who was not to be deserted in his
extremity.
Hist in some particulars, reasoned, and even felt, differently though she
arrived at the same conclusions. Her own anger disturbed her less than her
concern for the two sisters, whose behalf her womanly sympathies were now
strongly enlisted The canoe of the girls, by the time the struggle on the
platform had ceased, was within three hundred yards of the castle, and here
Judith ceased paddling, the evidences strife first becoming apparent to the
eyes. She and Hetty were standing erect, anxiously endeavoring to ascertain
what had occurred, but unable to satisfy their doubts from the circum stance
that the building, in a great measure, concealed the scene of action.
The parties in the Ark, and in the canoe, were indebted to the ferocity of
Hurry's attack for their momentary security In any ordinary case, the girls
would have been immediately captured, a measure easy of execution now the
savages had a canoe, were it not for the rude check the audacity of the
Hurons had received, in the recent struggle. It required some little time to
recover from the effects of this violent scene, and this so much the more,
because the principal man of the party, in the way of personal prowess at
least, had been so great a sufferer. Still it was of the last importance that
Judith and her sister should seek immediate refuge in the Ark, where the
defences offered a temporary shelter at least, and the first step was to
devise the means of inducing them to do so. Hist showed herself in the stern
of the scow, and made many gestures and signs, in vain, in order to induce
the girls to make a circuit to avoid the Castle, and to approach the Ark from
the eastward. But these signs were distrusted or misunderstood. It is
probable Judith was not yet sufficiently aware of the real state of things to
put full confidence in either party. Instead of doing as desired, she rather
kept more aloof, paddling slowly back to the north, or into the broadest part
of the lake, where she could command the widest view, and had the fairest
field for flight before her. At this instant the sun appeared above the pines
of the eastern range of mountains and a light southerly breeze arose, as was
usual enough, at that season and hour Chingachgook lost no time in hoisting
the sail. Whatever might be in reserve for him, there could be no question
that it was every way desirable to get the Ark at such a distance from the
castle, as to reduce his enemies to the necessity of approaching the former
in the canoe, which the chances of war had so inopportunely for his wishes
and security, thrown into their hands. The appearance of the opening duck
seemed first to arouse the Hurons from their apathy, and by the time the head
of the scow had fallen off before the wind, which it did unfortunately in the
wrong direction, bringing it within a few yards of the platform, Hist found
it necessary to warn &r lover of the importance of covering his person
against the rifles of his foes. This was a danger to be avoided under all
circumstances, and so much the more, because the Delaware found that Hist
would not take to the cover herself, so long as he remained exposed.
Accordingly, Chingachgook abandoned the scow to its own movements, forced
Hist into the cabin the doors of which he immediately secured, and then he
looked about him for the rifles. The situation of the parties was now so
singular as to merit a particular description. The Ark was within sixty yards
of the castle, a little to the southward, or to windward of it, with its sail
full, and the steering oar abandoned. The latter, fortunately, was loose, so
that it produced no great influence on the crab like movements of the
unwieldy craft. The sail being as sailors term it, flying, or having no
braces, the air forced the yard forward, though both sheets were fast. The
effect was threefold on a boat with a bottom that was perfectly flat, and
which drew merely some three or four inches water. It pressed the head slowly
round to leeward, it forced the whole fabric bodily in the same direction at
the e time, and the water that unavoidably gathered under the gave the scow
also a forward movement. All these changes were exceedingly slow, however,
for the wind was not only light, but it was baffling as usual, and twice or
thrice the sail shook. Once it was absolutely taken aback.
Had there been any keel to the Ark, it would inevitably ye run foul of the
platform, bows on, when it is probable thing could have prevented the Hurons
from carrying it; more particularly as the sail would have enabled them to
approach under cover. As it was, the scow wore slowly round, barely clearing
that part of the building. The piles projecting several feet, they were not
cleared, but the head of the slow moving craft caught between two of them, by
one of its square corners, and hung. At this moment the Delaware was
vigilantly watching through a loop, for an opportunity to fire, while the
Hurons kept within the building, similarly occupied. The exhausted warrior
reclined against the hut, there having been no time to remove him, and Hurry
lay, almost as helpless as a log, tethered like a sheep on its way to the
slaughter, near the middle of the platform. Chingachgook could have slain the
first, at any moment, but his scalp would have been safe, and the young chief
disdained to strike a blow that could lead to neither honor nor advantage.
"Run out one of the poles, Sarpent, if Sarpent you be," said Hurry, amid the
groans that the tightness of the ligatures was beginning to extort from him-
"run out one of the poles, and shove the head of the scow off, and you'll
drift clear of us-and, when you've done that good turn for yourself just
finish this gagging blackguard for me."
The appeal of Hurry, however, had no other effect, than to draw the attention
of Hist to his situation. This quick witted creature comprehended it at a
glance. His ancles were bound with several turns of stout bark rope, and his
arms, above the elbows, were similarly secured behind his back; barely
leaving him a little play of the hands and wrists. Putting her mouth near a
loop she said in a low but distinct voice- "Why you do n't roll here, and
fall in scow? Chingachgook shoot Huron, if he chace!"
"By the Lord, gal, that's a judgematical thought, and it shall be tried, if
the starn of your scow will come a little nearer. Put a bed at the bottom,
for me to fall on."
This was said at a happy moment, for, tired of waiting, all the Indians made
a rapid discharge of their rifles, almost simultaneously, injuring no one;
though several bullets passed through the loops. Hist had heard part of
Hurry's words, but most of what he said was lost in the sharp reports of the
firearms. She undid the bar of the door that led to the stern of the scow,
but did not dare to expose her person. All this time, the head of the Ark
hung, but by a gradually decreasing hold as the other end swung slowly round,
nearer and nearer to the platform. Hurry, who now lay with his face towards
the Ark, occasionally writhing and turning over like one in pain, evolutions
he had performed ever since he was secured, watched every change, and, at
last, he saw that the whole vessel was free, and was beginning to grate
slowly along the sides of the piles. The attempt was desperate, but it seemed
to be the only chance for escaping torture and death, and it suited the
reckless daring of the man's character. Waiting to the last moment, in order
that the stern of the scow might fairly rub against the platform, he began to
writhe again, as if in intolerable suffering, execrating all Indians in
general, and the Hurons in particular, and then he suddenly and rapidly
rolled over and over, taking the direction of the stem of the cow.
Unfortunately, Hurry's shoulders required more space to revolve m than his
feet, and, by the time he reached the edge of the platform his direction had
so far changed as to carry him clear of the Ark altogether, and the rapidity
of his revolutions and the emergency admitting of no delay, he fell into the
water. At this instant, Chingachgook, by an understanding with his betrothed
drew the fire of the Hurons, am, not a man of whom saw the manner in which
one, horn they knew to be effectually tethered, had disappeared. But Hist 's
feelings were strongly interested in the success of so bold a scheme, and she
watched the movements of Hurry, the cat watches the mouse. The moment he was
in motion she foresaw the consequences, and this the more readily, as the
scow was now beginning to move with some steadiness, and she bethought her of
the means of saving him. With a sort of instinctive readiness, she opened the
door, at the very moment the rifles were ringing in her ears, and, protected
by the intervening cabin, she stepped into the stem of the scow, time to
witness the fall of Hurry into the lake. Her foot was unconsciously placed on
the end of one of the sheets of the sail, which was fastened aft, and
catching up all the spare rope with the awkwardness, but also with the
generous resolution, of a woman, she threw it in the direction of the
helpless Hurry. The line fell on the head and body of the sinking man and he
not only succeeded in grasping separate parts of with his hands, but he
actually got a portion of it between his teeth. Hurry was an expert swimmer,
and, tethered as he was he resorted to the very expedient that philosophy and
reflection would have suggested. He had fallen on his back, ad instead of
floundering and drowning himself by desperate efforts to walk on the water,
he permitted his body to sink as low as possible, and was already submerged,
with the exception of his face, when the line reached him. In this situation
might possibly have remained until rescued by the Hurons, using his hands as
fishes use their fins, had he received no other succour, but the movement of
the Ark soon tightened the rope, and of course he was dragged gently ahead
holding even pace with the scow. The motion aided in keeping his face above
the surface of the water, and it would have been possible for one accustomed
to endurance, to have been towed a mile in this singular but simple manner.
It has been said that the Hurons did not observe the sudden disappearance of
Hurry. In his present situation, he was not only hid from view, by the
platform, but, as the Ark drew slowly ahead, impelled by a sail that was now
filled, he received the same friendly service from the piles. The Hurons,
indeed, were too intent on endeavoring to slay their Delaware foe, by sending
a bullet through some one of the loops or crevices of the cabin, to bethink
them at all, of one whom they fancied so thoroughly tied. Their great concern
was the manner in which the Ark rubbed past the piles, although its motion
was lessened at least one half by the friction, and they passed into the
northern end of the castle, in order to catch opportunities of firing through
the loops of that part of the building. Chingachgook was similarly occupied,
and remained as ignorant as his enemies, of the situation of Hurry. As the
Ark grated along, the rifles sent their little clouds of smoke from one cover
to the other, but the eyes and movements of the opposing parties were too
quick to permit any injury to be done. At length one side had the
mortification, and the other the pleasure of seeing the scow swing clear of
the piles altogether, when it immediately moved away, with a materially
accelerated motion, towards the north.
Chingachgook now first learned from Hist, the critical condition of Hurry. To
have exposed either of their persons in the stern of the scow, would have
been certain death, but, fortunately, the sheet to which the man clung, led
forward to the foot of the sail. The Delaware found means to unloosen it from
the cleet aft, and Hist, who was already forward for that purpose,
immediately began to pull upon the line. At this moment Hurry was towing
fifty or sixty feet astern, with nothing but his face above water. As he was
dragged out clear of the castle and the piles, he was first perceived by the
Hurons, who raised a hideous yell, and commenced a fire on, what may very
well be termed, the floating mass. It was at same instant, that Hist began to
pull upon the line for a circumstance that probably saved Hurry's life, aided
by his own self-possession and border readiness. The first bullet struck the
water directly on the spot, where the broad chest of the young giant was
visible through the pure element might have pierced his heart, had the angle
at was fired, been less acute. Instead of penetrating the ~ever, it glanced
from its smooth surface, rose, and buried itself in the logs of the cabin,
near the spot at Chingachgook had shown himself the minute before, the line
from the cleet. A second, and a third, fourth bullet followed, all meeting
with the same resistance of the water, though Hurry sensibly the blows they
struck upon the lake so and so near his breast. Discovering their now changed
their plan, and aimed at the uncovered face but by this time Hist was pulling
on the line the target advanced and the deadly missiles still fell upon the
water. In another moment the body was dragged the tow and became concealed.
As for the Delaware and Hist, they worked perfectly covered by the cabin and
in less time than it requires to tell it, they had hauled the huge frame of
Harry to the place they occupied. Chingachgook stood in readiness with his
keen knife, and bending over the side of the scow he soon severed the bark
that bound the limbs of the borderer. To raise him high enough to reach the
edge of the boat, and to aid him in entering were less easy as Hurry's arms
were still nearly useless, but both were done in time when the liberated man
staggered forward, and fell exhausted and helpless into the bottom of the
scow. Here we shall leave him to recover his strength and the due
circulation of his blood, while we proceed with the narrative of events that
crowd upon us too fast to admit of any postponement. The moment the Hurons
lost sight of the body of Hurry, they gave a common yell of disappointment
and three of the most active of their number ran to the trap and entered the
canoe. It required some little delay, however, to embark with their weapons,
to find the paddles and, if we may use a phrase so purely technical, "to get
out of dock." By this time Hurry was in the scow, and the Delaware had his
rifles, again, in readiness. As the Ark necessarily sailed before the wind,
it had got by this time quite two hundred yards from the castle, and was
sliding away each instant, farther and farther, though with a motion so easy
as scarcely to stir the water. The canoe of the girls was quite a quarter of
a mile distant from the Ark, obviously keeping aloof, in ignorance of what
had occurred, and in apprehension of the consequences of venturing too near.
They had taken the direction of the eastern shore, endeavoring at the same
time to get to windward of the Ark, and in a manner between the two parties,
as if distrusting which was to be considered a friend, and which an enemy.
The girls, from long habit, used the paddles with great dexterity, and
Judith, in particular, had often sportively gained races, in trials of speed
with the youths that occasionally visited the lake.
When the three Hurons emerged from behind the palisades, and found themselves
on the open lake, and under the necessity of advancing unprotected on the
Ark, if they persevered in the original design, their ardor sensibly cooled.
In a bark canoe, they were totally without cover, and Indian discretion was
entirely opposed to such a sacrifice of life as would most probably follow
any attempt to assault an enemy, entrenched as effectually as the Delaware.
Instead of following the Ark therefore, these three warriors inclined towards
the eastern shore, keeping at a safe distance from the rifles of
Chingachgook. But this manoeuvre rendered the position of the girls
exceedingly critical. It threatened to place them if not between two fires,
at least between two dangers, or what they conceived to be dangers, and,
instead of permitting the Hurons to enclose her, in what she fancied a sort
of net, Judith immediately commenced her retreat, in a southern direction, at
no very great distance from the shore. She did not dare to land; if such an
expedient were to be resorted to at all, she could only venture on it, in the
last extremity. At first the Indians paid little or no attention to the other
canoe, for, fully apprised of its contents, they deemed its capture of
comparatively little moment, while the Ark, with its imaginary treasures, the
persons of the Delaware and of Hurry, and its means of movement on a large
scale, was before them. But this Ark had its dangers as well as its
temptations, and after wasting near an hour, in vacillating evolutions,
always at a safe distance from the rifle, the Hurons seemed suddenly to take
their resolution, and began to display it by giving eager chase to the girls.
When this last design was adopted, the circumstances of all parties, as
connected with their relative positions, were materially changed. The Ark had
sailed and drifted quite half a mile, and was nearly that distance due north
of the castle. As soon as the Delaware perceived that the girls avoided him,
unable to manage his unwieldy craft, and knowing that flight from a bark
canoe, in the event of pursuit, would be a useless expedient if attempted, he
had lowered his sail, in the hope it might induce the sisters to change their
plan, and to seek refuge in the scow. This demonstration produced no other
effect than to keep the Ark nearer to the scene of action, and to enable
those in her to become witnesses of the chase. The canoe of Judith was about
a quarter of a mile south of that of the Hurons, a little nearer to the east
shore, and about the same distance to the southward of the castle, as it was
from the hostile canoe, a circumstance which necessarily put the last nearly
abreast of Hurter's fortress. With the several parties thus situated the
chase commenced.
At the moment when the Hurons so suddenly changed their mode of attack their
canoe was not in the best, possible, racing trim. There were but two paddles,
and the third man so much extra and useless cargo. Then the difference in
weight, between the sisters and the other two men, more especially in vessels
so extremely light, almost neutralized any
:e that might proceed from the greater strength of the and rendered the trial
of speed far from being as unequal, as it might seem. Judith did not commence
her exertions, until the near approach of the other canoe, rendered object of
the movement certain, and then she exhorted Hetty to aid her with her utmost
skill and strength.
"Why should we run, Judith?" asked the simple minded L. "The Hurons have
never harmed me, nor do I think they ever will."
"That may be true as to you, Hetty, but it will prove very different with me.
Kneel down and say your prayer, and then rise, and do your utmost to help
escape. Think of me, dear girl, too, as you pray."
Judith gave these directions from a mixed feeling; first because she knew
that her sister ever sought the support of her great ally in trouble, and
next because a sensation of feebleness and dependance suddenly came over her
own proud spirit, in that moment of apparent desertion and trial. The prayer
was quickly said, however, and the canoe was soon in rapid motion. Still,
neither party resorted to their greatest exertions from the outset, both
knowing that the chase was likely to be arduous and long. Like two vessels of
war that are preparing for an encounter, they seemed desirous of first
ascertaining their respective rates of speed, in order that they might know
how to graduate their exertions, previously to the great effort. A few
minutes sufficed to show the Hurons that the girls were expert, and that it
would require all their skill and energies to overtake them.
Judith had inclined towards the eastern shore, at the commencement of the
chase, with a vague determination of landing and flying to the woods, as a
last resort, but as she approached the land, the certainty that scouts must
be watching her movements, made her reluctance to adopt such an expedient
unconquerable. Then she was still fresh, and had sanguine hopes of being able
to tire out her pursuers. With such feelings she gave a sweep with her
paddle, and sheered off from the fringe of dark hemlocks beneath the shades
of which she was so near entering, and held her way, again, more towards the
centre of the lake. This seemed the instant favorable for the Hurons to make
their push, as it gave them the entire breadth of the sheet to do it in; and
this too in the widest part, as soon as they had got between the fugitives
and the land. The canoes now flew, Judith making up for what she wanted in
strength, by her great dexterity and self command. For half a mile the
Indians gained no material advantage, but the continuance of so great
exertions for so many minutes sensibly affected all concerned. Here the
Indians resorted to an expedient that enabled them to give one of their party
time to breathe, by shifting their paddles from hand to hand, and this too
without sensibly relaxing their efforts.
Judith occasionally looked behind her, and she saw this expedient practised.
It caused her immediately to distrust the result, since her powers of
endurance were not likely to hold out against those of men who had the means
of relieving each other. Still she persevered, allowing no very visible
consequences immediately to follow the change.
As yet the Indians had not been able to get nearer to the girls, than two
hundred yards, though they were what seamen would term 'in their wake'; or in
a direct line behind them, passing over the same track of water. This made
the pursuit what is technically called a "stern chase", which is proverbially
a "long chase": the meaning of which is that, in consequence of the relative
positions of the parties, no change becomes apparent except that which is a
direct gain in the nearest possible approach. "Long" as this species of chase
is admitted to be, however, Judith was enabled to perceive that the Hurons
were sensibly drawing nearer and nearer, before she had gained the centre of
the lake. She was not a girl to despair, but there was an instant when she
thought of yielding, with the wish of being carried to the camp where she
knew the Deerslayer to be a captive; but the considerations connected with
the means she hoped to be able to employ, in order to procure his release,
immediately interposed, in order to stimulate her to renewed exertions. Had
there been any one there to note the progress of the two canoes, he would
have seen that of Judith flying swiftly away from its pursuers, as -the girl
gave it freshly impelled speed, while her mind was thus dwelling on her own
ardent and generous schemes. So material, indeed, was the difference in the
rate of going between the two canoes, for the next five minutes, that the
Hurons began to be convinced all their powers must be exerted, or they would
suffer the disgrace of being baffled by women. Making a furious effort, under
the mortification of such a conviction, one of the strongest of their party
broke his paddle at the very moment when he had taken it from the hand of a
comrade, to relieve him. This at once decided the matter, a canoe containing
three men and having but one paddle, being utterly unable to overtake
fugitives like the daughters of Thomas Hutter.
"There, Judith!" exclaimed Hetty, who saw the accident- "I hope, now, you
will own, that praying is useful! The Hurons have broke a paddle, and they
never can overtake us."
"I never denied it, poor Hetty, and sometimes wish, in bitterness of spirit,
that I had prayed more myself, and thought less of my beauty! As you say, we
are now safe and need only go a little south, and take breath."
This was done; the enemy giving up the pursuit, as suddenly as a ship that
has lost an important spar, the instant the accident occurred. Instead of
following Judith's canoe, which was now lightly skimming over the water
towards the south, the Hurons turned their bows towards the castle, where
they soon arrived and landed. The girls, fearful that some spare paddles
might be found in, or about the buildings, continued on, nor did they stop,
until so distant from their enemies as to give them every chance of escape,
should the chase be renewed. It would seem that the savages meditated no such
design, but at the end of an hour their canoe, filled with men, was seen
quitting the castle, and steering towards the shore. The girls were without
food, and they now drew nearer to the buildings and the Ark, having finally
made up their minds, from its manoeuvres, that the latter contained friends.
Notwithstanding the seeming desertion of the castle, Judith approached it
with extreme caution. The Ark was now quite a mile to the northward, but
sweeping up towards the buildings, and this, too, with a regularity of motion
that satisfied Judith a white man was at the oars. When within a hundred
yards of the building, the girls began to encircle it, in order to make sure
that it was empty. No canoe was nigh, and this emboldened them, to draw
nearer and nearer, until they had gone round the piles, and reached the
platform.
"Do you go into the house, Hetty," said Judith, "and see that the savages are
gone. They will not harm you, and if any of them are still here, you can give
me the alarm. I do not think they will fire on a poor defenceless girl, and I
at least may escape, until I shall be ready to go among them of my own
accord."
Hetty did as desired, Judith retiring a few yards from the platform, the
instant her sister landed, in readiness for flight. But the last was
unnecessary, not a minute elapsing before Hetty returned to communicate that
all was safe.
"I've been in all the rooms, Judith," said the latter earnestly, "and they
are empty, except father's; he is in his own chamber, sleeping, though not as
quietly as we could wish."
"Has any thing happened to father?" demanded Judith, as her foot touched the
platform; speaking quick, for her nerves were in a state to be easily
alarmed.
Hetty seemed concerned, and she looked furtively about her, as if unwilling
any one but a child should hear what she had to communicate, and even that
she should learn it abruptly.
"You know how it is with father, sometimes, Judith," she said, "When
overtaken with liquor he does n't always know what he says, or does, and he
seems to be overtaken with liquor, now."
"That is strange!-Would the savages have drunk with him, and then leave him
behind? But tis a grievous sight to a child, Hetty, to witness such a failing
in a parent, and we will not go near him 'till he wakes."
A groan from the inner room, however, changed this resolution, and the girls
ventured near a parent, whom it was no unusual thing for them to find in a
condition that lowers a man to the level of brutes. He was seated, reclining
in a corner of the narrow room, with his shoulders supported by the angle,
and his head fallen heavily on his chest. Judith moved forward, with a sudden
impulse, and removed a canvass cap that was forced so low on his head as to
conceal his face, and indeed all but his shoulders. The instant this obstacle
was taken away, the quivering and raw flesh, the bared veins and muscles, and
all the other disgusting signs of mortality, as they are revealed by tearing
away the skin, showed he had been scalped, though still living.
Chapter XXI.
"Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, And o'er his cold ashes
upbraid him;
But nothing he'll reck, if they'll let him sleep on, In the grave where a
Briton has laid him."
Charles Wolfe, "The Burial of Sir John Moore," vi.
The reader must imagine the horror that daughters would experience, at
unexpectedly beholding the shocking spectacle that was placed before the eyes
of Judith and Esther, as related in the close of the last chapter. We shall
pass over the first emotions, the first acts of filial piety, and proceed
with the narrative, by imagining rather than relating most of the revolting
features of the scene. The mutilated and ragged head was bound up, the
unseemly blood was wiped from the face of the sufferer, the other appliances
required by appearances and care were resorted to, and there was time to
enquire into the more serious circumstances of the case. The facts were never
known until years later, in all their details, simple as they were, but they
may as well be related here, as it can be done in a few words. In the
struggle with the Hurons, Hutter had been stabbed by the knife of the old
warrior, who had used the discretion to remove the arms of every one but
himself. Being hard pushed by his sturdy foe, his knife had settled the
matter. This occurred just as the door was opened, and Hurry burst out upon
the platform, as has been previously related. This was the secret of neither
party's having appeared in the subsequent struggle; Hutter having been
literally disabled, and his conqueror being ashamed to be seen with the
traces of blood about him, after having used so many injunctions to convince
his young warriors of the necessity of taking their prisoners alive. When the
three Hurons returned from the chase, and it was determined to abandon the
castle, and join the party on the land, Hutter was simply scalped, to secure
the usual trophy, and was left to die by inches, as has been done in a
thousand similar instances, by the ruthless warriors of this part of the
American continent. Had the injury of Hutter been con-fined to his head, he
might have recovered, however, for it was the blow of the knife that proved
mortal. There are moments of vivid consciousness, when the stern justice of
God stands forth in colours so prominent, as to defy any attempts to veil
them from the sight, however unpleasant they may appear, or however anxious
we may be to avoid recognising it. Such was now the fact with Judith and
Hetty, who both perceived the decrees of a retributive Providence, in the
manner of their father's suffering, as a punishment for his own recent
attempts on the Iroquois. This was seen and felt by Judith with the keenness
of perception and sensibility that were suited to her character, while the
impression made on the simpler mind of her sister was perhaps less lively,
though it might well have proved more lasting.
"Oh! Judith-" exclaimed the weak minded girl, as soon as their first care had
been bestowed on the went for scalps, himself, and now where is his own? The
bible might have foretold this dreadful punishment!"
"Hush-Hetty-hush, poor sister-He opens his eyes; he may hear and understand
you. Tis as you say and think, but 'tis too dreadful to speak."
"Water-" ejaculated Hutter, as it might be by a desperate effort, that
rendered his voice frightfully deep and strong, for one as near death as he
evidently was-"Water-foolish girls -will you let me die of thirst."
Water was brought and administered to the sufferer; the first he had tasted
in hours of physical anguish. It had the double effect of clearing his
throat, and of momentarily reviving his sinking system. His eyes opened with
that anxious, distended gaze, which is apt to accompany the passage of a soul
surprised by death, and he seemed disposed to speak.
"Father-" said Judith, inexpressibly pained by his deplorable situation, and
this so much the more from her ignorance of what remedies ought to be
applied-"Father, can we do any thing for you?-Can Hetty and I relieve your
pain?"
"Father!"- slowly repeated the old man. "No-Judith- no - Hetty - I'm no
father. She was your mother, but I'm no father. Look in the chest - Tis all
there - give me more water."
The girls complied, and Judith, whose early recollections extended farther
back than her sister's, and who, on every account, had more distinct
impressions of the past, felt an uncontrollable impulse of joy, as she heard
these words. There had never been much sympathy between her reputed father
and herself, and suspicions of this very truth had often glanced across her
mind, in consequence of dialogues she had overheard between Hutter and her
mother. It might be going too far to say she had never loved him, but it is
not so to add, that she rejoiced it was no longer a duty. With Hetty the
feeling was different. Incapable of making all the distinctions of her
sister, her very nature was full of affection, and she had loved her reputed
parent, though far less tenderly than the real parent, and it grieved her,
now, to hear him declare he was not naturally entitled to that love. She felt
a double grief, as if his death and his words together, were twice depriving
her of parents. Yielding to her feelings, the poor girl went aside and wept.
The very opposite emotions of the two girls, kept both silent for a long
time. Judith gave water to the sufferer frequently, but she forbore to urge
him with questions, in some measure out of consideration for his condition,
but, if truth must be said, quite as much, lest something he should add, in
the way of explanation, might disturb her pleasing belief that she was not
Thomas Hutter's child. At length Hetty dried her tears, and came and seated
herself on a stool by the side of the dying man, who had been placed at his
length on the floor, with his head supported by some coarse vestments that
had been left in the house.
"Father-" she said-"you will let me call you father, though you say you are
not one - Father shall I read the bible to you -mother always said the bible
was good for people in trouble. She was often in trouble herself, and then
she made me read the bible to her- for Judith wasn't as fond of the bible as
I am-and it always did her good. Many is the time I've known mother begin to
listen with the tears streaming from her eyes, and end with smiles and
gladness. Oh! father, you don't know how much good the bible can do, for
you've never tried it -Now, I'll read a chapter, and it will soften your
heart, as it softened the hearts of thee Hurons '
While poor Hetty had so much reverence for, and faith in, the virtues of the
bible, her intellect was too shallow to enable her fully to appreciate its
beauties, or to fathom its profound, and sometimes mysterious wisdom. That
instinctive sense of right, which appeared to shield her from the commission
of wrong, and even cast a mantle of moral loveliness and truth around her
character, could not penetrate abstrusities, or trace the nice affinities
between cause and effect, beyond their more obvious and indisputable
connection, though she seldom failed to see all the latter, and to defer to
all their just consequences. In a word, she was one of those who feel and act
correctly, without being able to give a logical reason for it, even admitting
revelation as her authority. Her selections from the bible, therefore, were
commonly distinguished by the simplicity of her own mind, and were oftener
marked for containing images of known and palpable things, than for any of
the higher cast of moral truths with which the pages of that wonderful book
abound - wonderful, and unequalled, even without referring to its divine
origin, as a work replete with the profoundest philosophy, expressed in the
noblest language. Her mother, with a connection that will probably strike the
reader, had been fond of the book of Job, and Hetty had, in a great measure,
learned to read by the frequent lessons she had received from the different
chapters of this venerable and sublime poem - now believed to be the oldest
book in the world. On this occasion the poor girl was submissive to her
training, and she turned to that well known part of the sacred volume, with
the readiness with which the practised counsel would cite his authorities
from the stores of legal wisdom. In selecting the particular chapter, she was
influenced by the caption, and she chose that which stands in our English
version as "Job excuseth his desire of death." This she read steadily, from
beginning to end, in a sweet, low and plaintive voice; hoping devoutly that
the allegorical and abstruse sentences might convey to the heart of the
sufferer the consolation he needed. It is another peculiarity of the
comprehensive wisdom of the bible, that scarce a chapter, unless it be
strictly narration, can be turned to, that does not contain some searching
truth that is applicable to the condition of every human heart, as well as to
the
temporal state of its owner, either through the workings of that heart, or
even in a still more direct form. In this instance, the very opening sentence
- "Is there not an appointed time to man on earth?' was startling, and as
Hetty proceeded, Hutter applied, or fancied he could apply many aphorisms and
figures to his own worldly and mental condition. As life is ebbing fast, the
mind clings eagerly to hope when it is not absolutely crushed by despair. The
solemn words "I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, 0 thou preserver of
men? Why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to
myself," struck Hutter more perceptibly than the others, and, though too
obscure for one of his blunted feelings and obtuse mind either to feel or to
comprehend in their fullest extent, they had a directness of application to
his own state that caused him to wince under them.
"Don't you feel better now, father?" asked Hetty, closing the volume. "Mother
was always better when she had read the bible."
"Water-' returned Hutter-"give me water, Judith. I wonder if my tongue will
always be so hot! Hetty, isn't there something in the bible about cooling the
tongue of a man who was burning in Hell fire?"
Judith turned away shocked, but Hetty eagerly sought the passage, which she
read aloud to the conscience stricken victim of his own avaricious longings.
"That's it- poor Hetty- yes- that's it. My tongue wants cooling, now-what
will it be here after!"
This appeal silenced even the confiding Hetty, for she had no answer ready
for a confession so fraught with despair. Water, so long as it could relieve
the sufferer, it was in the power of the sisters to give, and, from time to
time, it was offered to the lips of the sufferer, as he asked for it. Even
Judith prayed. As for Hetty, as soon as she found that her efforts to make
her father listen to her texts were no longer rewarded with success, she
knelt at his side, and devoutly repeated the words which the Saviour has left
behind him, as a model for human petitions. This she continued to do, at
intervals, as long as it seemed to her that the act could benefit the dying
man. Hutter, however, lingered longer than the girls had believed possible,
when they first found him. At times he spoke intelligibly, though his lips
oftener moved in utterance of sounds that carried no distinct impressions to
the mind. Judith listened intently, and she heard the words - "husband'-
"death' - "pirate" - "law' - "scalps' - and several others of similar import,
though there was no sentence to tell the precise connection in which they
were used. Still they were sufficiently expressive to be understood by one
whose ears had not escaped all the rumours that had been circulated to her
reputed father's discredit, and whose comprehension was as quick, as her
faculties were attentive.
During the whole of the painful hour that succeeded, neither of the sisters
bethought her sufficiently of the Hurons, to dread their return. It seemed as
if their desolation and grief placed them above the danger of such an
interruption, and when the sound of oars was at length heard, even Judith,
who alone had any reason to apprehend the enemy, did not start, but at once
understood that the Ark was near. She went upon the platform fearlessly, for
should it turn out that Hurry was not there, and that the Hurons were masters
of the scow also, escape was impossible. Then she had the sort of confidence
that is inspired by extreme misery. But there was no cause for any new alarm,
Chingachgook, Hist, and Hurry all standing in the open part of the scow,
cautiously examining the building to make certain of the absence of the
enemy. They, too, had seen the departure of the Hurons, as well as the
approach of the canoe of the girls to the castle, and presuming on the latter
fact, March had swept the scow up to the platform. A word sufficed to explain
that there was nothing to be apprehended, and the Ark was soon moored in her
old berth.
Judith said not a word concerning the condition of her father, but Hurry knew
her too well, not to understand that something was more than usually wrong.
He led the way, though with less of his confident bold manner than usual,
into the house, and penetrating to the inner room, found Hutter lying on his
back, with Hetty sitting at his side, fanning him with pious care. The events
of the morning had sensibly changed the manner of Hurry. Notwithstanding his
skill as a swimmer, and the readiness with which he had adopted the only
expedient that could possibly save him, the helplessness of being in the
water, bound hand and foot, had produced some such effect on him, as the near
approach of punishment is known to produce on most criminals, leaving a vivid
impression of the horrors of death upon his mind, and this too in connection
with a picture of bodily helplessness; the daring of this man being far more
the offspring of vast physical powers, than of the energy of the will, or
even of natural spirit. Such heroes invariably lose a large portion of their
courage with the failure of their strength, and, though Hurry was now
unfettered and as vigorous as ever events were too recent to permit the
recollection of his late deplorable condition to be at all weakened. Had he
lived a century, the occurrences of the few momentous minutes during which he
was in the lake, would have produced a chastening effect on his character, if
not always on his manner.
Hurry was not only shocked when he found his late associate in this desperate
situation, but he was greatly surprised. During the struggle in the building,
he had been far too much occupied himself, to learn what had befallen his
comrade, and, as no deadly weapon had been used in his particular case, but
every effort had been made to capture him without injury, he naturally
believed that Hutter had been overcome, while he owed his own escape to his
great bodily strength, and to a fortunate concurrence of extraordinary
circumstances. Death, in the silence and solemnity of a chamber, was a
novelty to him. Though accustomed to scenes of violence, he had been unused
to sit by the bedside, and watch the slow beating of the pulse, as it
gradually grew weaker and weaker. Notwithstanding the change in his feelings,
the manners of a life could not be altogether cast aside in a moment, and the
unexpected scene extorted a characteristic speech from the borderer.
"How now! old Tom,' he said, "have the vagabonds got you at an advantage,
where you're not only down, but are likely to be kept down! I thought you a
captyve it's true, but never sup-posed you so hard run as this!'
Hutter opened his glassy eyes, and stared wildly at the speaker. A flood of
confused recollections rushed on his wavering mind, at the sight of his late
comrade. It was evident that he struggled with his own images, and knew not
the real from the unreal.
"Who are you?' he asked in a husky whisper, his failing strength refusing to
aid him in a louder effort of his voice.
"Who are you?-You look like the mate of 'The Snow'-he was a giant, too, and
near overcoming us.'
"I'm your mate, Floating Tom, and your comrade, but have nothing to do with
any snow. It's summer now , and Harry March always quits the hills, as soon
after the frosts set in, as is convenient.
"I know you - Hurry Skurry - I'll sell you a scalp! - a sound one, and of a
full grown man - What'1l you give?'
"Poor Tom! That scalp business hasn't turned out at all profitable, and I've
pretty much concluded to give it up; and to follow a less bloody calling.'
"Have you got any scalp? Mine's gone - How does it feel to have a scalp? - I
know how it feels to lose one - Fire and flames about the brain-and, a
wrenching at the heart- no-no-kill first, Hurry, and scalp, afterwards.'
"What does the old fellow mean, Judith? He talks like one
that is getting tired of the business as well as myself. Why have 'you bound
up his head; or, have the savages tomahawked him about the brains.'
"They have done that for him, which you and he, Harry March, would have so
gladly done for them. His skin and hair have been torn from his head to gain
money from the governor of Canada, as you would have torn theirs from the
heads of the Hurons, to gain money from the governor of York.'
Judith spoke with a strong effort to appear composed, but it was neither in
her nature, nor in the feeling of the moment to speak altogether without
bitterness. The strength of her emphasis, indeed, as well as her manner
caused Hetty to look up reproachfully.
"These are high words to come from Thomas Hutter's darter, as Thomas Hutter
lies dying before her eyes,' retorted Hurry.
"God be praised for that! - whatever reproach it may bring on my poor mother,
I am not Thomas Hutter's daughter.'
"Not Thomas Hutter's darter! - Don't disown the old fellow in his last
moments, Judith, for that's a sin the Lord will never overlook. If you're not
Thomas Hutter's darter, whose darter be you?'
This question rebuked the rebellious spirit of Judith, for, in getting rid of
a parent, whom she felt it was a relief to find she might own she had never
loved, she overlooked the important circumstance that no substitute was ready
to supply his place.
"I cannot tell you, Harry, who my father was,' she answered more mildly; "I
hope he was an honest man, at least. '
"Which is more than you think was the case, with old Hutter? Well, Judith,
I'll not deny that hard stories were in circulation consarning Floating Tom,
but who is there that doesn't get a scratch, when an inimy holds the rake?
There's them that say hard things of me, and even you, beauty as you be,
don't always escape."
This was said with a view to set up a species of community of character
between the parties, and, as the politicians are wont to express it, with
ulterior intentions. What might have been the consequences with one of
Judith's known spirit, as well as her assured antipathy to the speaker, it is
not easy to say, for, just then, Hutter gave unequivocal signs that his last
moment was nigh. Judith and Hetty had stood by the dying bed of their mother,
and neither needed a monitor to warn them of the crisis, and every sign of
resentment vanished from the face of the first. Hutter opened his eyes, and
even tried to feel about him with his hands, a sign that sight was failing. A
minute later, his breathing grew ghastly; a pause totally without respiration
followed; and, then, succeeded the last, long drawn sigh, on which the spirit
is supposed to quit the body. This sudden termination of the life of one who
had hitherto filled so important a place in the narrow scene on which he had
been an actor, put an end to all discussion.
The day passed by without further interruption, the Hurons, though possessed
of a canoe, appearing so far satisfied with their success as to have
relinquished all immediate designs on the castle. It would not have been a
safe undertaking, indeed, to approach it under the rifles of those it was now
known to contain, and it is probable that the truce was more owing to this
circumstance than to any other. In the mean while the preparations were made
for the interment of Hutter. To bury him on the land was impracticable, and
it was Hetty's wish that his body should lie by the side of that of her
mother, in the lake. She had it in her power to quote one of his speeches, in
which he himself had called the lake the "family burying around.' and luckily
this was done without the knowledge of her sister, who would have opposed the
plan, had she known it, with unconquerable disgust. But Judith had not
meddled with the arrangement, and every necessary disposition was made
without her privity or advice.
The hour chosen for the rude ceremony, was just as the sun was setting, and a
moment and a scene more suited to paying the last offices to one of calm and
pure spirit could not have been chosen. There are a mystery and a solemn
dignity in death, that dispose the living to regard the remains of even a
malefactor with a certain degree of reverence. All worldly distinctions have
ceased; it is thought that the veil has been removed, and that the character
and destiny of the departed are now as much beyond human opinions, as they
are beyond human ken. In nothing is death more truly a leveller than in this,
since, while it may be impossible absolutely to confound the great with the
low, the worthy with the unworthy, the mind feels it to be arrogant to assume
a right to judge of those who are believed to be standing at the judgment
seat of God. When Judith was told that all was ready, she went upon the
platform, passive to the request of her sister, and then she first that had
been taken from the fire place, were enclosed with it, took heed of the
arrangement. The body was in the scow, enveloped in a sheet, and quite a
hundred weight of stones,
in order that it might sink. No other preparation seemed to be thought
necessary, though Hetty carried her bible beneath her arm.
When all were on board the Ark, the singular habitation of the man whose body
it now bore to its final abode, was set in motion. Hurry was at the oars. In
his powerful hands, indeed, they seemed little more than a pair of sculls,
which were wielded without effort, and, as he was expert in their use, the
Delaware remained a passive spectator of the proceedings. The progress of the
Ark had something of the stately solemnity of a funeral procession, the dip
of the oars being measured, and the movement slow and steady. The wash of the
water, as the blades rose and fell, kept time with the efforts of Hurry, and
might have been likened to the measured tread of mourners. Then the tranquil
scene was in beautiful accordance with a rite that ever associates with
itself the idea of God. At that instant, the lake had not even a single
ripple, on its glassy surface, and the broad panorama of woods seemed to look
down on the holy tranquillity of the hour and ceremony in melancholy
stillness. Judith was affected to tears, and even Hurry, though he hardly
knew why, was troubled. Hetty preserved the outward signs of tranquillity,
but her inward grief greatly surpassed that of her sister, since her
affectionate heart loved more from habit and long association, than from the
usual connections of sentiment and taste. She was sustained by religious
hope, however, which in her simple mind usually occupied the space that
worldly feelings filled in that of Judith, and she was not without an
expectation of witnessing some open manifestation of divine power, on an
occasion so solemn. Still she was neither mystical nor exaggerated; her
mental imbecility denying both. Nevertheless her thoughts had generally so
much of the purity of a better world about them that it was easy for her to
forget earth altogether, and to think only of heaven. Hist was serious,
attentive and interested, for she had often seen the interments of the pale-
faces, though never one that promised to be as peculiar as this; while the
Delaware, though grave, and also observant, in his demeanor was stoical and
calm.
Hetty acted as pilot, directing Hurry how to proceed, to find that spot in
the lake, which she was in the habit of terming "mother's grave.' The reader
will remember that the castle stood near the southern extremity of a shoal
that extended near half a mile northerly, and it was at the farthest end of
this shallow water that Floating Tom had seen fit to deposit the remains of
his wife and child. His own were now in the course of being placed at their
side. Hetty had marks on the land by which she usually found the spot,
although the position of the buildings, the general direction of the shoal,
and the beautiful transparency of the water all aided her, the latter even
allowing the bottom to be seen. By these means the girl was enabled to note
their progress, and at the proper time, she approached March, whispering-
"Now, Hurry you can stop rowing. We have passed the stone on the bottom, and
mother's grave is near. '
March ceased his efforts, immediately dropping the kedge, and taking the warp
in his hand, in order to check the scow. The Ark turned slowly round, under
this restraint, and when looking over the scow, and gazing through the water
at the body. "He was a brave companion on a scout, and a notable hand with
traps. Don't weep, Judith, don't be overcome Hetty, for the righteousest of
us all must die; and when the time comes, lamentations and tears can't bring
the dead to life. Your father will be a loss to you, no doubt; most fathers
are a loss, especially to onmarried darters; but there's a way to cure that
evil, and you're both too young and handsome to live long without finding it
out. When it's agreeable to hear what an honest and on-pretending man has to
say, Judith, I should like to talk a little with you, apart. '
Judith had scarce attended to this rude attempt of Hurry's at consolation,
although she necessarily understood its general drift, and had a tolerably
accurate notion of its manner. She was weeping at the recollection of her
mother's early tenderness, and painful images of long forgotten lessons and
neglected precepts were crowding her mind. The words of Hurry, however,
recalled her to the present time, and abrupt and unseasonable as was their
import, they did not produce those signs of distaste that one might have
expected from the girl's character. On the contrary, she appeared to be
struck with some sudden idea, gazed intently for a moment at the young man,
dried her eyes, and led the way to the other end of the scow, signifying her
wish for him to follow. Here she took a seat and motioned for March to place
himself at her side. The decision and earnestness with which all this was
done, a little intimidated her companion, and Judith found it necessary to
open the subject herself.
"You wish to speak to me of marriage, Harry March,' she said, "and I have
come here, over the grave of my parents, as it might be- no- no- over the
grave of my poor, dear- dear, mother, to hear what you have to say.'
"This is oncommon, and you have a skearful way with you, this evening,
Judith,' answered Hurry, more disturbed than he would have cared to own, "but
truth is truth, and it shall come out, let what will follow. You well know,
gal, that I've long thought you the comeliest young woman my eyes ever
beheld, and that I've made no secret of that fact, either here on the lake,
out among the hunters and trappers, or in the settlements. '
"Yes-yes, I've heard this before, and I suppose it to be true, ' answered
Judith with a sort of feverish impatience.
"When a young man holds such language of any particular young woman, it's
reasonable to calculate he sets store by her.'
"True - true, Hurry - all this you've told me, again and again.'
"Well, if it's agreeable, I should think a woman coul'n't hear it too often.
They all tell me this is the way with your sex, that nothing pleases them
more than to repeat over and over, for the hundredth time, how much you like
'em, unless it be to talk to 'em of their good looks!'
"No doubt-we like both, on most occasions, but this is an uncommon moment,
Hurry, and vain words should not be too freely used. I would rather hear you
speak plainly.'
"You shall have your own way, Judith, and I some suspect you always will.
I've often told you that I not only like you better than any other young
woman going, or, for that matter, better than all the young women going, but
you must have obsarved, Judith, that I've never asked you, in up and down
tarms, to marry me.
"I have observed both,' returned the girl, a smile struggling about her
beautiful mouth, in spite of the singular and engrossing intentness which
caused her cheeks to flush and lighted her eyes with a brilliancy that was
almost dazzling -"I have observed both, and have thought the last remarkable
for a man of Harry March's decision and fearlessness. '
"There's been a reason, gal, and it's one that troubles me even now-nay,
don't flush up so, and look fiery like, for there are thoughts which will
stick long in any man's mind, as there be words that will stick in his
throat-but, then, ag'in, there's feelin's that will get the better of 'em
all, and to these feelin's I find I must submit. You've no longer a father,
or a mother, Judith, and it's morally unpossible that you and Hetty could
live here, alone, allowing it was peace and the Iroquois was quiet; but, as
matters stand, not only would you starve, but you'd both be prisoners, or
scalped, afore a week was out. It's time to think of a change and a husband,
and, if you'll accept of me, all that's past shall be forgotten, and there's
an end on't '
Judith had difficulty in repressing her impatience until this rude
declaration and offer were made, which she evidently wished to hear, and
which she now listened to with a willingness that might well have excited
hope. She hardly allowed the young man to conclude, so eager was she to bring
him to the point, and so ready to answer.
"There - Hurry - that's enough-" she said, raising a hand as if to stop him-
"I understand you as well, as if you were to talk a month. You prefer me to
other girls, and you wish me to become your wife.'
"You put it in better words than I can do, Judith, and I wish you to fancy
them said, just as you most like to hear ~em. '
"They're plain enough, Harry, and 'tis fitting they should be so. This is no
place to trifle or deceive in. Now, listen to my answer, which shall be, in
every tittle, as sincere as your offer. There is a reason, March, why I
should never- "I suppose I understand you, Judith, but if I'm willing to
overlook that reason, it's no one's consarn but mine - Now, don't brighten up
like the sky at sundown, for no offence is meant, and none should be taken. '
"I do not brighten up, and will not take offence," said Judith, struggling to
repress her indignation, in a way she had never found it necessary to exert
before. "There is a reason why I should not, cannot, ever be your wife,
Hurry, that you seem to overlook, and which it is my duty now to tell you, as
plainly as you have asked me to consent to become so. I do not, and I am
certain that I never shall, love you well enough to marry you. No man can
wish for a wife who does not prefer him to all other men, and when I tell you
this frankly, I suppose you yourself will thank me for my sincerity.'
"Ah! Judith, them flaunting, gay, scarlet-coated officers of the garrisons,
have done all this mischief'
"Hush, March; do not calumniate a daughter over her mother's grave! Do not,
when I only wish to treat you fairly, give me reason to call for evil on your
head in bitterness of heart! Do not forget that I am a woman, and that you
are a man; and that I have neither father, nor brother, to revenge your
words!"
"Well, there is something in the last, and I'll say no more. Take time,
Judith, and think better on this.'
"I want no time-my mind has long been made up, and I have only waited for you
to speak plainly, to answer plainly. We now understand each other, and there
is no use in saying any more. '
'
The impetuous earnestness of the girl awed the young man, for never before
had he seen her so serious and determined. In most of their previous
interviews she had met his advances with evasion , or sarcasm, but these
Hurry had mistaken for female coquetry, and had supposed might easily be
converted into consent. The struggle had been with himself, about offering,
nor had he ever seriously believed it possible that Judith would refuse to
become the wife of the handsomest man on all that frontier. Now that the
refusal came, and that in terms so decided, as to put all cavilling out of
the question, if not absolutely dumbfounded, he was so much mortified and
surprised, as to feel no wish to attempt to change her resolution.
"The Glimmerglass has now no great call for me,' he ex-claimed~ after a
minutes silence. "Old Tom is gone, the Hurons are as plenty on the shore, as
pigeons in the woods, and altogether it is getting to be an onsuitable place.
'
"Then leave it. You see it is surrounded by dangers, and there is no reason
why you should risk your life for others. Nor do I know that you can be of
any service to us. Go, tonight; ' we'll never accuse you of having done any
thing forgetful, or unmanly.'
"If I do go, 'twill be with a heavy heart on your account , Judith; I would
rather take you with me.'
"That is not to be spoken of any longer March; but, I will
land you in one of the canoes, as soon as it is dark and you can
strike a trail for the nearest garrison. When you reach the fort ,
if you send a party- '
Judith smothered the words, for she felt that it was humiliating to be thus
exposing herself to the comments and reflections of one who was not disposed
to view her conduct in, connection with all in those garrisons, with an eye
of favor. Hurry however, caught the idea, and, without perverting it, as the
girl dreaded, he answered to the purpose.
"I understand what you would say, and why you don't say it.' he replied. "If
I get safe to the fort. a party shall start on the trail of these vagabonds,
and I'll come with it, myself, for I should like to see you, and Hetty, in a
place of safety, before we part forever.'
"Ah, Harry March, had you always spoken thus, felt thus, my feelings towards
you might have been different!'
"Is it too late, now, Judith? I'm rough and a woodsman, but we all change
under different treatment from what we have been used to.'
"It is too late, March. I can never feel towards you, or any other man but
one, as you would wish to have me. There, I've said enough, surely, and you
will question me no further. As soon as it is dark, I, or the Delaware will
put you on the shore. You will make the best of your way to the Mohawk, and
the nearest garrison, and send all you can to our assistance. And, Hurry, we
are now friends, and I may trust in you, may I not?'
"Sartain, Judith; though our fri'ndship would have been all the warmer, could
you look upon me, as I look upon you. '
Judith hesitated, and some powerful emotion was struggling within her. Then,
as if determined to look down all weaknesses, and accomplish her purposes, at
every hazard, she spoke more plainly.
"You will find a captain of the name of Warley at the nearest post," she
said, pale as death, and even trembling as she spoke; "I think it likely he
will wish to head the party, but I would greatly prefer it should be another.
If Captain Warley can be kept back, 't would make me very happy!'
"That's easier said than done, Judith, for these officers do pretty much as
they please. The Major will order, and captains, and lieutenants, and ensigns
must obey. I know the officer you mean, a red faced, gay, oh! be joyful sort
of a gentleman, who swallows madeira enough to drown the Mohawk, and yet a
pleasant talker. All the gals in the valley admire him, and they say he
admires all the gals. I don't wonder he is your dislike, Judith, for he's a
very gin'ral lover, if he isn't a gin'ral officer."
Judith did not answer, though her frame shook, and her colour changed from
pale to crimson, and from crimson back again to the hue of death.
trail of these vagabonds, and I'll come with it, myself, for I should like to
see you, and Hetty, in a place of safety, before we part forever.'
"Ah, Harry March, had you always spoken thus, felt thus, my feelings towards
you might have been different!'
"Is it too late, now, Judith? I'm rough and a woodsman, but we all change
under different treatment from what we have been used to.'
"It is too late, March. I can never feel towards you, or any other man but
one, as you would wish to have me. There, I've said enough, surely, and you
will question me no further. As soon as it is dark, I, or the Delaware will
put you on the shore. You will make the best of your way to the Mohawk, and
the nearest garrison, and send all you can to our assistance. And, Hurry, we
are now friends, and I may trust in you, may I not?'
"Sartain, Judith; though our fri'ndship would have been all the warmer, could
you look upon me, as I look upon you. '
Judith hesitated, and some powerful emotion was struggling within her. Then,
as if determined to look down all weaknesses, and accomplish her purposes, at
every hazard, she spoke more plainly.
"You will find a captain of the name of Warley at the nearest post," she
said, pale as death, and even trembling as she spoke; "I think it likely he
will wish to head the party, but I would greatly prefer it should be another.
If Captain Warley can be kept back, 't would make me very happy!'
"That's easier said than done, Judith, for these officers do pretty much as
they please. The Major will order, and captains, and lieutenants, and ensigns
must obey. I know the officer you mean, a red faced, gay, oh! be joyful sort
of a gentleman, who swallows madeira enough to drown the Mohawk, and yet a
pleasant talker. All the gals in the valley admire him, and they say he
admires all the gals. I don't wonder he is your dislike, Judith, for he's a
very gin'ral lover, if he isn't a gin'ral officer."
Judith did not answer, though her frame shook, and her colour changed from
pale to crimson, and from crimson back again to the hue of death.
"Alas! my poor mother!" she ejaculated mentaally instead of utterint it
aloud, "We are over thy grave, but litttle dost thou know how much thy
lessons have been forgotten; thy care neglected; thy love defeated!"
As this goading of the worm that never dies was felt, she arose and signified
to Hurry, that she had no more to communicate.
Chapter XXII.
"- That point
In misery, which makes the oppressed man
Regardless of his own life, makes him too
Lord of the oppressor's.-"
Coleridge, Remorse, V.i.201-04.
All this time Hetty had remained seated in the head of the scow, looking
sorrowfully into the water which held the body of her mother, as well as that
of the man whom she had been taught to consider her father. Hist stood near
her in gentle quiet, but had no consolation to offer in words. The habits of
her people taught her reserve in this respect, and the habits of her sex
induced her to wait patiently for a moment when she might manifest some
soothing sympathy by means of acts, rather than of speech. Chingachgook held
himself a little aloof, in grave reserve, looking like a warrior, but feeling
like a man.
Judith joined her sister with an air of dignity and solemnity it was not her
practice to show, and, though the gleamings of anguish were still visible on
her beautiful face, when she spoke it was firmly and without tremor. At that
instant Hist and the Delaware withdrew, moving towards Hurry, in the other
end of the boat.
"Sister," said Judith kindly, "I have much to say to you; we will get into
this canoe, and paddle off to a distance from the Ark - The secrets of two
orphans ought not to be heard by every ear.
"Certainly, Judith, by the ears of their parents? Let Hurry lift the grapnel
and move away with the Ark, and leave us here, near the graves of father and
mother, to say what we may have to say. "
"Father!" repeated Judith slowly, the blood for the first time since her
parting with March mounting to her cheeks-"He was no father of ours, Hetty!
That we bad from his own mouth, and in his dying moments."
"Are you glad, Judith, to find you had no father! He took care of us, and fed
us, and clothed us, and loved us; a father could have done no more. I do'n't
understand why he was'n't a father."
"Never mind, dear child, but let us do as you have said. It may be well to
remain here, and let the Ark move a little away. Do you prepare the canoe,
and I will tell Hurry and the Indians our wishes."
This was soon and simply done, the Ark moving, with measured strokes of the
sweeps a hundred yards from the spot, leaving the girls floating, seemingly
in air, above the place of the dead; so buoyant was the light vessel that
held them, and so limpid the element by which it was sustained.
"The death of Thomas Hutter," Judith commenced, after a short pause had
prepared her sister to receive her communications, "has altered all our
prospects, Hetty. If he was not our father, we are sisters, and must feel
alike and live together."
"How do I know, Judith, that you would n't be as glad to find I am not your
sister, as you are in finding that Thomas Hutter, as you call him, was not
your father. I am only half witted, and few people like to have half-witted
relations; and then I'm not handsome-at least, not as handsome as you- and
you may wish a handsomer sister."
"No-no-Hetty. You and you only are my sister-my heart, and my love for you
tell me that-and mother was my mother- of that too am I glad, and proud; for
she was a mother to be proud of-but father was not father!"
"Hush, Judith! His spirit may be near; it would grieve it to hear his
children talking so, and that, too, over his very grave. Children should
never grieve parents, mother often told me, and especially when they are
dead!"
"Poor Hetty! They are happily removed beyond all cares on our account.
Nothing that I can do or say, will cause mother any sorrow now-there is some
consolation in that, at least! -and nothing
you can say or do will make her smile, as she used to smile on your good
conduct when living."
"You do n't know that, Judith. Spirits can see, and mother may see as well as
any spirit. She always told us that God saw all we did, and that we should do
nothing to offend him; and now she has left us, I strive to do nothing that
can displease her. Think how her spirit would mourn and feel sorrow, Judith,
did it see either of us doing what is not right; and spirits may see, after
all; especially the spirits of parents that feel anxious about their
children.~
"Hetty - Hetty - you know not what you say!" murmured Judith, almost livid
with emotion - "The dead cannot see, and know nothing of what passes, here!
But, we will not talk of this any longer. The bodies of Mother and Thomas
Hutter lie together in the lake, and we will hope that the spirits of both
are with God. That we, the children of one of them, remain on earth is
certain; it is now proper to know what we are to do in future."
"If we are not Thomas Hutter's children, Judith, no one will dispute our
right to his property. We have the castle and the Ark, and the canoes, and
the woods, and the lakes, the same as when he was living, and what can
prevent us from staying here, and passing our lives just as we ever have
done."
"No-no-poor sister-this can no longer be. Two girls would not be safe here,
even should these Hurons fail in getting us into their power. Even father had
as much as he could sometimes do, to keep peace upon the lake, and we should
fail altogether. We must quit this spot, Hetty, and remove into the
settlements."
"I am sorry you think so, Judith," returned Hetty, dropping her head on her
bosom, and looking thoughtfully down at the spot where the funeral pile of
her mother could just be seen. "I am very sorry to hear it. I would rather
stay here, where, if I was n't born, I've passed my life. I do n't like the
settlements - they are full of wickedness and heart burnings, while God
dwells unoffended in these hills! I love the trees, and the mountains, and
the lake, and the springs; all that his bounty has given us, and it would
grieve me sorely, Judith, to be forced to quit them. You are handsome, and
not at all half-witted, and one day you will marry, and then you wiil have a
husband, and I a brother to take care of us, if women can't really take care
of themselves in such a place as this."
"Ah! if this could be so, Hetty, then, indeed, I could now be a thousand
times happier in these woods, than in the settlements. Once, I did not feel
thus, but now I do. Yet where is the man to turn this beautiful place into
such a garden of Eden, for us?"
"Harry March loves you, sister," returned poor Hetty, unconsciously picking
the bark off the canoe as she spoke. "He would be glad to be your husband,
I'm sure, and a stouter and a braver youth is not to be met with the whole
country round."
"Harry March and I understand each other, and no more need be said about him.
There is one-but no matter. It is all in the hands of providence, and we must
shortly come to some conclusion about our future manner of living. Remain
here - that is, remain here, alone, we cannot - and perhaps no occasion will
ever offer for remaining in the manner you think of. It is time, too, Hetty,
we should learn all we can concerning our relations and family. It is not
probable we are altogether without relations, and they may be glad to see us.
The old chest is now our property, and we have a right to look into it, and
learn all we can by what it holds. Mother was so very different from Thomas
Hutter, that, now I know we are not his children, I burn with a desire to
know whose children we can be. There are papers in that chest, I am certain,
and those papers may tell us all about our parents and natural
friends."
"Well, Judith, you know best, for you are cleverer than common, mother always
said, and I am only half-witted. Now father and mother are dead, I do n't
much care for any relation but you, and do n't think I could love them I
never saw, as well as I ought. If you do n't like to marry Hurry, I do n't
see who you can choose for a husband, and then I fear we shall have to quit
the lake, after all."
"What do you think of Deerslayer, Hetty?" asked Judith, bending forward like
her unsophisticated sister, and endeavoring to conceal her embarrassment in a
similar manner. -"Would he not make a brother-in-law to your liking?"
"Deerslayer!" repeated the other, looking up in unfeigned surprise. "Why,
Judith, Deerslayer is n't, in the least, comely, and is altogether unfit for
one like you!"
"He is not ill-looking, Hetty, and beauty in a man is not of much matter."
"Do you think so, Judith? - I know that beauty is of no great matter, in man
or woman, in the eyes of God, for mother has often told me so, when she
thought I might have been sorry I was not as handsome as you, though she need
n't have been uneasy on that account, for I never coveted any thing that is
yours, sister;-but, tell me so she did-still, beauty is very pleasant to the
eye, in both! I think, if I were a man, I should pine more for good looks,
than I do as a girl. A handsome man is a more pleasing sight, than a handsome
woman."
"Poor child! - You scarce know what you say, or what you mean! Beauty in our
sex is something, but in men, it passes for little. To be sure, a man ought
to be tall, but others are tall, as well as Hurry; and active-and I think I
know those that are more active; - and strong; well, he has n't all the
strength in the world - and brave - I am certain I can name a youth who is
braver!"
"This is strange, Judith! - I did n't think the earth held a handsomer, or a
stronger, or a more active or a braver man than Hurry Harry! I'm sure, I
never met his equal, in either of these things. "
"Well-well-Hetty-say no more of this. I dislike to hear you talking in this
manner. Tis not suitable to your innocence, and truth, and warm-hearted
sincerity-. Let Harry March go. He quits us to-night, and no regret of mine
will follow him, unless it be that he has staid so long, and to so little
purpose."
"Ah! Judith; that is what I've long feared-and I did so hope he might be my
brother-in-law!"
"Never mind it now. Let us talk of our poor mother-and of Thomas Hutter."
"Speak kindly then, sister, for you can't be quite certain that spirits do
n't both hear and see. If father was n't father, he was good to us, and gave
us food and shelter. We can't put any stones over their graves, here in the
water, to tell people all this, and so we ought to say it with our tongues."
"They will care little for that, girl. 'Tis a great consolation to know,
Hetty, that if mother ever did commit any heavy fault when young, she lived
sincerely to repent of it; no doubt her sins were forgiven her."
"Tis n't right, Judith, for children to talk of their parents' sins. We had
better talk of our own."
"Talk of your sins, Hetty! - If there ever was a creature on earth without
sin, it is you! I wish I could say, or think the same of myself; but we shall
see. No one knows what changes affection for a good husband, can make in a
woman's heart. I do n't think, child, I have even now the same love for
finery I once had."
"It would be a pity, Judith, if you did think of clothes, over your parents'
graves! We will never quit this spot, if you say so, and will let Hurry go
where he pleases."
"I am willing enough to consent to the last, but cannot answer for the first,
Hetty. We must live, in future, as becomes respectable young women, and
cannot remain here, to be the talk and jest of all the rude and foul tongu'd
trappers and hunters that may come upon the lake. Let Hurry go by himself,
and then I'll find the means to see Deerslayer, when the future shall be soon
settled. Come, girl, the sun has set, and the Ark is drifting away from us;
let us paddle up to the scow, and consult with our friends. This night I
shall look into the chest, and to-morrow shall determine what we are to do.
As for the Hurons, now we can use our stores without fear of Thomas Hutter,
they will be easily bought off. Let me get Deerslayer once out of their
hands, and a single hour shall bring things to an understanding."
Judith spoke with decision, and she spoke with authority, a habit she had
long practised towards her feeble-minded sister. But, while thus accustomed
to have her way, by the aid of manner and a readier command of words, Hetty
occasionally checked her impetuous feelings and hasty acts by the aid of
those simple moral truths, that were so deeply engrafted in all her own
thoughts and feelings; shining through both, with a mild and beautiful
lustre, that threw a sort of holy halo around so much of what she both said
and did. On the present occasion, this healthful ascendancy of the girl of
weak intellect, over her of a capacity that, in other situations, might have
become brilliant and admired, was exhibited in the usual simple and earnest
manner.
"You forget, Judith, what has brought us here," she said reproachfully. "This
is mother's grave, and we have just laid the body of father by her side. We
have done wrong to talk so much of ourselves at such a spot, and ought now to
pray God to forgive us, and ask him to teach us where we are to go, and what
we are to do."
Judith involuntarily laid aside her paddle, while Hetty dropped on her knees,
and was soon lost in her devout but simple petitions. Her sister did not
pray. This she had long ceased to do directly, though anguish of spirit
frequently wrung from her mental and hasty appeals to the great source of
benevolence for support, if not for a change of spirit. Still she never
beheld Hetty on her knees, that a feeling of tender recollection, as well as
of profound regret at the deadness of her own heart, did not come over her.
Thus had she herself done in childhood, and even down to the hour of her ill
fated visits to the garrisons, and she would willingly have given worlds, at
such moments, to be able to exchange her present sensations, for the
confiding faith, those pure aspirations, and the gentle hope that shone
through every lineament and movement of her, otherwise, less favored sister.
All she could do, however, was to drop her head to her bosom, and assume in
her attitude some of that devotion in which her stubborn spirit refused to
unite.
When Hetty rose from her knees, her countenance had a - glow and serenity
that rendered a face that was always agreeable, positively handsome. Her mind
was at peace, and her conscience acquitted her, of a neglect of duty.
"Now, you may go, if you want to, Judith," she said, ~for God has been kind
to me, and lifted a burden off my heart. Mother had many such burdens, she
used to tell me, and she always took them off in this way. Tis the only way,
sister, such things can be done. You may raise a stone, or a log, with your
hands; but the heart must be lightened by prayer. I do n't think you pray as
often as you used to do, when younger, Judith!"
"Never mind-never mind, child-" answered the other huskily-"'tis no matter,
now. Mother is gone, and Thomas Hutter is gone, and the time has come when we
must think and act for ourselves."
As the canoe moved slowly away from the place, under the gentle impulsion of
the elder sister's paddle, the younger sat musing, as was her wont, whenever
her mind was perplexed by any idea more abstract and difficult of
comprehension than common.
"I don't know what you mean by 'future', Judith," she at length, suddenly
observed. "Mother used to call Heaven the future, but you seem to think it
means next week, or tomorrow!"
"It means both, dear sister- every thing that is yet to come, whether in this
world or another. It is a solemn word, Hetty, and most so, I fear, to them
that think the least about it. Mother's future is eternity; ours may yet mean
what will happen while we live in this world - Is not that a canoe just
passing behind the castle-here, more in the direction of the point, I mean;
it is hid, now; but certainly I saw a canoe stealing behind the logs!"
"I've seen it some time," Hetty quietly answered, for the Indians had few
terrors for her, "but I didn't think it right to talk about such things over
mother's grave! The canoe came from the camp, Judith, and was paddled by a
single man. He seemed to be Deerslayer, and no Iroquois."
"Deerslayer!" returned the other, with much of her native impetuosity-"That
cannot be! Deerslayer is a prisoner, and I have been thinking of the means of
setting him free. Why did you fancy it Deerslayer, child?"
"You can look for yourself, sister, for there comes the canoe in sight,
again, on this side of the hut."
Sure enough, the light boat had passed the building, and was now steadily
advancing towards the Ark; the persons on board of which were already
collecting in the head of the scow, to receive their visiter. A single glance
sufficed to assure Judith that her sister was right, and that Deerslayer was
alone in the canoe. His approach was so calm and leisurely, however, as to
fill her with wonder, since a man who had effected his escape from enemies,
by either artifice or violence, would not be apt to move with the steadiness
and deliberation with which his paddle swept the water. By this time the day
was fairly departing, and objects were already seen dimly under the shores.
In the broad lake, however, the light still lingered, and around the
immediate scene of the present incidents, which was less shaded than most of
the sheet, being in its broadest part, it cast a glow that bore some faint
resemblance to the warm tints of an Italian or Grecian sunset. The logs of
the hut and Ark had a sort of purple hue, blended with the growing obscurity,
and the bark of the hunter's boat was losing its distinctness in colours
richer, but more mellowed, than those it showed under a bright sun. As the
two canoes approached each other- for Judith and her sister had plied their
paddles so as to intercept the unexpected visiter ere he reached the Ark-even
Deerslayer's sun-burned countenance wore a brighter aspect than common, under
the pleasing tints that seemed to dance in the atmosphere. Judith fancied
that delight at meeting her had some share in this unusual and agreeable
expression. She was not aware that her own beauty appeared to more advantage
than common, from the same natural cause, nor did she understand, what it
would have given her so much pleasure to know, that the young man actually
thought her, as she drew nearer, the loveliest creature of her sex, his eyes
had ever dwelt
on.
"Welcome- welcome, Deerslayer!" exclaimed the girl, as the canoes floated at
each other's side; "we have had a melancholy-a frightful day-but your return
is, at least, one misfortune the less! Have the Hurons become more human, and
let you go; or have you escaped from the wretches, by your own courage and
skill?"
"Neither, Judith-neither one nor t'other. The Mingos are Mingos still, and
will live and die Mingos; it is not likely their natur's will ever undergo
much improvement. Well! They've their gifts, and we've our'n, Judith, and it
does'n't much become either to speak ill of what the Lord has created;
though, if the truth must be said, I find it a sore trial to think kindly, or
to talk kindly of them vagabonds. As for outwitting them, that might have
been done, and it was done, too, atween the Sarpent, yonder, and me, when we
were on the trail of Hist-" here the hunter stopped to laugh in his own
silent fashion - "but it's no easy matter to sarcumvent the sarcumvented.
Even the fa'ans get to know the tricks of the hunters afore a single season
is over, and an Indian whose eyes have once been opened by a sarcumvention
never shuts them ag'in in precisely the same spot. I've known whites to do
that, but never a red skin. What they l'arn comes by practice, and not by
books, and of all schoolmasters exper'ence gives lessons that are the longest
remembered."
"All this is true, Deerslayer, but if you have not escaped from the savages,
how came you here?"
"That's a nat'ral question, and charmingly put. You are wonderful handsome
this evening, Judith, or, Wild Rose, as the Sarpent calls you, and I may as
well say it, since I honestly think it! You may well call them Mingos,
savages too, for savage enough do they feel, and savage enough will they act,
if you once give them an opportunity. They feel their loss here, in the late
skrimmage, to their hearts' cores, and are ready to revenge it on any
creatur' of English blood that may fall in their way. Nor, for that matter do
I much think they would stand at taking their satisfaction out of a Dutch
man."
"They have killed father; that ought to satisfy their wicked cravings for
blood," observed Hetty reproachfully.
"I know it, gal - I know the whole story - partly from what I've seen from
the shore, since they brought me up from the point, and partly from their
threats ag'in myself, and their other discourse. Well, life is unsartain at
the best, and we all depend on the breath of our nostrils for it, from day to
day. If you've lost a staunch fri'nd, as I make no doubt you have, Providence
will raise up new ones in his stead, and since our acquaintance has begun in
this oncommon manner, I shall take it as a hint that it will be a part of my
duty in futur', should the occasion offer, to see you don't suffer for want
of food in the wigwam. I can't bring the dead to life, but as to feeding the
living, there's few on all this frontier can outdo me, though I say it in the
way of pity and consolation, like, and in no particular, in the way of
boasting."
"We understand you, Deerslayer," returned Judith, hastily, "and take all that
falls from your lips, as it is meant, in kindness and friendship. Would to
Heaven all men had tongues as true, and hearts as honest!"
"In that respect men do differ, of a sartainty, Judith. I've known them that
was n't to be trusted any farther than you can see them; and others ag'in
whose messages, sent with a small piece of wampum, perhaps, might just as
much be depended on, as if the whole business was finished afore your face.
Yes, Judith, you never said truer word, than when you said some men might be
depended on, and other some might not."
"You are an unaccountable being, Deerslayer," returned the girl, not a little
puzzled with the childish simplicity of character that the hunter so often
betrayed-a simplicity so striking that it frequently appeared to place him
nearly on a level with the fatuity of poor Hetty, though always relieved by
the beautiful moral truth that shone through all that this unfortunate girl
both said and did-"You are a most unaccountable man, and I often do not know
how to understand you. But never mind, just now; you have forgotten to tell
us by what means you are here."
"I! -Oh' That's not very onaccountable, if I am myself, Judith. I'm out on
furlough."
"Furlough! - That word has a meaning among the soldiers that I understand;
but I cannot tell what it signifies when used by a prisoner."
"It means just the same. You're right enough; the soldiers do use it, and
just in the same way as I use it. A furlough is when a man has leave to quit
a camp, or a garrison for a sartain specified time; at the end of which he is
to come back and shoulder his musket, or submit to his torments, just as he
may happen to be a soldier, or a captyve. Being the last, I must take the
chances of a prisoner."
"Have the Hurons suffered you to quit them in this manner, without watch or
guard."
"Sartain - I woul'n't have come in any other manner, unless indeed it had
been by a bold rising, or a sarcumvention."
"What pledge have they that you will ever return?"
"My word," answered the hunter simply. "Yes, I own I gave 'em that, and big
fools would they have been to let me come without it! Why in that case, I
should n't have been obliged to go back and ondergo any deviltries their fury
may invent, but might have shouldered my rifle, and made the best of my way
to the Delaware villages. But, Lord! Judith, they know'd this, just as well
as you and I do, and would no more let me come away, without a promise to go
back, than they would let the wolves dig up the bones of their fathers!"
"Is it possible you mean to do this act of extraordinary self-destruction and
recklessness?"
"Anan!"
"I ask if it can be possible that you expect to be able to put yourself again
in the power of such ruthless enemies, by keeping your word."
Deerslayer looked at his fair questioner for a moment, with stern
displeasure. Then the expression of his honest and guileless face suddenly
changed, lighting as by a quick illumination of thought, after which he
laughed in his ordinary manner.
"I didn't understand you, at first, Judith; no, I did n't! You believe that
Chingachgook and Hurry Harry won't suffer it; but you do n't know mankind
thoroughly yet, I see. The Delaware would be the last man on 'arth to offer
any objections to what he knows is a duty, and, as for March, he doesn't care
enough about any creatur' but himself to spend many words on such a subject.
If he did, 'twould make no great difference howsever; but not he, for he
thinks more of his gains than of even his own word. As for my promises, or
your'n, Judith, or any body else's, they give him no consarn. Don't be under
any oneasiness, therefore, gal; I shall be allowed to go back according to
the furlough; and if difficulties was made, I've not been brought up, and
edicated as one may say, in the woods, without knowing how to look 'em down."
Judith made no answer for some little time. All her feelings as a woman, and
as a woman who, for the first time in her life was beginning to submit to
that sentiment which has so much influence on the happiness or misery of her
sex, revolted at the cruel fate that she fancied Deerslayer was drawing down
upon himself, while the sense of right, which God has implanted in every
human breast, told her to admire an integrity as indomitable and as
unpretending as that which the other so unconsciously displayed. Argument,
she felt would be useless, nor was she, at that moment, disposed to lessen
the dignity and high principle that were so striking in the intentions of the
hunter, by any attempt to turn him from his purpose. That something might yet
occur to supersede the necessity for this self immolation she tried to hope,
and then she proceeded to ascertain the facts in order that her own conduct
might be regulated by her knowledge of circumstances.
"When is your furlough out, Deerslayer," she asked, after both canoes were
heading towards the Ark, and moving, with scarcely a perceptible effort of
the paddles, through the water.
"To-morrow noon; not a minute afore; and you may depend on it, Judith, I
shan't quit what I call christian company, to go and give myself up to them
vagabonds, an instant sooner than is downright necessary. They begin to fear
a visit from the garrisons, and would n't lengthen the time a moment, and
it's pretty well understood atween us, that, should I fail in my ar'n'd, the
torments are to take place when the sun begins to fall, that they may strike
upon their home trail as soon as it is dark."
This was said solemnly, as if the thought of what was believed to be in
reserve duly weighed on the prisoner's mind, and yet so simply, and without a
parade of suffering, as rather to repel than to invite any open
manifestations of sympathy.
"Are they bent on revenging their losses?" Judith asked faintly, her own high
spirit yielding to the influence of the other's quiet but dignified integrity
of purpose.
"Downright, if I can judge of Indian inclinations, by the symptoms. They
think howsever I don't suspect their designs, I do believe, but one that has
lived so long among men of red skin gifts, is no more likely to be misled in
Injin feelin's, than a true hunter is like to lose his trail, or a stanch
hound his scent. My own judgment is greatly ag'in my own escape, for I see
the women are a good deal enraged on behalf of Hist, though I say it,
perhaps, that shouldn't say it, seein' that I had a considerable hand myself
in getting the gal off. Then there was a cruel murder in their camp last
night, and that shot might just as well have been fired into my breast.
Howsever, come what will, the Sarpent and his wife will be safe, and that is
some happiness in any case."
"Oh! Deerslayer, they will think better of this, since they have given you
until to-morrow noon to make up your mind!"
"I judge not, Judith; yes, I judge not. An Injin is an Injin, gal, and it's
pretty much hopeless to think of swarving him, when he's got the scent and
follows it with his nose in the air. The Delawares, now, are a half
christianized tribe-not that I think such sort of christians much better than
your whole blooded onbelievers-but, nevertheless, what good half
christianizing can do to a man, some among 'em have got, and yet revenge
clings to their hearts like the wild creepers here to the tree! Then, I slew
one of the best and boldest of their warriors, they say, and it is too much
to expect that they should captivate the man who did this deed, in the very
same scouting on which it was performed, and they take no account of the
matter. Had a month, or so, gone by, their feelin's would have been softened
down, and we might have met in a more friendly way, but it is, as it is,
Judith, this is talking of nothing but myself, and my own consarns, when you
have had trouble enough, and may want to consult a fri'nd a little about your
own matters. Is the old man laid in the water, where I should think his body
would like to rest?"
"It is, Deerslayer," answered Judith, almost inaudibly. "That duty has just
been performed. You are right in thinking that I wish to consult a friend;
and that friend is yourself. Hurry Harry is about to leave us; when he is
gone, and we have got a little over the feelings of this solemn office, I
hope you will give me an hour alone. Hetty and I are at a loss what to do."
"That's quite nat'ral, coming as things have, suddenly and fearfully. But
here's the Ark, and we'll say more of this, when there is a better
opportunity.
Chapter XXIII.
"The winde is great upon the highest hilles;
The quiet life is in the dale below;
Who tread on ice shall slide against their willes;
They want not cares, that curious arts should know.
Who lives at ease and can content him so,
Is perfect wise, and sets us all to schoole:
Who hates this lore may well be called a foole."
Thomas Churchyard, "Shore's Wife," xlvii.
The meeting between Deerslayer and his friends in the Ark was grave and
anxious. The two Indians, in particular, read in his manner that he was not a
successful fugitive, and a few sententious words sufficed to let them
comprehend the nature of what their friend had termed his 'furlough.'
Chingachgook immediately became thoughtful, while Hist, as usual, had no
better mode of expressing her sympathy than by those little attentions which
mark the affectionate manner of woman.
In a few minutes, however, something like a general plan for the proceedings
of the night was adopted, and to the eye of an uninstructed observer things
would be thought to move in their ordinary train. It was now getting to be
dark, and it was decided to sweep the Ark up to the castle, and secure it in
its ordinary berth. This decision was come to, in some measure on account of
the fact that all the canoes were again in the possession of their proper
owners, but principally, from the security that was created by the
representations of Deerslayer. He had examined the state of things among the
Hurons, and felt satisfied that they meditated no further hostilities during
the night, the loss they had met having indisposed them to further exertions
for the moment. Then, he had a proposition to make; the object of his visit;
and, if this were accepted, the war would at once terminate between the
parties; and it was improbable that the Hurons would anticipate the failure
of a project on which their chiefs had apparently set their hearts, by having
recourse to violence previously to the return of their messenger. As soon as
the Ark was properly secured, the different members of the party occupied
themselves in their several peculiar manners, haste in council, or in
decision, no more characterizing the proceedings of these border whites, than
it did those of their red neighbors. The women busied themselves in
preparations for the evening meal, sad and silent, but ever attentive to the
first wants of nature. Hurry set about repairing his moccasins, by the light
of a blazing knot; Chingachgook seated himself in gloomy thought, while
Deerslayer proceeded, in a manner equally free from affectation and concern,
to examine 'Killdeer', the rifle of Hutter that has been already mentioned,
and which subsequently became so celebrated, in the hands of the individual
who was now making a survey of its merits. The piece was a little longer than
usual, and had evidently been turned out from the work shops of some
manufacturer of a superior order. It had a few silver ornaments, though, on
the whole, it would have been deemed a plain piece by most frontier men, its
great merit consisting in the accuracy of its bore, the perfection of the
details, and the excellence of the metal. Again and again did the hunter
apply the breech to his shoulder, and glance his eye along the sights, and as
often did he poise his body and raise the weapon slowly, as if about to catch
an aim at a deer, in order to try the weight, and to ascertain its fitness
for quick and accurate firing. All this was done, by the aid of Hurry's
torch, simply, but with an earnestness and abstraction that would have been
found touching by any spectator who happened to know the real situation of
the man.
"Tis a glorious we'pon, Hurry!" Deerslayer at length exclaimed, "and it may
be thought a pity that it has fallen into the hands of women. The hunters
have told me of its expl'ites, and by all I have heard, I should set it down
as sartain death in exper'enced hands. Hearken to the tick of this lock-a
wolf trap has'n't a livelier spring; pan and cock speak together, like two
singing masters undertaking a psalm in meetin'. I never did see so true a
bore, Hurry, that's sartain!"
"Ay, Old Tom used to give the piece a character, though he was n't the man to
particularize the ra'al natur' of any sort of tire arms, in practise,"
returned March, passing the deer's thongs through the moccasin with the
coolness of a cobbler. "He was no marksman, that we must all allow; but he
had his good p'ints, as well as his bad ones. I have had hopes that Judith
might consait the idee of giving Killdeer to me."
"There's no saying what young women may do, that's a truth, Hurry, and I
suppose you're as likely to own the rifle as another. Still, when things are
so very near perfection, it's a pity not to reach it entirely."
"What do you mean by that? - Would not that piece look as well on my
shoulder, as on any man's?"
"As for looks, I say nothing. You are both good-looking, and might make what
is called a good-looking couple. But the true p'int is as to conduct. More
deer would fall in one day, by that piece, in some man's hands, than would
fall in a week in vour'n, Hurry! I've seen you try; yes, remember the buck
t'other day."
"That buck was out of season, and who wishes to kill venison out of season. I
was merely trying to frighten the creatur', and I think you will own that he
was pretty well skeared, at any rate."
"Well, well, have it as you say. But this is a lordly piece, and would make a
steady hand and quick eye the King of the Woods!"
"Then keep it, Deerslayer, and become King of the Woods," said Judith,
earnestly, who had heard the conversation, and whose eye was never long
averted from the honest countenance of the hunter. "It can never be in better
hands than it is, at this moment, and there I hope it will remain these fifty
years.
"Judith you can't be in 'arnest!" exclaimed Deerslayer, taken so much by
surprise, as to betray more emotion than it was usual for him to manifest on
ordinary occasions. "Such a gift would be fit for a ra'al King to make; yes,
and for a ra'al King to receive."
"I never was more in earnest, in my life, Deerslayer, and I am as much in
earnest in the wish as in the gift."
"Well, gal, well; we'll find time to talk of this ag'in. You must n't be down
hearted, Hurry, for Judith is a sprightly young woman, and she has a quick
reason; she knows that the credit of her father's rifle is safer in my hands,
than it can possibly be in yourn; and, therefore, you must n't be down
hearted. In other matters, more to your liking, too, you'll find she'll give
you the preference."
Hurry growled out his dissatisfaction, but he was too intent on quitting the
lake, and in making his preparations, to waste his breath on a subject of
this nature. Shortly after, the supper was ready, and it was eaten in silence
as is so much the habit of those who consider the table as merely a place of
animal refreshment. On this occasion, however, sadness and thought
contributed their share to the general desire not to converse, for Deerslayer
was so far an exception to the usages of men of his cast, as not only to wish
to hold discourse on such occasions, but as often to create a similar desire
in his companions.
The meal ended, and the humble preparations removed, the whole party
assembled on the platform to hear the expected intelligence from Deerslayer
on the subject of his visit. It had been evident he was in no haste to make
his communication, but the feelings of Judith would no longer admit of delay.
Stools were brought from the Ark and the hut, and the whole six placed
themselves in a circle, near the door, watching each other's countenances, as
best they could, by the scanty means that were furnished by a lovely star-
light night. Along the shores, beneath the mountains, lay the usual body of
gloom, but in the broad lake no shadow was cast, and a thousand mimic stars
were dancing in the limpid element, that was just stirred enough by the
evening air to set them all in motion.
"Now, Deerslayer," commenced Judith, whose impatience resisted further
restraint-"now, Deerslayer, tell us all the Hurons have to say, and the
reason why they have sent you on parole, to make us some offer."
"Furlough, Judith; furlough is the word; and it carries the same meaning with
a captyve at large, as it does with a soldier who has leave to quit his
colors. In both cases the word is past to come back, and now I remember to
have heard that's the ra'al signification; 'furlough' meaning a 'word' passed
for the doing of any thing of the like. Parole I rather think is Dutch, and
has something to do with the tattoos of the garrisons. But this makes no
great difference, since the vartue of a pledge lies in The the idee, and not
in the word. Well, then, if the message must be given, it must; and perhaps
there is no use in putting it off. Hurry will soon be wanting to set out on
his journey to the river, and the stars rise and set, just as if they cared
for neither Injin nor message. Ah's! me; Tis n't a pleasant, and I know it's
a useless ar'n'd, but it must be told."
"Harkee, Deerslayer," put in Hurry, a little authoritatively- "You're a
sensible man in a hunt, and as good a fellow on a march, as a sixty-miler-a-
day could wish to meet with, but you're oncommon slow about messages;
especially them that you think won't be likely to be well received. When a
thing is to be told, why tell it; and do n't hang back like a Yankee lawyer
pretending he can't
understand a Dutchman's English, just to get a double fee out of him."
"I understand you, Hurry, and well are you named to-night, seeing you've no
time to lose. But let us come at once to the p'int, seeing that's the object
of this council- for council it may be called, though women have seats among
us. The simple fact is this. When the party came back from the castle, the
Mingos held a council, and hitter thoughts were uppermost, as was plain to be
seen by their gloomy faces. No one likes to be beaten, and a red skin, as
little as a pale face. Well, when they had smoked upon it, and made their
speeches, and their council fire had burnt low, the matter came out. It seems
the elders among 'em consaited I was a man to be trusted on a furlough-
They're wonderful obsarvant, them Mingos; that their worst mimics must allow-
but they consaited I was such a man; and it is n't often-" added the hunter,
with a pleasing consciousness that his previous life justified this implicit
reliance on his good faith-"it is'n't often they consait any thing so good of
a pale face; but so they did with me, and, therefore, they did n't hesitate
to speak their minds, which is just this: - You see the state of things. The
lake, and all on it, they fancy, lie at their marcy. Thomas Hutter is
deceased, and, as for Hurry, they've got the idee he has been near enough to
death to-day, not to wish to take another look at him, this summer.
Therefore, they account all your forces as reduced to Chingachgook and the
two young women, and, while they know the Delaware to be of a high race, and
a born warrior, they know he's now on his first war path. As for the gals, of
course they set them down much as they do women in gin'ral."
"You mean that they despise us!" interrupted Judith, with eyes that flashed
so brightly as to be observed by all present.
"That will be seen in the end They hold that all on the lake lies at their
marcy, and, therefore, they send by me this belt of wampum," showing the
article in question to the Delaware, as he spoke, "with these words. 'Tell
the Sarpent, they say, that he has done well for a beginner; he may now
strike across the mountains, for his own villages, and no one shall look for
his trail. If he has found a scalp, let him take it with him, for the Huron
braves have hearts, and can feel for a young warrior who does n't wish to go
home empty-handed. If he is nimble, he is welcome to lead out a party in
pursuit. Hist, howsever, must go back to the Hurons, for, when she left there
in the night, she carried away, by mistake, that which does n't belong to
her-"
"That can't be true!" said Hetty earnestly. "Hist is no such girl, but one
that gives every body his due-"
How much more she would have said, in remonstrance, cannot be known, inasmuch
as Hist, partly laughing, and partly hiding her face in shame, past her own
hand across the speaker's mouth, in a way to check the words.
"You do n't understand Mingo messages, poor Hetty -"resumed Deerslayer,
"which seldom mean what lies exactly uppermost. Hist has brought away with
her the inclinations of a young Huron, and they want her back again, that the
poor young man may find them where he last saw them! The Sarpent they say is
too promising a young warrior not to find as many wives as he wants, but this
one he cannot have. That's their meaning, and nothing else, as I understand
it."
"They are very obliging and thoughtful, in supposing a young woman can forget
all her own inclinations in order to let this unhappy youth find his!" said
Judith, ironically; though her manner became more bitter as she proceeded. "I
suppose a woman is a woman, let her colour be white, or red, and your chiefs
know little of a woman's heart, Deerslayer, if they think it can ever forgive
when wronged, or ever forget when it fairly loves.
"I suppose that's pretty much the truth, with some women, Judith, though I've
known them that could do both. The next message is to you. They say the
Muskrat, as they called your father, has dove to the bottom of the lake; that
he will never come up again, and that his young will soon be in want of
wigwams if not of food. The Huron huts they think, are better than the huts
of York, and they wish you to come and try them. Your colour is white, they
own, but they think young women who've lived so long in the woods, would lose
their way in the clearin's. A great warrior among them, has lately lost his
wife, and he would be glad to put the Wild Rose on her bench at his fireside.
As for the Feeble Mind, she will always be honored and taken care of by red
warriors. Your father's goods they think ought to go to enrich the tribe, but
your own property, which is to include every thing of a female natur', will
go like that of all wives, into the wigwam of the husband. Moreover, they've
lost a young maiden by violence, lately, and 'twill take two pale faces to
fill her seat."
"And do you bring such a message to me.~" exclaimed Judith, though the tone
in which the words were uttered, had more in it of sorrow than of anger. "Am
I a girl to be an Indian's slave?"
"If you wish my honest thoughts on this p'int, Judith, I shall answer that I
do n't think you'll, willingly, ever become any man's slave; red-skin or
white. You're not to think hard, howsever, of my bringing the message, as
near as I could, in the very words in which it was given to me. Them was the
conditions on which I got my furlough, and a bargain is a bargain, though it
is made with a vagabond. I've told you what they've said, but I've not yet
told you what I think you ought, one and all, to answer."
"Ay; let's hear that, Deerslayer," put in Hurry. "My cur'osity is up on that
consideration, and I should like, right well, to hear your idees of the
reasonableness of the reply. For my part, though, my own mind is pretty much
settled, on the p'int of my own answer, which shall be made known as soon as
necessary.
"And so is mine, Hurry, on all the different heads, and on no one is it more
sartainly settled that on yourn. If I was you, I should say-'Deerslayer, tell
them scamps, they don't know Harry March! He is human; and having a white
skin, he has also a white natur', which natur' won't let him desart females
of his own race and gifts, in their greatest need. So set me down as one that
will refuse to come into your treaty, though you should smoke a hogshead of
tobacco over it.' "
March was a little embarrassed at this rebuke, which was uttered with
sufficient warmth of manner, and with a point that left no doubt of the
meaning. Had Judith encouraged him, he would not have hesitated about
remaining to defend her and her sister, but under the circumstances, a
feeling of resentment rather urged him to abandon them. At all events, there
was not a sufficiency of chivalry in Hurry Harry to induce him to hazard the
safety of his own erson, unless he could see a direct connection between the
probable consequences and his own interests. It is no wonder, therefore, that
his answer partook equally of his intention,and of the reliance he so
boastingly placed on his gigantic strength, which if i did not always make
him outrageous, usually made him impudent, as respects those with whom he
conversed.
"Fair woods make long friendships, Master Deerslayer," he said a little
nemacingly. "You're but a stripling and you know by exper'ence, what you are
in the hands of a may. As you're not me, but only a go between, sent by the
savages to us christians, you may tell your emply'ers that they do know Harry
March, which is a proof of their sense, as well as his. He's human enough to
follow human natur', and that tells him to see the folly of one man's
fighting a whole tribe. If females desart him, they must expect to be
desarted by him, whether they're of his own gifts, or another man's figts.
Should Judith see fit to change her mind, she's welcome to my company to the
river, and Hetty with her; but shouldn't she come to this conclusion,, I
start as soon as I think the cncmy's scouts are beginning to nestle
themselves in among the brush and leaves, for the night."
"Judith will not change her mind, and she does not ask your company, Master
March," returned the girl, with spirit.
"That p'int's settled, then,' resumed Deerslayer, unmoved by the other's
warmth. "Hurry Harry must act for himself, and do that which will be most
likely to suit his own fancy. The course he means to take will give him an
easy race, if it don't give him an easy conscience. Next comes the question
with Hist - what say you gal? - Will you desart your duty, too, and go back
to the Mingos and take a Huron husband, and all not for the love of the man
you're tomarry, but for the love of your own scalp
"Why you talk so to Hist!" demanded the girl half-offended. "You t'ink a red-
skin girl made like captain's lady, to laugh and joke with any officer that
come."
"What I think, Hist, is neither here nor there, in this matter. I must carry
back your answer, and in order to do so it is necessary that you should lend
it. A faithful messenger gives his ar'n'd, word for word."
Hist no longer hesitated to speak her mind fully. In the excitement she rose
from her bench, and naturally recurring to that language in which she
expressed herself the most readily, she delivered her thoughts and
intentions, beautifully and with dignity, in the tongue of her own people.
"Tell the Hurons, Deerslayer," she said, 'that they are as ignorant as moles;
they do n't know the wolf from the dog. Among my people, the rose dies on the
stem where it budded, the tears of the child fall on the graves of its
parents; the corn grows where the seed has been planted. The Delaware girls
are not messengers to be sent, like belts of wampum, from tribe to tribe.
They are honeysuckles, that are sweetest in their own woods; their own young
men carry them away in their bosoms, because they are fragrant; they are
sweetest when plucked from their native stems. Even the robin and the martin
come back, year after year, to their old nests; shall a woman be less true
hearted than a bird? Set the pine in the clay and it will turn yellow; the
willow will not flourish on the hill; the tamarack is healthiest in the
swamp; the tribes of the sea love best to hear the winds that blow over the
salt water. As for a Huron youth, what is he to a maiden of the Lenni Lenape.
He may be fleet, but her eyes to not follow him in the race; they look back
towards the lodges of the Delawares. He may sing a sweet song for the girls
of Canada, but there is no music for Wah, but in the tongue she has listened
to from childhood. Were the Huron born of the people that once owned the
shores of the salt lake, it would be in vain, unless he were of the family of
Uncas. The young pine will rise to be as high as
any of its fathers. Wah-ta!-Wah has but one heart, and it can love but one
husband."
Deerslayer listened to this characteristic message, which was given with an
earnestness suited to the feelings from which it sprung, with undisguised
delight, meeting the ardent eloquence of the girl, as she concluded, with one
of his own heartfelt, silent, and peculiar fits of laughter.
'That's worth all the wampum in the woods!" he exclaimed. "You don't
understand it, I suppose, Judith, but if you'll look into your feelin's, and
fancy that an inimy had sent to tell you to give up the man of your ch'ice,
and to take up with another that was n't the man of your ch'ice, you'll get
the substance of it, I'll warrant! Give me a woman for ra'al eloquence, if
they'll only make up their minds to speak what they feel. By speakin', I do
n't mean chatterin', howsever; for most of them will do that by the hour; but
comm' out with their honest, deepest, feelin's in proper words. And now,
Judith, having got the answer of a red skin girl, it is fit I should get that
of a pale face, if, indeed, a countenance that is as blooming as your'n can
in any wise, so be tarmed. You are well named the Wild Rose, and so far as
colour goes, Hetty ought to be called the Honeysuckle."
'Did this language come from one of the garrison gallants, I should deride
it, Deerslayer, but coming from you, I know it can be depended on," returned
Judith, deeply gratified by his unmeditated and characteristic compliments.
"It is too soon, however, to ask my answer; the Great Serpent has not yet
spoken."
'The Sarpent! Lord; I could carry back his speech without hearing a word of
it! I did n't think of putting the question to him at all, I will allow;
though 'twould be hardly right either, seeing that truth is truth, and I'm
bound to tell these Mingos the fact and nothing else. So, Chingachgook, let
us hear your mind on this matter-are you inclined to strike across the hills
towards your village, to give up Hist to a Huron, and to tell the chiefs at
home, that, if they're actyve and successful, they may possibly get on the
end of the Iroquois trail some two or three days a'ter the iniiny has got off
of it?"
Like his betrothed, the young chief arose, that his answer might be given
with due distinctness and dignity. Hist had spoken with her hands crossed
upon her bosom, as if to suppress the emotions within, but the warrior
stretched an arm before him with a calm energy that aided in giving emphasis
to his expressions.
"Wampum should be sent for wampum," he said; "a message must be answered by a
message. Hear what the Great Serpent of' the Delawares has to say to the
pretended wolves from the great lakes, that are howling through our woods.
They are no wolves; they are dogs that have come to get their tails and ears
cropped by the hands of the Delawares. They are good at stealing young women;
bad at keeping them. Chingachgook takes his own where he finds it; he asks
leave of' no cur from the Canadas. If' he has a tender feeling in his heart,
it is no business of the Hurons. He tells it to her who most likes to know
it; he will not bellow it in the forest, for the ears of those that only
understand yells of terror. What passes in his lodge is not for the chiefs of
his own people to know; still less for Mingo rogues-"
"Call 'em vagabonds, Sarpent-" interrupted Deerslayer, unable to restrain his
delight-"yes, just call 'em up-and-down vagabonds, which is a word easily
intarpreted, and the most hateful of' all to their ears, it's so true. Never
fear me; I'll give em your message, syllable for syllable, sneer for sneer,
idee for idee, scorn for scorn, and they desarve no better at your hands-
only call 'em vagabonds, once or twice, and that will set the sap mounting in
'em, from their lowest roots to the uppermost branches!"
"Still less for Mingo vagabonds," resumed Chingachgook, quite willingly
complying with his friend's request. "Tell the Huron dogs to howl louder, if
they wish a Delaware to find them in the woods, where they burrow like foxes,
instead of hunting like warriors. When they had a Delaware maiden in their
camp, there was a reason for hunting them up; now they will be forgotten
unless they make a noise. Chingachgook do n t like the trouble of going to
his villages for more warriors; he can strike their run-a-way trail; unless
they hide it under ground, he will follow it to Canada alone. He will keep
Wah-ta!-Wah with him to cook his game; they two will be Delawares enough to
scare all the Hurons back to their own country ."
"That's a grand despatch, as the officers call them things!" cried
Deerslayer; 'twill set all the Huron blood in motion; most particularily that
part where he tells 'em Hist, too, will keep on their heels, 'till they're
fairly driven out of the country. Ahs! me; big words ain't always big deeds,
notwithstanding! The Lord send that we be able to be only one half as good as
we promise to be! And now, Judith, it's your turn to speak, for them
miscreants will expect an answer from each person, poor Hetty, perhaps,
excepted."
"And why not Hetty, Deerslayer? She often speaks to the purpose; the Indians
may respect her words, for they feel for people in her condition."
"That is true, Judith, and quick-thoughted in you. The redskins do respect
misfortunes of all kinds, and Hetty's in particular. So, Hetty, if you have
any thing to say, I'll carry it to the Hurons as faithfully as if it was
spoken by a schoolmaster, or a missionary.
The girl hesitated a moment, and then she answered in her own gentle, soft,
tones, as earnestly as any who had preceded her.
"The Hurons can't understand the difference between white people and
themselves," she said, 'or they would n't ask Judith and me to go and live in
their villages. God has given one country to the red men and another to us.
He meant us to live apart. Then mother always said that we should never dwell
with any but christians, if possible, and that is a reason why we can't go.
This lake is ours, and we wo'n't leave it. Father and mother's graves are in
it, and even the worst Indians love to stay near the graves of their fathers.
I will come and see them, again, if they wish me to, and read more out of the
bible to them, but I can't quit father's and mother's graves."
"That will do-that will do, Hetty, just as well as if you sent them a message
twice as long," interrupted the hunter. "I'll tell 'em all you've said, and
all you mean, and I'll answer for it, that they'll be easily satisfied. Now,
Judith, your turn comes next, and then this part of my ar'n'd will be
tarminated, for the night."
Judith manifested a reluctance to give her reply, that had awakened a little
curiosity in the messenger. Judging from her known spirit, he had never
supposed the girl would be less true her feelings and principles than Hist,
or Hetty, and yet there was a visible wavering of purpose that rendered him
slightly uneasy. Even now when directly required to speak, she seemed to
hesitate, nor did she open her lips, until the profound silence told her how
anxiously her words were expected. Then, indeed, she spoke, but it was
doubtingly and with reluctance.
"Tell me, first - tell us, first, Deerslayer," she commenced, repeating the
words merely to change the emphasis-"what effect will our answers have on
your fate? If you are to be the sacrifice of our spirit, it would have been
better had we all been more wary as to the language we use. What, then, are
likely to be the consequences to yourself?"
"Lord, Judith, you might as well ask me which way the wind will blow next
week, or what will be the age of the next deer that will be shot! I can only
say that their faces look a little dark upon me, but it does n't thunder
every time a black cloud rises, nor does every puff of wind blow up rain.
That's a question, therefore, much more easily put than answered."
"So is this message of the Iroquois to me," answered Judith rising, as if she
had determined on her own course for the present. "My answer shall be given,
Deerslayer, after you and I have talked together alone, when the others have
laid themselves down for the night."
There was a decision in the manner of the girl, that disposed Deerslayer to
comply, and this he did the more readily as the delay could produce no
material consequences, one way or the other. The meeting now broke up, Hurry
announcing his resolution to leave them speedily. During the hour that was
suffered to intervene, in order that the darkness might deepen, before the
frontier-man took his departure, the different individuals occupied
themselves in their customary modes, the hunter, in particular, passing most
of the time in making further enquiries into the perfection of the rifle
already mentioned.
The hour of nine soon arrived, however, and then it had been determined that
Hurry should commence his journey. Instead of making his adieus frankly, and
in a generous spirit, the little he thought it necessary to say was uttered
sullenly and in coldness. Resentment at what he considered Judith's
obstinacy, was blended with mortification at the career he had since reaching
the lake, and, as is usual with the vulgar and narrow-minded, he was more
disposed to reproach others with his failures, than to censure himself.
Judith gave him her hand, but it was quite as much in gladness, as with
regret, while the two Delawares were not sorry to find he was leaving them.
Of the whole party, Hetty alone betrayed any real feeling. Bashfulness, and
the timidity of her sex and character, kept even her aloof, so that Hurry
entered the canoe, where Deerslayer was already waiting for him, before she
ventured near enough to be observed. Then, indeed, the girl came into the
Ark, and approached its end, just as the little bark was turning from it,
with a movement so light and steady as to be almost imperceptible. An impulse
of feeling now overcame her timidity, and Hetty spoke.
"Goodbye Hurry-" she called out, in her sweet voice- "good bye, dear Hurry.
Take care of yourself in the woods, and don't stop once, 'till you reach the
garrison. The leaves on the trees are scarcely plentier than the Hurons round
the lake, and they'll not treat a strong man like you, as kindly as they
treat me."
The ascendency which March had obtained over this feebleminded, but right-
thinking, and right-feeling girl, arose from a law of nature. Her senses had
been captivated by his personal advantages, and her moral communications with
him had never been sufficiently intimate to counteract an effect that must
have been otherwise lessened, even with one whose mind was as obtuse as her
own. Hetty's instinct of right, if such a term can be applied to one who
seemed taught by some kind spirit how to steer her course with unerring
accuracy, between good and evil, would have revolted at Hurry's character, on
a thousand points, had there been opportunities to enlighten her, but while
he conversed and trifled with her sister, at a distance from herself, his
perfection of form and feature had been left to produce their influence on
her simple imagination, and naturally tender feelings, without suffering by
the alloy of his opinions and coarseness. It is true, she found him rough and
rude; but her father was that, and most of the other men she had seen, and
that which she believed to belong to all of the sex, struck her less
unfavorably in Hurry's character, than it might otherwise have done. Still,
it was not absolutely love that Hetty felt for Hurry, nor do we wish so to
portray it, but merely that awakening sensibility and admiration, which,
under more propitious circumstances, and always supposing no untoward
revelations of character on the part of the young man, had supervened to
prevent it, might soon have ripened into that engrossing feeling. She felt
for him an incipient tenderness, but scarcely any passion. Perhaps the
nearest approach to the latter, that Hetty had manifested, was to be seen in
the sensitiveness which had caused her to detect March's predilection for her
sister, for, among Judith's many admirers, this was the only instance in
which the dull mind of the girl had been quickened into an observation of the
circumstances.
Hurry received so little sympathy at his departure, that the gentle tones of
Hetty, as she thus called after him, sounded soothingly. He checked the
canoe, and with one sweep of his powerful arm brought it back to the side of
the Ark. This was more than Hetty, whose courage had risen with the departure
of her hero, expected, and she now shrunk timidly back at this unexpected
return.
"You're a good gal, Hetty, and I can't quit you without shaking hands," said
March kindly. "Judith, a'ter all, is n't worth as much as you, though she may
be a trifle better looking. As to wits, if honesty and fair dealing with a
young man is a sign of sense in a young woman, you're worth a dozen Judiths;
ay, and for that matter, most young women of my acquaintance."
"Don't say any thing against Judith, Harry," returned Hetty imploringly.
"Father's gone, and mother's gone, and nobody's left but Judith and me, and
it is n't right for sisters to speak evil, or to hear evil of each other.
Father's in the lake, and so is mother, and we should all fear God, for we do
n't know when we may be in the lake, too."
"That sounds reasonable, child, as does most you say. Well, if we ever meet
ag'in, Hetty, you'll find a fri'nd in me, let your sister do what she may. I
was no great fri'nd of your mother I'll allow, for we did n't think alike on
most p'ints, but then your father, Old Tom, and I, fitted each other as
remarkably as a buckskin garment will fit any reasonable-built man. I've
always been unanimous of opinion that Old Floating Tom Hutter, at the bottom,
was a good fellow, and will maintain that ag'in all inimies for his sake, as
well as for your'n."
"Good bye, Hurry," said Hetty, who now wanted to hasten the young man off, as
ardently as she had wished to keep him only the moment before, though she
could give no clearer account of the latter than of the former feeling; "good
bye, Hurry; take care of yourself in the woods; do n't halt 'till you reach
the garrison. I'll read a chapter in the bible for you, before I go to bed,
and think of you in my prayers.
This was touching a point on which March had no sympathies, and without more
words, he shook the girl cordially by the hand, and re-entered the canoe. In
another minute the two adventurers were a hundred feet from the Ark, and half
a dozen had not elapsed before they were completely lost to view. Hetty
sighed deeply, and rejoined her sister and Hist.
For some time Deerslayer and his companion paddled ahead in silence. It had
been determined to land Hurry at the precise point where he is represented,
in the commencement of our tale, as having embarked, not only as a place
little likely to be watched by the Hurons, but because he was sufficiently
familiar with the signs of the woods, at that spot, to thread his way through
them in the dark. Thither, then, the light craft proceeded, being urged as
diligently, and as swiftly, as two vigorous and skilful canoe-men could force
their little vessel through, or rather over, the water. Less than a quarter
of an hour sufficed for the object, and, at the end of that time, being
within the shadows of the shore, and quite near the point they sought, each
ceased his efforts in order to make their parting communications out of ear
shot of any straggler who might happen to be in the neighborhood.
"You will do well to persuade the officers at the garrison to lead out a
party ag'in these vagabonds, as soon as you git in, Hurry," Deerslayer
commenced; "and you'll do better if you volunteer to guide it up yourself.
You know the paths, and the shape of the lake, and the natur' of the land,
and can do it better than a common, gin'ralizing scout. Strike at the Huron
camp first, and follow the signs that will then show themselves. A few looks
at the hut and the Ark will satisfy you, as to the state of the Delaware and
the women, and, at any rate, there'll be a fine opportunity to fall on the
Mingo trail, and to make a mark on the memories of the blackguards that
they'll be apt to carry with 'em a long time. It won't be likely to make much
difference with me, since that matter will be detarmined afore tomorrow's sun
has set, but it may make a great change in Judith and Hetty's hopes and
prospects!"
"And as for yourself, Nathaniel," Hurry enquired with more interest than he
was accustomed to betray in the welfare of others-"And, as for yourself, what
do you think is likely to turn up.
"The Lord, in his wisdom, only can tell, Henry March! The clouds look black
and threatening, and I keep my mind in a state to meet the worst. Vengeful
feelin's are uppermost in the hearts of the Mingos, and any little
disapp'intment about the plunder, or the prisoners, or Hist, may make the
torments sartan. The Lord, in his wisdom, can only detarmine my fate, or
yourn!"
"This is a black business, and ought to be put a stop to in some way or
other-" answered Hurry, confounding the distinctions between right and wrong,
as is usual with selfish and vulgar men. "I heartily wish old Hutter and I
had scalped every creatur' in their camp, the night we first landed with that
capital object! Had you not held back, Deerslayer, it might have been done,
and then you would n't have found yourself, at the last moment, in the
desperate condition you mention."
"Twould have been better had you said, you wished you had never attempted to
do what it little becomes any white man's gifts to undertake; in which case,
not only might we have kept from coming to blows, but Thomas Hutter would now
have been living, and the hearts of the savages would be less given to
vengeance. The death of that young woman, too, was on-called for, Henry
March, and leaves a heavy load on our names if not on our consciences!"
This was so apparent, and it seemed so obvious to Hurry himself, at the
moment, that he dashed his paddle into the water, and began to urge the canoe
towards the shore, as if bent only on running away from his own lively
remorse. His companion humoured this feverish desire for change, and, in a
minute or two, the bows of the boat grated lightly on the shingle of the
beach. To land, shoulder his pack and rifle, and to get ready for his march
occupied Hurry but an instant, and with a growling adieu, he had already
commenced his march, when a sudden twinge of feeling brought him to a dead
stop, and immediately after to the other's side.
"You cannot mean to give yourself up ag'in to them murdering savages,
Deerslayer!" he said, quite as much in angry remonstrance, as with generous
feeling. "Twould be the act of a madman or a fool!"
"There's them that thinks it madness to keep their words, and there's them
that don't, Hurry Harry. You may be one of the first, but I'm one of the
last. No red skin breathing shall have it in his power to say, that a Mingo
minds his word more than a man of white blood and white gifts, in any thing
that consarns me. I'm out on a furlough, and if I've strength and reason,
I'll go in on a furlough afore noon to-morrow!"
"What's an Injin, or a word passed, or a furlough taken from creatur's like
them, that have neither souls, nor reason!"
"If they've got neither souls nor reason, you and I have both, Henry March,
and one is accountable for the other. This furlough is not, as you seem to
think, a matter altogether atween me and the Mingos, seeing it is a solemn
bargain made atween me and God. He who thinks that he can say what he
pleases, in his distress, and that twill all pass for nothing, because 'tis
uttered in the forest, and into red men's ears, knows little of his
situation, and hopes, and wants. The woods are but the ears of the Almighty,
the air is his breath, and the light of the sun is little more than a glance
of his eye. Farewell, Harry; we may not meet ag'in, but I would wish you
never to treat a furlough, or any other solemn thing, that your christian God
has been called on to witness, as a duty so light that it may be forgotten
according to the wants of the body, or even accordin' to the cravings of the
spirit."
March was now glad again to escape. It was quite impossible that he could
enter into the sentiments that ennobled his companion, and he broke away from
both with an impatience that caused him secretly to curse the folly that
could induce a man to rush, as it were, on his own destruction. Deerslayer,
on the contrary, manifested no such excitement. Sustained by his principles,
inflexible in the purpose of acting up to them, and superior to any unmanly
apprehension, he regarded all before him, as a matter of course, and no more
thought of making any unworthy attempt to avoid it, than a Mussulman thinks
of counteracting the decrees of Providence. He stood calmly on the shore,
listening to the reckless tread with which Hurry betrayed his progress
through the bushes, shook his head in dissatisfaction at the want of caution,
and then stepped quietly into his canoe. Before he dropped the paddle again
into the water, the young man gazed about him, at the scene presented by the
star-lit night. This was the spot where he had first laid his eyes on the
beautiful sheet of water on which he floated. If it was then glorious in the
bright light of a summer's noon-tide, it was now sad and melancholy under the
shadows of night. The mountains rose around it like black barriers to exclude
the outer world, and the gleams of pale light that rested on the broader
parts of the basin, were no bad symbols of the faintness of the hopes that
were so dimly visible in his own future. Sighing heavily, he pushed the canoe
from the land, and took his way, back, with steady diligence towards the Ark
and the castle.
Chapter XXIV
"Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame;
Thy private feasting to a public fast;
Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name;
Thy sugar'd tongue to bitter worm wood taste:
Thy violent vanities can never last."
Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 11. 890-94.
Judith was waiting the return of Deerslayer on the platform, with stifled
impatience, when the latter reached the hut. Hist and Hetty were both in a
deep sleep, on the bed usually occupied by the two daughters of the house,
and the Delaware was stretched on the floor of the adjoining room, his rifle
at his side, and a blanket over him, already dreaming of the events of the
last few days. There was a lamp burning in the Ark, for the family was
accustomed to indulge in this luxury on extraordinary occasions, and
possessed the means, the vessel being of a form and material to render it
probable it had once been an occupant of the chest.
As soon as the girl got a glimpse of the canoe, she ceased her hurried walk
up and down the platform, and stood ready to receive the young man, whose
return she had now been anxiously expecting for some time. She helped him to
fasten the canoe, and by aiding in the other little similar employ ments,
manifested her desire to reach a moment of liberty as soon as possible. When
this was done, in answer to an inquiry of his, she informed him of the manner
in which their com panions had disposed of themselves. He listened
attentively, for the manner of the girl was so earnest and impressive as to
apprise him that she had something on her mind of more than common concern.
"And now, Deerslayer," Judith continued, "you see I have lighted the lamp,
and put it in the cabin of the Ark. That is never done with us, unless on
great occasions, and I consider this night as the most important of my life.
Will you follow me and see what I have to show you-hear what I have to say."
The hunter was a little surprised, but, making no objec tions, both were soon
in the scow, and in the room that contamed the light. Here two stools were
placed at the side of the chest, with the lamp on another, and a table near
by to receive the different articles as they might be brought to view. This
arrangement had its rise in the feverish impatience of the girl, which could
brook no delay that it was in her power to obviate. Even all the padlocks
were removed, and it only re mained to raise the heavy lid, again, to expose
all the treasures of this long secreted hoard.
"I see, in part, what all this means," observed Deerslayer- "yes, I see
through it, in part. But why is not Hetty present; now, Thomas Hurter is
gone, she is one of the owners of these cur'osities, and ought to see them
opened and handled."
"Hetty sleeps-" answered Judith, huskily. "Happily for her, fine clothes and
riches have no charms. Besides she has this night given her share of all that
the chest may hold, to me, that I may do with it as I please."
"Is poor Hetty composs enough for that, Judith?" de manded the just-minded
young man. "It's a good rule and a righteous one, never to take when them
that give don't know the valie of their gifts; and such as god has visited
heavily in their wits, ought to be dealt with as carefully as children that
have n't yet come to their understandings."
Judith was hurt at this rebuke, coming from the person it did, but she would
have felt it far more keenly had not her conscience fully acquitted her of
any unjust intentions to wards her feeble-minded but confiding sister. It was
not a moment, however, to betray any of her usual mountings of the spirit,
and she smothered the passing sensation in the de sire to come to the great
object she had in view.
"Hetty will not be wronged," she mildly answered; "she even knows not only
what I am about to do, Deerslayer, but why I do it. So take your seat, raise
the lid of the chest, and this time we will go to the bottom. I shall be
disappointed if something is not found to tell us more of the history of
Thomas Hurter and my mother."
"Why Thomas Hutter, Judith, and not your father? The I dead ought to meet
with as much reverence as the living!"
"I have long suspected that Thomas Hutter was not my father, though I did
think he might have been Hetty's, but now we know he was the father of
neither. He acknowledged that much in his dying moments. I am old enough to
remember better things than we have seen on this lake, though they are so
faintly impressed on my memory, that the earlier part of my life seems like a
dream."
"Dreams are but miserable guides when one has to detar mine about realities,
Judith," returned the other, admonish ingly. "Fancy nothing, and hope nothing
on their account, though I've known chiefs that thought 'em useful."
"I expect nothing for the future, from them, my good friend, but cannot help
remembering what has been. This is idle, however, when half an hour of
examination may tell us all, or even more than I want to know."
Deerslayer, who comprehended the girl's impatience, now took his seat, and
proceeded once more to bring to light the different articles that the chest
contained. As a matter of course, all that had been previously examined were
found where they had been last deposited, and they excited much less
interest, or comment, than when formerly exposed to view. Even Judith laid
aside the rich brocade with an air of indifference, for she had a far higher
aim before her than the indulgence of vanity, and was impatient to come at
the still hidden, or rather unknown, treasures.
"All these we have seen before," she said, "and will not stop to open. The
bundle under your hand, Deerslayer, is a fresh one; that we will look into.
God send it may contain something to tell poor Hetty and myself, who we
really are!"
"Ay, if some bundles could speak, they might tell wonderful secrets,"
returned the young man deliberately undoing the folds of another piece of
course canvass, in order to come at the contents of the roll that lay on his
knees: "though this doesn't seem to be one of that family, seeing 'tis
neither more nor less than a sort of flag, though of what nation, it passes
my l'arnin' to say."
"That flag must have some meaning to it-" Judith hurriedly interposed. "Open
it wider, Deerslayer, that we may see the colours."
"Well, I pity the ensign that has to shoulder this cloth, and to parade it
about on the field. Why 'tis large enough, Judith,to make a dozen of them
colours the King's officers set so much store by These can be no ensign's
colours, but a gin'ral's!"
"A ship might carry it, Deerslayer, and ships I know do use such things. Have
you never heard any fearful stories about Thomas Hurter's having once been
concerned with the peo ple they call buccaneers?"
"Buck-ah-near! Not I-not I-I never heard him mentioned as good at a buck far
off, or near by. Hurry Harry did till me something about its being supposed
that he had formerly, in some way or other, dealings with sartain sea rob
bers, but, Lord, Judith, it can't surely give you any satisfaction to make
out that ag'in your mother's own hus band, though he isn't your father."
"Any thing will give me satisfaction that tells me who I am, and helps to
explain the dreams of childhood. My mother's husband! Yes, he must have been
that, though why a woman like her, should have chosen a man like him, is more
than mortal reason can explain. You never saw mother, Deerslayer, and can't
feel the vast, vast difference there was between them!"
"Such things do happen, howsever;-yes, they do happen; though why providence
lets them come to pass, is more than I understand. I've knew the f'ercest
warriors with the gentlest wives of any in the tribe, and awful scolds fall
to the lot of Injins fit to be missionaries."
"That was not it, Deerslayer; that was not it. Oh! if it should prove that-
no; I can not wish she should not have been his wife at all. That no daughter
can wish for her own mother! Go on, now, and let us see what the square
looking bundle holds."
Deerslayer complied, and he found that it contained a small trunk of pretty
workmanship, but fastened. The next point was to find a key; but, search
proving ineffectual, it was determined to force the lock. This Deerslayer
soon effected by the aid of an iron instrument, and it was found that the
interior was nearly filled with papers. Many were letters; some fragments of
manuscripts, memorandums, accounts, and other similar documents. The hawk
does not pounce upon the chicken with a more sudden swoop, than Judith sprang
forward to seize this mine of hitherto concealed knowledge. Her education, as
the reader will have perceived, was far superior to her situation in life,
and her eye glanced over page after page of the letters, with a readiness
that her schooling supplied, and with an avidity that found its origin in her
feelings. At first, it was evident that the girl was gratified; and we may
add with reason, for the letters written by females, in innocence and
affection, were of a character to cause her to feel proud of those with whom
she had every reason to think she was closely connected by the ties of blood.
It does not come within the scope of our plan to give more of these epistles,
however, than a general idea of their contents, and this will best be done by
describing the effect they produced on the manner, appearance, and feeling of
her who was so eagerly perusing them.
It has been said, already, that Judith was much gratified with the letters
that first met her eye. They contained the correspondence of an affectionate
and inteffigent mother, to an absent daughter, with such allusions to the
answers, as served, in a great measure, to fill up the vacuum left by the
replies. They were not without admonitions and warnings, however, and Judith
felt the blood mounting to her temples, and a cold shudder succeeding, as she
read one in which the propriety of the daughter's indulging in as much
intimacy, as had evidently been described in one of the daughter's own
letters, with an officer "who came from Europe, and who could hardly be
supposed to wish to form an honorable connection in America," was rather
coldly commented on by the mother. What rendered it singular, was the fact
that the signatures had been carefully cut from every one of these letters,
and wherever a name occurred in the body of the epistles, it had been erased
with so much diligence as to render it impossible to read it. They had all
been enclosed in envelopes, according to the fashion of the age, and not an
address either was to be found. Still the letters themselves had been
religiously pre served, and Judith thought she could discover traces of tears
remaining on several. She now remembered to have seen the little trunk in her
mother's keeping, previously to her death, and she supposed it had first been
deposited in the chest, along with the other forgotten, or concealed objects,
when the letters could no longer contribute to that parent's grief or
happiness.
Next came another bundle, and these were filled with the protestations of
love, written with passion certainly, but also with that deceit which men so
often think it justifiable to use to the other sex. Judith had shed tears
abundantly over the first packet, but now she felt a sentiment of indignation
and pride better sustaining her. Her hand shook, however, and cold shivers
again passed through her frame, as she discovered a few points of strong
resemblance between these letters and some it had been her own fate to
receive. Once, indeed, she laid the packet down, bowed her head to her knees,
and seemed nearly convulsed. All this time Deerslayer sat a silent, but
attentive observer of every thing that passed. As Judith read a letter, she
put it into his hands to hold, until she could peruse the next; but this
served in no degree to enlighten her companion, as he was totally unable to
read. Nevertheless he was not entirely at fault, in discovering the passions
that were contending in the bosom of the fair creature by his side, and, as
occasional sentences escaped her in murmurs, he was nearer the truth, in his
divinations, or conjectures, than the girl would have been pleased at
discovering.
Judith had commenced with the earliest letters, luckily for a ready
comprehension of the tale they told, for they were carefully arranged in
chronological order, and to any one who would take the trouble to peruse
them, would have revealed a sad history of gratified passion, coldness, and
finally of aversion. As she obtained the clue to their import, her impatience
would not admit of delay, and she soon got to glancing her eyes over a page,
by way of coming at the truth, in the briefest manner possible. By adopting
this expedient, one to which all who are eager to arrive at results, without
encumbering themselves with details, are so apt to resort, Judith made a
rapid progress in these melancholy revelations of her mother's failing and
punishment. She saw that the period of her own birth was distinctly referred
to, and even learned that the homely name she bore, was given her by the
father, of whose person she retained so faint an impression as to resemble a
dream. This name was not obliterated from the text of the letters, but stood
as if nothing was to be gained by erasing it. Hetty's birth was mentioned
once, and in that instance the name was the mother's, but ere this period was
reached came the signs of coldness, shadowing forth the desertion that was so
soon to follow. It was in this stage of the correspondence that her mother
had recourse to the plan of copying her own epistles. They were but few, but
were eloquent with the feelings of blighted affection, and contrition. Judith
sobbed over them, until again and again she felt compelled to lay them aside
from sheer physical in a inability to see; her eyes being literally obscured
with tears. Still she returned to the task, with increasing interest, and
finally succeeded in reaching the end of the latest communication that had
probably ever passed between her parents.
All this occupied fully an hour, for near a hundred letters were glanced at,
and some twenty had been closely read. The truth now shone clear upon the
acute mind of Judith, so far as her own birth and that of Hetty, were
concerned. She sickened at the conviction, and for the moment the rest of the
world seemed to be cut off from her, and she had now additional reasons for
wishing to pass the remainder of her life on the lake, where she had already
seen so many bright and so many sorrowing days.
There yet remained more letters to examine. Judith found these were a
correspondence between her mother and Thomas Hovey. The originals of both
parties were carefully arranged, letter and answer, side by side; and they
told the early history of the connection between the ill-assorted pair far
more plainly than Judith wished to learn it. Her mother made the advances
towards a marriage, to the surprise, not to say horror of her daughter, and
she actually found a relief when she discovered traces of what struck her as
insanity- or a morbid desperation, bordering on that dire calamity- in the
earlier letters of that ill-fated woman. The answers of Hovey were coarse and
illiterate, though they manifested a sufficient desire to obtain the hand of
a woman of singular personal attractions, and whose great error he was
willing to overlook for the advantage of possessing one, every way so much
his superior, and, who, it also appeared was not altogether destitute of
money. The remainder of this part of the correspondence was brief, and it was
soon confined to a few communications on business, in which the miserable
wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a world,
which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one of the
parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression had
escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that had
induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that feeling of
resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on themselves,
by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they have
suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend this
sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which permitted
such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy.
There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the
loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation
offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among
which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the
proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black
lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the
papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of
residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses,
had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of
the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased.
Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were,
defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits
for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's
manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical
facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood
sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess
any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her
companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it
might yet contain something of importance.
"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if
there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've
got through with the reading of communications on business, in which the
miserable wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a
world, which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one
of the parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression
had escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that
had induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that
feeling of resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on
themselves, by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they
have suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend
this sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which
permitted such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy.
There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the
loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation
offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among
which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the
proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black
lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the
papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of
residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses,
had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of
the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased.
Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were,
defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits
for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's
manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical
facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood
sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess
any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her
companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it
might yet contain something of importance.
"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if
there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've
got through with the reading of much as if the bargain was made, and
Rivenoak, or any of the other vagabonds, was here to accept and close the
treaty, there's two principal reasons why it can never come to pass, which
may be as well told at once, in order no onlikely ex pectations may be raised
in you, or any onjustiflable hopes in me."
"What reason can there be, if Hetty and I are willing to part with the
trifles for your sake, and the savages are willing to receive them?"
"That's it, Judith-you've got the idees, but they're a little out of their
places, as if a hound should take the back'ard instead of the leading scent.
That the Mingos will be willing to receive them things, or any more like 'em,
you may have to offer is probable enough, but whether they'll pay valie for
'em, is quite another matter. Ask yourself, Judith, if any one should send
you a message to say that, for such or such a price, you and Hetty might have
that chist and all it holds, whether you'd think it worth your while to waste
many words on the bargain?"
"But this chest and all it holds, are already ours; there is no reason why we
should purchase what is already our own."
"Just so the Mingos caculate! They say the chist is theirn, already; or, as
good as theirn, and they'll not thank anybody for the key."
"I understand you, Deerslayer; surely we are yet in posses sion of the lake,
and we can keep possession of it, until Hurry sends troops to drive off the
enemy. This we may certainly do, provided you will stay with us, instead of
going back and giving yourself up a prisoner, again, as you now seem deter
mined on".
"That Hurry Harry should talk in thisaway, is nat'ral, and according to the
gifts of the man. He knows no better, and, therefore, he is little likely to
feel, or to act any better; but, Judith, I put it to your heart and
conscience-would you, could you think of me as favorably, as I hope and
believe you now do, was I to forget my furlough and not go back to the camp?"
"To think more favorably of you than I now do, Deerslayer, would not be easy;
but I might continue to think as favor ably-at least it seems so-I hope I
could, for, a world would n't tempt me to let you do any thing that might
change my real opinion of you."
"Then do n't try to entice me to overlook my furlough, gal! -A furlough is a
sacred thing among warriors and men that carry their lives in their hands, as
we of the forests do, and what a grievous disapp'intment would it be to old
Tamenund, and to Uncas, the father of the Sarpent, and to my other fri'nds in
the tribe, if I was so to disgrace myself, on my very first war-path? This
you will pairceive, moreover, Judith, is without laying any stress on nat'ral
gifts, and a white man's duties, to say nothing of conscience. The last is
king with me, and I try never to dispute his orders."
"I believe you are right, Deerslayer," returned the girl, after a little
reflection and in a saddened voice: "a man like you, ought not to act, as the
selfish and dishonest would be apt to act; you must, indeed, go back. We will
talk no more of this, then. Should I persuade you to any thing for which you
would be sorry hereafter, my own regret would not be less than yours. You
shall not have it to say, Judith-I scarce know by what name to call myself,
now!"
"And why not?-Why not, gal? Children take the names of their parents,
nat'rally, and by a sort of gift, like, and why should n't you and Hetty do,
as others have done afore ye? Hutter was the old man's name, and Hurter
should be the name of his darters; -at least until you are given away in
lawful and holy wedlock."
"I am Judith, and Judith only," returned the girl posi tively-"until the law
gives me a right to another name. Never will I use that of Thomas Hurter
again; nor, with my consent, shall Hetty! Hurter was not even his own name, I
find, but had he a thousand rights to it, it would give none to me. He was
not my father, thank heaven; though I may have no reason to be proud of him
that was!"
"This is strange!" said Deerslayer, looking steadily at the excited girl,
anxious to know more, but unwilling to inquire into matters that did not
properly concern him; "yes, this is very strange and oncommon! Thomas Hurter
was n't Thomas Hurter, and his darters were n't his darters! Who, then, could
Thomas Hurter be, and who are his darters?"
"Did you never hear any thing whispered against the former life of this
person, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith- "Passing, as I did, for his child, such
reports reached even me."
"I'll not deny it, Judith; no, I'll not deny it. Sartain things have been
said, as I've told you, but I'm not very credible as to reports. Young as I
am, I've lived long enough to l'am there's two sorts of characters in the
world-them that is 'arned by deeds, and them that is 'arned by tongues, and
so I prefar to see and judge for myself, instead of letting every jaw that
chooses to wag become my judgment. Hurry Harry spoke pretty plainly of the
whole family, as we journeyed this-a-way, and he did hint something
consarning Thomas Hutter's having been a free-liver on the water, in his
younger days. By free-liver, I mean that he made free to live on other men's
goods."
"He told you he was a pirate-there is no need of mincing matters between
friends. Read that, Deerslayer, and you will see that he told you no more
than the truth. This Thomas Hovey was the Thomas Hutter you knew, as is seen
by these letters."
As Judith spoke, with a flushed cheek and eyes dazzling with the brilliancy
of excitement, she held the newspaper towards her companion, pointing to the
proclamation of a Colonial Governor, already mentioned.
"Bless you, Judith!" answered the other laughing, "you might as well ask me
to print that-or, for that matter to write it. My edication has been
altogether in the woods; the only book I read, or care about reading, is the
one which God has opened afore all his creatur's in the noble forests, broad
lakes, rolling rivers, blue skies, and the winds and tempests, and sunshine,
and other glorious marvels of the land! This book I can read, and I find it
full of wisdom and knowledge."
"I crave your pardon, Deerslayer," said Judith, earnestly, more abashed than
was her wont, in finding that she had in advertently made an appeal that
might wound her compan ion's pride. "I had forgotten your manner of life, and
least of all did I wish to hurt your feelings."
"Hurt my feelin's?-Why should it hurt my feelin's to ask me to read, when I
can't read. I'm a hunter-and I may now begin to say a warrior, and no
missionary, and therefore books and papers are of no account with such as I-
No, no-Judith," and here the young man laughed cordially, "not even for wads,
seeing that your true deerkiller always uses the hide of a fa'a'n, if he's
got one, or some other bit of leather suitably prepared. There's some that do
say, all that stands in print is true, in which case I'll own an unl'arned
man must be somewhat of a loser; nevertheless, it can't be truer than that
which God has printed with his own hand, in the sky, and the woods, and the
rivers, and the springs."
"Well, then, Hutter, or Hovey, was a pirate, and being no father of mine, I
cannot wish to call him one. His name shall no longer be my name."
"If you dislike the name of that man, there's the name of your mother,
Judith. Hem may sarve you just as good a turn."
"I do not know it. I've look'd through those papers, Deer-slayer, in the hope
of finding some hint, by which I might discover who my mother was, but there
is no more trace of the past, in that respect, than the bird leaves in the
air."
"That's both oncommon, and onreasonable. Parents are bound to give their
offspring a name, even though they give 'em nothing else. Now I come of a
humble stock, though we have white gifts and a white narur', but we are not
so poorly off, as to have no name. Bumppo we are called, and I've heard it
said-" a touch of human vanity glowing on his cheek, "that the time has been
when the Bumppos had more standing and note among mankind, than they have
just now."
"They never deserved them more, Deerslayer, and the name is a good one;
either Herty, or myself, would a thousand times rather be called Hetty
Bumppo, or Judith Bumppo, than to be called Hetty or Judith Hutter."
"That's a moral impossible," returned the hunter, good humouredly, "onless
one of you should so far demean herself as to marry me."
Judith could not refrain from smiling, when she found how simply and
naturally the conversation had come round to the very point at which she had
aimed to bring it. Although far from unfeminine or forward, either in her
feelings, or her habits, the girl was goaded by a sense of wrongs not
altogether merited, incited by the hopelessness of a future that seemed to
contain no resting place, and still more influenced by feelings that were as
novel to her, as they proved to be active and engrossing. The opening was too
good, therefore, to be neglected, though she came to the subject with much of
the indirectness and perhaps, justifiable, address of a woman.
"I do not think Hetty will ever marry, Deerslayer," she said, "and if your
name is to be borne by either of us, it must be borne by me."
"There's been handsome women too, they tell me, among the Bumppos, Judith,
afore now, and should you take up with the name, oncommon as you be, in this
particular, them that knows the family won't be altogether surprised."
"This is not talking as becomes either of us, Deerslayer, for whatever is
said on such a subject, between man and woman, should be said seriously, and
in sincerity of heart. Forgetting the shame that ought to keep girls silent,
until spoken to, in most cases, I will deal with you as frankly as I know one
of your generous nature will most like to be dealt by. Can you- do you think,
Deerslayer, that you could be happy with such a wife as a woman like myself
would make?"
"A woman like you, Judith! But where's the sense in trifling about such a
thing?-A woman like you, that is handsome enough to be a captain's lady, and
fine enough, and so far as I know edicated enough, would be little apt to
think of be coming my wife. I suppose young gals that feel themselves to be
smart, and know themselves to be handsome, find a sartain satisfaction in
passing their jokes ag'in them that's neither, like a poor Delaware hunter."
This was said good naturedly, but not without a betrayal of feeling which
showed that some thing like mortified sensibility was blended with the reply.
Nothing could have occurred more likely to awaken all Judith's generous
regrets, or to aid her in her purpose, by adding the stimulant of a
disinterested desire to atone, to her other impulses, and cloaking all under
a guise so winning and natural, as greatly to lessen the unpleasant feature
of a forwardness unbecoming the sex.
"You do me injustice if you suppose I have any such thought, or wish," she
answered, earnestly. "Never was I more serious in my life, or more willing to
abide by any agreement, that we may make to-night. I have had many suit ors,
Deerslayer-nay, scarce an unmarried trapper or hunter has been in at the Lake
these four years, who has not offered to take me away with him, and I fear
some that were married, too-"
"Ay, I'll warrant that!" interrupted the other-"I'll warrant all that! Take
'em as a body, Judith, 'arth don't hold a set of men more given to
theirselves, and less given to God and the law."
"Not one of them would I-could I listen to; happily for myself perhaps, has
it been that such was the case. There have been well looking youths among
them too, as you may have seen in your acquaintance, Henry March."
"Yes, Harry is sightly to the eye, though, to my idees, less so to the
judgment. I thought, at first, you meant to have him, Judith, I did; but
afore he went, it was easy enough to verify that the same lodge would n't be
big enough for you both."
"You have done me justice in that at least, Deerslayer. Hurry is a man I
could never marry, though he were ten times more comely to the eye, and a
hundred times more stout of heart, than he really is."
"Why not, Judith, why not? I own I'm cur'ous to know why a youth like Hurry
should n't find favor with a maiden like you?"
"Then you shall know, Deerslayer," returned the girl, gladly availing herself
of the opportunity of indirectly extol ling the qualities which had so
strongly interested her in her listener; hoping by these means covertly to
approach the sub ject nearest her heart. "In the first place, looks in a man
are of no importance with a woman, provided he is manly, and not disfigured,
or deformed."
"There I can't altogether agree with you," returned the other thoughtfully,
for he had a very humble opinion of his own personal appearance; "I have
noticed that the comeliest warriors commonly get the best-looking maidens of
the tribe, for wives, and the Sarpent, yonder, who is sometimes won derful in
his paint, is a gineral favorite with all the Delaware young women, though he
takes to Hist, himself, as if she was the only beauty on 'arth!"
"It may be so with Indians; but it is different with white girls. So long as
a young man has a straight and manly frame, that promises to make him able to
protect a woman, and to keep want from the door, it is all they ask of the
figure. Giants like Hurry may do for grenadiers, but are of little account as
lovers. Then as to the face, an honest look, one that answers for the heart
within, is of more value than any shape or colour, or eyes, or teeth, or
trifles like them. The last may do for girls, but who thinks of them at all,
in a hunter, or a warrior, or a husband? -If there are women so silly, Judith
is not among them."
"Well, this is wonderful! I always thought that handsome liked handsome, as
riches love riches!"
"It may be so with you men, Deerslayer, but it is not always so with us
women. We like stout-hearted men, but we wish to see them modest; sure on a
hunt, or the war-path, ready to die for the right, and unwilling to yield to
the wrong. Above all we wish for honesty-tongues that are not used to say
what the mind does not mean, and hearts that feel a little for others, as
well as for themselves. A true-hearted girl could die for such a husband!
while the boaster, and the double-tongued suitor gets to be as hateful to the
sight, as he is to the mind."
Judith spoke bitterly, and with her usual force, but her listener was too
much struck with the novelty of the sensations he experienced to advert to
her manner. There was something so soothing to the humility of a man of his
temperament, to hear qualities that he could not but know he possessed
himself, thus highly extolled by the loveliest female he had ever beheld,
that, for the moment, his faculties seemed suspended in a natural and
excusable pride. Then it was that the idea of the possibility of such a
creature as Judith becoming his companion for life, first crossed his mind.
The image was so pleasant, and so novel, that he continued completely
absorbed by it, for more than a minute, totally regardless of the beautiful
reality that was seated before him, watching the expression of his upright
and truth-teffing countenance with a keenness that gave her a very fair, if
not an absolutely accurate clue to his thoughts. Never before had so pleasing
a vision floated before the mind's eye of the young hunter, but, accustomed
most to practical things, and little addicted to submitting to the power of
his imagination, even while possessed of so much true poetical feeling in
connection with natural objects in particular, he soon recovered his reason,
and smiled at his own weakness, as the fancied picture faded from his mental
sight, and left him the simple, untaught, but highly moral being he was,
seated in the Ark of Thomas Hurter, at midnight, with the lovely countenance
of its late owner's reputed daughter, beaming on him with anxious scrutiny,
by the light of the solitary lamp.
"You're wonderful handsome, and enticing, and pleasing to look on, Judith!"
he exclaimed, in his simplicity, as fact resumed its ascendency over fancy.
"Wonderful! I do n't remember ever to have seen so beautiful a gal, even
among the Delawares; and I'm not astonished that Hurry Harry went away soured
as well as disapp'inted!"
"Would you have had me, Deerslayer, become the wife of such a man as Henry
March?"
"There's that which is in his favor, and there's that which is ag'in him. To
my taste, Hurry would n't make the best of husbands, but I fear that the
tastes of most young women, hereaway, would n't be so hard upon him."
"No-no-Judith without a name, would never consent to be called Judith March!
Any thing would be better than that."
"Judith Bumppo would n't sound as well, gal; and there's many names that
would fall short of March, in pleasing the ear."
"Ah! Deerslayer, the pleasantness of the sound, in such cases, does n't come
through the ear, but through the heart. Every thing is agreeable, when the
heart is satisfied. Were Natty Bumppo, Henry March, and Henry March, Natty
Bumppo, I might think the name of March better than it is; or were he, you, I
should fancy the name of Bumppo, horrible!"
"That's just it-yes, that's the reason of the matter. Now, I'm nat'rally
avarse to sarpents, and I hate even the word, which, the missionaries tell
me, comes from human natur', on account of a sartain sarpent at the creation
of the 'arth, that outwitted the first woman; yet, ever since Chingachgook
them! Two good hours have you been looking at them bits of papers!"
"They tell me of my parents, Deerslayer, and have settled my plans for life.
A girl may be excused who reads about her own father and mother, and that too
for the first time in her life. I am sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Never mind me, gal, never mind me. It matters little whether I sleep or
watch; but, though you be pleasant to look at, and are so handsome, Judith,
it is not altogether agreeable to sit so long to behold you shedding tears. I
know that tears do n't kill, and that some people are better for shedding a
few, now and then, especially women, but I'd rather see you smile, any time,
Judith, than see you weep."
This gallant speech was rewarded with a sweet, though a melancholy smile, and
then the girl again desired her companion to finish the examination of the
chest. The search necessarily continued some time, during which Judith
collected her thoughts, and regained her composure. She took no part in the
search, leaving every thing to the young man, looking listlessly, herself, at
the different articles that came uppermost. Nothing further of much interest,
or value, however, was found. A sword or two, such as were then worn by
gentlemen, some buckles of silver, or so richly plated as to appear silver,
and a few handsome articles of female dress composed the principal
discoveries. It struck both Judith and the Deer-slayer notwithstanding, that
some of these things might be made useful in effecting a negotiation with the
Iroquois, though the latter saw a difficulty in the way that was not so
apparent to the former. The conversation was first renewed in connection with
this point.
"And now, Deerslayer," said Judith, "we may talk of yourself, and of the
means of getting you out of the hands of the Hurons. Any part, or all of what
you have seen in the chest will be cheerfully given by me and Hetty, to set
you at liberty."
"Well, that's ginerous-yes, 'tis downright free-hearted, and free-handed, and
ginerous. This is the way with women; when they take up a fri'ndship, they do
nothing by halves, but are as willing to part with their property, as if it
had no valie in their eyes. Howsever, while I thank you both, just as natur'
gives in the free air, and the forest-now, if both these men stood here, as
suitors for your feelin's, which do you think would win your favor?"
Judith's fine face flushed, for the picture that her compan. ion had so
simply drawn of a gay officer of the garrisons had once been particularly
grateful to her imagination, though experience and disappointment had not
only chilled all her affections, but given them a backward current, and the
passing image had a momentary influence on her feelings; but the mounting
colour was succeeded by a paleness so deadly, as to make her appear ghastly.
"As God is my judge," the girl solemnly answered, "did both these men stand
before me, as I may say one of them does, my choice, if I know my own heart,
would be the latter. I have no wish for a husband who is any way better than
myself."
"This is pleasant to listen to, and might lead a young man in time, to forget
his own onworthiness, Judith! Howsever, you hardly think all that you say. A
man like me is too rude and ignorant for one that has had such a mother to
teach her. Vanity is nat'ral, I do believe, but vanity like that, would
surpass reason."
"Then you do not know of what a woman's heart is capable! Rude you are not,
Deerslayer, nor can one be called ignorant that has studied what is before
his eyes as closely as you have done. When the affections are concerned, all
things appear in their pleasantest colors, and trifles are overlooked, or are
forgotten. When the heart feels sunshine, nothing is gloomy, even dull
looking objects, seeming gay and bright, and so it would be between you and
the woman who should love you, even though your wife might happen, in some
matters, to possess what the world calls the advantage over you."
"Judith, you come of people altogether above mine, in the world, and onequal
matches, like onequal fri'ndships can't often tarminate kindly. I speak of
this matter altogether as a fanciful thing, since it's not very likely that
you, at least, would be apt to treat it as a matter that can ever come to
pass."
Judith fastened her deep blue eyes on the open, frank countenance of her
companion, as if she would read his soul. Nothing there betrayed any covert
meaning, and she was obliged to admit to herself, that he regarded the
conversation as argumentative, rather than positive, and that he was still
without any active suspicion that her feelings were seriously involved in the
issue. At first, she felt offended; then she saw the injustice of making the
self-abasement and modesty of the hunter a charge against him, and this novel
difficulty gave a piquancy to the state of affairs that rather increased her
interest in the young man. At that critical instant, a change of plan flashed
on her mind, and with a readiness of invention that is peculiar to the quick-
witted and ingenious, she adopted a scheme by which she hoped effectually to
bind him to her person. This scheme partook equally of her fertility of
invention, and of the decision and boldness of her character. That the
conversation might not terminate too abruptly, however, or any suspicion of
her design exist, she answered the last remark of Deerslayer, as earnestly
and as truly, as if her original intention remained unaltered.
"I, certainly, have no reason to boast of parentage, after what I have seen
this night," said the girl, in a saddened voice. "I had a mother, it is true;
but of her name even, I am ignorant-and, as for my father, it is better,
perhaps, that I should never know who he was, lest I speak too bitterly of
him!"
"Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her hand kindly, and with a manly sincerity
that went directly to the girl's heart, "tis better to say no more to-night.
Sleep on what you've seen and felt; in the morning things that now look
gloomy, may look more che'rful. Above all, never do any thing in bitterness,
or because you feel as if you'd like to take revenge on yourself, for other
people's backslidings. All that has been said, or done, atween us, this
night, is your secret, and shall never be talked of by me, even with the
Sarpent, and you may be sartain if he can't get it out of me no man can. If
your parents have been faulty, let the darter be less so; remember that
you're young, and the youthful may always hope for better times; that you're
more quick-witted than usual, and such gin'rally get the better of
difficulties, and that, as for beauty, you're oncommon, which is an advantage
with all. It is time to get a little rest, for to-morrow is like to prove a
trying day to some of us."
Deerslayer arose as he spoke, and Judith had no choice but to comply. The
chest was closed and secured, and they parted in silence, she to take her
place by the side of Hist and Hetty, and he to seek a blanket on the floor of
the cabin he was in. It was not five minutes crc the young man was in a deep
sleep, but the girl continued awake for a long time. She scarce knew whether
to lament, or to rejoice, at having failed in making herself understood. On
the one hand, were her womanly sensibilities spared; on the other was the
disappointment of defeated, or at least of delayed expectations, and the
uncertainty of a future that looked so dark. Then came the new resolution,
and the bold project for the morrow, and when drowsiness finally shut her
eyes, they closed on a scene of success and happiness, that was pictured by
the fancy, under the influence of a sanguine temperament, and a happy
invention.
Chapter XXIV
"Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame;
Thy private feasting to a public fast;
Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name;
Thy sugar'd tongue to bitter worm wood taste:
Thy violent vanities can never last."
Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 11. 890-94.
Judith was waiting the return of Deerslayer on the platform, with stifled
impatience, when the latter reached the hut. Hist and Hetty were both in a
deep sleep, on the bed usually occupied by the two daughters of the house,
and the Delaware was stretched on the floor of the adjoining room, his rifle
at his side, and a blanket over him, already dreaming of the events of the
last few days. There was a lamp burning in the Ark, for the family was
accustomed to indulge in this luxury on extraordinary occasions, and
possessed the means, the vessel being of a form and material to render it
probable it had once been an occupant of the chest.
As soon as the girl got a glimpse of the canoe, she ceased her hurried walk
up and down the platform, and stood ready to receive the young man, whose
return she had now been anxiously expecting for some time. She helped him to
fasten the canoe, and by aiding in the other little similar employments,
manifested her desire to reach a moment of liberty as soon as possible. When
this was done, in answer to an inquiry of his, she informed him of the manner
in which their companions had disposed of themselves. He listened
attentively, for the manner of the girl was so earnest and impressive as to
apprise him that she had something on her mind of more than common concern.
"And now, Deerslayer," Judith continued, "you see I have lighted the lamp,
and put it in the cabin of the Ark. That is never done with us, unless on
great occasions, and I consider this night as the most important of my life.
Will you follow me and see what I have to show you-hear what I have to say."
The hunter was a little surprised, but, making no objections, both were soon
in the scow, and in the room that contamed the light. Here two stools were
placed at the side of the chest, with the lamp on another, and a table near
by to receive the different articles as they might be brought to view. This
arrangement had its rise in the feverish impatience of the girl, which could
brook no delay that it was in her power to obviate. Even all the padlocks
were removed, and it only re mained to raise the heavy lid, again, to expose
all the treasures of this long secreted hoard.
"I see, in part, what all this means," observed Deerslayer- "yes, I see
through it, in part. But why is not Hetty present; now, Thomas Hurter is
gone, she is one of the owners of these cur'osities, and ought to see them
opened and handled."
"Hetty sleeps-" answered Judith, huskily. "Happily for her, fine clothes and
riches have no charms. Besides she has this night given her share of all that
the chest may hold, to me, that I may do with it as I please."
"Is poor Hetty composs enough for that, Judith?" demanded the just-minded
young man. "It's a good rule and a righteous one, never to take when them
that give don't know the valie of their gifts; and such as god has visited
heavily in their wits, ought to be dealt with as carefully as children that
have n't yet come to their understandings."
Judith was hurt at this rebuke, coming from the person it did, but she would
have felt it far more keenly had not her conscience fully acquitted her of
any unjust intentions to wards her feeble-minded but confiding sister. It was
not a moment, however, to betray any of her usual mountings of the spirit,
and she smothered the passing sensation in the de sire to come to the great
object she had in view.
"Hetty will not be wronged," she mildly answered; "she even knows not only
what I am about to do, Deerslayer, but why I do it. So take your seat, raise
the lid of the chest, and this time we will go to the bottom. I shall be
disappointed if something is not found to tell us more of the history of
Thomas Hurter and my mother."
"Why Thomas Hutter, Judith, and not your father? The I dead ought to meet
with as much reverence as the living!"
"I have long suspected that Thomas Hutter was not my father, though I did
think he might have been Hetty's, but now we know he was the father of
neither. He acknowledged that much in his dying moments. I am old enough to
remember better things than we have seen on this lake, though they are so
faintly impressed on my memory, that the earlier part of my life seems like a
dream."
"Dreams are but miserable guides when one has to detar mine about realities,
Judith," returned the other, admonish ingly. "Fancy nothing, and hope nothing
on their account, though I've known chiefs that thought 'em useful."
"I expect nothing for the future, from them, my good friend, but cannot help
remembering what has been. This is idle, however, when half an hour of
examination may tell us all, or even more than I want to know."
Deerslayer, who comprehended the girl's impatience, now took his seat, and
proceeded once more to bring to light the different articles that the chest
contained. As a matter of course, all that had been previously examined were
found where they had been last deposited, and they excited much less
interest, or comment, than when formerly exposed to view. Even Judith laid
aside the rich brocade with an air of indifference, for she had a far higher
aim before her than the indulgence of vanity, and was impatient to come at
the still hidden, or rather unknown, treasures.
"All these we have seen before," she said, "and will not stop to open. The
bundle under your hand, Deerslayer, is a fresh one; that we will look into.
God send it may contain something to tell poor Hetty and myself, who we
really are!"
"Ay, if some bundles could speak, they might tell wonderful secrets,"
returned the young man deliberately undoing the folds of another piece of
course canvass, in order to come at the contents of the roll that lay on his
knees: "though this doesn't seem to be one of that family, seeing 'tis
neither more nor less than a sort of flag, though of what nation, it passes
my l'arnin' to say."
"That flag must have some meaning to it-" Judith hurriedly interposed. "Open
it wider, Deerslayer, that we may see the colours."
"Well, I pity the ensign that has to shoulder this cloth, and to parade it
about on the field. Why 'tis large enough, Judith,to make a dozen of them
colours the King's officers set so much store by These can be no ensign's
colours, but a gin'ral's!"
"A ship might carry it, Deerslayer, and ships I know do use such things. Have
you never heard any fearful stories about Thomas Hurter's having once been
concerned with the peo ple they call buccaneers?"
"Buck-ah-near! Not I-not I-I never heard him mentioned as good at a buck far
off, or near by. Hurry Harry did till me something about its being supposed
that he had formerly, in some way or other, dealings with sartain sea rob
bers, but, Lord, Judith, it can't surely give you any satisfaction to make
out that ag'in your mother's own hus band, though he isn't your father."
"Any thing will give me satisfaction that tells me who I am, and helps to
explain the dreams of childhood. My mother's husband! Yes, he must have been
that, though why a woman like her, should have chosen a man like him, is more
than mortal reason can explain. You never saw mother, Deerslayer, and can't
feel the vast, vast difference there was between them!"
"Such things do happen, howsever;-yes, they do happen; though why providence
lets them come to pass, is more than I understand. I've knew the f'ercest
warriors with the gentlest wives of any in the tribe, and awful scolds fall
to the lot of Injins fit to be missionaries."
"That was not it, Deerslayer; that was not it. Oh! if it should prove that-
no; I can not wish she should not have been his wife at all. That no daughter
can wish for her own mother! Go on, now, and let us see what the square
looking bundle holds."
Deerslayer complied, and he found that it contained a small trunk of pretty
workmanship, but fastened. The next point was to find a key; but, search
proving ineffectual, it was determined to force the lock. This Deerslayer
soon effected by the aid of an iron instrument, and it was found that the
interior was nearly filled with papers. Many were letters; some fragments of
manuscripts, memorandums, accounts, and other similar documents. The hawk
does not pounce upon the chicken with a more sudden swoop, than Judith sprang
forward to seize this mine of hitherto concealed knowledge. Her education, as
the reader will have perceived, was far superior to her situation in life,
and her eye glanced over page after page of the letters, with a readiness
that her schooling supplied, and with an avidity that found its origin in her
feelings. At first, it was evident that the girl was gratified; and we may
add with reason, for the letters written by females, in innocence and
affection, were of a character to cause her to feel proud of those with whom
she had every reason to think she was closely connected by the ties of blood.
It does not come within the scope of our plan to give more of these epistles,
however, than a general idea of their contents, and this will best be done by
describing the effect they produced on the manner, appearance, and feeling of
her who was so eagerly perusing them.
It has been said, already, that Judith was much gratified with the letters
that first met her eye. They contained the correspondence of an affectionate
and inteffigent mother, to an absent daughter, with such allusions to the
answers, as served, in a great measure, to fill up the vacuum left by the
replies. They were not without admonitions and warnings, however, and Judith
felt the blood mounting to her temples, and a cold shudder succeeding, as she
read one in which the propriety of the daughter's indulging in as much
intimacy, as had evidently been described in one of the daughter's own
letters, with an officer "who came from Europe, and who could hardly be
supposed to wish to form an honorable connection in America," was rather
coldly commented on by the mother. What rendered it singular, was the fact
that the signatures had been carefully cut from every one of these letters,
and wherever a name occurred in the body of the epistles, it had been erased
with so much diligence as to render it impossible to read it. They had all
been enclosed in envelopes, according to the fashion of the age, and not an
address either was to be found. Still the letters themselves had been
religiously pre served, and Judith thought she could discover traces of tears
remaining on several. She now remembered to have seen the little trunk in her
mother's keeping, previously to her death, and she supposed it had first been
deposited in the chest, along with the other forgotten, or concealed objects,
when the letters could no longer contribute to that parent's grief or
happiness.
Next came another bundle, and these were filled with the protestations of
love, written with passion certainly, but also with that deceit which men so
often think it justifiable to use to the other sex. Judith had shed tears
abundantly over the first packet, but now she felt a sentiment of indignation
and pride better sustaining her. Her hand shook, however, and cold shivers
again passed through her frame, as she discovered a few points of strong
resemblance between these letters and some it had been her own fate to
receive. Once, indeed, she laid the packet down, bowed her head to her knees,
and seemed nearly convulsed. All this time Deerslayer sat a silent, but
attentive observer of every thing that passed. As Judith read a letter, she
put it into his hands to hold, until she could peruse the next; but this
served in no degree to enlighten her companion, as he was totally unable to
read. Nevertheless he was not entirely at fault, in discovering the passions
that were contending in the bosom of the fair creature by his side, and, as
occasional sentences escaped her in murmurs, he was nearer the truth, in his
divinations, or conjectures, than the girl would have been pleased at
discovering.
Judith had commenced with the earliest letters, luckily for a ready
comprehension of the tale they told, for they were carefully arranged in
chronological order, and to any one who would take the trouble to peruse
them, would have revealed a sad history of gratified passion, coldness, and
finally of aversion. As she obtained the clue to their import, her impatience
would not admit of delay, and she soon got to glancing her eyes over a page,
by way of coming at the truth, in the briefest manner possible. By adopting
this expedient, one to which all who are eager to arrive at results, without
encumbering themselves with details, are so apt to resort, Judith made a
rapid progress in these melancholy revelations of her mother's failing and
punishment. She saw that the period of her own birth was distinctly referred
to, and even learned that the homely name she bore, was given her by the
father, of whose person she retained so faint an impression as to resemble a
dream. This name was not obliterated from the text of the letters, but stood
as if nothing was to be gained by erasing it. Hetty's birth was mentioned
once, and in that instance the name was the mother's, but ere this period was
reached came the signs of coldness, shadowing forth the desertion that was so
soon to follow. It was in this stage of the correspondence that her mother
had recourse to the plan of copying her own epistles. They were but few, but
were eloquent with the feelings of blighted affection, and contrition. Judith
sobbed over them, until again and again she felt compelled to lay them aside
from sheer physical in a inability to see; her eyes being literally obscured
with tears. Still she returned to the task, with increasing interest, and
finally succeeded in reaching the end of the latest communication that had
probably ever passed between her parents.
All this occupied fully an hour, for near a hundred letters were glanced at,
and some twenty had been closely read. The truth now shone clear upon the
acute mind of Judith, so far as her own birth and that of Hetty, were
concerned. She sickened at the conviction, and for the moment the rest of the
world seemed to be cut off from her, and she had now additional reasons for
wishing to pass the remainder of her life on the lake, where she had already
seen so many bright and so many sorrowing days.
There yet remained more letters to examine. Judith found these were a
correspondence between her mother and Thomas Hovey. The originals of both
parties were carefully arranged, letter and answer, side by side; and they
told the early history of the connection between the ill-assorted pair far
more plainly than Judith wished to learn it. Her mother made the advances
towards a marriage, to the surprise, not to say horror of her daughter, and
she actually found a relief when she discovered traces of what struck her as
insanity- or a morbid desperation, bordering on that dire calamity- in the
earlier letters of that ill-fated woman. The answers of Hovey were coarse and
illiterate, though they manifested a sufficient desire to obtain the hand of
a woman of singular personal attractions, and whose great error he was
willing to overlook for the advantage of possessing one, every way so much
his superior, and, who, it also appeared was not altogether destitute of
money. The remainder of this part of the correspondence was brief, and it was
soon confined to a few communications on business, in which the miserable
wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a world,
which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one of the
parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression had
escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that had
induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that feeling of
resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on themselves,
by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they have
suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend this
sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which permitted
such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy.
There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the
loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation
offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among
which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the
proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black
lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the
papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of
residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses,
had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of
the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased.
Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were,
defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits
for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's
manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical
facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood
sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess
any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her
companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it
might yet contain something of importance.
"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if
there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've
got through with the reading of communications on business, in which the
miserable wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a
world, which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one
of the parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression
had escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that
had induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that
feeling of resentment which so often tempts the injured to inifict wrongs on
themselves, by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they
have suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend
this sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which
permitted such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy.
There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the
loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation
offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among
which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the
proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black
lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the
papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of
residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses,
had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of
the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased.
Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were,
defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits
for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's
manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical
facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood
sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess
any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her
companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it
might yet contain something of importance.
"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if
there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've
got through with the reading of much as if the bargain was made, and
Rivenoak, or any of the other vagabonds, was here to accept and close the
treaty, there's two principal reasons why it can never come to pass, which
may be as well told at once, in order no onlikely ex pectations may be raised
in you, or any onjustiflable hopes in me."
"What reason can there be, if Hetty and I are willing to part with the
trifles for your sake, and the savages are willing to receive them?"
"That's it, Judith-you've got the idees, but they're a little out of their
places, as if a hound should take the back'ard instead of the leading scent.
That the Mingos will be willing to receive them things, or any more like 'em,
you may have to offer is probable enough, but whether they'll pay valie for
'em, is quite another matter. Ask yourself, Judith, if any one should send
you a message to say that, for such or such a price, you and Hetty might have
that chist and all it holds, whether you'd think it worth your while to waste
many words on the bargain?"
"But this chest and all it holds, are already ours; there is no reason why we
should purchase what is already our own."
"Just so the Mingos caculate! They say the chist is theirn, already; or, as
good as theirn, and they'll not thank anybody for the key."
"I understand you, Deerslayer; surely we are yet in posses sion of the lake,
and we can keep possession of it, until Hurry sends troops to drive off the
enemy. This we may certainly do, provided you will stay with us, instead of
going back and giving yourself up a prisoner, again, as you now seem deter
mined on".
"That Hurry Harry should talk in thisaway, is nat'ral, and according to the
gifts of the man. He knows no better, and, therefore, he is little likely to
feel, or to act any better; but, Judith, I put it to your heart and
conscience-would you, could you think of me as favorably, as I hope and
believe you now do, was I to forget my furlough and not go back to the camp?"
"To think more favorably of you than I now do, Deerslayer, would not be easy;
but I might continue to think as favor ably-at least it seems so-I hope I
could, for, a world would n't tempt me to let you do any thing that might
change my real opinion of you."
"Then do n't try to entice me to overlook my furlough, gal! -A furlough is a
sacred thing among warriors and men that carry their lives in their hands, as
we of the forests do, and what a grievous disapp'intment would it be to old
Tamenund, and to Uncas, the father of the Sarpent, and to my other fri'nds in
the tribe, if I was so to disgrace myself, on my very first war-path? This
you will pairceive, moreover, Judith, is without laying any stress on nat'ral
gifts, and a white man's duties, to say nothing of conscience. The last is
king with me, and I try never to dispute his orders."
"I believe you are right, Deerslayer," returned the girl, after a little
reflection and in a saddened voice: "a man like you, ought not to act, as the
selfish and dishonest would be apt to act; you must, indeed, go back. We will
talk no more of this, then. Should I persuade you to any thing for which you
would be sorry hereafter, my own regret would not be less than yours. You
shall not have it to say, Judith-I scarce know by what name to call myself,
now!"
"And why not?-Why not, gal? Children take the names of their parents,
nat'rally, and by a sort of gift, like, and why should n't you and Hetty do,
as others have done afore ye? Hutter was the old man's name, and Hurter
should be the name of his darters; -at least until you are given away in
lawful and holy wedlock."
"I am Judith, and Judith only," returned the girl positively-"until the law
gives me a right to another name. Never will I use that of Thomas Hutter
again; nor, with my consent, shall Hetty! Hurter was not even his own name, I
find, but had he a thousand rights to it, it would give none to me. He was
not my father, thank heaven; though I may have no reason to be proud of him
that was!"
"This is strange!" said Deerslayer, looking steadily at the excited girl,
anxious to know more, but unwilling to inquire into matters that did not
tproperly concern him; "yes, this is very strange and oncommon! Thomas Hutter
was n't Thomas Hutter, and his darters were n't his darters! Who, then, could
Thomas Hurter be, and who are his darters?"
"Did you never hear any thing whispered against the former life of this
person, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith- "Passing, as I did, for his child, such
reports reached even me."
"I'll not deny it, Judith; no, I'll not deny it. Sartain things have been
said, as I've told you, but I'm not very credible as to reports. Young as I
am, I've lived long enough to l'am there's two sorts of characters in the
world-them that is 'arned by deeds, and them that is 'arned by tongues, and
so I prefar to see and judge for myself, instead of letting every jaw that
chooses to wag become my judgment. Hurry Harry spoke pretty plainly of the
whole family, as we journeyed this-a-way, and he did hint something
consarning Thomas Hutter's having been a free-liver on the water, in his
younger days. By free-liver, I mean that he made free to live on other men's
goods."
"He told you he was a pirate-there is no need of mincing matters between
friends. Read that, Deerslayer, and you will see that he told you no more
than the truth. This Thomas Hovey was the Thomas Hutter you knew, as is seen
by these letters."
As Judith spoke, with a flushed cheek and eyes dazzling with the brilliancy
of excitement, she held the newspaper towards her companion, pointing to the
proclamation of a Colonial Governor, already mentioned.
"Bless you, Judith!" answered the other laughing, "you might as well ask me
to print that-or, for that matter to write it. My edication has been
altogether in the woods; the only book I read, or care about reading, is the
one which God has opened afore all his creatur's in the noble forests, broad
lakes, rolling rivers, blue skies, and the winds and tempests, and sunshine,
and other glorious marvels of the land! This book I can read, and I find it
full of wisdom and knowledge."
"I crave your pardon, Deerslayer," said Judith, earnestly, more abashed than
was her wont, in finding that she had in advertently made an appeal that
might wound her compan ion's pride. "I had forgotten your manner of life, and
least of all did I wish to hurt your feelings."
"Hurt my feelin's?-Why should it hurt my feelin's to ask me to read, when I
can't read. I'm a hunter-and I may now begin to say a warrior, and no
missionary, and therefore books and papers are of no account with such as I-
No, no-Judith," and here the young man laughed cordially, "not even for wads,
seeing that your true deerkiller always uses the hide of a fa'a'n, if he's
got one, or some other bit of leather suitably prepared. There's some that do
say, all that stands in print is true, in which case I'll own an unl'arned
man must be somewhat of a loser; nevertheless, it can't be truer than that
which God has printed with his own hand, in the sky, and the woods, and the
rivers, and the springs."
"Well, then, Hurter, or Hovey, was a pirate, and being no father of mine, I
cannot wish to call him one. His name shall no longer be my name."
"If you dislike the name of that man, there's the name of your mother,
Judith. Hem may sarve you just as good a turn."
"I do not know it. I've look'd through those papers, Deer-slayer, in the hope
of finding some hint, by which I might discover who my mother was, but there
is no more trace of the past, in that respect, than the bird leaves in the
air."
"That's both oncommon, and onreasonable. Parents are bound to give their
offspring a name, even though they give 'em nothing else. Now I come of a
humble stock, though we have white gifts and a white narur', but we are not
so poorly off, as to have no name. Bumppo we are called, and I've heard it
said-" a touch of human vanity glowing on his cheek, "that the time has been
when the Bumppos had more standing and note among mankind, than they have
just now."
"They never deserved them more, Deerslayer, and the name is a good one;
either Herty, or myself, would a thousand times rather be called Hetty
Bumppo, or Judith Bumppo, than to be called Hetty or Judith Hutter."
"That's a moral impossible," returned the hunter, good humouredly, "onless
one of you should so far demean herself as to marry me."
Judith could not refrain from smiling, when she found how simply and
naturally the conversation had come round to the very point at which she had
aimed to bring it. Although far from unfeminine or forward, either in her
feelings, or her habits, the girl was goaded by a sense of wrongs not
altogether merited, incited by the hopelessness of a future that seemed to
contain no resting place, and still more influenced by feelings that were as
novel to her, as they proved to be active and engrossing. The opening was too
good, therefore, to be neglected, though she came to the subject with much of
the indirectness and perhaps, justifiable, address of a woman.
"I do not think Hetty will ever marry, Deerslayer," she said, "and if your
name is to be borne by either of us, it must be borne by me."
"There's been handsome women too, they tell me, among the Bumppos, Judith,
afore now, and should you take up with the name, oncommon as you be, in this
particular, them that knows the family won't be altogether surprised."
"This is not talking as becomes either of us, Deerslayer, for whatever is
said on such a subject, between man and woman, should be said seriously, and
in sincerity of heart. Forgetting the shame that ought to keep girls silent,
until spoken to, in most cases, I will deal with you as frankly as I know one
of your generous nature will most like to be dealt by. Can you- do you think,
Deerslayer, that you could be happy with such a wife as a woman like myself
would make?"
"A woman like you, Judith! But where's the sense in trifling about such a
thing?-A woman like you, that is handsome enough to be a captain's lady, and
fine enough, and so far as I know edicated enough, would be little apt to
think of be coming my wife. I suppose young gals that feel themselves to be
smart, and know themselves to be handsome, find a sartain satisfaction in
passing their jokes ag'in them that's neither, like a poor Delaware hunter."
This was said good naturedly, but not without a betrayal of feeling which
showed that some thing like mortified sensibility was blended with the reply.
Nothing could have occurred more likely to awaken all Judith's generous
regrets, or to aid her in her purpose, by adding the stimulant of a
disinterested desire to atone, to her other impulses, and cloaking all under
a guise so winning and natural, as greatly to lessen the unpleasant feature
of a forwardness unbecoming the sex.
"You do me injustice if you suppose I have any such thought, or wish," she
answered, earnestly. "Never was I more serious in my life, or more willing to
abide by any agreement, that we may make to-night. I have had many suit ors,
Deerslayer-nay, scarce an unmarried trapper or hunter has been in at the Lake
these four years, who has not offered to take me away with him, and I fear
some that were married, too-"
"Ay, I'll warrant that!" interrupted the other-"I'll warrant all that! Take
'em as a body, Judith, 'arth don't hold a set of men more given to
theirselves, and less given to God and the law."
"Not one of them would I-could I listen to; happily for myself perhaps, has
it been that such was the case. There have been well looking youths among
them too, as you may have seen in your acquaintance, Henry March."
"Yes, Harry is sightly to the eye, though, to my idees, less so to the
judgment. I thought, at first, you meant to have him, Judith, I did; but
afore he went, it was easy enough to verify that the same lodge would n't be
big enough for you both."
"You have done me justice in that at least, Deerslayer. Hurry is a man I
could never marry, though he were ten times more comely to the eye, and a
hundred times more stout of heart, than he really is."
"Why not, Judith, why not? I own I'm cur'ous to know why a youth like Hurry
should n't find favor with a maiden like you?"
"Then you shall know, Deerslayer," returned the girl, gladly availing herself
of the opportunity of indirectly extol ling the qualities which had so
strongly interested her in her listener; hoping by these means covertly to
approach the sub ject nearest her heart. "In the first place, looks in a man
are of no importance with a woman, provided he is manly, and not disfigured,
or deformed."
"There I can't altogether agree with you," returned the other thoughtfully,
for he had a very humble opinion of his own personal appearance; "I have
noticed that the comeliest warriors commonly get the best-looking maidens of
the tribe, for wives, and the Sarpent, yonder, who is sometimes won derful in
his paint, is a gineral favorite with all the Delaware young women, though he
takes to Hist, himself, as if she was the only beauty on 'arth!"
"It may be so with Indians; but it is different with white girls. So long as
a young man has a straight and manly frame, that promises to make him able to
protect a woman, and to keep want from the door, it is all they ask of the
figure. Giants like Hurry may do for grenadiers, but are of little account as
lovers. Then as to the face, an honest look, one that answers for the heart
within, is of more value than any shape or colour, or eyes, or teeth, or
trifles like them. The last may do for girls, but who thinks of them at all,
in a hunter, or a warrior, or a husband? -If there are women so silly, Judith
is not among them."
"Well, this is wonderful! I always thought that handsome liked handsome, as
riches love riches!"
"It may be so with you men, Deerslayer, but it is not always so with us
women. We like stout-hearted men, but we wish to see them modest; sure on a
hunt, or the war-path, ready to die for the right, and unwilling to yield to
the wrong. Above all we wish for honesty-tongues that are not used to say
what the mind does not mean, and hearts that feel a little for others, as
well as for themselves. A true-hearted girl could die for such a husband!
while the boaster, and the double-tongued suitor gets to be as hateful to the
sight, as he is to the mind."
Judith spoke bitterly, and with her usual force, but her listener was too
much struck with the novelty of the sensations he experienced to advert to
her manner. There was something so soothing to the humility of a man of his
temperament, to hear qualities that he could not but know he possessed
himself, thus highly extolled by the loveliest female he had ever beheld,
that, for the moment, his faculties seemed suspended in a natural and
excusable pride. Then it was that the idea of the possibility of such a
creature as Judith becoming his companion for life, first crossed his mind.
The image was so pleasant, and so novel, that he continued completely
absorbed by it, for more than a minute, totally regardless of the beautiful
reality that was seated before him, watching the expression of his upright
and truth-teffing countenance with a keenness that gave her a very fair, if
not an absolutely accurate clue to his thoughts. Never before had so pleasing
a vision floated before the mind's eye of the young hunter, but, accustomed
most to practical things, and little addicted to submitting to the power of
his imagination, even while possessed of so much true poetical feeling in
connection with natural objects in particular, he soon recovered his reason,
and smiled at his own weakness, as the fancied picture faded from his mental
sight, and left him the simple, untaught, but highly moral being he was,
seated in the Ark of Thomas Hurter, at midnight, with the lovely countenance
of its late owner's reputed daughter, beaming on him with anxious scrutiny,
by the light of the solitary lamp.
"You're wonderful handsome, and enticing, and pleasing to look on, Judith!"
he exclaimed, in his simplicity, as fact resumed its ascendency over fancy.
"Wonderful! I do n't remember ever to have seen so beautiful a gal, even
among the Delawares; and I'm not astonished that Hurry Harry went away soured
as well as disapp'inted!"
"Would you have had me, Deerslayer, become the wife of such a man as Henry
March?"
"There's that which is in his favor, and there's that which is ag'in him. To
my taste, Hurry would n't make the best of husbands, but I fear that the
tastes of most young women, hereaway, would n't be so hard upon him."
"No-no-Judith without a name, would never consent to be called Judith March!
Any thing would be better than that."
"Judith Bumppo would n't sound as well, gal; and there's many names that
would fall short of March, in pleasing the ear."
"Ah! Deerslayer, the pleasantness of the sound, in such cases, does n't come
through the ear, but through the heart. Every thing is agreeable, when the
heart is satisfied. Were Natty Bumppo, Henry March, and Henry March, Natty
Bumppo, I might think the name of March better than it is; or were he, you, I
should fancy the name of Bumppo, horrible!"
"That's just it-yes, that's the reason of the matter. Now, I'm nat'rally
avarse to sarpents, and I hate even the word, which, the missionaries tell
me, comes from human natur', on account of a sartain sarpent at the creation
of the 'arth, that outwitted the first woman; yet, ever since Chingachgook
them! Two good hours have you been looking at them bits of papers!"
"They tell me of my parents, Deerslayer, and have settled my plans for life.
A girl may be excused who reads about her own father and mother, and that too
for the first time in her life. I am sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Never mind me, gal, never mind me. It matters little whether I sleep or
watch; but, though you be pleasant to look at, and are so handsome, Judith,
it is not altogether agreeable to sit so long to behold you shedding tears. I
know that tears do n't kill, and that some people are better for shedding a
few, now and then, especially women, but I'd rather see you smile, any time,
Judith, than see you weep."
This gallant speech was rewarded with a sweet, though a melancholy smile, and
then the girl again desired her companion to finish the examination of the
chest. The search necessarily continued some time, during which Judith
collected her thoughts, and regained her composure. She took no part in the
search, leaving every thing to the young man, looking listlessly, herself, at
the different articles that came uppermost. Nothing further of much interest,
or value, however, was found. A sword or two, such as were then worn by
gentlemen, some buckles of silver, or so richly plated as to appear silver,
and a few handsome articles of female dress composed the principal
discoveries. It struck both Judith and the Deer-slayer notwithstanding, that
some of these things might be made useful in effecting a negotiation with the
Iroquois, though the latter saw a difficulty in the way that was not so
apparent to the former. The conversation was first renewed in connection with
this point.
"And now, Deerslayer," said Judith, "we may talk of yourself, and of the
means of getting you out of the hands of the Hurons. Any part, or all of what
you have seen in the chest will be cheerfully given by me and Hetty, to set
you at liberty."
"Well, that's ginerous-yes, 'tis downright free-hearted, and free-handed, and
ginerous. This is the way with women; when they take up a fri'ndship, they do
nothing by halves, but are as willing to part with their property, as if it
had no valie in their eyes. Howsever, while I thank you both, just as natur'
gives in the free air, and the forest-now, if both these men stood here, as
suitors for your feelin's, which do you think would win your favor?"
Judith's fine face flushed, for the picture that her compan. ion had so
simply drawn of a gay officer of the garrisons had once been particularly
grateful to her imagination, though experience and disappointment had not
only chilled all her affections, but given them a backward current, and the
passing image had a momentary influence on her feelings; but the mounting
colour was succeeded by a paleness so deadly, as to make her appear ghastly.
"As God is my judge," the girl solemnly answered, "did both these men stand
before me, as I may say one of them does, my choice, if I know my own heart,
would be the latter. I have no wish for a husband who is any way better than
myself."
"This is pleasant to listen to, and might lead a young man in time, to forget
his own onworthiness, Judith! Howsever, you hardly think all that you say. A
man like me is too rude and ignorant for one that has had such a mother to
teach her. Vanity is nat'ral, I do believe, but vanity like that, would
surpass reason."
"Then you do not know of what a woman's heart is capable! Rude you are not,
Deerslayer, nor can one be called ignorant that has studied what is before
his eyes as closely as you have done. When the affections are concerned, all
things appear in their pleasantest colors, and trifles are overlooked, or are
forgotten. When the heart feels sunshine, nothing is gloomy, even dull
looking objects, seeming gay and bright, and so it would be between you and
the woman who should love you, even though your wife might happen, in some
matters, to possess what the world calls the advantage over you."
"Judith, you come of people altogether above mine, in the world, and onequal
matches, like onequal fri'ndships can't often tarminate kindly. I speak of
this matter altogether as a fanciful thing, since it's not very likely that
you, at least, would be apt to treat it as a matter that can ever come to
pass."
Judith fastened her deep blue eyes on the open, frank countenance of her
companion, as if she would read his soul. Nothing there betrayed any covert
meaning, and she was obliged to admit to herself, that he regarded the
conversation as argumentative, rather than positive, and that he was still
without any active suspicion that her feelings were seriously involved in the
issue. At first, she felt offended; then she saw the injustice of making the
self-abasement and modesty of the hunter a charge against him, and this novel
difficulty gave a piquancy to the state of affairs that rather increased her
interest in the young man. At that critical instant, a change of plan flashed
on her mind, and with a readiness of invention that is peculiar to the quick-
witted and ingenious, she adopted a scheme by which she hoped effectually to
bind him to her person. This scheme partook equally of her fertility of
invention, and of the decision and boldness of her character. That the
conversation might not terminate too abruptly, however, or any suspicion of
her design exist, she answered the last remark of Deerslayer, as earnestly
and as truly, as if her original intention remained unaltered.
"I, certainly, have no reason to boast of parentage, after what I have seen
this night," said the girl, in a saddened voice. "I had a mother, it is true;
but of her name even, I am ignorant-and, as for my father, it is better,
perhaps, that I should never know who he was, lest I speak too bitterly of
him!"
"Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her hand kindly, and with a manly sincerity
that went directly to the girl's heart, "tis better to say no more to-night.
Sleep on what you've seen and felt; in the morning things that now look
gloomy, may look more che'rful. Above all, never do any thing in bitterness,
or because you feel as if you'd like to take revenge on yourself, for other
people's backslidings. All that has been said, or done, atween us, this
night, is your secret, and shall never be talked of by me, even with the
Sarpent, and you may be sartain if he can't get it out of me no man can. If
your parents have been faulty, let the darter be less so; remember that
you're young, and the youthful may always hope for better times; that you're
more quick-witted than usual, and such gin'rally get the better of
difficulties, and that, as for beauty, you're oncommon, which is an advantage
with all. It is time to get a little rest, for to-morrow is like to prove a
trying day to some of us."
Deerslayer arose as he spoke, and Judith had no choice but to comply. The
chest was closed and secured, and they parted in silence, she to take her
place by the side of Hist and Hetty, and he to seek a blanket on the floor of
the cabin he was in. It was not five minutes crc the young man was in a deep
sleep, but the girl continued awake for a long time. She scarce knew whether
to lament, or to rejoice, at having failed in making herself understood. On
the one hand, were her womanly sensibilities spared; on the other was the
disappointment of defeated, or at least of delayed expectations, and the
uncertainty of a future that looked so dark. Then came the new resolution,
and the bold project for the morrow, and when drowsiness finally shut her
eyes, they closed on a scene of success and happiness, that was pictured by
the fancy, under the influence of a sanguine temperament, and a happy
invention.
Chapter XXIV
"Thy secret pleasure turns to open shame;
Thy private feasting to a public fast;
Thy smoothing titles to a ragged name;
Thy sugar'd tongue to bitter worm wood taste:
Thy violent vanities can never last."
Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 11. 890-94.
Judith was waiting the return of Deerslayer on the platform, with stifled
impatience, when the latter reached the hut. Hist and Hetty were both in a
deep sleep, on the bed usually occupied by the two daughters of the house,
and the Delaware was stretched on the floor of the adjoining room, his rifle
at his side, and a blanket over him, already dreaming of the events of the
last few days. There was a lamp burning in the Ark, for the family was
accustomed to indulge in this luxury on extraordinary occasions, and
possessed the means, the vessel being of a form and material to render it
probable it had once been an occupant of the chest.
As soon as the girl got a glimpse of the canoe, she ceased her hurried walk
up and down the platform, and stood ready to receive the young man, whose
return she had now been anxiously expecting for some time. She helped him to
fasten the canoe, and by aiding in the other little similar employ ments,
manifested her desire to reach a moment of liberty as soon as possible. When
this was done, in answer to an inquiry of his, she informed him of the manner
in which their companions had disposed of themselves. He listened
attentively, for the manner of the girl was so earnest and impressive as to
apprise him that she had something on her mind of more than common concern.
"And now, Deerslayer," Judith continued, "you see I have lighted the lamp,
and put it in the cabin of the Ark. That is never done with us, unless on
great occasions, and I consider this night as the most important of my life.
Will you follow me and see what I have to show you-hear what I have to say."
The hunter was a little surprised, but, making no objec tions, both were soon
in the scow, and in the room that contamed the light. Here two stools were
placed at the side of the chest, with the lamp on another, and a table near
by to receive the different articles as they might be brought to view. This
arrangement had its rise in the feverish impatience of the girl, which could
brook no delay that it was in her power to obviate. Even all the padlocks
were removed, and it only re mained to raise the heavy lid, again, to expose
all the treasures of this long secreted hoard.
"I see, in part, what all this means," observed Deerslayer- "yes, I see
through it, in part. But why is not Hetty present; now, Thomas Hurter is
gone, she is one of the owners of these cur'osities, and ought to see them
opened and handled."
"Hetty sleeps-" answered Judith, huskily. "Happily for her, fine clothes and
riches have no charms. Besides she has this night given her share of all that
the chest may hold, to me, that I may do with it as I please."
"Is poor Hetty composs enough for that, Judith?" de manded the just-minded
young man. "It's a good rule and a righteous one, never to take when them
that give don't know the valie of their gifts; and such as god has visited
heavily in their wits, ought to be dealt with as carefully as children that
have n't yet come to their understandings."
Judith was hurt at this rebuke, coming from the person it did, but she would
have felt it far more keenly had not her conscience fully acquitted her of
any unjust intentions to wards her feeble-minded but confiding sister. It was
not a moment, however, to betray any of her usual mountings of the spirit,
and she smothered the passing sensation in the de sire to come to the great
object she had in view.
"Hetty will not be wronged," she mildly answered; "she even knows not only
what I am about to do, Deerslayer, but why I do it. So take your seat, raise
the lid of the chest, and this time we will go to the bottom. I shall be
disappointed if something is not found to tell us more of the history of
Thomas Hurter and my mother."
"Why Thomas Hutter, Judith, and not your father? The I dead ought to meet
with as much reverence as the living!"
"I have long suspected that Thomas Hurter was not my father, though I did
think he might have been Hetty's, but now we know he was the father of
neither. He acknowledged that much in his dying moments. I am old enough to
remember better things than we have seen on this lake, though they are so
faintly impressed on my memory, that the earlier part of my life seems like a
dream."
"Dreams are but miserable guides when one has to detar mine about realities,
Judith," returned the other, admonishingly. "Fancy nothing, and hope nothing
on their account, though I've known chiefs that thought 'em useful."
"I expect nothing for the future, from them, my good friend, but cannot help
remembering what has been. This is idle, however, when half an hour of
examination may tell us all, or even more than I want to know."
Deerslayer, who comprehended the girl's impatience, now took his seat, and
proceeded once more to bring to light the different articles that the chest
contained. As a matter of course, all that had been previously examined were
found where they had been last deposited, and they excited much less
interest, or comment, than when formerly exposed to view. Even Judith laid
aside the rich brocade with an air of indifference, for she had a far higher
aim before her than the indulgence of vanity, and was impatient to come at
the still hidden, or rather unknown, treasures.
"All these we have seen before," she said, "and will not stop to open. The
bundle under your hand, Deerslayer, is a fresh one; that we will look into.
God send it may contain something to tell poor Hetty and myself, who we
really are!"
"Ay, if some bundles could speak, they might tell wonderful secrets,"
returned the young man deliberately undoing the folds of another piece of
course canvass, in order to come at the contents of the roll that lay on his
knees: "though this doesn't seem to be one of that family, seeing 'tis
neither more nor less than a sort of flag, though of what nation, it passes
my l'arnin' to say."
"That flag must have some meaning to it-" Judith hurriedly interposed. "Open
it wider, Deerslayer, that we may see the colours."
"Well, I pity the ensign that has to shoulder this cloth, and to parade it
about on the field. Why 'tis large enough, Judith,to make a dozen of them
colours the King's officers set so much store by These can be no ensign's
colours, but a gin'ral's!"
"A ship might carry it, Deerslayer, and ships I know do use such things. Have
you never heard any fearful stories about Thomas Hurter's having once been
concerned with the people they call buccaneers?"
"Buck-ah-near! Not I-not I-I never heard him mentioned as good at a buck far
off, or near by. Hurry Harry did till me something about its being supposed
that he had formerly, in some way or other, dealings with sartain sea rob
bers, but, Lord, Judith, it can't surely give you any satisfaction to make
out that ag'in your mother's own husband, though he isn't your father."
"Any thing will give me satisfaction that tells me who I am, and helps to
explain the dreams of childhood. My mother's husband! Yes, he must have been
that, though why a woman like her, should have chosen a man like him, is more
than mortal reason can explain. You never saw mother, Deerslayer, and can't
feel the vast, vast difference there was between them!"
"Such things do happen, howsever; -yes, they do happen; though why providence
lets them come to pass, is more than I understand. I've knew the f'ercest
warriors with the gentlest wives of any in the tribe, and awful scolds fall
to the lot of Injins fit to be missionaries."
"That was not it, Deerslayer; that was not it. Oh! if it should prove that-
no; I can not wish she should not have been his wife at all. That no daughter
can wish for her own mother! Go on, now, and let us see what the square
looking bundle holds."
Deerslayer complied, and he found that it contained a small trunk of pretty
workmanship, but fastened. The next point was to find a key; but, search
proving ineffectual, it was determined to force the lock. This Deerslayer
soon effected by the aid of an iron instrument, and it was found that the
interior was nearly filled with papers. Many were letters; some fragments of
manuscripts, memorandums, accounts, and other similar documents. The hawk
does not pounce upon the chicken with a more sudden swoop, than Judith sprang
forward to seize this mine of hitherto concealed knowledge. Her education, as
the reader will have perceived, was far superior to her situation in life,
and her eye glanced over page after page of the letters, with a readiness
that her schooling supplied, and with an avidity that found its origin in her
feelings. At first, it was evident that the girl was gratified; and we may
add with reason, for the letters written by females, in innocence and
affection, were of a character to cause her to feel proud of those with whom
she had every reason to think she was closely connected by the ties of blood.
It does not come within the scope of our plan to give more of these epistles,
however, than a general idea of their contents, and this will best be done by
describing the effect they produced on the manner, appearance, and feeling of
her who was so eagerly perusing them.
It has been said, already, that Judith was much gratified with the letters
that first met her eye. They contained the correspondence of an affectionate
and intelligent mother, to an absent daughter, with such allusions to the
answers, as served, in a great measure, to fill up the vacuum left by the
replies. They were not without admonitions and warnings, however, and Judith
felt the blood mounting to her temples, and a cold shudder succeeding, as she
read one in which the propriety of the daughter's indulging in as much
intimacy, as had evidently been described in one of the daughter's own
letters, with an officer "who came from Europe, and who could hardly be
supposed to wish to form an honorable connection in America," was rather
coldly commented on by the mother. What rendered it singular, was the fact
that the signatures had been carefully cut from every one of these letters,
and wherever a name occurred in the body of the epistles, it had been erased
with so much diligence as to render it impossible to read it. They had all
been enclosed in envelopes, according to the fashion of the age, and not an
address either was to be found. Still the letters themselves had been
religiously pre served, and Judith thought she could discover traces of tears
remaining on several. She now remembered to have seen the little trunk in her
mother's keeping, previously to her death, and she supposed it had first been
deposited in the chest, along with the other forgotten, or concealed objects,
when the letters could no longer contribute to that parent's grief or
happiness.
Next came another bundle, and these were filled with the protestations of
love, written with passion certainly, but also with that deceit which men so
often think it justifiable to use to the other sex. Judith had shed tears
abundantly over the first packet, but now she felt a sentiment of indignation
and pride better sustaining her. Her hand shook, however, and cold shivers
again passed through her frame, as she discovered a few points of strong
resemblance between these letters and some it had been her own fate to
receive. Once, indeed, she laid the packet down, bowed her head to her knees,
and seemed nearly convulsed. All this time Deerslayer sat a silent, but
attentive observer of every thing that passed. As Judith read a letter, she
put it into his hands to hold, until she could peruse the next; but this
served in no degree to enlighten her companion, as he was totally unable to
read. Nevertheless he was not entirely at fault, in discovering the passions
that were contending in the bosom of the fair creature by his side, and, as
occasional sentences escaped her in murmurs, he was nearer the truth, in his
divinations, or conjectures, than the girl would have been pleased at
discovering.
Judith had commenced with the earliest letters, luckily for a ready
comprehension of the tale they told, for they were carefully arranged in
chronological order, and to any one who would take the trouble to peruse
them, would have revealed a sad history of gratified passion, coldness, and
finally of aversion. As she obtained the clue to their import, her impatience
would not admit of delay, and she soon got to glancing her eyes over a page,
by way of coming at the truth, in the briefest manner possible. By adopting
this expedient, one to which all who are eager to arrive at results, without
encumbering themselves with details, are so apt to resort, Judith made a
rapid progress in these melancholy revelations of her mother's failing and
punishment. She saw that the period of her own birth was distinctly referred
to, and even learned that the homely name she bore, was given her by the
father, of whose person she retained so faint an impression as to resemble a
dream. This name was not obliterated from the text of the letters, but stood
as if nothing was to be gained by erasing it. Hetty's birth was mentioned
once, and in that instance the name was the mother's, but ere this period was
reached came the signs of coldness, shadowing forth the desertion that was so
soon to follow. It was in this stage of the correspondence that her mother
had recourse to the plan of copying her own epistles. They were but few, but
were eloquent with the feelings of blighted affection, and contrition. Judith
sobbed over them, until again and again she felt compelled to lay them aside
from sheer physical in a inability to see; her eyes being literally obscured
with tears. Still she returned to the task, with increasing interest, and
finally succeeded in reaching the end of the latest communication that had
probably ever passed between her parents.
All this occupied fully an hour, for near a hundred letters were glanced at,
and some twenty had been closely read. The truth now shone clear upon the
acute mind of Judith, so far as her own birth and that of Hetty, were
concerned. She sickened at the conviction, and for the moment the rest of the
world seemed to be cut off from her, and she had now additional reasons for
wishing to pass the remainder of her life on the lake, where she had already
seen so many bright and so many sorrowing days.
There yet remained more letters to examine. Judith found these were a
correspondence between her mother and Thomas Hovey. The originals of both
parties were carefully arranged, letter and answer, side by side; and they
told the early history of the connection between the ill-assorted pair far
more plainly than Judith wished to learn it. Her mother made the advances
towards a marriage, to the surprise, not to say horror of her daughter, and
she actually found a relief when she discovered traces of what struck her as
insanity- or a morbid desperation, bordering on that dire calamity- in the
earlier letters of that ill-fated woman. The answers of Hovey were coarse and
illiterate, though they manifested a sufficient desire to obtain the hand of
a woman of singular personal attractions, and whose great error he was
willing to overlook for the advantage of possessing one, every way so much
his superior, and, who, it also appeared was not altogether destitute of
money. The remainder of this part of the correspondence was brief, and it was
soon confined to a few communications on business, in which the miserable
wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a world,
which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one of the
parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression had
escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that had
induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that feeling of
resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on themselves,
by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they have
suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend this
sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which permitted
such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy.
There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the
loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation
offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among
which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the
proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black
lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the
papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of
residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses,
had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of
the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased.
Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were,
defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits
for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's
manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical
facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood
sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess
any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her
companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it
might yet contain something of importance.
"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if
there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've
got through with the reading of communications on business, in which the
miserable wife hastened the absent husband in his preparations to abandon a
world, which there was a sufficient reason to think was as dangerous to one
of the parties, as it was disagreeable to the other. But a sincere expression
had escaped her mother, by which Judith could get a clue to the motives that
had induced her to marry Hovey, or Hutter, and this she found was that
feeling of resentment which so often tempts the injured to inflict wrongs on
themselves, by way of heaping coals on the heads of those through whom they
have suffered. Judith had enough of the spirit of that mother, to comprehend
this sentiment, and for a moment did she see the exceeding folly which
permitted such revengeful feelings to get the ascendancy.
There, what may be called the historical part of the papers ceased. Among the
loose fragments, however, was an old newspaper that contained a proclamation
offering a reward for the apprehension of certain free-booters by name, among
which was that of Thomas Hovey. The attention of the girl was drawn to the
proclamation and to this particular name, by the circumstance that black
lines had been drawn under both, in ink. Nothing else was found among the
papers that could lead to a discovery of either the name or the place of
residence of the wife of Hurter. All the dates, signatures, and addresses,
had been cut from the letters, and wherever a word occurred in the body of
the communications, that might furnish a clue, it was scrupulously erased.
Thus Judith found all her hopes of ascertaining who her parents were,
defeated, and she was obliged to fall back on her own resources and habits
for every thing connected with the future. Her recollection of her mother's
manners, conversation, and sufferings filled up many a gap in the historical
facts she had now discovered, and the truth, in its outlines, stood
sufficiently distinct before her, to take away all desire, indeed, to possess
any more details. Throwing herself back in her seat, she simply desired her
companion to finish the examination of the other articles in the chest, as it
might yet contain something of importance.
"I'll do it, Judith; I'll do it," returned the patient Deerslayer, "but if
there's many more letters to read, we shall see the sun ag'in, afore you've
got through with the reading of much as if the bargain was made, and
Rivenoak, or any of the other vagabonds, was here to accept and close the
treaty, there's two principal reasons why it can never come to pass, which
may be as well told at once, in order no onlikely expectations may be raised
in you, or any onjustiflable hopes in me."
"What reason can there be, if Hetty and I are willing to part with the
trifles for your sake, and the savages are willing to receive them?"
"That's it, Judith-you've got the idees, but they're a little out of their
places, as if a hound should take the back'ard instead of the leading scent.
That the Mingos will be willing to receive them things, or any more like 'em,
you may have to offer is probable enough, but whether they'll pay valie for
'em, is quite another matter. Ask yourself, Judith, if any one should send
you a message to say that, for such or such a price, you and Hetty might have
that chist and all it holds, whether you'd think it worth your while to waste
many words on the bargain?"
"But this chest and all it holds, are already ours; there is no reason why we
should purchase what is already our own."
"Just so the Mingos caculate! They say the chist is theirn, already; or, as
good as theirn, and they'll not thank anybody for the key."
"I understand you, Deerslayer; surely we are yet in posses sion of the lake,
and we can keep possession of it, until Hurry sends troops to drive off the
enemy. This we may certainly do, provided you will stay with us, instead of
going back and giving yourself up a prisoner, again, as you now seem deter
mined on".
"That Hurry Harry should talk in thisaway, is nat'ral, and according to the
gifts of the man. He knows no better, and, therefore, he is little likely to
feel, or to act any better; but, Judith, I put it to your heart and
conscience-would you, could you think of me as favorably, as I hope and
believe you now do, was I to forget my furlough and not go back to the camp?"
"To think more favorably of you than I now do, Deerslayer, would not be easy;
but I might continue to think as favor ably-at least it seems so-I hope I
could, for, a world would n't tempt me to let you do any thing that might
change my real opinion of you."
"Then do n't try to entice me to overlook my furlough, gal! -A furlough is a
sacred thing among warriors and men that carry their lives in their hands, as
we of the forests do, and what a grievous disapp'intment would it be to old
Tamenund, and to Uncas, the father of the Sarpent, and to my other fri'nds in
the tribe, if I was so to disgrace myself, on my very first war-path? This
you will pairceive, moreover, Judith, is without laying any stress on nat'ral
gifts, and a white man's duties, to say nothing of conscience. The last is
king with me, and I try never to dispute his orders."
"I believe you are right, Deerslayer," returned the girl, after a little
reflection and in a saddened voice: "a man like you, ought not to act, as the
selfish and dishonest would be apt to act; you must, indeed, go back. We will
talk no more of this, then. Should I persuade you to any thing for which you
would be sorry hereafter, my own regret would not be less than yours. You
shall not have it to say, Judith-I scarce know by what name to call myself,
now!"
"And why not?-Why not, gal? Children take the names of their parents,
nat'rally, and by a sort of gift, like, and why should n't you and Hetty do,
as others have done afore ye? Hutter was the old man's name, and Hurter
should be the name of his darters; -at least until you are given away in
lawful and holy wedlock."
"I am Judith, and Judith only," returned the girl positively-"until the law
gives me a right to another name. Never will I use that of Thomas Hurter
again; nor, with my consent, shall Hetty! Hurter was not even his own name, I
find, but had he a thousand rights to it, it would give none to me. He was
not my father, thank heaven; though I may have no reason to be proud of him
that was!"
"This is strange!" said Deerslayer, looking steadily at the excited girl,
anxious to know more, but unwilling to inquire into matters that did not
properly concern him; "yes, this is very strange and oncommon! Thomas Hurter
was n't Thomas Hurter, and his darters were n't his darters! Who, then, could
Thomas Hurter be, and who are his darters?"
"Did you never hear any thing whispered against the former life of this
person, Deerslayer?" demanded Judith- "Passing, as I did, for his child, such
reports reached even me."
"I'll not deny it, Judith; no, I'll not deny it. Sartain things have been
said, as I've told you, but I'm not very credible as to reports. Young as I
am, I've lived long enough to l'am there's two sorts of characters in the
world-them that is 'arned by deeds, and them that is 'arned by tongues, and
so I prefar to see and judge for myself, instead of letting every jaw that
chooses to wag become my judgment. Hurry Harry spoke pretty plainly of the
whole family, as we journeyed this-a-way, and he did hint something
consarning Thomas Hutter's having been a free-liver on the water, in his
younger days. By free-liver, I mean that he made free to live on other men's
goods."
"He told you he was a pirate-there is no need of mincing matters between
friends. Read that, Deerslayer, and you will see that he told you no more
than the truth. This Thomas Hovey was the Thomas Hutter you knew, as is seen
by these letters."
As Judith spoke, with a flushed cheek and eyes dazzling with the brilliancy
of excitement, she held the newspaper towards her companion, pointing to the
proclamation of a Colonial Governor, already mentioned.
"Bless you, Judith!" answered the other laughing, "you might as well ask me
to print that-or, for that matter to write it. My edication has been
altogether in the woods; the only book I read, or care about reading, is the
one which God has opened afore all his creatur's in the noble forests, broad
lakes, rolling rivers, blue skies, and the winds and tempests, and sunshine,
and other glorious marvels of the land! This book I can read, and I find it
full of wisdom and knowledge."
"I crave your pardon, Deerslayer," said Judith, earnestly, more abashed than
was her wont, in finding that she had in advertently made an appeal that
might wound her compan ion's pride. "I had forgotten your manner of life, and
least of all did I wish to hurt your feelings."
"Hurt my feelin's?-Why should it hurt my feelin's to ask me to read, when I
can't read. I'm a hunter-and I may now begin to say a warrior, and no
missionary, and therefore books and papers are of no account with such as I-
No, no-Judith," and here the young man laughed cordially, "not even for wads,
seeing that your true deerkiller always uses the hide of a fa'a'n, if he's
got one, or some other bit of leather suitably prepared. There's some that do
say, all that stands in print is true, in which case I'll own an unl'arned
man must be somewhat of a loser; nevertheless, it can't be truer than that
which God has printed with his own hand, in the sky, and the woods, and the
rivers, and the springs."
"Well, then, Hutter, or Hovey, was a pirate, and being no father of mine, I
cannot wish to call him one. His name shall no longer be my name."
"If you dislike the name of that man, there's the name of your mother,
Judith. Hem may sarve you just as good a turn."
"I do not know it. I've look'd through those papers, Deer-slayer, in the hope
of finding some hint, by which I might discover who my mother was, but there
is no more trace of the past, in that respect, than the bird leaves in the
air."
"That's both oncommon, and onreasonable. Parents are bound to give their
offspring a name, even though they give 'em nothing else. Now I come of a
humble stock, though we have white gifts and a white narur', but we are not
so poorly off, as to have no name. Bumppo we are called, and I've heard it
said-" a touch of human vanity glowing on his cheek, "that the time has been
when the Bumppos had more standing and note among mankind, than they have
just now."
"They never deserved them more, Deerslayer, and the name is a good one;
either Hetty, or myself, would a thousand times rather be called Hetty
Bumppo, or Judith Bumppo, than to be called Hetty or Judith Hutter."
"That's a moral impossible," returned the hunter, good humouredly, "onless
one of you should so far demean herself as to marry me."
Judith could not refrain from smiling, when she found how simply and
naturally the conversation had come round to the very point at which she had
aimed to bring it. Although far from unfeminine or forward, either in her
feelings, or her habits, the girl was goaded by a sense of wrongs not
altogether merited, incited by the hopelessness of a future that seemed to
contain no resting place, and still more influenced by feelings that were as
novel to her, as they proved to be active and engrossing. The opening was too
good, therefore, to be neglected, though she came to the subject with much of
the indirectness and perhaps, justifiable, address of a woman.
"I do not think Hetty will ever marry, Deerslayer," she said, "and if your
name is to be borne by either of us, it must be borne by me."
"There's been handsome women too, they tell me, among the Bumppos, Judith,
afore now, and should you take up with the name, oncommon as you be, in this
particular, them that knows the family won't be altogether surprised."
"This is not talking as becomes either of us, Deerslayer, for whatever is
said on such a subject, between man and woman, should be said seriously, and
in sincerity of heart. Forgetting the shame that ought to keep girls silent,
until spoken to, in most cases, I will deal with you as frankly as I know one
of your generous nature will most like to be dealt by. Can you- do you think,
Deerslayer, that you could be happy with such a wife as a woman like myself
would make?"
"A woman like you, Judith! But where's the sense in trifling about such a
thing?-A woman like you, that is handsome enough to be a captain's lady, and
fine enough, and so far as I know edicated enough, would be little apt to
think of be coming my wife. I suppose young gals that feel themselves to be
smart, and know themselves to be handsome, find a sartain satisfaction in
passing their jokes ag'in them that's neither, like a poor Delaware hunter."
This was said good naturedly, but not without a betrayal of feeling which
showed that some thing like mortified sensibility was blended with the reply.
Nothing could have occurred more likely to awaken all Judith's generous
regrets, or to aid her in her purpose, by adding the stimulant of a
disinterested desire to atone, to her other impulses, and cloaking all under
a guise so winning and natural, as greatly to lessen the unpleasant feature
of a forwardness unbecoming the sex.
"You do me injustice if you suppose I have any such thought, or wish," she
answered, earnestly. "Never was I more serious in my life, or more willing to
abide by any agreement, that we may make to-night. I have had many suit ors,
Deerslayer-nay, scarce an unmarried trapper or hunter has been in at the Lake
these four years, who has not offered to take me away with him, and I fear
some that were married, too-"
"Ay, I'll warrant that!" interrupted the other-"I'll warrant all that! Take
'em as a body, Judith, 'arth don't hold a set of men more given to
theirselves, and less given to God and the law."
"Not one of them would I-could I listen to; happily for myself perhaps, has
it been that such was the case. There have been well looking youths among
them too, as you may have seen in your acquaintance, Henry March."
"Yes, Harry is sightly to the eye, though, to my idees, less so to the
judgment. I thought, at first, you meant to have him, Judith, I did; but
afore he went, it was easy enough to verify that the same lodge would n't be
big enough for you both."
"You have done me justice in that at least, Deerslayer. Hurry is a man I
could never marry, though he were ten times more comely to the eye, and a
hundred times more stout of heart, than he really is."
"Why not, Judith, why not? I own I'm cur'ous to know why a youth like Hurry
should n't find favor with a maiden like you?"
"Then you shall know, Deerslayer," returned the girl, gladly availing herself
of the opportunity of indirectly extol ling the qualities which had so
strongly interested her in her listener; hoping by these means covertly to
approach the subject nearest her heart. "In the first place, looks in a man
are of no importance with a woman, provided he is manly, and not disfigured,
or deformed."
"There I can't altogether agree with you," returned the other thoughtfully,
for he had a very humble opinion of his own personal appearance; "I have
noticed that the comeliest warriors commonly get the best-looking maidens of
the tribe, for wives, and the Sarpent, yonder, who is sometimes wonderful in
his paint, is a gineral favorite with all the Delaware young women, though he
takes to Hist, himself, as if she was the only beauty on 'arth!"
"It may be so with Indians; but it is different with white girls. So long as
a young man has a straight and manly frame, that promises to make him able to
protect a woman, and to keep want from the door, it is all they ask of the
figure. Giants like Hurry may do for grenadiers, but are of little account as
lovers. Then as to the face, an honest look, one that answers for the heart
within, is of more value than any shape or colour, or eyes, or teeth, or
trifles like them. The last may do for girls, but who thinks of them at all,
in a hunter, or a warrior, or a husband? -If there are women so silly, Judith
is not among them."
"Well, this is wonderful! I always thought that handsome liked handsome, as
riches love riches!"
"It may be so with you men, Deerslayer, but it is not always so with us
women. We like stout-hearted men, but we wish to see them modest; sure on a
hunt, or the war-path, ready to die for the right, and unwilling to yield to
the wrong. Above all we wish for honesty-tongues that are not used to say
what the mind does not mean, and hearts that feel a little for others, as
well as for themselves. A true-hearted girl could die for such a husband!
while the boaster, and the double-tongued suitor gets to be as hateful to the
sight, as he is to the mind."
Judith spoke bitterly, and with her usual force, but her listener was too
much struck with the novelty of the sensations he experienced to advert to
her manner. There was something so soothing to the humility of a man of his
temperament, to hear qualities that he could not but know he possessed
himself, thus highly extolled by the loveliest female he had ever beheld,
that, for the moment, his faculties seemed suspended in a natural and
excusable pride. Then it was that the idea of the possibility of such a
creature as Judith becoming his companion for life, first crossed his mind.
The image was so pleasant, and so novel, that he continued completely
absorbed by it, for more than a minute, totally regardless of the beautiful
reality that was seated before him, watching the expression of his upright
and truth-telling countenance with a keenness that gave her a very fair, if
not an absolutely accurate clue to his thoughts. Never before had so pleasing
a vision floated before the mind's eye of the young hunter, but, accustomed
most to practical things, and little addicted to submitting to the power of
his imagination, even while possessed of so much true poetical feeling in
connection with natural objects in particular, he soon recovered his reason,
and smiled at his own weakness, as the fancied picture faded from his mental
sight, and left him the simple, untaught, but highly moral being he was,
seated in the Ark of Thomas Hurter, at midnight, with the lovely countenance
of its late owner's reputed daughter, beaming on him with anxious scrutiny,
by the light of the solitary lamp.
"You're wonderful handsome, and enticing, and pleasing to look on, Judith!"
he exclaimed, in his simplicity, as fact resumed its ascendency over fancy.
"Wonderful! I do n't remember ever to have seen so beautiful a gal, even
among the Delawares; and I'm not astonished that Hurry Harry went away soured
as well as disapp'inted!"
"Would you have had me, Deerslayer, become the wife of such a man as Henry
March?"
"There's that which is in his favor, and there's that which is ag'in him. To
my taste, Hurry would n't make the best of husbands, but I fear that the
tastes of most young women, hereaway, would n't be so hard upon him."
"No-no-Judith without a name, would never consent to be called Judith March!
Any thing would be better than that."
"Judith Bumppo would n't sound as well, gal; and there's many names that
would fall short of March, in pleasing the ear."
"Ah! Deerslayer, the pleasantness of the sound, in such cases, does n't come
through the ear, but through the heart. Every thing is agreeable, when the
heart is satisfied. Were Natty Bumppo, Henry March, and Henry March, Natty
Bumppo, I might think the name of March better than it is; or were he, you, I
should fancy the name of Bumppo, horrible!"
"That's just it-yes, that's the reason of the matter. Now, I'm nat'rally
avarse to sarpents, and I hate even the word, which, the missionaries tell
me, comes from human natur', on account of a sartain sarpent at the creation
of the 'arth, that outwitted the first woman; yet, ever since Chingachgook
them! Two good hours have you been looking at them bits of papers!"
"They tell me of my parents, Deerslayer, and have settled my plans for life.
A girl may be excused who reads about her own father and mother, and that too
for the first time in her life. I am sorry to have kept you waiting."
"Never mind me, gal, never mind me. It matters little whether I sleep or
watch; but, though you be pleasant to look at, and are so handsome, Judith,
it is not altogether agreeable to sit so long to behold you shedding tears. I
know that tears do n't kill, and that some people are better for shedding a
few, now and then, especially women, but I'd rather see you smile, any time,
Judith, than see you weep."
This gallant speech was rewarded with a sweet, though a melancholy smile, and
then the girl again desired her companion to finish the examination of the
chest. The search necessarily continued some time, during which Judith
collected her thoughts, and regained her composure. She took no part in the
search, leaving every thing to the young man, looking listlessly, herself, at
the different articles that came uppermost. Nothing further of much interest,
or value, however, was found. A sword or two, such as were then worn by
gentlemen, some buckles of silver, or so richly plated as to appear silver,
and a few handsome articles of female dress composed the principal
discoveries. It struck both Judith and the Deer-slayer notwithstanding, that
some of these things might be made useful in effecting a negotiation with the
Iroquois, though the latter saw a difficulty in the way that was not so
apparent to the former. The conversation was first renewed in connection with
this point.
"And now, Deerslayer," said Judith, "we may talk of yourself, and of the
means of getting you out of the hands of the Hurons. Any part, or all of what
you have seen in the chest will be cheerfully given by me and Hetty, to set
you at liberty."
"Well, that's ginerous-yes, 'tis downright free-hearted, and free-handed, and
ginerous. This is the way with women; when they take up a fri'ndship, they do
nothing by halves, but are as willing to part with their property, as if it
had no valie in their eyes. Howsever, while I thank you both, just as natur'
gives in the free air, and the forest-now, if both these men stood here, as
suitors for your feelin's, which do you think would win your favor?"
Judith's fine face flushed, for the picture that her companion had so simply
drawn of a gay officer of the garrisons had once been particularly grateful
to her imagination, though experience and disappointment had not only chilled
all her affections, but given them a backward current, and the passing image
had a momentary influence on her feelings; but the mounting colour was
succeeded by a paleness so deadly, as to make her appear ghastly.
"As God is my judge," the girl solemnly answered, "did both these men stand
before me, as I may say one of them does, my choice, if I know my own heart,
would be the latter. I have no wish for a husband who is any way better than
myself."
"This is pleasant to listen to, and might lead a young man in time, to forget
his own onworthiness, Judith! Howsever, you hardly think all that you say. A
man like me is too rude and ignorant for one that has had such a mother to
teach her. Vanity is nat'ral, I do believe, but vanity like that, would
surpass reason."
"Then you do not know of what a woman's heart is capable! Rude you are not,
Deerslayer, nor can one be called ignorant that has studied what is before
his eyes as closely as you have done. When the affections are concerned, all
things appear in their pleasantest colors, and trifles are overlooked, or are
forgotten. When the heart feels sunshine, nothing is gloomy, even dull
looking objects, seeming gay and bright, and so it would be between you and
the woman who should love you, even though your wife might happen, in some
matters, to possess what the world calls the advantage over you."
"Judith, you come of people altogether above mine, in the world, and onequal
matches, like onequal fri'ndships can't often tarminate kindly. I speak of
this matter altogether as a fanciful thing, since it's not very likely that
you, at least, would be apt to treat it as a matter that can ever come to
pass."
Judith fastened her deep blue eyes on the open, frank countenance of her
companion, as if she would read his soul. Nothing there betrayed any covert
meaning, and she was obliged to admit to herself, that he regarded the
conversation as argumentative, rather than positive, and that he was still
without any active suspicion that her feelings were seriously involved in the
issue. At first, she felt offended; then she saw the injustice of making the
self-abasement and modesty of the hunter a charge against him, and this novel
difficulty gave a piquancy to the state of affairs that rather increased her
interest in the young man. At that critical instant, a change of plan flashed
on her mind, and with a readiness of invention that is peculiar to the quick-
witted and ingenious, she adopted a scheme by which she hoped effectually to
bind him to her person. This scheme partook equally of her fertility of
invention, and of the decision and boldness of her character. That the
conversation might not terminate too abruptly, however, or any suspicion of
her design exist, she answered the last remark of Deerslayer, as earnestly
and as truly, as if her original intention remained unaltered.
"I, certainly, have no reason to boast of parentage, after what I have seen
this night," said the girl, in a saddened voice. "I had a mother, it is true;
but of her name even, I am ignorant-and, as for my father, it is better,
perhaps, that I should never know who he was, lest I speak too bitterly of
him!"
"Judith," said Deerslayer, taking her hand kindly, and with a manly sincerity
that went directly to the girl's heart, "tis better to say no more to-night.
Sleep on what you've seen and felt; in the morning things that now look
gloomy, may look more che'rful. Above all, never do any thing in bitterness,
or because you feel as if you'd like to take revenge on yourself, for other
people's backslidings. All that has been said, or done, atween us, this
night, is your secret, and shall never be talked of by me, even with the
Sarpent, and you may be sartain if he can't get it out of me no man can. If
your parents have been faulty, let the darter be less so; remember that
you're young, and the youthful may always hope for better times; that you're
more quick-witted than usual, and such gin'rally get the better of
difficulties, and that, as for beauty, you're oncommon, which is an advantage
with all. It is time to get a little rest, for to-morrow is like to prove a
trying day to some of us."
Deerslayer arose as he spoke, and Judith had no choice but to comply. The
chest was closed and secured, and they parted in silence, she to take her
place by the side of Hist and Hetty, and he to seek a blanket on the floor of
the cabin he was in. It was not five minutes crc the young man was in a deep
sleep, but the girl continued awake for a long time. She scarce knew whether
to lament, or to rejoice, at having failed in making herself understood. On
the one hand, were her womanly sensibilities spared; on the other was the
disappointment of defeated, or at least of delayed expectations, and the
uncertainty of a future that looked so dark. Then came the new resolution,
and the bold project for the morrow, and when drowsiness finally shut her
eyes, they closed on a scene of success and happiness, that was pictured by
the fancy, under the influence of a sanguine temperament, and a happy
invention.
Chapter XXV
"But, mother, now a shade has past,
Athwart my brightest visions here,
A cloud of darkest gloom has wrapt,
The remnant of my brief career!
No song, no echo can I win,
The sparkling fount has died within."
Margaret Davidson, "To my Mother," 11. 7-12.
Hist and Hetty arose with the return of light, leaving Judith still buried in
sleep. It took but a minute for the first to complete her toilet. Her long
coal-black hair was soon adjusted in a simple knot, the calico dress belted
tight to her slender waist, and her little feet concealed in their gaudily
ornamented moccasins. When attired, she left her companion employed in
household affairs, and went herself on the platform to breathe the pure air
of the morning. Here she found Chingachgook studying the shores of the lake,
the mountains and the heavens, with the sagacity of a man of the woods, and
the gravity of an Indian.
The meeting between the two lovers was simple, but affectionate. The chief
showed a manly kindness, equally removed from boyish weakness and haste,
while the girl betrayed, in her smile and half averted looks, the bashful
tenderness of her sex. Neither spoke, unless it were with the eyes, though
each understood the other as fully as if a vocabulary of words and
protestations had been poured out. Hist seldom appeared to more advantage,
than at that moment, for just from her rest and ablutions, there was a
freshness about her youthful form and face, that the toils of the wood do not
always permit to be exhibited, by even the juvenile and pretty. Then Judith
had not only imparted some of her own skill in the toilet, during their short
intercourse, but she had actually bestowed a few well selected ornaments from
her own stores, that contributed not a little to set off the natural graces
of the Indian maid. All this the lover saw and felt, and for a moment his
countenance was illuminated with a look of pleasure, but it soon grew.
"The Great Spirit may soften their hearts, and not suffer them to be so
bloody minded. I have lived among the Hurons, and know them. They have
hearts, and will not forget their own children, should they fall into the
hands of the Delawares."
"A wolf is forever howling; a hog will always eat. They have lost warriors;
even their women will call out for vengeance. The pale face has the eyes of
an eagle, and can see into a Mingo's heart; he looks for no mercy. There is a
cloud over his spirit, though it is not before his face."
A long, thoughtful pause succeeded, during which Hist stealthily took the
hand of the chief, as if seeking his support, though she scarce ventured to
raise her eyes to a countenance that was now literally becoming terrible,
under the conflicting passions, and stern resolution that were struggling in
the breast of its owner.
"What will the Son of Uncas do?" the girl at length timidly asked. "He is a
chief, and is already celebrated in council, though so young; what does his
heart tell him is wisest; does the head, too, speak the same words as the
heart?"
"What does Wah-ta!-Wah say, at a moment when my dearest friend is in such
danger. The smallest birds sing the sweetest; it is always pleasant, to
hearken to their songs. I wish I could hear the Wren of the Woods in my
difficulty; its note would reach deeper than the ear.
Again Hist experienced the profound gratification that the language of praise
can always awaken, when uttered by those we love. The 'Honeysuckle of the
Hills' was a term often applied to the girl, by the young men of the
Delawares, though it never sounded so sweet in her ears, as from the lips of
Chingachgook; but the latter alone had ever styled her the Wren of the Woods.
With him, however, it had got to be a familiar phrase, and it was past
expression pleasant to the listener, since it conveyed to her mind the idea
that her advice and sentiments were as acceptable to her future husband, as
the tones of her voice and modes of conveying them were agreeable; uniting
the two things most prized by an Indian girl, as coming from her betrothed,
admiration for a valued physical advantage, with respect for her opinion. She
pressed the hand she held, between both her own, and answered-
"The pale-faces know every thing," he said; "can they tell us why the sun
hides his face, when he goes back, at night."
"Ay, that is downright red-skin l'arnin'," returned the other, laughing,
though he was not altogether insensible to the pleasure of proving the
superiority of his race, by solving the difficulty, which he set about doing,
in his own peculiar manner. "Harkee, Sarpent," he continued more gravely,
though too simply for affectation; "this is easierly explained than an Indian
brain may fancy. The sun, while he seem's to keep travelling in the heavens,
never budges, but it is the 'arth that turns round, and any one can
understand, if he is placed on the side of a mill-wheel, for instance, when
it's in motion, that he must some times see the heavens, while he is at other
times under water. There's no great secret in that; but plain natur'; the
difficulty being in setting the 'arth in motion."
"How does my brother know that the earth turns round?" demanded the Indian.
"Can he see it?"
"Well, that's been a puzzler, I will own, Delaware, for I've often tried, but
never could fairly make it out. Sometimes I've consaited that I could; and
then ag'in, I've been obliged to own it an onpossibility. Howsever, turn it
does, as all my people say, and you ought to believe 'em, since they can
foretel eclipses, and other prodigies, that used to fill the tribes with
terror, according to your own traditions of such things."
"Good. This is true; no red-man will deny it. When a wheel turns, my eyes can
see it-they do not see the earth turn."
"Ay, that's what I call sense obstinacy! Seeing is believing, they say, and
what they can't see, some men won't in the least give credit to.
Nevertheless, chief, that isn't quite as good reason as it may at first seem.
You believe in the Great Spirit, I know, and yet, I conclude, it would puzzle
you to show where you see him!"
"Chingachgook can see Him every where-every where in good things - the Evil
Spirit in bad. Here, in the lake; there, in the forest; yonder, in the
clouds; in Hist, in the Son of Uncas, in Tamenund, in Deerslayer. The Evil
Spirit is in the Mingos. That I see; I do not see the earth turn round."
"I don't wonder they call you the Sarpent, Delaware; no, I don't! There's
always a meaning in your words, and there's
"Wah-ta!-Wah says that neither she nor the Great Serpent could ever laugh,
again, or ever sleep without dreaming of the Hurons, should the Deerslayer
die under a Mingo tomahawk, and they do nothing to save him. She would rather
go back, and start on her long path alone, than let such a dark cloud pass
before her happiness."
"Good! The husband and the wife will have but one heart; they will see with
the same eyes, and feel with the same feelings."
What further was said, need not be related here. That the conversation was of
Deerslayer, and his hopes, has been seen already, but the decision that was
come to, will better appear in the course of the narrative. The youthful pair
were yet conversing when the sun appeared above the tops of the pines, and
the light of a brilliant American day streamed down into the valley, bathing
"in deep joy" the lake, the forests and the mountain sides. Just at this
instant Deerslayer came out of the cabin of the Ark, and stepped upon the
platform. His first look was at the cloudless heavens, then his rapid glance
took in the entire panorama of land and water, when he had leisure for a
friendly nod at his friends, and a cheerful smile for Hist.
"Well," he said, in his usual, composed manner, and pleasant voice, "he that
sees the sun set in the west, and wakes 'arly enough in the morning will be
sartain to find him coming back ag'in in the east, like a buck that is hunted
round his ha'nt. I dare say, now, Hist, you've beheld this, time and ag'in,
and yet it never entered into your galish mind to ask the reason?"
Both Chingachgook and his betrothed looked up at the luminary, with an air
that betokened sudden wonder, and then they gazed at each other, as if to
seek the solution of the difficulty. Familiarity deadens the sensibilities,
even as connected with the gravest natural phenomena, and never before had
these simple beings thought of enquiring into a movement that was of daily
occurrence, however puzzling it might appear on investigation. When the
subject was thus suddenly started, it struck both alike, and at the same
instant, with some such force, as any new and brilliant proposition in the
natural sciences would strike the scholar. Chingachgook alone saw fit to
answer.
"The pale-faces know every thing," he said; "can they tell us why the sun
hides his face, when he goes back, at night."
"ay, that is downright red-skin l'arnin'" returned the other, laughing,
through he was not altogether insensible to the pleasure of proving the
superiority of his race, by solving the difficulty, which he set aout doing,
in hiw own peculiar manner. "Harkee, Sarpent," he continued more gravely,
though too simply for affectation; "this is easierly explained than an Indian
brain may fancy. The sun, while he seems to keep traveling in the heavens,
never budges, but it is the 'arth that turns roun, and any one can
understand, if he is placed on the side of a mill-whel, for instance, when
it's in motion, that he must some times see the heavens, while he is at other
times under water. There's no great secret in that; but plain natur'; the
difficulty being in setting the 'arth in motion."
"How does my brother know hat the earth turns round?" demanded the Indina.
"Can he see it?"
"Well, that's been a puzzler, I will own, Delaware, for I've often tried, but
never could fairly make it out. Sometimes I've often tried, but never could
fairly make it out. Sometimes I've consaited that I could; and then ag'in,
I've been obliged to own it an onpossibility. Howsever, turn it does, as all
my people say, and you ought to believe 'em, since they can foretell
eclipses, and other prodigies, that used to fill the tribes with terror,
according to your owntraditions of such things."
"Good. This is true; no red-man will deny it. When a wheel turns, my eyes can
see it - they do not see the earth turn."
"y, that's what I call sense obstinacy! Seeing is believing, they say, and
what they cann't see, some men won't in the least give credit to.
Neverthless, chief, that isn't quite as good reason as itmayat first seem.
You believe in the Great Sppirit, I know, and yet, I conclude, it would
puzzle you to show you where you see him!"
"Chingachgook can see Him every where - every where in good things -the Evil
Spirit in bad. Here, in the lake; there, in the forest; yonder, in the
clounds; in Hist, in the Son of Uncas, in Tannenund, in Deerslayer. The Evil
Spirit is in the Mingos. That I see; I do not see the earth turn round."
"I so n't wonder they call you the Sarpent, Delaware; no, I do n't! There's
always a meaning in your words, and there's often a meaning in your
countenance, too! Notwithstanding, your answers does n't quite meet my idée.
ThatGod is observable in all nat'ral objects is allowable, but then he is not
perceptible in the way I mean. You know there is a Great Spirit by his works,
and the pale faces know that the 'arth turns round by its works. This is the
reason of the matter, though how it is to be explained, is more than I
exactly tell you. This I know; all my people consait that fact, and what all
the pale-faces consait, is very likely to be true."
"When the sun is in the top of that pine to-morrow, where will my brother
Deerslayer be?"
The hunter started, and he looked intently, though totally without alarm, at
his friend. Then he signed for him to follow, and led the way into the Ark,
where he mght pursue the subject unheard by those, whose feelings he feared
might get the mastery over their reason. Here he stopped, and pursued the
conversation in amore confidential tone.
"'Twas a little onreasonable in you Sarpent," he said, "to bring up such a
subject afore Hist, and when the young women of my own colour might overhear
what was said. Yes, 'twas a little more onreasonable than most things that
you do. No matter; Hist did n"t comprehind, and the other din n't hear.
Howsever, the questionis easier put than answered. No mortal can say where he
will be when the sun rises tomorrow. I will ask you the same question,
Sarpent, and should like to hear what answer you can give.
"Chingachgook will be with his friend Deerslayer - if he be in the land of
spirits, the Great Serpent will crawl at his side; if beneath yonder sun, its
warmth and light shall fall on both."
"I understand you Delaware," returned the other, touched with the simple
self-devotion of his friend, "Such language is as plain in one tongue as in
another. I comes from the heart, and goes to the heart, too. 'Tis well to
think so, and it may be well to say so, for that matter, but it would not be
well to do so, Sarpent. You are no longer alone in life, for though you have
the lodges to change, and other ceremonies to go through, afore Hist becomes
you lawful wife, yet are you as good as married, in all that bears on the
feelin's, and joy, and misery. No - no - Hist must not be desarted, because a
cloud is passing atween you and me, a little onexpectedly and a little darker
than we may have looked for."
"Hist is a daughter of the Mohicans. She knows how to obey her husband. Where
he goes, she will follow. Both will be with the Great Hunter of the
Delawares, when the sun shall be in the pine to-morrow."
"The Lord bless and protect you! - Chief; this is downright madness. Can
either, or both of you, alter a Mingo natur'. Will your grand looks, or
Hist's tears and beauty, change a wolf into a squirrel, or make a catamount
as innocent as a fa'an? No-Sarpent, you will think better of this matter, and
leave me in the hands of God. A'ter all, it's by no means sartain that the
scamps design the torments, for they may yet be pitiful, and bethink them of
the wickedness of such a course - though it is but a hopeless expectation to
look forward to a Mingo's turning aside from evil, and letting marcy get
uppermost in his heart - Nevertheless, no one knows to a sartainty what will
happen, and young creatur's, like Hist, an't to be risked on onsartainties.
This marrying is altogether a different undertaking from what some young men
fancy. Now, if you was single, or as good as single, Delaware, I should
expect you to be actyve and stirring about the camp of the vagabonds, from
sunrise to sunset, sarcumventing and contriving, as restless as a hound off
the scent, and doing all manner of things to help me, and to distract the
inimy, but two are oftener feebler than one, and we must take things as they
are, and not as we want 'em to be."
"Listen, Deerslayer," returned the Indian with an emphasis so decided as to
show how much he was in earnest. "If Chingachgook was in the hands of the
Hurons, what would my pale-face brother do? Sneak off to the Delaware
villages, and say to the chiefs, and old men, and young warriors-'see, here
is Wah-ta!-Wah; she is safe, but a little tired; and here is the Son of
Uncas, not as tired as the Honeysuckle, being stronger, but just as safe.'
Would he do this?"
"Well, that's oncommon ingen'ous; it's cunning enough for a Mingo, himself!
The Lord only knows what put it into your head to ask such a question. What
would I do?-Why, in the first place, Hist wouldn't be likely to be in my
company at all, often a meaning in your countenance, too! Notwithstanding,
your answers doesn't quite meet my idee. That God is obsarvable in al]
nat'ral objects is allowable, but then he is not parceptible in the way I
mean. You know there is a Great Spirit by his works, and the pale faces know
that the 'arth turns round by its works. This is the reason of the matter,
though how it is to be explained, is more than I can exactly tell you. This I
know; all my people consait that fact, and what all the pale-faces consait,
is very likely to be true."
"When the sun is in the top of that pine to-morrow, where will my brother
Deerslayer be?"
The hunter started, and he looked intently, though totally without alarm, at
his friend. Then he signed for him to follow, and led the way into the Ark,
where he might pursue the subject unheard by those, whose feelings he feared
might get the mastery over their reason. Here he stopped, and pursued the
conversation in a more confidential tone.
"'Twas a little onreasonable in you, Sarpent," he said, "to bring up such a
subject afore Hist, and when the young women of my own colour might overhear
what was said. Yes, 'twas a little more onreasonable than most things that
you do. No matter; Hist didn't comprehind, and the other didn't hear.
Howsever, the question is easier put than answered. No mortal can say where
he will be when the sun rises to-morrow. I will ask you the same question,
Sarpent, and should like to hear what answer you can give."
"Chingachgook will be with his friend Deerslayer- If he be in the land of
spirits, the Great Serpent will crawl at his side; if beneath yonder sun, its
warmth and light shall fall on both."
"I understand you Delaware," returned the other, touched with the simple
self-devotion of his friend. "Such language is as plain in one tongue as in
another. It comes from the heart, and goes to the heart, too. Tis well to
think so, and it may be well to say so, for that matter, but it would not be
well to do so, Sarpent. You are no longer alone in life, for though you have
the lodges to change, and other ceremonies to go through, afore Hist becomes
your lawful wife, yet are you as good as married, in all that bears on the
feelin's, and joy, and misery. No- no-Hist must not be desarted, because a
cloud is passing at for she would stay as near you as possible, and therefore
all that part about her couldn't be said, without talking nonsense. As for
her being tired, that would fall through, too, if she didn't go, and no part
of your speech would be likely to come from me; so, you see, Sarpent, reason
is ag'in you, and you may as well give it up, since to hold out ag'in reason,
is no way becoming a chief of your character and repitation."
"My brother is not himself; he forgets that he is talking to one who has sat
at the Council Fire of his nation," returned the other kindly. "When men
speak, they should say that which does not go in at one side of the head and
out at the other. Their words shouldn't be feathers, so light that a wind
which does not ruffle the water, can blow them away. He has not answered my
question; when a chief puts a question, his friend should not talk of other
things."
"I understand you, Delaware; I understand well enough what you mean, and
truth won't allow me to say otherwise. Still it's not as easy to answer as
you seem to think, for this plain reason. You wish me to say what I would do
if I had a betrothed as you have, here, on the lake, and a fri'nd yonder in
the Huron camp, in danger of the torments. That's it, isn't it?"
The Indian bowed his head silently, and always with unmoved gravity, though
his eye twinkled at the sight of the other's embarrassment.
"Well, I never had a betrothed-never had the kind of feelin's toward any
young woman, that you have towards Hist, though the Lord knows my feelin's
are kind enough towards 'em all! -still my heart, as they call it, in such
matters, isn't touched, and therefore I can't say what I would do. A fri'nd
pulls strong, that I know by exper'ence, Sarpent, but, by all that I've seen
and heard consarning love, I'm led to think that a betrothed pulls stronger."
"True; but the betrothed of Chingachgook does not pull towards the lodges of
the Delawares; she pulls towards the camp of the Hurons."
"She's a noble gal, for all her little feet, and hands that an't bigger than
a child's, and a voice that is as pleasant as a mocker's; she's a noble gal,
and like the stock of her sires! Well, what is it, Sarpent; for I conclude
she hasn't changed her mind, and means to give herself up, and turn Huron
wife. What is it you want?"
"Wah-ta!-Wah will never live in the wigwam of an Iroquois," answered the
Delaware drily. "She has little feet, but they can carry her to the villages
of her people; she has small hands, too, but her mind is large. My brother
will see what we can do, when the time shall come, rather than let him die
under Mingo torments."
"Attempt nothing heedlessly, Delaware," said the other earnestly; "I suppose
you must and will have your way; and, on the whole it's right you should, for
you'd neither be happy, unless something was undertaken. But attempt nothing
heedlessly-I didn't expect you'd quit the lake, while my matter remained in
unsartainty, but remember, Sarpent, that no torments that Mingo ingenuity can
invent, no ta'ntings, and revilings; no burnings, and roastings and nail-
tearings, nor any other onhuman contrivances can so soon break down my
spirit, as to find that you and Hist, have fallen into the power of the
inimy, in striving to do something for my good."
"The Delawares are prudent. The Deerslayer will not find them running into a
strange camp, with their eyes shut."
Here the dialogue terminated. Hetty announced that the breakfast was ready,
and the whole party was soon seated around the simple board, in the usual
primitive manner of borderers. Judith was the last to take her seat, pale,
silent, and betraying in her countenance that she had passed a painful, if
not a sleepless, night. At this meal scarce a syllable was exchanged, all the
females manifesting want of appetites, though the two men were unchanged in
this particular. It was early when the party arose, and there still remained
several hours before it would be necessary for the prisoner to leave his
friends. The knowledge of this circumstance, and the interest all felt in his
welfare, induced the whole to assemble on the platform again, in the desire
to be near the expected victim, to listen to his discourse, and if possible
to show their interest in him, by anticipating his wishes. Deerslayer,
himself, so far as human eyes could penetrate, was wholly unmoved, conversing
cheerfully and naturally, though he avoided any direct allusions to the
expected and great event of the day. If any evidence could be discovered of
his thought's reverting to that painful subject at all, it was in the manner
in which he spoke of death and the last great change.
"Grieve not, Hetty," he said, for it was while consoling this simple-minded
girl for the loss of her parents that he thus betrayed his feelings, "since
God has app'inted that all must die. Your parents, or them you fancied your
parents, which is the same thing, have gone afore you; this is only in the
order of natur', my good gal, for the aged go first, and the young follow.
But one that had a mother like your'n, Hetty, can be at no loss to hope the
best, as to how matters will turn out in another world. The Delaware, here,
and Hist, believe in happy hunting grounds, and have idees befitting their
notions and gifts, as red skins, but we who are of white blood hold
altogether to a different doctrine. Still, I rather conclude our heaven is
their land of spirits, and that the path which leads to it will be travelled
by all colours alike. Tis onpossible for the wicked to enter on it, I will
allow, but fri'nds can scarce be separated, though they are not of the same
race on 'arth. Keep up your spirits, poor Hetty, and look forward to the day
when you will meet your mother ag'in, and that without pain, or sorrowing."
"I do expect to see mother," returned the truth-telling and simple girl, "but
what will become of father?"
"That's a non-plusser, Delaware," said the hunter, in the Indian dialect-
"yes, that is a down-right non-plusser! The Muskrat was not a saint on 'arth,
and it's fair to guess he'll not be much of one, here after! Howsever,
Hetty," dropping into the English by an easy transition, "howsever, Hetty, we
must all hope for the best. That is wisest, and it is much the easiest to the
mind, if one can only do it. I ricommend to you, trusting to God, and putting
down all misgivings and fainthearted feelin's. It's wonderful, Judith, how
different people have different notions about the futur', some fancying one
change, and some fancying another. I've known white teachers that have
thought all was spirit, hereafter, and them, ag'in, that believed the body
will be transported to another world, much as the red-skins themselves
imagine, and that we shall walk about, in the flesh, and know each other, and
talk together, and be fri'nds there, as we've been fri'nds here."
"Which of these opinions is most pleasing to you, Deerslayer?" asked the
girl, willing to indulge his melancholy mood, and far from being free from
its influence herself. "Would it be disagreeable to think that you should
meet all
who are now on this platform in another world? Or have you known enough of us
here, to be glad to see us no more.
"The last would make death a bitter portion; yes it would. It's eight good
years since the Sarpent and I began to hunt together, and the thought that we
were never to meet ag'in, would be a hard thought to me. He looks forward to
the time when he shall chase a sort of spirit-deer, in company, on plains
where there's no thorns, or brambles, or marshes, or other hardships to
overcome, whereas I can't fall into all these notions, seeing that they
appear to be ag'in reason. Spirits can't eat, nor have they any use for
clothes, and deer can only rightfully be chased to be slain, or slain, unless
it be for the venison, or the hides. Now, I find it hard to suppose that
blessed spirits can be put to chasing game, without an object, tormenting the
dumb animals just for the pleasure and agreeableness of their own amusements.
I never, yet, pulled a trigger on buck or doe, Judith, unless when food or
clothes was wanting."
"The recollection of which, Deerslayer, must now be a great consolation to
you.
"It is the thought of such things, my fri'nds, that enables a man to keep his
furlough. It might be done without it, I own; for the worst red skins,
sometimes do their duty in this matter; but it makes that which might
otherwise be hard, easy, if not altogether to our liking. Nothing truly makes
a bolder heart, than a light conscience."
Judith turned paler than ever, but she struggled for self-command, and
succeeded in obtaining it. The conflict had been severe, however, and it left
her so little disposed to speak, that Hetty pursued the subject. This was
done in the simple manner natural to the girl.
"It would be cruel to kill the poor deer," she said, "in this world, or any
other, when you don't want their venison, or their skins. No good white-man,
and no good red man would do it. But it's wicked for a christian to talk
about chasing any thing in heaven. Such things are not done before the face
of God, and the missionary that teaches these doctrines, can't be a true
missionary. He must be a wolf in sheep's clothing. I suppose you know what a
sheep is, Deerslayer."
"That I do, gal, and a useful creatur' it is, to such as like cloths better
than skins, for winter garments. I understand the natur' of sheep, though
I've had but little to do with 'em, and the natur' of wolves too, and can
take the idee of a wolf in the fleece of a sheep, though I think it would be
like to prove a hot jacket for such a beast, in the warm months!"
"And sin, and hypocrisy are hot jackets, as they will find, who put them on,"
returned Hetty, positively, "so the wolf would be no worse off than the
sinner. Spirits don't hunt, nor trap, nor fish, nor do any thing that vain
men undertake, since they've none of the longings of this world to feed. Oh!
Mother told me all that, years ago, and I don't wish to hear it denied."
"Well, my good Hetty, in that case you'd better not broach your doctrine to
Hist, when she and you are alone, and the young Delaware maiden is inclined
to talk religion. It's her fixed idee, I know, that the good warriors do
nothing but hunt, and fish in the other world, though I don't believe that
she fancies any of them are brought down to trapping, which is no empl'yment
for a brave. But of hunting and fishing, accordin' to her notion, they've
their fill, and that, too, over the most agreeablest hunting grounds, and
among game that is never out of season, and which is just actyve and
instinctyve enough to give a pleasure to death. So I wouldn't ricommend it to
you to start Hist on that idee."
"Hist can't be so wicked as to believe any such thing," returned the other,
earnestly. "No Indian hunts after he is dead."
"No wicked Indian, I grant you; no wicked Indian, sartainly. He is obliged to
carry the ammunition, and to look on without sharing in the sport, and to
cook, and to light the fires, and to do every thing that isn't manful. Now,
mind; I don't tell you these are my idees, but they are Hist's idees, and,
therefore, for the sake of peace the less you say to her ag'in 'em, the
better."
"And what are your ideas of the fate of an Indian, in the other world?"
demanded Judith, who had just found her voice.
"Ah! gal, any thing but that! I am too christianized to expect any thing so
fanciful, as hunting and fishing after death, nor do I believe there is one
Manitou for the red skin and another for a pale face. You find different
colours on 'arth, as any one may see, but you don't find different natur's.
Different gifts, but only one natur'."
"In what is a gift different from a nature? Is not nature itself a gift from
God?"
"Sartain; that's quick-thoughted, and creditable, Judith, though the main
idee is wrong. A natur' is the creatur' itself; its wishes, wants, idees and
feelin's, as all are born in him. This natur' never can be changed, in the
main, though it may undergo some increase, or lessening. Now, gifts come of
sarcumstances. Thus, if you put a man in a town, he gets town gifts; in a
settlement, settlement gifts; in a forest, gifts of the woods. A soldier has
soldierly gifts, and a missionary preaching gifts. All these increase and
strengthen, until they get to fortify natur', as it might be, and excuse a
thousand acts and idees. Still the creatur' is the same at the bottom; just
as a man who is clad in regimentals is the same as the man that is clad in
skins. The garments make a change to the eye, and some change in the conduct,
perhaps; but none in the man. Herein lies the apology for gifts; seein' that
you expect different conduct from one in silks and satins, from one in
homespun; though the Lord, who didn't make the dresses, but who made the
creatur's themselves, looks only at his own work. This isn't ra'al missionary
doctrine, but it's as near it, as a man of white colour need be. Ah's! me;
little did I think to be talking of such matters, to-day, but it's one of our
weaknesses never to know what will come to pass. Step into the Ark with me,
Judith, for a minute; I wish to convarse with you."
Judith complied with a willingness she could scarce conceal. Following the
hunter into the cabin, she took a seat on a stool, while the young man
brought Killdeer, the rifle she had given him, out of a corner, and placed
himself on another, with the weapon laid upon his knees. After turning the
piece round and round, and examining its lock and its breech with a sort of
affectionate assiduity, he laid it down and proceeded to the subject which
had induced him to desire the interview.
"I understand you, Judith, to say that you gave me this rifle," he said. "I
agreed to take it, because a young woman can have no particular use for fire-
arms. The we'pon has a great name, and it desarves it, and ought of right to
be carried by some known and sure hand, for the best repitation may be lost
by careless and thoughtless handling."
'Can it be in better hands than those in which it is now, Deerslayer. Thomas
Hutter seldom missed with it; with you it must turn out to be-"
"Sartain death!" interrupted the hunter, laughing. "I once know'd a beaver-
man that had a piece he called by that very name, but 'twas all boastfulness,
for I've seen Delawares that were as true with arrows, at a short range.
Howsever, I'll not deny my gifts-for this is a gift, Judith, and not natur'-
but, I'll not deny my gifts, and therefore allow that the rifle couldn't well
be in better hands than it is at present. But, how long will it be likely to
remain there? Atween us, the truth may be said, though I shouldn't like to
have it known to the Sarpent and Hist; but, to you the truth may be spoken,
since your feelin's will not be as likely to be tormented by it, as those of
them that have known me longer and better. How long am I like to own this
rifle or any other? That is a serious question for our thoughts to rest on,
and should that happen which is so likely to happen, Killdeer would be
without an owner."
Judith listened with apparent composure, though the conflict within came near
overpowering her. Appreciating the singular character of her companion,
however, she succeeded in appearing calm, though, had not his attention been
drawn exclusively to the rifle, a man of his keenness of observation could
scarce have failed to detect the agony of mind with which the girl had
hearkened to his words. Her great self-command, notwithstanding, enabled her
to pursue the subject in a way still to deceive him.
"What would you have me do with the weapon," she asked- "should that which
you seem to expect, take place?"
"That's just what I wanted to speak to you about, Judith; that's just it.
There's Chingachgook, now, though far from being parfect sartainty, with a
rifle-for few red skins ever get to be that- though far from being parfect
sartainty, he is respectable, and is coming on. Nevertheless, he is my
fri'nd, and all the better fri'nd, perhaps, because there never can be any
hard feelin's atween us, touchin' our gifts, his'n hein' red, and mine bein'
altogether white. Now, I should like to leave Killdeer to the Sarpent, should
any thing happen to keep me from doing credit and honor to your precious
gift, Judith."
"Leave it to whom you please, Deerslayer. The rifle is your own, to do with
as you please. Chingachgook shall have it, should you never return to claim
it, if that he your wish."
"Has Hetty been consulted in this matter?-Property goes from the parent to
the children, and not to one child, in partic'lar!"
"If you place your right on that of the law, Deerslayer, I fear none of us
can claim to be the owner. Thomas Hutter was no more the father of Esther,
than he was the father of Judith. Judith and Esther we are truly, having no
other name!"
"There may be law in that, but there's no great reason, gal. Accordin' to the
custom of families, the goods are your'n, and there's no one here to gainsay
it. If Hetty would only say that she is willing, my mind would be quite at
ease in the matter. It's true, Judith, that your sister has neither your
beauty, nor your wit; hut we should he the tenderest of the rights and
welfare of the most weak-minded."
The girl made no answer but placing herself at a window, she summoned her
sister to her side. When the question was put to Hetty, that simple-minded
and affectionate creature cheerfully assented to the proposal to confer on
Deerslayer a full right of ownership to the much-coveted rifle. The latter
now seemed perfectly happy, for the time being at least, and after again
examining and re-examining his prize, he expressed a determination to put its
merits to a practical test, before he left the spot. No boy could have been
more eager to exhibit the qualities of his trumpet, or his cross-how, than
this simple forester was to prove those of his rifle. Returning to the
platform, he first took the Delaware aside, and informed him that this
celebrated piece was to become his property, in the event of any thing
serious befalling himself.
"This is a new reason why you should he wary, Sarpent, and not run into any
oncalculated danger," the hunter added, "for, it will he a victory of itself,
to a tribe to own such a piece as this! The Mingos will turn green with envy,
and, what is more, they will not ventur' heedlessly near a village where it
is known to he kept. So, look well to it, Delaware, and remember that you've
now to watch over a thing that has all the valie of a creatur', without its
failin's. Hist may he, and should he precious to you, hut Killdeer will have
the love and veneration of your whole people."
"One rifle like another, Deerslayer," returned the Indian, in English, the
language used by the other, a little hurt at his friend's lowering his
betrothed to the level of a gun. "All kill; all wood and iron. Wife dear to
heart; rifle good to shoot."
"And what is a man in the woods without something to shoot with?-a miserable
trapper, or a forlorn broom and basket maker, at the best. Such a man may hoe
corn, and keep soul and body together, but he can never know the savory
morsels of venison, or tell a bear's ham from a hog's. Come, my fri'nd, such
another occasion may never offer ag'in, and I feel a strong craving for a
trial with this celebrated piece. You shall bring out your own rifle, and I
will just sight Killdeer in a careless way, in order that we may know a few
of its secret vartues."
As this proposition served to relieve the thoughts of the whole party, by
giving them a new direction, while it was likely to produce no unpleasant
results, every one was willing to enter into it; the girls bringing forth the
fire-arms with an alacrity, bordering on cheerfulness. Hutter's armory was
well supplied, possessing several rifles, all of which were habitually kept
loaded, in readiness to meet any sudden demand for their use. On the present
occasion, it only remained to freshen the primings, and each piece was in a
state for service. This was soon done, as all assisted in it, the females
being as expert in this part of the system of defence, as their male
companions.
"Now, Sarpent, we'll begin in a humble way, using Old Tom's commoners first,
and coming t6 your we'pon and Killdeer as the winding up observations," said
Deerslayer, delighted to he again, weapon in hand, ready to display his
skill. "Here's birds in abundance, some in, and some over the lake, and they
keep at just a good range, hovering round the hut. Speak your mind, Delaware,
and p'int out the creatur' you wish to alarm. Here's a diver nearest in, off
to the eastward, and that's a creatur' that buries itself at the flash, and
will he like enough to try both piece and powder."
Chingachgook was a man of few words. No sooner was the bird pointed out to
him, than he took his aim and fired. The duck dove at the flash, as had been
expected, and the bullet skipped harmlessly along the surface of the lake,
first striking the water within a few inches of the spot where the bird had
so lately swam. Deerslayer laughed, cordially and naturally, hut, at the same
time, he threw himself into an attitude of preparation, and stood keenly
watching the sheet of placid water. Presently a dark spot appeared, and then
the duck arose to breathe, and shook its wings. While in this act, a bullet
passed directly through its breast, actually turning it over lifeless, on its
hack. At the next moment, Deerslayer stood with the breech of his rifle on
the platform, as tranquil as if nothing had happened, though laughing in his
own peculiar manner.
"There's no great trial of the pieces in that!" he said, as if anxious to
prevent a false impression of his own merir. "No, that proof's neither for,
nor ag'in the rifles, seeing it was all quickness of hand and eye. I took the
bird at a disadvantage, or he might have got under, again, afore the bullet
reached him. But the Sarpent is too wise to mind such tricks, having long
been used to them. Do you remember the time, chief, when you thought yourself
sartain of the wild-goose, and I took him out of your very eyes, as it might
be with a little smoke! Howsever, such things pass for nothing. atween
fri'nds, and young folk will have their fun, Judith. Ay; here's just the bird
we want, for it's as good for the fire, as it is for the aim, and nothing
should be lost that can be turned to just account. There, further north,
Delaware."
The latter looked in the required direction, and he soon saw a large black
duck floating in stately repose on the water. At that distant day, when so
few men were present to derange the harmony of the wilderness, all the
smaller lakes with which the interior of New York so abounds, were places of
resort for the migratory aquatic birds, and this sheet like the others had
once been much frequented by all the varieties of the duck, by the goose, the
gull, and the loon. On the appearance of Hutter, the spot was comparatively
deserted for other sheets, more retired and remote, though some of each
species continued to resort thither, as indeed they do to the present hour.
At that instant, a hundred birds were visible from the castle, sleeping on
the water, or laying their feathers in the limpid element, though no other
offered so favorable a mark as that Deerslayer had just pointed out to his
friend. Chingachgook as usual, spared his words, and proceeded to execution.
This time his aim was more careful than before, and his success in
proportion. The bird had a wing crippled, and fluttered along the water
screaming, materially increasing its distance from its enemies.
"That bird must be put out of pain," exclaimed Deerslayer, the moment the
animal endeavored to rise on the wing, "and this is the rifle and the eye to
do it."
The duck was still floundering along, when the fatal bullet overtook it,
severing the head from the neck as neatly as if it had been done with an axe.
Hist had indulged in a low cry of delight at the success of the young Indian,
but now she affected to frown and resent the greater skill of his friend. The
chief, on the contrary, uttered the usual exclamation of pleasure, and his
smile proved how much he admired, and how little he envied.
"Never mind the gal, Sarpent, never mind Hist's feelin's, which will neither
choke, nor drown, slay nor beautify," said Deerslayer, laughing. "'Tis
nat'ral for women to enter into their hushand's victories and defeats, and
you are as good as man and wife, so far as prejudyce and fri'ndship go. Here
is a hird over head that will put the pieces, to the proof. I challenge you
to an upward aim, with a flying target. That's a ra'al proof, and one that
needs sartain rifles, as well as sartain eyes."
The species of eagle that frequents the water, and lives on fish, was also
present, and one was hovering at a considerable height above the hut,
greedily watching for an opportunity to make a swoop; its hungry young
elevating their heads from a nest that was in sight, in the naked summit of a
dead pine. Chingachgook silently turned a new piece against this bird, and
after carefully watching his time, fired. A wider circuit than common,
denoted that the messenger had passed through the air, at no great distance
from the bird though it missed its object. Deerslayer, whose aim was not more
true than it was quick, fired as soon as it was certain his friend had
missed, and the deep swoop that followed left it momentarily doubtful whether
the eagle was hit or not. The marksman himself, however, proclaimed his own
want of success, calling on his friend to seize another rifle, for he saw
signs on the part of the bird of an intention to quit the spot.
"I made him wink, Sarpent, I do think his feathers were ruffled, but no blood
has yet been drawn, nor is that old piece fit for so nice and quick a sight.
Quick, Delaware, you've now a better rifle, and, Judith, bring out Killdeer,
for this is the occasion to try his merits, if he has 'em."
A general movement followed, each of the competitors got ready, and the girls
stood in eager expectation of the result. The eagle had made a wide circuit
after his low swoop, and fanning his way upward, once more hovered nearly
over the hut, at a distance even greater than before. Chingachgook gazed at
him, and then expressed his opinion of the impossibility of striking a bird
at that great height, and while he was so nearly perpendicular, as to the
range. But a low murmur from Hist, produced a sudden impulse and he fired.
The result showed how well he had calculated, the eagle not even varying his
flight, sailing round and round in his airy circle, and looking down, as if
in contempt, at his foes.
"Now, Judith," cried Deerslayer, laughing, with glistening and delighted
eyes, "we'll see if Killdeer isn't Killeagle, too! Give me room Sarpent, and
watch the reason of the aim, for by reason any thing may be l'arned."
A careful sight followed, and was repeated again and again, the bird
continuing to rise higher and higher. Then followed the flash and the report.
The swift messenger sped upward, and, at the next instant, the bird turned on
its side, and came swooping down, now struggling with one wing and then with
the other, sometimes whirling in a circuit, next fanning desperately as if
conscious of its injury, until, having described several complete circles
around the spot, it fell heavily into the end of the Ark. On examining the
body, it was found that the bullet had pierced it about half way between one
of its wings and the breast-bone.
Chapter XXVI.
"Upon two stony tables, spread before her,
She lean'd her bosom, more than stony hard,
There slept th' impartial judge, and strict restorer
Of wrong, or right, with pain or with reward;
There hung the score of all our debts, the card
Where good, and bad, and life, and death, were painted;
Was never heart of mortal so untainted,
But when the roll was read, with thousand terrors fainted."
Giles Fletcher, Christ's Victory in Heaven, lxv.
We've done an unthoughtful thing, Sarpent-yes, Judith, we've done an
unthoughtful thing in taking life with an object no better than vanity!"
exclaimed Deerslayer, when the Delaware held up the enormous bird, by its
wings, and exhibited the dying eyes riveted on its enemies with the gaze that
the helpless ever fasten on their destroyers. "Twas more becomin' two boys to
gratify their feelin's, in this onthoughtful manner, than two warriors on a
war path, even though it be their first. Ah's! me; well, as a punishment I'll
quit you at once, and when I find myself alone with them bloody-minded
Mingos, it's more than like I'll have occasion to remember that life is
sweet, even to the beasts of the woods and the fowls of the air. There,
Judith; there's Kildeer; take him back, ag'in, and keep him for some hand
that's more desarving to own such a piece."
"I know of none as deserving as your own, Deerslayer," answered the girl in
haste; "none but yours shall keep the rifle."
"If it depended on skill, you might be right enough, gal, but we should know
when to use fire-arms, as well as how to use 'em. I have n't l'arnt the first
duty yet, it seems; so keep the piece till I have. The sight of a dyin' and
distressed creatur', even though it be only a bird, brings wholesome thoughts
to a man who don't know how soon his own time may come, and who is pretty
sartain that it will come afore the sun sets; I'd give back all my vain
feelin's, and rej'icin's in hand and eye, if that poor eagle was only on its
nest ag'in, with its young, praisin' the Lord, for any thing that we can know
about the matter, for health and strength!"
The listeners were confounded with this proof of sudden repentance in the
hunter, and that too for an indulgence so very common, that men seldom stop
to weigh its consequences, or the physical suffering it may bring on the
unoffending and helpless. The Delaware understood what was said, though he
scarce understood the feelings which had prompted the words, and by way of
disposing of the difficulty, he drew his keen knife, and severed the head of
the sufferer from its body.
"What a thing is power!" continued the hunter, 'and what a thing it is, to
have it, and not to know how to use it. It's no wonder, Judith, that the
great so often fail of their duties, when even the little and the humble find
it so hard to do what's right, and not to do what's wrong. Then, how one evil
act brings others a'ter it! Now, wasn't it for this furlough of mine, which
must soon take me back to the Mingos, I'd find this creatur's nest, if I
travelled the woods a forthnight- though an eagle's nest is soon found by
them that understands the bird's natur', - but I'd travel a fortnight rather
than not find it, just to put the young, too, out of their pain."
"I'm glad to hear you say this, Deerslayer," observed Hetty, "and God will be
more apt to remember your sorrow for what you've done, than the wickedness
itself. I thought how wicked it was to kill harmless birds, while you were
shooting, and meant to tell you so; but, I do n'm know how it happened, - I
was so curious to see if you could hit an eagle at so great a height, that I
forgot altogether to speak, 'till the mischief was done."
"That's it; that's just it, my good Hetty. We can all see our faults and
mistakes when it's too late to help them! Howsever I'm glad you did n't
speak, for I do n't think a word or two would have stopped me, just at that
moment, and so the sin stands in its nakedness, and not aggravated by any
unheeded calls to forbear. Well, well, bitter thoughts are hard to be borne
at all times, hut there's times when they're harder than at others."
Little did Deerslayer know, while thus indulging in feelings that were
natural to the man, and so strictly in accordance with his own
unsophisticated and just principles, that, in the course of the inscrutable
providence, which so uniformly and yet so mysteriously covers all events with
its mantle, the very fault he was disposed so severely to censure, was to be
made the means of determining his own earthly fate. The mode and the moment
in which he was to feel the influence of this interference, it would be
premature to relate, but both will appear in the course of the succeeding
chapters. As for the young man, he now slowly left the Ark, like one
sorrowing for his misdeeds, and seated himself in silence on the platform. By
this time the sun had ascended to some height, and its appearance, taken in
connection with his present feelings, induced him to prepare to depart. The
Delaware got the canoe ready for his friend, as soon as apprised of his
intention, while Hist busied herself in making the few arrangements that were
thought necessary to his comfort. All this was done without ostentation, but
in a way that left Deerslayer fully acquainted with, and equally disposed to
appreciate, the motive. When all was ready, both returned to the side of
Judith and Hetty, neither of whom had moved from the spot where the young
hunter sat.
'The best fri'nds must often part," the last began, when he saw the whole
party grouped around him-"yes, fri'ndship can't alter the ways of Providence,
and let our feelin's be as they may, we must part. I've often thought there's
moments when our words dwell longer on the mind than common, and when advice
is remembered, just because the mouth that gives it, is n't likely to give it
ag'in. No one knows what will happen in this world, and therefore it may be
well, when fri'nds separate under a likelihood that the parting may be long,
to say a few words in kindness, as a sort of keepsakes. If all but one will
go into the Ark, I'll talk to each in turn, and what is more, I'll listen to
what you may have to say back ag'in, for it's a poor counsellor that won't
take as well as give."
As the meaning of the speaker was understood, the two Indians immediately
withdrew as desired, leaving the sisters, however, still standing at the
young mans side. A look of Deerslayer's induced Judith to explain.
"You can advise Hetty as you land," she said hastily, 'for I intend that she
shall accompany you to the shore."
"Is this wise, Judith? It's true, that under common sarcumstances a feeble-
mind is a great protection among redskins, but when their feelin's are up,
and they're bent on revenge, it's hard to say what may come to pass. Besides-
-"
"What were you about to say, Deerslayer?" asked Judith, whose gentleness of
voice and manner amounted nearly to tenderness, though she struggled hard to
keep her emotions and apprehensions in subjection.
"Why, simply that there are sights and doin's that one even as little gifted
with reason and memory as Hetty here, might better not witness. So, Judith,
you would do well to let me land alone, and to keep your sister back."
"Never fear for me, Deerslayer," put in Hetty, who comprehended enough of the
discourse to know its general drift, "I'm feeble minded, and that they say is
an excuse for going any where; and what that won't excuse, will be overlooked
on account of the bible I always carry. It is wonderful, Judith, how all
sorts of men; the trappers as well as the hunters; red-men as well as white;
Mingos as well as Delawares do reverence and fear the bible!"
"I think you have not the least ground to fear any injury, Hetty," answered
the sister, 'and therefore I shall insist on your going to the Huron camp
with our friend. Your being there can do no harm, not even to yourself, and
may do great good to Deerslayer."
"This is not a moment, Judith, to dispute, and so have the matter your own
way," returned the young man. "Get yourself ready, Hetty, and go into the
canoe, for I've a few parting words to say to your sister, which can do you
no good."
Judith, and her companion, continued silent, until Hetty had so far complied,
as to leave them alone, when Deerslayer took up the subject, as if it had
been interrupted by some ordinary occurrence, and in a very matter of fact
way.
"Words spoken at parting, and which may be the last we ever hear from a
fri'nd are not soon forgotten," he repeated, "and so Judith, I intend to
speak to you like a brother, seem' I'm not old enough to be your father. In
the first place, I wish to caution you ag'in your inimies, of which two may
be said to ha'nt your very footsteps, and to beset your ways. The first is
oncommon good-looks, which is as dangerous a foe to some young women, as a
whole tribe of Mingos could prove, and which calls for great watchfulness-
not to admire and praise- but to distrust and sarcumvent. Yes, good looks may
be sarcumvented, and fairly outwitted, too. In order to do this you've only
to remember that they melt like the snows, and, when once gone, they never
come back ag'in. The seasons come and go, Judith, and if we have winter, with
storms and frosts, and spring with chills and leafless trees, we have summer
with its sun and glorious skies, and fall with its fruits, and a garment
thrown over the forest, that no beauty of the town could rummage out of all
the shops in America. 'Arth is in an etarnal round, the goodness of God,
bringing back the pleasant when we've had enough of the onpleasant. But it's
not so with good looks. They are lent for a short time in youth, to be used
and not abused, and, as I never met with a young woman to whom providence has
been as bountiful, as it has to you, Judith, in this partic'lar, I warn you,
as it might be with my dyin' breath, to beware of the inimy-fri'nd, or inimy,
as we deal with the gift."
It was so grateful to Judith to hear these unequivocal admissions of her
personal charms, that much would have been forgiven to the man, who made
them, let him be who he might. But, at that moment, and from a far better
feeling, it would not have been easy for Deerslayer seriously to offend her,
and she listened with a patience, which, had it been foretold only a week
earlier, it would have excited her indignation to hear.
'I understand your meaning, Deerslayer," returned the girl, with a meekness
and humility that a little surprised her listener, "and hope to be able to
profit by it. But, you have mentioned only one of the enemies I have to fear;
who, or what is the other."
"The other is givin' way afore your own good sense and judgment, I find,
Judith; yes, he's not as dangerous as I supposed. Howsever, havin' opened the
subject, it will be as well to end it honestly. The first inimy you have to
be watchful of, as I've already told you, Judith, is oncommon good-looks, and
the next is an oncommon knowledge of the sarcumstance. If the first is bad,
the last does n't, in any way, mend the matter, so far as safety and peace of
mind are consarned."
How much longer the young man would have gone on in his simple and
unsuspecting, but well intentioned manner, it might not be easy to say, had
he not been interrupted by his listener's bursting into tears, and giving way
to an outbreak of feeling, which was so much the more violent from the fact
that it had been with so much difficulty suppressed. At first her sobs were
so violent and uncontrollable that Deerslayer was a little appalled, and he
was abundantly repentant from the instant that he discovered how much greater
was the effect produced by his words, than he had anticipated. Even the
austere and exacting are usually appeased by the signs of contrition, but the
nature of Deerslayer did not require proofs of intense feelings so strong in
order to bring him down to a level with the regrets felt by the girl herself.
He arose, as if an adder had stung him, and the accents of the mother that
soothes her child were scarcely more gentle and winning than the tones of his
voice, as he now expressed his contrition at having gone so far.
"It was well meant, Judith," he said, "but it was not intended to hurt your
feelin's so much. I have overdone the advice, I see; yes, I've overdone it,
and I crave your pardon for the same. Fri'ndship's an awful thing! Sometimes
it chides us for not having done enough; and then, ag'in it speaks in strong
words for havin' done too much. Howsever, I acknowledge I've overdone the
matter, and as I've a ra'al and strong regard for you, I rej'ice to say it,
inasmuch as it proves how much better you are, than my own vanity and
consaits had made you out to be."
Judith now removed her hands from her face, her tears had ceased, and she
unveiled a countenance so winning with the smile which rendered it even
radiant, that the young man gazed at her, for a moment, with speechless
delight.
'Say no more, Deerslayer," she hastily interposed; "it pains me to hear you
find fault with yourself. I know my own weakness, all the better, now I see
that you have discovered it; the lesson, bitter as I have found it for a
moment, shall not be forgotten. We will not talk any longer, of these things,
for I do not feel myself brave enough for the undertaking, and I should not
like the Delaware, or Hist, or even Hetty, to notice my weakness. Farewell,
Deerslayer; may God bless and protect you as your honest heart deserves
blessings and protection, and as I must think he will."
Judith had so far regained the superiority that properly belonged to her
better education, high spirit, and surpassing personal advantages, as to
preserve the ascendancy she had thus accidentally obtained, and effectually
prevented any return to the subject that was as singularly interrupted, as it
had been singularly introduced. The young man permitted her to have every
thing her own way, and when she pressed his hard hand in both her own, he
made no resistance, but submitted to the homage as quietly, and with quite as
matter of course a manner, as a sovereign would have received a similar
tribute from a subject, or the mistress from her suitor. Feeling had flushed
the face and illuminated the whole countenance of the girl, and her beauty
was never more resplendant than when she cast a parting glance at the youth.
That glance was filled with anxiety, interest and gentle pity. At the next
instant, she darted into the hut and was seen no more, though she spoke to
Hist from a window, to inform her that their friend expected her appearance.
"You know enough of red skin natur', and red skin usages, Wah-ta!-Wah, to see
the condition I am in on account of this furlough," commenced the hunter in
Delaware, as soon as the patient and submissive girl of that people had moved
quietly to his side; "you will therefore best onderstand how onlikely I am
ever to talk with you ag'in. I've but little to say; but that little comes
from long livin' among your people, and from havin' obsarved and noted their
usages. The life of a woman is hard at the best, but I must own, though I'm
not opinionated in favor of my own colour, that it is harder among the red
men than it is among the pale faces. This is a p'int on which christians may
well boast, if boasting can be set down for christianity in any manner or
form, which I rather think it cannot. Howsever, all women have their trials.
Red women have their'n in what I should call the nat'ral way, while white
women take 'em innoculated like. Bear your burthen, Hist, becomingly, and
remember if it be a little toilsome, how much lighter it is than that of most
Indian women. I know the Sarpent well - what I call cordially - and he will
never be a tyrant to any thing he loves, though he will expect to be treated
himself like a Mohican Chief. There will be cloudy days in your lodge I
suppose, for they happen under all usages, and among all people, but, by
keepin' the windows of the heart open there will always be room for the sun-
shine to enter. You come of a great stock yourself, and so does Chingachgook.
It's not very likely that either will ever forget the sarcumstance and do any
thing to disgrace your forefathers. Nevertheless, likin' is a tender plant,
and never thrives long when watered with tears. Let the 'arth around your
married happiness be moistened by the dews of kindness."
"My pale brother is very wise; Wah will keep in her mind all that his wisdom
tells her."
"That's judicious and womanly, Hist. Care in listening, and stout-heartedness
in holding to good counsel, is a wife's great protection. And, now, ask the
Sarpent to come and speak with me, for a moment, and carry away with you all
my best wishes and prayers. I shall think of you Hist, and of your intended
husband, let what may come to pass, and always wish you well, here and
hereafter, whether the last is to be according to Indian idees, or christian
doctrines."
Hist shed no tear at parting. She was sustained by the high resolution of one
who had decided on her course, but her dark eyes were luminous with the
feelings that glowed within, and her pretty countenance beamed with an
expression of determination that was in marked and singular contrast to its
ordinary gentleness. It was but a minute ere the Delaware advanced to the
side of his friend with the light, noiseless tread of an Indian.
"Come, this-a-way, Sarpent, here more out of sight of the women," commenced
the Deerslayer, "for I've several things to say that must n't so much as be
suspected, much less overheard. You know too well the natur' of furloughs and
Mingos to have any doubts or misgivin's consarnin' what is like to happen,
when I get back to the camp. On them two p'ints therefore, a few words will
go a great way. In the first place, chief, I wish to say a little about Hist,
and the manner in which you red men treat your wives. I suppose it's
accordin' to the gifts of your people that the women should work, and the men
hunt; but there's such a thing as moderation in all matters. As for huntin',
I see no good reason why any limits need be set to that, but Hist comes of
too good a stock to toil like a common drudge. One of your means and standin'
need never want for corn, or potatoes, or any thing that the fields yield;
therefore, I hope the hoe will never be put into the hands of any wife of
yourn. You know I am not quite a beggar, and all I own, whether in
ammunition, skins, arms, or calicoes, I give to Hist, should I not come back
to claim them by the end of the season. This will set the maiden up, and will
buy labor for her, for a long time to come. I suppose I need n't tell you to
love the young woman, for that you do already, and whomsoever the man ra'ally
loves, he'll be likely enough to cherish. Nevertheless, it can do no harm to
say that kind words never rankle, while bitter words do. I know you're a man,
Sarpent, that is less apt to talk in his own lodge, than to speak at the
Council Fire; but forgetful moments may overtake us all, and the practyse of
kind doin', and kind talkin', is a wonderful advantage in keepin' peace in a
cabin, as well as on a hunt."
"My ears are open," returned the Delaware gravely; "the words of my brother
have entered so far that they never can fall out again. They are like rings,
that have no end, and cannot drop. Let him speak on; the song of the wren and
the voice of a friend never tire."
"I will speak a little longer, chief, but you will excuse it for the sake of
old companionship, should I now talk about myself. If the worst comes to the
worst, it's not likely there'll be much left of me but ashes, so a grave
would be useless, and a sort of vanity. On that score I'm no way partic'lar,
though it might be well enough to take a look at the remains of the pile, and
should any bones, or pieces be found, 'twould be more decent to gather them
together, and bury them, than to let them lie for the wolves to gnaw at, and
howl over. These matters can make no great difference in the mind, but men of
white blood and christian feelin's have rather a gift for graves."
"It shall be done as my brother says," returned the Indian, gravely. "If his
mind is full, let him empty it in the bosom of a friend."
"I thank you, Sarpent; my mind's easy enough; yes, it's tolerable easy. Idees
will come uppermost that I'm not apt to think about in common, it's true, but
by striving ag'in some, and lettin' other some out, all will come right, in
the long run. There's one thing, howsever, chief, that does seem to me to be
onreasonable, and ag'in natur', though the missionaries say it's true, and
bein' of my religion and colour I feel bound to believe them. They say an
Injin may torment and tortur' the body to his heart's content, and scalp, and
cut, and tear, and burn, and consume all his inventions and deviltries, until
nothin' is left but ashes, and they shall be scattered to the four winds of
heaven, yet when the trumpet of God shall sound, all will come together
ag'in, and the man will stand forth in his flesh, the same creatur' as to
looks, if not as to feelin's, that he was afore he was harmed!"
"The missionaries are good men - mean well," returned the Delaware
courteously; "they are not great medicines. They think all they say,
Deerslayer; that is no reason why warriors and orators should be all ears.
When Chingachgook shall see the father of Tamenund standing in his scalp, and
paint, and war lock, then will he believe the missionaries."
"Seem' is believin', of a sartainty; ahs! me-and some of us may see these
things sooner than we thought. I comprehind your meanin' about Tamenund's
father, Sarpent, and the idee's a close idee. Tamenund is now an elderly man,
say eighty every day of it, and his father was scalped, and tormented, and
burnt, when the present prophet was a youngster. Yes, if one could see that
come to pass, there would n't be much difficulty in yieldin' faith to all
that the missionaries say. Howsever, I am not ag'in the opinion now, for you
must know, Sarpent, that the great principle of christianity is to believe
without seeing, and a man should always act up to his religion and
principles, let them be what they may."
"That is strange for a wise nation!" said the Delaware with emphasis. "The
red man looks hard, that he may see and understand."
"Yes, that's plauserble, and is agreeable to mortal pride, but it's not as
deep as it seems. If we could understand all we see, Sarpent there might be
not only sense, but safety, in refusin' to give faith to any one thing that
we might find oncomperhensible; but when there's so many things, about which,
it may be said, we know nothin' at all, why, there's little use, and no
reason, in bein' difficult touchin' any one in partic'lar. For my part,
Delaware, all my thoughts have n't been on the game, when outlyin' in the
hunts and scoutin's, of our youth. Many's the hour I've passed, pleasantly
enough too, in what is tarmed conterplation by my people. On such occasions
the mind is actyve, though the body seems lazy and listless. An open spot on
a mountain side, where a wide look can be had at the heavens and the 'arth,
is a most judicious place for a man to get a just idee of the power of the
Manitou, and of his own littleness. At such times, there is n't any great
disposition to find fault with little difficulties, in the way of
comperhension, as there are so many big ones to hide them. Believin' comes
easy enough to me, at such times, and, if the Lord made man first out
of'arth, as they tell me it is written in the bible; then turns him into
dust, at death; I see no great difficulty in the way to bringin' him back in
the body, though ashes be the only substance left. These things lie beyond
our understandin', though they may and do lie so close to our feelin's. But,
of all the doctrines, Sarpent, that which disturbs me, and disconsarts my
mind the most, is the one which teaches us to think that a pale face goes to
one heaven, and a red skin to another; it may separate in death, them which
lived much together, and loved each other well, in life!"
"Do the missionaries teach their white brethren to think it is so?" demanded
the Indian, with serious earnestness. 'The Delawares believe that good men
and brave warriors will hunt together in the same pleasant woods, let them
belong to whatever tribe they may; that all the unjust Indians and cowards,
will have to sneak in with the dogs and the wolves, to get venison for their
lodges."
"Tis wonderful how many consaits mankind have consarnin' happiness and
misery, here after!" exclaimed the hunter, borne away by the power of his own
thoughts. 'Some believe in burnin's and flames, and some think punishment is
to eat with the wolves and dogs. Then, ag'in, some fancy heaven to be only
the carryin' out of their own 'arthly longin's, while others fancy it all
gold and shinin' lights! Well, I've an idee of my own, in that matter, which
is just this, Sarpent. Whenever I've done wrong, I've ginirally found 'twas
owin' to some blindness of the mind, which hid the right from view, and when
sight has returned, then has come sorrow and repentance. Now, I consait that,
after death, when the body is laid aside or, if used at all, is purified and
without its longin's, the spirit sees all things in their ra'al lights and
never becomes blind to truth and justice. Such bein' the case, all that has
been done in life, is beheld as plainly as the sun is seen at noon; the good
brings joy, while the evil brings sorrow. There's nothin' onreasonable in
that, but it's agreeable to every man's exper'ence."
"I thought the pale faces believed all men were wicked; who then could ever
find the white man's heaven?"
"That's ingen'ous, but it falls short of the missionary teachin's. You'll be
christianized one day, I make no doubt, and then 'twill all come plain
enough. You must know, Sarpent, that there's been a great deed of salvation
done, that, by God's help, enables all men to find a pardon for their
wickednesses, and that is the essence of the white man's religion. I can't
stop to talk this matter over with you any longer, for Hetty's in the canoe,
and the furlough takes me away, but the time will come I hope, when you'll
feel these things; for, after all, they must be felt rather than reasoned
about. Ah's! me; well, Delaware, there's my hand; you know it's that of a
fri'nd, and will shake it as such, though it never has done you one half the
good its owner wishes it had."
The Indian took the offered hand, and returned its pressure warmly. Then
falling back on his acquired stoicism of manner, which so many mistake for
constitutional indifference, he drew up in reserve, and prepared to part from
his friend with dignity. Deerslayer, however, was more natural, nor would he
have at all cared about giving way to his feelings, had not the recent
conduct and language of Judith given him some secret, though ill defined
apprehensions of a scene. He was too humble to imagine the truth concerning
the actual feelings of that beautiful girl, while he was too observant not to
have noted the struggle she had maintained with herself, and which had so
often led her to the very verge of discovery. That something extraordinary
was concealed in her breast, he thought obvious enough, and, through a
sentiment of manly delicacy that would have done credit to the highest human
refinement, he shrunk from any exposure of her secret that might subsequently
cause regret to the girl, herself. He, therefore, determined to depart, now,
and that without any further manifestations of feeling either from him, or
from others.
"God bless you! Sarpent-God bless you!" cried the hunter, as the canoe left
the side of the platform. "Your Manitou and my God, only know when and where
we shall meet agin; I shall count it a great blessing, and a full reward for
any little good I may have done on 'art, if we shall be permitted to know
each other, and to consort together, hereafter, as we have so long done in
these pleasant woods afore us!"
Chingachgook waved his hand. Drawing the light blanket he wore over his head,
as a Roman would conceal his grief in his robes, he slowly withdrew into the
Ark, in order to indulge his sorrow and his musings, alone. Deerslayer did
not speak again, until the canoe was half-way to the shore. Then he suddenly
ceased paddling, at an interruption that came from the mild, musical voice of
Hetty.
"Why do you go back to the Hurons, Deerslayer?" demanded the girl. "They say
I am feeble-minded, and such they never harm, but you have as much sense as
Hurry Harry; and more too, Judith thinks, though I don't see how that can
well be."
"Ah! Hetty, afore we land I must convarse a little with you child, and that
too on matters touching your own welfare, principally. Stop paddling-or,
rather, that the Mingos need n't think we are plotting and contriving, and so
treat us accordingly, just dip your paddle lightly, and give the canoe a
little motion and no more. That's just the idee and the movement; I see
you're ready enough at an appearance, and might be made useful at a
sarcumvention if it was lawful now to use one- that's just the idee and the
movement! Ah's! me. Desait and a false tongue are evil things, and altogether
onbecoming our colour, Hetty, but it is a pleasure and a satisfaction to
outdo the contrivances of a red-skin in the strife of lawful warfare. My path
has been short, and is like soon to have an end, but I can see that the
wanderings of a warrior ar n't altogether among brambles and difficulties.
There's a bright side to a war-path, as well as to most other things, if
we'll only have the wisdom to see it, and the ginerosity to own it."
"And why should your war path, as you call it, come so near to an end,
Deerslayer?"
"Because, my good girl, my furlough comes so near to an end. They're likely
to have pretty much the same tarmination, as regards time, one following on
the heels of the other, as a matter of course."
"I don't understand your meaning, Deerslayer-" returned the girl, looking a
little bewildered. "Mother always said peopIe ought to speak more plainly to
me than to most other persons, because I'm feeble-minded. Those that are
feeble minded, don't understand as easily, as those that have sense."
"Well then, Hetty, the simple truth is this. You know that I'm now a captyve
to the Hurons, and captyves can't do, in all things, as they please-"
"But how can you be a captive," eagerly interrupted the girl-"when you are
out here on the lake, in father's best canoe, and the Indians are in the
woods with no canoe at all? That can't be true, Deerslayer!"
"I wish with all my heart and soul, Hetty, that you was right, and that I was
wrong, instead of your bein' all wrong, and I bein' only too near the truth.
Free as I seem to your eyes, gal, I'm bound hand and foot in ra'ality."
"Well it is a great misfortune not to have sense! Now, I can't see, or
understand that you are a captive, or bound in any manner. If you are bound,
with what are your hands and feet fastened?"
"With a furlough, gal; that's a thong that binds tighter than any chain. One
may be broken, but the other can't. Ropes and chains allow of knives, and
desait, and contrivances; but a furlough can be neither cut, slipped nor
sarcumvented."
"What sort of a thing is a furlough, then, if it be stronger than hemp or
iron? I never saw a furlough."
"I hope you may never feel one, gal; the tie is altogether in the feelin's,
in these matters, and therefore is to be felt and not seen. You can
understand what is is to give a promise, I dare to say, good little Hetty?"
"Certainly. A promise is to say you will do a thing, and that binds you to be
as good as your word. Mother always kept her promises to me, and then she
said it would be wicked if I did n't keep my promises to her, and to every
body else."
"You have had a good mother, in some matters, child, whatever she may have
been in other some. That is a promise, and as you say it must be kept. Now, I
fell into the hands of the Mingos last night, and they let me come off to see
my fri'nds and send messages in to my own colour, if any such feel consarn on
my account, on condition that I shall be back, when the sun is up to-day, and
take whatever their revenge and hatred can contrive, in the way of torments,
in satisfaction for
the life of a warrior that fell by my rifle, as well as for that of the young
woman shot by Hurry, and other disapp'intments met with on and about this
lake. What is called a promise atween mother and darter, or even atween
strangers in the settlements is called a furlough when given by one soldier
to another, on a warpath. And now I suppose you understand my situation,
Hetty."
The girl made no answer for some time, but she ceased paddling altogether, as
if the novel idea distracted her mind too much to admit of other employment.
Then she resumed the dialogue earnestly and with solicitude.
"Do you think the Hurons will have the heart to do what you say, Deerslayer?"
she asked. "I have found them kind and harmless."
"That's true enough as consarns one like you, Hetty, but it's a very
different affair, when it comes to an open inimy, and he too the owner of a
pretty sartain rifle. I don't say that they bear me special malice on account
of any expl'ites already performed, for that would be bragging, as it might
be, on the varge of the grave, but it's no vanity to believe that they know
one of their bravest and cunnin'est chiefs fell by my hands. Such bein' the
case, the tribe would reproach them if they failed to send the spirit of a
pale face to keep the company of the spirit of their red brother; always
supposin' that he can catch it. I look for no marcy, Hetty, at their hands;
and my principal sorrow is that such a calamity should befal me on my first
war-path: that it would come sooner or later, every soldier counts on and
expects.
"The Hurons shall not harm you, Deerslayer," cried the girl, much excited-
"Tis wicked as well as cruel; I have the bible, here, to tell them so. Do you
think I would stand by and see you tormented?"
"I hope not, my good Hetty, I hope not; and, therefore, when the moment
comes, I expect you will move off, and not be a witness of what you can't
help, while it would grieve you. But, I have n't stopped the paddles to talk
of my own afflictions and difficulties, but to speak a little plainly to you,
gal, consarnin' your own matters."
"What can you have to say to me, Deerslayer! Since mother died, few talk to
me of such things."
"So much the worse, poor gal; yes, 'tis so much the worse, for one of your
state of mind needs frequent talking to, in order to escape the snares and
desaits of this wicked world. You have n't forgotten Hurry Harry, gal, so
soon, I calculate?"
"I! - I forget Henry March!" exclaimed Hetty, starting. "Why should I forget
him, Deerslayer, when he is our friend, and only left us last night. Then,
the large bright star that mother loved so much to gaze at, was just over the
top of yonder tall pine on the mountain, as Hurry got into the canoe; and
when you landed him on the point, near the east bay, it was n't more than the
length of Judith's handsomest ribbon above it."
"And how can you know how long I was gone, or how far I went to land Hurry,
seem' you were not with us, and the distance was so great, to say nothing of
the night?"
"Oh! I know when it was, well enough," returned Hetty positively-"There's
more ways than one for counting time and distance. When the mind is engaged,
it is better than any clock. Mine is feeble, I know, but it goes true enough,
in all that touches poor Hurry Harry. Judith will never marry March,
Deerslayer."
"That's the p'int, Hetty; that's the very p'int I want to come to. I suppose
you know, that it's nat'ral for young people to have kind feelin's for one
another, more especially when one happens to be a youth and t'other a maiden.
Now, one of your years and mind, gal, that has neither father nor mother, and
who lives in a wilderness frequented by hunters and trappers, needs be on her
guard against evils she little dreams of."
"What harm can it be to think well of a fellow creature," returned Hetty
simply, though the conscious blood was stealing to her cheeks in spite of a
spirit so pure that it scarce knew why it prompted the blush, "the bible
tells us to 'love them who despitefully use' us, and why should n't we like
them that do not."
"Ah! Hetty, the love of the missionaries is n't the sort of likin' I mean.
Answer me one thing, child; do you believe yourself to have mind enough to
become a wife, and a mother?"
"That's not a proper question to ask a young woman, Deerslayer, and I'll not
answer it," returned the girl, in a reproving manner-much as a parent rebukes
a child for an act of indiscretion. "If you have any thing to say about
Hurry, I'll hear that-but you must not speak evil of him; he is absent, and
'tis unkind to talk evil of the absent."
"Your mother has given you so many good lessons, Hetty, that my fears for
you, are not as great as they were. Nevertheless, a young woman without
parents, in your state of mind, and who is not without beauty, must always be
in danger in such a lawless region as this. I would say nothin' amiss of
Hurry, who, in the main, is not a bad man for one of his callin', but you
ought to know one thing, which it may not be altogether pleasant to tell you,
but which must be said. March has a desperate likin' for your sister Judith."
"Well, what of that? Every body admires Judith, she's so handsome, and Hurry
has told me, again and again, how much he wishes to marry her. But that will
never come to pass, for Judith don't like Hurry. She likes another, and talks
about him in her sleep; though you need not ask me who he is, for all the
gold in King George's crown, and all the jewels too, would n't tempt me to
tell you his name. If sisters can't keep each other's secrets, who can?"
"Sartainly, I do not wish you to tell me, Hetty, nor would it be any
advantage to a dyin' man to know. What the tongue says when the mind's
asleep, neither head nor heart is answerable for."
"I wish I knew why judith talks so much in her sleep, about officers, and
honest hearts, and false tongues, but I suppose she don't like to tell me, as
I'm feeble minded. Is n't it odd, Deerslayer, that Judith don't like Hurry-
he, who is the bravest looking youth that ever comes upon the lake, and is as
handsome as she is herself. Father always said they would be the comeliest
couple in the country, though mother did n't fancy March any more thanj
Judith. There's no telling what will happen, they say, until things actually
come to pass."
"Ahs! me-well, poor Hetty, 'tis of no great use to talk to them that can't
understand you, and so I'll say no more about what I did wish to speak of,
though it lay heavy on my mind. Put the paddle in motion, ag'in, gal, and
well push for the shore, for the sun is nearly up, and my furlough is almost
out."
The canoe now glided ahead, holding its way towards the point where
Deerslayer well knew that his enemies expected him, and where he now began to
be afraid he might not arrive in season to redeem his plighted faith. Hetty
perceiving his impatience, without very clearly comprehending its cause,
however, seconded his efforts, in a way that soon rendered their timely
return no longer a matter of doubt. Then, and then only, did the young man
suffer his exertions to flag, and Hetty began, again, to prattle in her
simple confiding manner, though nothing farther was uttered that it may be
thought necessary to relate.
Chapter XXVII.
"Thou hast been busy, Death, this day, and yet
But half thy work is done! The gates of hell
Are thronged, yet twice ten thousand spirits more
Who from their warm and healthful tenements
Fear no divorce; must, ere the sun go down,
Enter the world of woe!"-
Southey, Roderick, the Last of the Goths, XXIV, i-6.
One experienced in the signs of the heavens, would have seen that the sun
wanted but two or three minutes of the zenith, when Deerslayer landed on the
point, where the Hurons were now encamped, nearly abreast of the castle. This
spot was similar to the one already described, with the exception that the
surface of the land was less broken, and less crowded with trees. Owing to
these two circumstances, it was all the better suited to the purpose for
which it had been selected, the space beneath the branches bearing some
resemblance to a densely wooded lawn. Favoured by its position and its
spring, it had been much resorted to by savages and hunters, and the natural
grasses had succeeded their fires, leaving an appearance of sward in places,
a very unusual accompaniment of the virgin forest. Nor was the margin of
water fringed with bushes, as on so much of its shore, but the eye penetrated
the woods immediately on reaching the strand, commanding nearly the whole
area of the projection.
If it was a point of honor with the Indian warrior to redeem his word, when
pledged to return and meet his death at a given hour, so was it a point of
characteristic pride to show no womanish impatience, but to reappear as
nearly as possible at the appointed moment. It was well not to exceed the
grace accorded by the generosity of the enemy, but it was better to meet it
to a minute. Something of this dramatic effect mingles with most of the
graver usages of the American aborigines, and no doubt, like the prevalence
of a similar feeling among people more sophisticated and refined, may be
referred to a principle of nature. We all love the wonderful, and when it
comes attended by chivalrous self-devotion and a rigid regard to honor, it
presents itself to our admiration in a shape doubly attractive. As respects
Deerslayer, though he took a pride in showing his white blood, by often
deviating from the usages of the red-men, he frequently dropped into their
customs, and oftener into their feelings, unconsciously to himself, in
consequence of having no other arbiters to appeal to, than their judgments
and tastes. On the present occasion, he would have abstained from betraying a
feverish haste by a too speedy return, since it would have contained a tacit
admission that the time asked for, was more than had been wanted; but, on the
other hand, had the idea occurred to him, he would have quickened his
movements a little, in order to avoid the dramatic appearance of returning at
the precise instant set as the utmost limit of his absence. Still, accident
had interfered to defeat the last intention, for when the young man put his
foot on the point, and advanced with a steady tread towards the group of
chiefs that was seated in grave array on a fallen tree, the oldest of their
number cast his eye upward, at an opening in the trees, and pointed out to
his companions the startling fact that the sun was just entering a space that
was known to mark the zenith. A common, but low exclamation of surprise and
admiration, escaped every mouth, and the grim warriors looked at each other,
some with envy and disappointment, some with astonishment at the precise
accuracy of their victim, and others with a more generous and liberal
feeling. The American Indian always deemed his moral victories the noblest,
prizing the groans and yielding of his victim under torture, more than the
trophy of his scalp; and the trophy itself more than his life. To slay, and
not to bring off the proof of victory, indeed, was scarcely deemed honorable,
even these rude and fierce tenants of the forest, like their more nurtured
brethren of the court and the camp, having set up for themselves imaginary
and arbitrary points of honor, to supplant the conclusions of the right, and
the decisions of reason.
The Hurons had been divided in their opinions concerning the probability of
their captive's return. Most among them, indeed, had not expected it possible
for a pale-face to come back voluntarily, and meet the known penalties of an
Indian torture; but a few of the seniors expected better things from one who
had already shown himself so singularly cool, brave and upright. The party
had come to its decision, however, less in the expectation of finding the
pledge redeemed, than in the hope of disgracing the Delawares by casting into
their teeth the delinquency of one bred in their villages. They would have
greatly preferred that Chingachgook should be their prisoner, and prove the
traitor, but the pale-face scion of the hated stock was no bad substitute,
for their purposes, failing in their designs against the ancient stem. With a
view to render their triumph as signal as possible, in the event of the
hour's passing without the reappearance of the hunter, all the warriors and
scouts of the party had been called in, and the whole band, men, women and
children, was now assembled at this single point, to be a witness of the
expected scene. As the castle was n plain view, and by no means distant, it
was easily watched y day-light, and, it being thought that its inmates were
now limited to Hurry, the Delaware and the two girls, no apprehensions were
felt, of their being able to escape unseen. A large raft having a breast-work
of logs, had been prepared, and was in actual readiness to be used against
either Ark or castle as occasion might require, so soon as the fate of
Deerslayer was determined, the seniors of the party having come to the
opinion that it was getting to be hazardous to delay their departure for
Canada, beyond the coming night. In short the band waited merely to dispose
of this single affair, ere it brought matters with those in the Castle to a
crisis, and prepared to commence its retreat towards the distant waters of
Ontario.
It was an imposing scene, into which Deerslayer now found himself advancing.
All the older warriors were seated on the trunk of the fallen tree, waiting
his approach with grave decorum. On the right, stood the young men, armed,
while left was occupied by the women and children. In the centre was an open
space of considerable extent, always canopied by yes, but from which the
underbrush, dead wood, and other obstacles had been carefully removed. The
more open area had probably been much used by former parties, for this was
place where the appearance of a sward was the most decided. e arches of the
woods, even at high noon, cast their sombre shadows on the spot, which the
brilliant rays of the sun that struggled through the leaves contributed to
mellow, and, if such an expression can be used, to illuminate. It was
probably from a similar scene that the mind of man first got its idea of the
effects of gothic tracery and churchly hues, this temple of nature producing
some such effect, so far as light and shadow were concerned, as the well-
known offspring of human invention.
As was not unusual among the tribes and wandering bands of the Aborigines,
two chiefs shared, in nearly equal degrees, the principal and primitive
authority that was wielded over these children of the forest. There were
several who might claim the distinction of being chief men, but the two in
question were so much superior to all the rest in influence, that, when they
agreed, no one disputed their mandates, and when they were divided the band
hesitated, like men who had lost their governing principle of action. It was
also in conformity with practice, perhaps we might add in conformity with
nature, that one of the chiefs was indebted to his mind for his influence,
whereas the other owed his distinction altogether to qualities that were
physical. One was a senior, well known for eloquence in debate, wisdom in
council, and prudence in measures; while his great competitor, if not his
rival, was a brave distinguished in war, notorious for ferocity, and
remarkable, in the way of intellect, for nothing but the cunning and
expedients of the war path. The first was Rivenoak, who has already been
introduced to the reader, while the last was called le Panth'ere, in the
language of the Canadas, or the Panther, to resort to the vernacular of the
English colonies. The appellation of the fighting chief was supposed to
indicate the qualities of the warrior, agreeably to a practice of the red
man's nomenclature, ferocity, cunning and treachery being, perhaps, the
distinctive features of his character. The title had been received from the
French, and was prized so much the more from that circumstance, the Indian
submitting profoundly to the greater intelligence of his pale face allies, in
most things of this nature. How well the sobriquet was merited, will be seen
in the sequel.
Rivenoak and the Panther sat side by side awaiting the approach of their
prisoner, as Deerslayer put his moccasined foot on the strand, nor did either
move, or utter a syllable, until the young man had advanced into the centre
of the area, and proclaimed his presence with his voice. This was done
firmly, though in the simple manner that marked the character of the
individual.
"Here I am, Mingos," he said, in the dialect of the Delawares, a language
that most present understood; "here I am, and there is the sun. One is not
more true to the laws of natur', than the other has proved true to his word.
I am your prisoner; do with me what you please. My business with man and
'arth is settled; nothing remains now but to meet the white man's God,
accordin' to a white man's duties and gifts."
A murmur of approbation escaped even the women at this address, and, for an
instant there was a strong and pretty general desire to adopt into the tribe,
one who owned so brave a spirit. Still there were dissenters from this wish,
among the principal of whom might be classed the Panther, and his sister, Ic
Sumach, so called from the number of her children, who was the widow of le
Loup Cervier, now known to have fallen by the hand of the captive. Native
ferocity held one in subjection, while the corroding passion of revenge
prevented the other from admitting any gentler feeling at the moment. Not so
with Rivenoak. This chief arose, stretched his arm before him, in a gesture
of courtesy, and paid his compliments with an ease and dignity that a prince
might have envied. As, in that band, his wisdom and eloquence were
confessedly without rivals, he knew that on himself would properly fall the
duty of first replying to the speech of the pale-face.
"Pale-face, you are honest," said the Huron orator. "My people are happy in
having captured a man, and not a skulking fox. We now know you; we shall
treat you like a brave. If you have slain one of our warriors, and helped to
kill others, you have a life of your own ready to give away in return. Some
of my young men thought that the blood of a pale face was too thin; that it
would refuse to run under the Huron knife. You will show them it is not so;
your heart is stout, as well as your body. It is a pleasure to make such a
prisoner; should my warriors say that the death of Ic Loup Cervier ought not
to be forgotten, and that he cannot travel towards the land of spirits alone,
that his enemy must be sent to overtake him, they will remember that he fell
by the hand of a brave, and send you after him with such signs of our
friendship as shall not make him ashamed to keep your company. I have spoken;
you know what I have said."
"True enough, Mingo, all true as the gospel," returned the simple minded
hunter, 'you have spoken, and I do know not only what you have said, but,
what is still more important, what you mean. I dare to say your warrior the
Lynx, was a stout-hearted brave, and worthy of your fri'ndship and respect,
but I do not feel unworthy to keep his company, without any passport from
your hands. Nevertheless, here I am, ready to receive judgment from your
council, if, indeed, the matter was not detarmined among you, afore I got
back."
"My old men would not sit in council over a pale face until they saw him
among them," answered Rivenoak, looking around him a little ironically; "they
said it would be like sitting in council over the winds; they go where they
will, and come back as they see fit, and not otherwise. There was one voice
that spoke in your favor, Deerslayer, but it was alone, like the song of the
wren' whose mate has been struck by the hawk."
"I thank that voice whosever it may have been, Mingo, and will say it was as
true a voice, as the rest were lying voices. A furlough is as binding on a
pale-face, if he be honest, as it is on a red skin, and was it not so, I
would never bring disgrace on the Delawares, among whom I may be said to have
received my edication. But words are useless, and lead to braggin' feelin's;
here I am; act your will on me."
Rivenoak made a sign of acquiescence, and then a short conference was
privately held among the chiefs. As soon as the latter ended, three or four
young men fell back from among the armed group, and disappeared. Then it was
signified to the prisoner that he was at liberty to go at large on the point,
until a council was held concerning his fate. There was more of seeming, than
of real confidence, however, in this apparent liberality, inasmuch as the
young men mentioned, already formed a line of sentinels across the breadth of
the point, inland, and escape from any other part was out of the question.
Even the canoe was removed beyond this line of sentinels, to a spot where it
was considered safe from any sudden attempt. These precautions did not
proceed from a failure of confidence, but from the circumstance that the
prisoner had now complied with all the required conditions of his parole, and
it would have been considered a commendable and honorable exploit to escape
from his foes. So nice, indeed, were the distinctions drawn by the savages,
in cases of this nature, that they often gave their victims a chance to evade
the torture, deeming it as creditable to the captors to overtake, or to out
wit a fugitive, when his exertions were supposed to be quickened by the
extreme jeopardy of his situation, as it was for him to get clear from so
much extraordinary vigilance.
Nor was Deerslayer unconscious of, or forgetful, of his rights, and of his
opportunities. Could he now have seen any probable opening for an escape, the
attempt would not have been delayed a minute. But the case seem'd desperate.
He was aware of the line of sentinels, and felt the difficulty of breaking
through it, unharmed. The lake offered no advantages, as the canoe would have
given his foes the greatest facilities for overtaking him; else would he have
found it no difficult task to swim as far as the castle. As he walked about
the point, he even examined the spot to ascertain if it offered no place of
concealment, but its openness, its size, and the hundred watchful glances
that were turned towards him, even while those who made them affected not to
see him, prevented any such expedient from succeeding. The dread and disgrace
of failure had no influence on Deerslayer, who deemed it even a point of
honor to reason and feel like a white man, rather than as an Indian, and who
felt it a sort of duty, to do all he could, that did not involve a
dereliction from principle, in order to save his life. Still he hesitated
about making the effort, for he also felt that he ought to see the chance of
success before he committed himself.
In the mean time the business of the camp appeared to proceed in its regular
train. The chiefs consulted apart, admitting no one but the Sumach to their
councils, for she, the widow of the fallen warrior, had an exclusive right to
be heard on such an occasion. The young men strolled about in indolent
listlessness, awaiting the result with Indian patience, while the females
prepared the feast that was to celebrate the termination of the affair,
whether it proved fortunate, or otherwise, for our hero. No one betrayed
feeling, and an indifferent observer, beyond the extreme watchfulness of the
sentinels, would have detected no extraordinary movement or sensation to
denote the real state of things. Two or three old women put their heads
together, and it appeared unfavorably to the prospects of Deerslayer, by
their scowling looks, and angry gestures; but a group of Indian girls were
evidently animated by a different impulse, as was apparent by stolen glances
that expressed pity and regret. In this condition of the camp, an hour soon
glided away.
Suspense is perhaps the feeling of all others that is most difficult to be
supported. When Deerslayer landed, he fully expected in the course of a few
minutes to undergo the tortures of an Indian revenge, and he was prepared to
meet his fate, manfully; but, the delay proved far more trying than the
nearer approach of suffering, and the intended victim began seriously to
meditate some desperate effort at escape, as it might be from sheer anxiety
to terminate the scene, when he was suddenly summoned, to appear once more in
front of his judges, who had already arranged the band in its former order,
in readiness to receive him.
"Killer of the Deer," commenced Rivenoak, as soon as his captive stood before
him, 'my aged men have listened to wise words; they are ready to speak. You
are a man whose fathers came from beyond the rising sun; we are children of
the setting sun; we turn our faces towards the Great Sweet Lakes, when we
look towards our villages. It may be a wide country and full of riches
towards the morning, but it is very pleasant towards the evening. We love
most to look in that direction. When we gaze at the east, we feel afraid,
canoe after canoe bringing more and more of your people in the track of the
sun, as if their land was so full as to run over. The red men are few
already; they have need of help. One of our best lodges has lately been
emptied, by the death of its master; it will be a long time before his son
can grow big enough to sit in his place. There is his widow; she will want
venison to feed her and her children, for her sons are yet like the young of
the robin, before they quit the nest. By your hand has this great calamity
befallen her. She has two duties; one to le Loup Cervier, and one to his
children. Scalp for scalp, life for life, blood for blood, is one law; to
feed her young, another. We know you, Killer of the Deer. You are honest;
when you say a thing, it is so. You have but one tongue, and that is not
forked, like a snake's. Your head is never hid in the grass; all can see it.
What you say, that will you do. You are just. When you have done wrong, it is
your wish to do right, again, as soon as you can. Here, is the Sumach; she is
alone in her wigwam, with children crying around her for food-yonder is a
rifle; it is loaded and ready to be fired. Take the gun, go forth and shoot a
deer; bring the venison and lay it before the widow of Le Loup Cervier, feed
her children; call yourself her husband. After which, your heart will no
longer be Delaware, but Huron; le Sumach's ears will not hear the cries of
her children; my people will count the proper number of warriors."
"I fear'd this, Rivenoak," answered Deerslayer, when the other had ceased
speaking-"yes, I did dread that it would come to this. Howsever, the truth is
soon told, and that will put an end to all expectations on this head. Mingo,
I'm white and christian born; 't would ill become me to take a wife, under
red-skin forms, from among heathen. That which I wouln't do, in peaceable
times, and under a bright sun, still less would I do behind clouds, in order
to save my life. I may never marry; most likely Providence in putting me, up
here, in the woods, has intended I should live single, and without a lodge of
my own; but should such a thing come to pass, none but a woman of my own
colour and gifts shall darken the door of my wigwam. As for feeding the young
of your dead warrior, I would do that cheerfully, could it be done without
discredit; but it cannot, seeing that I can never live in a Huron village.
Your own young men must find the Sumach in venison, and the next time she
marries, let her take a husband whose legs are not long enough to overrun
territory that do n't belong to him. We fou't a fair battle, and he fell; in
this, there is nothin' but what a brave expects, and should be ready to meet.
As for getting a Mingo heart, as well might you expect to see gray hairs on a
boy, or the blackberry growing on the pine. No- no-Huron; my gifts are white
so far as wives are consarned; it is Delaware, in all things touchin'
Injins."
These words were scarcely out of the mouth of Deerslayer, before a common
murmur betrayed the dissatisfaction with which they had been heard. The aged
women, in particular, were loud in their expressions of disgust, and the
gentle Sumach, herself, a woman quite old enough to be our hero's mother, was
not the least pacific in her denunciations. But all the other manifestations
of disappointment and discontent were thrown into the back-ground, by the
fierce resentment of the Panther. This grim chief had thought it a
degradation to permit his sister to become the wife of a pale face of the
Yengeese, at all, and had only given a reluctant consent to the arrangement-
one by no means unusual among the Indians, however-at the earnest
solicitations of the bereaved widow; and it goaded him to the quick to find
his condescension slighted, the honor he had with so much regret been
persuaded to accord, contemned. The animal from which he got his name, does
not glare on his intended prey, with more frightful ferocity, than his eyes
gleamed on the captive, nor was his arm backward in seconding the fierce
resentment that almost consumed his breast.
"Dog of the pale faces!" he exclaimed in Iroquois, "go yell among the curs of
your own evil hunting grounds!"
The denunciation was accompanied by an appropriate action. Even while
speaking his arm was lifted, and the tomahawk hurled. Luckily the loud tones
of the speaker had drawn the eye of Deerslayer towards him, else would that
moment have probably closed his career. So great was the dexterity with which
this dangerous weapon was thrown, and so deadly the intent, that it would
have riven the scull of the prisoner, had he not stretched forth an arm, and
caught the handle in one of its turns, with a readiness quite as remarkable,
as the skill with which the missile had been hurled. The projectile force was
so great, notwithstanding, that when Deerslayer's arm was arrested, his hand
was raised above and behind his own head, and in the very attitude necessary
to return the attack. It is not certain whether the circumstance of finding
himself unexpectedly in this menacing posture and armed, tempted the young
man to retaliate, or whether sudden resentment overcame his forbearance and
prudence. His eye kindled, however, and a small red spot appeared on each
cheek, while he cast all his energy into the effort of his arm, and threw
back the weapon at his assailant. The unexpectedness of this blow contributed
to its success, the Panther neither raising an arm, nor bending his head to
avoid it. The keen little axe struck the victim in a perpendicular line with
the nose, directly between the eyes, literally braining him on the spot.
Sallying forward, as the serpent darts at its enemy even while receiving its
own death wound, this man of powerful frame, fell his length into the open
area formed by the circle, quivering in death. A common rush to his relief
left the captive, in a single instant, quite without the crowd, and, willing
to make one desperate effort for life, he bounded off, with the activity of a
deer. There was but a breathless instant, when the whole band, old and young,
women and children, abandoning the lifeless body of the Panther, where it
lay, raised the yell of alarm and followed in pursuit.
Sudden as had been the event which induced Deerslayer to make this desperate
trial of speed, his mind was not wholly unprepared for the fearful emergency.
In the course of the past hour, he had pondered well on the chances of such
an experiment, and had shrewdly calculated all the details of success and
failure. At the first leap, therefore, his body was completely under the
direction of an intelligence that turned all its efforts to the best account,
and prevented every thing like hesitation or indecision at the important
instant of the start. To this alone was he indebted for the first great
advantage, that of getting through the line of sentinels unharmed. The manner
in which this was done, though sufficiently simple, merits a description.
Although the shores of the point were not fringed with bushes, as was the
case with most of the others on the lake, it was owing altogether to the
circumstance that the spot had been so much used by hunters and fishermen.
This fringe commenced on what might be termed the main land, and was as dense
as usual, extending in long lines both north and south. In the latter
direction, then, Deerslayer held his way, and, as the sentinels were a little
without the commencement of this thicket, before the alarm was clearly
communicated to them, the fugitive had gained its cover. To run among the
bushes, however, was out of the question, and Deerslayer held his way, for
some forty or fifty yards, in the water, which was barely knee deep, offering
as great an obstacle to the speed of his pursuers, as it did to his own. As
soon as a favorable spot presented, he darted through the line of bushes, and
issued into the open woods. Several rifles were discharged at Deerslayer
while in the water, and more followed as he came out into the comparative
exposure of the clear forest. But the direction of his line of flight, which
partially crossed that of the fire, the haste with which the weapons had been
aimed, and the general confusion that prevailed in the camp prevented any
harm from being done. Bullets whistled past him, and many cut twigs from the
branches at his side, but not one touched even his dress. The delay caused by
these fruitless attempts was of great service to the fugitive, who had gained
more than a hundred yards on even the leading men of the Hurons, ere
something like concert and order had entered into the chase. To think of
following with rifles in hand, was out of the question, and after emptying
their pieces in vague hopes of wounding their captive, the best runners of
the Indians threw them aside, calling out to the women and boys to recover
and load them, again, as soon as possible.
Deerslayer knew too well the desperate nature of the struggle in which he was
engaged to lose one of the precious moments. He also knew that his only hope
was to run in a straight line, for as soon as he began to turn, or double,
the greater number of his pursuers would put escape out of the question. He
held his way therefore, in a diagonal direction up the acclivity, which was
neither very high nor very steep, in this part of the mountain, but which was
sufficiently toilsome for one contending for life, to render it painfully
oppressive. There, however, he slackened his speed, to recover breath,
proceeding even at a quick walk, or a slow trot, along the more difficult
parts of the way. The Hurons were whooping and leaping behind him, but this
he disregarded, well knowing they must overcome the difficulties he had
surmounted, ere they could reach the elevation to which he had attained. The
summit of the first hill was now quite near him, and he saw, by the formation
of the land, that a deep glen intervened, before the base of a second hill
could be reached. Walking deliberately to the summit, he glanced eagerly
about him, in every direction, in quest of a cover. None offered in the
ground, but a fallen tree lay near him, and desperate circumstances required
desperate remedies. This tree lay in a line parallel to the glen, at the brow
of the hill. To leap on it, and then to force his person as close as
possible, under its lower side, took but a moment. Previously to disappearing
from his pursuers, however, Deerslayer stood on the height, and gave a cry of
triumph, as if exulting at the sight of the descent that lay before him. In
the next instant he was stretched beneath the tree.
No sooner was this expedient adopted, than the young man ascertained how
desperate had been his own efforts, by the violence of the pulsations in his
frame. He could hear his heart beat, and his breathing was like the action of
a bellows, in quick motion. Breath was gained, however, and the heart soon
ceased to throb, as if about to break through its confinement. The footsteps
of those who toiled up the opposite side of the acclivity were now audible,
and presently voices and treads announced the arrival of the pursuers. The
foremost shouted as they reached the height; then, fearful that their enemy
would escape under favor of the descent, each leaped upon the fallen tree,
and plunged into the ravine, trusting to get a sight of the pursued, ere he
reached the bottom. In this manner, Huron followed Huron, until Natty began
to hope the whole had passed. Others succeeded, however, until quite forty
had leaped over the tree, and then he counted them, as the surest mode of
ascertaining how many could be behind. Presently all were in the bottom of
the glen, quite a hundred feet below him, and some had even ascended part of
the opposite hill, when it became evident an inquiry was making, as to the
direction he had taken. This was the critical moment, and one of nerves less
steady, or of a training that had been neglected, would have seized it to
rise, and fly. Not so with Deerslayer. He still lay quiet, watching with
jealous vigilance every movement below, and fast regaining his breath.
The Hurons now resembled a pack of hounds, at fault. Little was said, but
each man ran about, examining the dead leaves, as the hound hunts for the
lost scent. The great number of moccasins that had passed made the
examination difficult, though the in-toe of an Indian was easily to be
distinguished from the freer and wider step of a white man. Believing that no
more pursuers remained behind, and hoping to steal away unseen, Deerslayer
suddenly threw himself over the tree, and fell on the upper side. This
achievement appeared to be effected successfully, and hope beat high in the
bosom of the fugitive.
Rising to his hands and feet, after a moment lost in listening to the sounds
in the glen, in order to ascertain if he had been seen, the young man next
scrambled to the top of the hill, a distance of only ten yards, in the
expectation of getting its brow between him and his pursuers, and himself so
far under cover. Even this was effected, and he rose to his feet, walking
swiftly but steadily along the summit, in a direction opposite to that in
which he had first fled. The nature of the calls in the glen, however, soon
made him uneasy, and he sprang upon the summit, again, in order to
reconnoitre. No sooner did he reach the height than he was seen, and the
chase renewed. As it was better footing, on the level ground, Deerslayer now
avoided the side hill, holding his flight along the ridge; while the Hurons,
judging from the general formation of the land, saw that the ridge would soon
melt into the hollow, and kept to the latter, as the easiest mode of heading
the fugitive. A few, at the same time, turned south, with a view to prevent
his escaping in that direction, while some crossed his trail towards the
water, in order to prevent his retreat by the lake, running southerly.
The situation of Deerslayer was now more critical than it ever had been. He
was virtually surrounded on three sides, having the lake on the fourth. But
he had pondered well on all the chances, and took his measures with coolness,
even while at the top of his speed. As is generally the case, with the
vigorous border men, he could outrun any single Indian among his pursuers,
who were principally formidable to him, on account of their numbers, and the
advantages they possessed in position, and he would not have hesitated to
break off, in a straight line, at any spot, could he have got the whole band
again, fairly behind him. But no such chance did, or indeed could now offer,
and when he found that he was descending towards the glen, by the melting
away of the ridge, he turned short, at right angles to his previous course,
and went down the declivity with tremendous velocity, holding his way towards
the shore. Some of his pursuers, came panting up the hill, in direct chase,
while most still kept on, in the ravine, intending to head him at its
termination.
Deerslayer had now a different, though a desperate project in view.
Abandoning all thoughts of escape by the woods, he made the best of his way
towards the canoe. He knew where it lay; could it be reached, he had only to
run the gauntlet of a few rifles, and success would be certain. None of the
warriors had kept their weapons, which would have retarded their speed, and
the risk would come either from the uncertain hands of the women, or from
those of some well grown boy; though most of the latter were already out in
hot pursuit. Every thing seemed propitious to the execution of this plan, and
the course being a continued descent, the young man went over the ground at a
rate that promised a speedy termination to his toil.
As Deerslayer approached the point, several women, and children were passed,
but, though the former endeavoured to cast dried branches between his legs,
the terror inspired by his bold retaliation on the redoubted Panther, was so
great, that none dared come near enough seriously to molest him. He went by
all triumphantly, and reached the fringe of bushes. Plunging through these,
our hero found himself once more in the lake, and within fifty feet of the
canoe. Here he ceased to run, for he well understood that his breath was now
all important to him. He even stooped, as he advanced, and cooled his parched
mouth, by scooping water up in his hand, to drink. Still the moments pressed,
and he soon stood at the side of the canoe. The first glance told him that
the paddles had been removed! This was a sore disappointment, after all his
efforts, and, for a single moment, he thought of turning, and of facing his
foes by walking with dignity into the centre of the camp, again. But an
infernal yell, such as the American savage alone can raise, proclaimed the
quick approach of the nearest of his pursuers, and the instinct of life
triumphed. Preparing himself duly, and giving a right direction to its bows,
he ran off into the water bearing the canoe before him, threw all his
strength and skill into a last effort, and cast himself forward so as to fall
into the bottom of the light craft, without materially impeding its way. Here
he remained on his back, both to regain his breath, and to cover his person
from the deadly rifle. The lightness, which was such an advantage in paddling
the canoe, now operated unfavorably. The material was so like a feather, that
the boat had no momentum, else would the impulse in that smooth and placid
sheet have impelled it to a distance from the shore, that would have rendered
paddling with the hands safe. Could such a point once be reached, Deerslayer
thought he might get far enough out to attract the attention of Chingachgook
and Judith, who would not fail to come to his relief, with other canoes a
circumstance that promised every thing. As the young man lay in the bottom of
the canoe, he watched its movements, by studying the tops of the trees on the
mountainside, and judged of his distance by the time and the motions. Voices
on the shore were now numerous, and he heard something said about manning the
raft, which, fortunately for the fugitive, lay at a considerable distance, on
the other side of the point.
Perhaps the situation of Deerslayer had not been more critical that day, than
it was at this moment. It certainly had not been one half as tantalizing. He
lay perfectly quiet, for two or three minutes, trusting to the single sense
of hearing, confident that the noise in the lake would reach his ears, did
any one venture to approach by swimming. Once or twice, he fancied that the
element was stirred by the cautious movement of an arm, and then he perceived
it was the wash of the water on the pebbles of the strand; for, in mimicry of
the ocean, it is seldom that those little lakes are so totally tranquil, as
not to possess a slight heaving and setting on their shores. Suddenly all the
voices ceased, and a death like stillness pervaded the spot: A quietness as
profound as if all lay in the repose of inanimate life. By this time, the
canoe had drifted so far as to render nothing visible to Deerslayer, as he
lay on his back, except the blue void of space, and a few of those brighter
rays, that proceed from the effulgence of the sun, marking his proximity. It
was not possible to endure this uncertainty long. The young man well knew
that the profound stillness foreboded evil, the savages never being so
silent, as when about to strike a blow; resembling the stealthy foot of the
panther ere he takes his leap. He took out a knife, and was about to cut a
hole through the bark, in order to get a view of the shore, when he paused
from a dread of being seen, in the operation, which would direct the enemy
where to aim their bullets. At this instant a rifle was fired, and the ball
pierced both sides of the canoe, within eighteen inches of the spot where his
head lay. This was close work, but our hero had too lately gone throughthat
which was closer to be appalled. He lay still half a minute longer, and then
he saw the summit of an oak coming slowly within his narrow horizon.
Unable to account for this change, Deerslayer could restrain his impatience
no longer. Hitching his body along, with the utmost caution, he got his eye
at the bullet hole, and fortunately commanded a very tolerable view of the
point. The canoe, by one of those imperceptible impulses that so often decide
the fate of men as well as the course of things, had inclined southerly, and
was slowly drifting down the lake. It was lucky that Deerslayer had given it
a shove sufficiently vigorous to send it past the end of the point, ere it
took this inclination, or it must have gone ashore again. As it was, it
drifted so near it, as to bring the tops of two or three trees within the
range of the young man's view, as has been mentioned, and, indeed, to come in
quite as close proximity with the extremity of the point, as was at all safe.
The distance could not much have exceeded a hundred feet, though fortunately
a light current of air, from the southwest, began to set it slowly off shore.
Deerslayer now felt the urgent necessity of resorting to some expedient to
get farther from his foes, and if possible to apprise his friends of his
situation. The distance rendered the last difficult, while the proximity to
the point rendered the first indispensable. As was usual in such craft, a
large, round, smooth stone, was in each end of the canoe, for the double
purpose of seats and ballast; one of these was within reach of his feet. This
stone he contrived to get so far between his legs, as to reach it with his
hands, and then he managed to roll it to the side of its fellow in the bows,
where the two served to keep the trim of the light boat, while he worked his
own body as far aft as possible. Before quitting the shore, and as soon as he
perceived that the paddles were gone, Deerslayer had thrown a bit of dead
branch into the canoe, and this was within reach of his arm. Removing the cap
he wore, he put it on the end of this stick, and just let it appear over the
edge of the canoe, as far as possible from his own person. This ruse was
scarcely adopted, before the young man had a proof how much he had underrated
the intelligence of his enemies. In contempt of an artifice so shallow and
common place, a bullet was fired directly through another part of the canoe,
which actually raised his skin. He dropped the cap, and instantly raised it
immediately over his head, as a safeguard. It would seem that this second
artifice was unseen, or what was more probable, the Hurons feeling certain of
recovering their captive, wished to take him alive.
Deerslayer lay passive a few minutes longer, his eye at the bullet hole,
however, and much did he rejoice at seeing that he was drifting, gradually,
farther and farther, from the shore. When he looked upward, the tree-tops had
disappeared, but he soon found that the canoe was slowly turning, so as to
prevent his getting a view of any thing at his peep-hole, but of the two
extremities of the lake. He now bethought him of the stick, which was
crooked, and offered some facilities for rowing, without the necessity of
rising. The experiment succeeded on trial, better even than he had hoped,
though his great embarrassment was to keep the canoe straight. That his
present manoeuvre was seen, soon became apparent by the clamor on the shore,
and a bullet entering the stern of the canoe, traversed its length whistling
between the arms of our hero, and passed out at the head. This satisfied the
fugitive that he was getting away with tolerable speed, and induced him to
increase his efforts. He was making a stronger push than common, when another
messenger from the point, broke the stick out-board, and at once deprived him
of his oar. As the sound of voices seemed to grow more and more distant,
however, Deerslayer determined to leave all to the drift, until he believed
himself beyond the reach of bullets. This was nervous work, but it was the
wisest of all the expedients that offered, and the young man was encouraged
to persevere in it, by the circumstance that he felt his face fanned by the
air, a proof that there was a little more wind.
Chapter XXVIII.
"Nor widows' tears, nor tender orphans' cries
Can stop th' invader's force;
Nor swelling seas, nor threatening skies,
Prevent the pirate's course:
Their lives to selfish ends decreed
Through blood and rapine they proceed;
No anxious thoughts of ill repute,
Suspend the impetuous and unjust pursuit;
But power and wealth obtain'd, guilty and great,
Their fellow creatures' fears they raise, or urge their hate."
Congreve, "Pindaric Ode," ii.
By this time, Deerslayer had been twenty minutes in the canoe, and he began
to grow a little impatient for some signs of relief from his friends. The
position of the boat still prevented his seeing in any direction, unless it
were up or down the lake, and, though he knew that his line of sight must
pass within a hundred yards of the castle, it, in fact, passed that distance
to the westward of the buildings. The profound stillness troubled him also,
for he knew not whether to ascribe it to the increasing space between him and
the Indians, or to some new artifice. At length, wearied with fruitless
watchfulness, the young man turned himself on his back, closed his eyes, and
awaited the result in determined acquiescence. If the savages could so
completely control their thirst for revenge, he was resolved to be as calm as
themselves, and to trust his fate to the interposition of the currents and
air.
Some additional ten minutes may have passed in this quiescent manner, on both
sides, when Deerslayer thought he heard a slight noise, like a low rubbing
against the bottom of his canoe. He opened his eyes of course, in expectation
of seeing the face or arm of an Indian rising from the water, and found that
a canopy of leaves was impending directly over his head. Starting to his
feet, the first object that met his eye was Rivenoak, who had so far aided
the slow progress of the boat, as to draw it on the point, the grating on the
strand being the sound that had first given our hero the alarm. The change in
the drift of the canoe, had been altogether owing to the baffling nature of
the light currents of the air, aided by some eddies in the water.
"Come," said the Huron with a quiet gesture of authority, to order his
prisoner to land, 'my young friend has sailed about till he is tired; he will
forget how to run again, unless he uses his legs."
"You've the best of it, Huron," returned Deerslayer, stepping steadily from
the canoe, and passively following his leader to the open area of the point;
"Providence has helped you in an onexpected manner. I'm your prisoner ag'in,
and I hope you'll allow that I'm as good at breaking gaol, as I am at keeping
furloughs."
"My young friend is a Moose!" exclaimed the Huron. "His legs are very long;
they have given my young men trouble. But he is not a fish; he cannot find
his way in the lake. We did not shoot him; fish are taken in nets, and not
killed by bullets. When he turns Moose, again, he will be treated like a
Moose."
'Ay, have your talk, Rivenoak; make the most of your advantage. 'Tis your
right, I suppose, and I know it is your gift. On that p'int there'll be no
words atween us, for all men must and ought to follow their gifts. Howsever,
when your women begin to ta'nt and abuse me, as I suppose will soon happen,
let 'em remember that if a pale face struggles for life so long as it's
lawful and manful, he knows how to loosen his hold on it, decently, when he
feels that the time has come. I'm your captyve; work your will on me."
"My brother has had a long run on the hills, and a pleasant sail on the
water," returned Rivenoak, more mildly, smiling, at the same time, in a way
that his listener knew denoted pacific intentions. 'He has seen the woods; he
has seen the water. Which does he like best? Perhaps, he has seen enough, to
change his mind, and make him hear reason."
"Speak out, Huron. Something is in your thoughts, and the sooner it is said,
the sooner you'll get my answer."
"That is straight! There is no turning in the talk of my pale face friend,
though he is a fox in running. I will speak to him; his ears are now open
wider than before, and his eyes are not shut. The Sumach is poorer than ever.
Once she had a brother and a husband. She had children, too. The time came
and the husband started for the Happy Hunting Grounds, without saying
farewell; he left her alone with his children. This he could not help, or he
would not have done it; le Loup Cervier was a good husband. It was pleasant
to see the venison, and wild ducks, and geese, and bear's meat, that hung in
his lodge, in winter. It is now gone; it will not keep in warm weather. Who
shall bring it back again? Some thought the brother would not forget his
sister, and that, next winter, he would see that the lodge should not be
empty. We thought this; but the Panther yelled, and followed the husband on
the path of death. They are now trying which shall first reach the Happy
Hunting Grounds. Some think the Lynx can run fastest, and some think the
Panther can jump the farthest. The Sumach thinks both will travel so fast and
so far that neither will ever come back. Who shall feed her and her young?
The man who told her husband and her brother to quit her lodge, that there
might be room for him to come into it. He is a great hunter, and we know that
the woman will never want."
"Ay, Huron this is soon settled, accordin' to your notions, but it goes
sorely ag'in the grain of a white man's feelin's. I've heard of men's saving
their lives this-a-way, and I've know'd them that would prefar death to such
a sort of captivity. For my part, I do not seek my end, nor do I seek
matrimony."
'The pale face will think of this, while my people get ready for the council.
He will be told what will happen. Let him remember how hard it is to lose a
husband and a brother. Go; when we want him, the name of Deerslayer will be
called."
This conversation had been held with no one near but the speakers. Of all the
band that had so lately thronged the place, Rivenoak alone was visible. The
rest seemed to have totally abandoned the spot. Even the furniture, clothes,
arms, and other property of the camp had entirely disappeared, and the place
bore no other proofs of the crowd that had so lately occupied it, than the
traces of their fires and resting places, and the trodden earth, that still
showed the marks of their feet. So sudden and unexpected a change caused
Deerslayer a good deal of surprise and some uneasiness, for he had never
known it to occur, in the course of his experience among the Delawares. He
suspected, however, and rightly, that a change of encampment was intended,
and that the mystery of the movement was resorted to, in order to work on his
apprehensions.
Rivenoak walked up the vista of trees, as soon as he ceased speaking, leaving
Deerslayer by himself. The chief disappeared behind the covers of the forest,
and one unpractised in such scenes might have believed the prisoner left to
the dictates of his own judgment. But the young man, while he felt a little
amazement at the dramatic aspect of things, knew his enemies too well to
fancy himself at liberty, or a free agent. Still, he was ignorant how far the
Hurons meant to carry their artifices, and he determined to bring the
question, as soon as practicable, to the proof. Affecting an indifference he
was far from feeling, he strolled about the area, gradually getting nearer
and nearer to the spot where he had landed, when he suddenly quickened his
pace, though carefully avoiding all appearance of flight, and pushing aside
the bushes, he stepped upon the beach. The canoe was gone, nor could he see
any traces of it, after walking to the northern and southern verges of the
point, and examining the shores in both directions. It was evidently removed
beyond his reach and knowledge, and under circumstances to show that such had
been the intention of the savages.
Deerslayer now better understood his actual situation. He was a prisoner on
the narrow tongue of land, vigilantly watched beyond a question, and with no
other means of escape than that of swimming. He, again, thought of this last
expedient, but the certainty that the canoe would be sent in chase, and the
desperate nature of the chances of success deterred him from the undertaking.
While on the strand, he came to a spot where the bushes had been cut, and
thrust into a small pile. Removing a few of the upper branches, he found
beneath them the dead body of the Panther. He knew that it was kept until the
savages might find a place to inter it, where it would be beyond the reach of
the scalping knife. He gazed wistfully towards the castle, but there all
seemed to be silent and desolate, and a feeling of loneliness and desertion
came over him to increase the gloom of the moment.
'God's will be done!" murmured the young man, as he walked sorrowfully away
from the beach, entering again beneath the arches of the wood. 'God's will be
done, on 'arth as it is in heaven! I did hope that my days would not be
numbered so soon, but it matters little a'ter all. A few more winters, and a
few more summers, and 'twould have been over, accordin' to natur'. Ah's! me,
the young and actyve seldom think death possible, till he grins in their
faces, and tells 'em the hour is come!"
While this soliloquy was being pronounced, the hunter advanced into the area,
where to his surprise he saw Hetty alone, evidently awaiting his return. The
girl carried the bible under her arm, and her face, over which a shadow of
gentle melancholy was usually thrown, now seemed sad, and downcast. Moving
nearer, Deerslayer spoke.
"Poor Hetty," he said, "times have been so troublesome, of late, that I'd
altogether forgotten you; we meet, as it might be to mourn over what is to
happen. I wonder what has become of Chingachgook and Wah!"
"Why did you kill the Huron, Deerslayer? -" returned the girl reproachfully.
'Don't you know your commandments, which say 'Thou shalt not kill!' They tell
me you have now slain the woman's husband and brother!"
"It's true, my good Hetty-'tis gospel truth, and I'll not deny what has come
to pass. But, you must remember, gal, that many things are lawful in war,
which would be onlawful in peace. The husband was shot in open fight-or, open
so far as I was consarned, while he had a better cover than common-and the
brother brought his end on himself, by casting his tomahawk at an unarmed
prisoner. Did you witness that deed, gal?"
"I saw it, and was sorry it happened, Deerslayer, for I hoped you wouldn't
have returned blow for blow, but good for evil."
"Ah, Hetty, that may do among the Missionaries, but 'twould make an onsartain
life in the woods! The Panther craved my blood, and he was foolish enough to
throw arms into my hands, at the very moment he was striving a'ter it.
'Twould have been ag'in natur? not to raise a hand in such a trial, and
'twould have done discredit to my training and gifts. No- no -I'm as willing
to give every man his own, as another, and so I hope you'll testify to them
that will be likely to question you as to what you've seen this day."
"Deerslayer, do you mean to marry Sumach, now she has neither husband nor
brother to feed her?"
"Are such your idees of matrimony, Hetty! Ought the young to wive with the
old-the pale face with the red skin-the christian with the heathen? It's
ag'in reason and natur', and so you'll see, if you think of it a moment."
"I've always heard mother say," returned Hetty, averting her face more from a
feminine instinct, than from any consciousness of wrong, "that people should
never marry, until they loved each other better than brothers and sisters,
and I suppose that is what you mean. Sumach is old, and you are young!"
"Ay and she's red, and I'm white. Beside, Hetty, suppose you was a wife, now,
having married some young man of your own years, and state, and colour-Hurry
Harry, for instance-" Deerslayer selected this example, simply from the
circumstance that he was the only young man known to both-"and that he had
fallen on a war path, would you wish to take to your bosom, for a husband,
the man that slew him?"
'Oh! no, no, no-" returned the girl shuddering-"That would be wicked as well
as heartless! No christian girl could, or would do that! I never shall be the
wife of Hurry, I know, but were he my husband no man should ever be it,
again, after his death!"
"I thought it would get to this, Hetty, when you come to understand
sarcumstances. 'Tis a moral impossibility that I should ever marry Sumach,
and, though Injin weddin's have no priests and not much religion, a white man
who knows his gifts and duties can't profit by that, and so make his escape
at the fitting time. I do think, death would be more nat'ral like, and
welcome, than wedlock with this woman."
"Don't say it too loud," interrupted Hetty impatiently; "I suppose she will
not like to hear it. I'm sure Hurry would rather marry even me than suffer
torments, though I am feeble minded; and I am sure it would kill me to think
he'd prefer death to being my husband."
"Ay, gal, you an't Sumach, but a comely young Christian, with a good heart,
pleasant smile, and kind eye. Hurry might be proud to get you, and that, too,
not in misery and sorrow, but in his best and happiest days. Howsever, take
my advice, and never talk to Hurry about these things; he's only a borderer,
at the best."
"I would n't tell him, for the world!" exclaimed the girl, looking about her,
like one affrighted, and blushing, she knew not why. "Mother always said
young women should n't be forward, and speak their minds before they're
asked; Oh! I never forget what mother told me. Tis a pity Hurry is so
handsome, Deerslayer; I do think fewer girls would like him then, and he
would sooner know his own mind."
"Poor gal, poor gal, it's plain enough how it is, but the Lord will bear in
mind one of your simple heart, and kind feelin's! We'll talk no more of these
things; if you had reason, you'd be sorrowful at having let others so much
into your secret. Tell me, Hetty, what has become of all the Hurons, and why
they let you roam about the p'int, as if you, too, was a prisoner?"
'I'm no prisoner, Deerslayer, but a free girl, and go when and where I
please. Nobody dare hurt me! If they did, God would be angry, as I can show
them in the bible. No-no- Hetty Hutter is not afraid; she's in good hands.
The Hurons are up yonder in the woods, and keep a good watch on us both, I'll
answer for it, since all the women and children are on the look-out. Some are
burying the body of the poor girl who was shot, so that the enemy and the
wild beasts can't find it. I told 'em that father and mother lay in the lake,
but I would n't let them know, in what part of it, for Judith and I don't
want any of their heathenish company, in our burying ground."
"Ahs! me;-Well, it is an awful despatch to be standing here, alive and angry,
and with the feelin's up and ferocious, one hour, and then to be carried away
at the next, and put out of sight of mankind in a hole in the 'arth! No one
knows what will happen to him on a warpath, that's sartain."
Here the stirring of leaves and the cracking of dried twigs interrupted the
discourse, and apprised Deerslayer of the approach of his enemies. The Hurons
closed around the spot that had been prepared for the coming scene, and in
the centre of which the intended victim now stood, in a circle, the armed men
being so distributed, among the feebler members of the band, that there was
no safe opening through which the prisoner could break. But the latter no
longer contemplated flight, the recent trial having satisfied him of his
inability to escape when pursued so closely by numbers. On the contrary, all
his energies were aroused, in order to meet his expected fate, with a
calmness that should do credit to his colour and his manhood; one equally
removed from recreant alarm, and savage boasting.
When Rivenoak re-appeared in the circle, he occupied his old place at the
head of the area. Several of the elder warriors stood near him, but, now that
the brother of Sumach had fallen, there was no longer any recognised chief
present, whose influence and authority offered a dangerous rivalry to his
own. Nevertheless, it is well known that little which could be called
monarchical, or despotic entered into the politics of the North American
tribes, although the first colonists, bringing with them to this hemisphere,
the notions and opinions of their own countries, often dignified the chief
men of those primitive nations, with the titles of kings and princes.
Hereditary influence did certainly exist, but there is much reason to believe
it existed rather as a consequence of hereditary merit and acquired
qualifications, than as a birth-right. Rivenoak, however, had not even this
claim, having risen to consideration purely by the force of talents,
sagacity, and, as Bacon expresses it, in relation to all distinguished
statesmen, "by a union of great and mean qualities;" a truth of which the
career of the profound Englishman himself furnishes so apt an illustration.
Next to arms, eloquence offers the great avenue to popular favor, whether it
be in civilized or savage life, and Rivenoak had succeeded, as so many have
succeeded, before him, quite as much by rendering fallacies acceptable to his
listeners, as by any profound or learned expositions of truth, or the
accuracy of his logic. Nevertheless, he had influence; and was far from being
altogether without just claims to its possession. Like most men who reason
more than they feel, the Huron was not addicted to the indulgence of the more
ferocious passions of his people: he had been commonly found on the side of
mercy, in all the scenes of vindictive torture and revenge that had occurred
in his tribe, since his own attainment to power. On the present occasion, he
was reluctant to proceed to extremities, although the provocation was so
great. Still it exceeded his ingenuity to see how that alternative could well
be avoided. Sumach resented her rejection more than she did the deaths of her
husband and brother, and there was little probability that the woman would
pardon a man who had so unequivocally preferred death to her embraces.
Without her forgiveness, there was scarce a hope that the tribe could be
induced to overlook its loss, and even to Rivenoak, himself, much as he was
disposed to pardon, the fate of our hero now appeared to be almost hopelessly
sealed.
When the whole band was arrayed around the captive, a grave silence, so much
the more threatening from its profound quiet, pervaded the place. Deerslayer
perceived that the women and boys had been preparing splinters of the fat
pine roots, which he well knew were to be stuck into his flesh, and set in
flames, while two or three of the young men held the thongs of bark with
which he was to be bound. The smoke of a distant lire announced that the
burning brands were in preparation, arid several of the elder warriors passed
their fingers over the edges of their tomahawks, as if to prove their
keenness and temper. Even the knives seemed loosened in their sheathes,
impatient for the bloody and merciless work to begin.
"Killer of the Deer," recommenced Rivenoak, certainly without any signs of
sympathy or pity in his manner, though with calmness and dignity, "Killer of
the Deer, it is time that my people knew their minds. The sun is no longer
over our heads; tired of waiting on the Hurons, he has begun to fall near the
pines on this side of the valley. He is travelling fast towards the country
of our French fathers; it is to warn his children that their lodges are
empty, and that they ought to be at home. The roaming wolf has his den, and
he goes to it, when he wishes to see his young. The Iroquois are not poorer
than the wolves. They have villages, and wigwams, and fields of corn; the
Good Spirits will be tired of watching them alone. My people must go back,
and see to their own business. There will be joy in the lodges when they hear
our whoop from the forest! It will he a sorrowful whoop; when it is
understood, grief will come after it. There will be one scalp-whoop, but
there will be only one. We have the fur of the Muskrat; his body is among the
fishes. Deerslayer must say whether another scalp shall he on our pole. Two
lodges are empty; a scalp, living or dead, is wanted at each door."
"Then take 'em dead, Huron," firmly, but altogether without dramatic
boasting, returned the captive. "My hour is come, I do suppose, and what must
be, must. If you are bent on the tortur', I'll do my indivours to bear up
ag'in it, though no man can say how far his natur' will stand pain, until
he's been tried."
"The pale face cur begins to put his tail between his legs!" cried a young
and garrulous savage, who bore the appropriate title of the Corbeau Rouge; a
sobriquet he had gained from the French, by his facility in making
unseasonable noises, and an undue tendency to hear his own voice; "he is no
warrior; he has killed the Loup Cervier when looking behind him not to see
the flash of his own rifle. He grunts like a hog, already; when the Huron
women begin to torment him, he will cry like the young of the catamount. He
is a Delaware woman, dressed in the skin of a Yengeese!"
"Have your say, young man; have your say," returned Deerslayer, unmoved; "you
know no better, and I can overlook it. Talking may aggravate women, but can
hardly make knives sharper, fire hotter, or rifles more sartain."
Rivenoak now interposed, reproving the Red Crow for his premature
interference, and then directing the proper persons to bind the captive. This
expedient was adopted, not from any apprehensions that he would escape, or
from any necessity, that was yet apparent, of his being unable to endure the
torture with his limbs free, but from an ingenious design of making him feel
his helplessness, and of gradually sapping his resolution, by undermining it,
as it might be, little by little. Deerslayer offered no resistance. He
submitted his arms and legs, freely if not cheerfully, to the ligaments of
bark, which were bound around them, by order of the chief, in a way to
produce as little pain as possible. These directions were secret, and given
in the hope that the captive would finally save himself from any serious
bodily suffering, by consenting to take the Sumach for a wife. As soon as the
body of Deerslayer was withed in bark sufficiently to create a lively sense
of helplessness, he was literally carried to a young tree, and bound against
it, in a way that effectually prevented him from moving, as well as from
falling. The hands were laid flat against the legs, and thongs were passed
over all, in a way nearly to incorporate the prisoner with the tree. His cap
was then removed, and he was left half-standing, half-sustained by his bonds,
to face the coming scene, in the best manner he could.
Previously to proceeding to any thing like extremities, it was the wish of
Rivenoak to put his captive's resolution to the proof, by renewing the
attempt at a compromise. This could be effected only in one manner, the
acquiescence of the Sumach being indispensably necessary to a compromise of
her right to be revenged. With this view, then, the woman was next desired to
advance, and to look to her own interests; no agent being considered as
efficient as the principal, herself, in this negotiation. The Indian females,
when girls, are usually mild, and submissive, with musical tones, pleasant
voices, and merry laughs, but toil and suffering generally deprive them of
most of these advantages, by the time they have reached an age which the
Sumach had long before passed. To render their voices harsh, it would seem to
require active, malignant, passions, though, when excited, their screams can
rise to a sufficiently conspicuous degree of discordancy, to assert their
claim to possess this distinctive peculiarity of the sex. The Sumach was not
altogether without feminine attraction, however, and had so recently been
deemed handsome in her tribe, as not to have yet learned the full influence
that time and exposure produce on man, as well as on woman. By an arrangement
of Riven-oak's, some of the women around her, had been employing the time in
endeavoring to persuade the bereaved widow, that there was still a hope
Deerslayer might be prevailed on to enter her wigwam, in preference to
entering the world of spirits, and this, too, with a success that previous
symptoms scarcely justified. All this was the result of a resolution on the
part of the chief to leave no proper means unemployed, in order to get
transferred to his own nation the greatest hunter that was then thought to
exist in all that region, as well as a husband for a woman who he felt would
be likely to be troublesome, were any of her claims to the attention and care
of the tribe overlooked.
In conformity with this scheme, the Sumach had been secretly advised to
advance into the circle, and to make her appeal to the prisoner's sense of
justice, before the band had recourse to the last experiment. The woman,
nothing loth, consented, for there was some such attraction in becoming the
wife of a noted hunter, among the females of the tribes, as is experienced by
the sex, in more refined life, when they bestow their hands on the affluent.
As the duties of a mother were thought to be paramount to all other
considerations, the widow felt none of that embarrassment, in preferring her
claims, to which even a female fortune hunter among ourselves, might be
liable. When she stood forth, before the whole party, therefore, the children
that she led by the hands, fully justified all she did.
"You see me before you, cruel pale face," the woman commenced; "your spirit
must tell you my errand. I have found you; I cannot find le Loup Cervier, nor
the Panther; I have looked for them, in the lake, in the woods, in the
clouds. I cannot say where they have gone."
"No man knows, good Sumach, no man knows," interposed the captive. "When the
spirit leaves the body, it passes into a world beyond our knowledge, and the
wisest way, for them that are left behind, is to hope for the best. No doubt
both your warriors, have gone to the Happy Hunting Grounds, and at the proper
time you will see 'em ag'in, in their improved state. The wife and sister of
braves, must have looked forward to some such tarmination of their 'arthly
careers."
"Cruel pale-face, what had my warriors done that you should slay them! They
were the best hunters, and the boldest young men of their tribe; the Great
Spirit intended that they should live until they withered like the branches
of the hemlock, and fell of their own weight-"
"Nay - nay - good Sumach," interrupted Deerslayer, whose love of truth was
too indomitable to listen to such hyperbole, with patience, even though it
came from the torn breast of a widow-"Nay-nay, good Sumach, this is a little
out-doing red skin privileges. Young man was neither, any more than you can
be called a young woman, and as to the Great Spirit's intending that they
should fall otherwise than they did, that's a grievous mistake, inasmuch as
what the Great Spirit intends, is sartain to come to pass. Then, agin, it's
plain enough neither of your fri'nds did me any harm; ~ raised my hand ag'in
'em on account of what they were striving to do, rather than what they did.
This is nat'ral law, 'to do lest you should be done by.'"
"It is so. Sumach has but one tongue; she can tell but one story. The Pale
face struck the Hurons lest the Hurons should strike him. The Hurons are a
just nation; they will forget it. The chiefs will shut their eyes and pretend
not to have seen it; the young men will believe the Panther and the Lynx have
gone to far off hunts, and the Sumach, will take her children by the hand,
and go into the lodge of the pale face and say- 'See; these are your
children; they are also mine-feed us, and we will live with you.'
"The tarms are onadmissable, woman, and though I feel for your losses, which
must he hard to bear, the tarms cannot be accepted. As to givin' you ven'son,
in case we lived near enough together, that would be no great expl'ite; but
as for becomin' your husband, and the father of your children, to be honest
with you, I feel no callin' that-a-way."
"Look at this boy, cruel pale face; he has no father to teach him to kill the
deer, or to take scalps. See this girl; what young man will come to look for
a wife in a lodge that has no head? There are more among my people in the
Canadas, and the Killer of Deer will find as many mouths to feed, as his
heart can wish for."
"I tell you, woman," exclaimed Deerslayer, whose imagination was far from
seconding the appeal of the widow, and who began to grow restive under the
vivid pictures she was drawing, "all this is nothing to me. People and
kindred must take care of their own fatherless, leaving them that have no
children to their own loneliness. As for me, I have no offspring, and I want
no wife. Now, go away Sumach; leave me in the hands of your chiefs, for my
colour, and gifts, and natur' itself cry out ag'in the idee of taking you for
a wife."
It is unnecessary to expatiate on the effect of this downright refusal of the
woman's proposals. If there was any thing like tenderness in her bosom-and no
woman was probably ever entirely without that feminine quality-it all
disappeared at this plain announcement. Fury, rage, mortified pride, and a
volcano of wrath burst out, at one explosion, converting her into a sort of
maniac, as it might beat the touch of a magician's wand. Without deigning a
reply in words, she made the arches of the forest ring with screams, and then
flew forward at her victim, seizing him by the hair, which she appeared
resolute to draw out by the roots. It was some time before her grasp could be
loosened. Fortunately for the prisoner her rage was blind; since his total
helplessness left him entirely at her mercy. Had it been better directed it
might have proved fatal before any relief could have been offered. As it was,
she did succeed in wrenching out two or three handsful of hair, before the
young men could tear her away from her victim.
The insult that had been offered to the Sumach was deemed an insult to the
whole tribe; not so much, however, on account of any respect that was felt
for the woman, as on account of the honor of the Huron nation. Sumach,
herself, was generally considered to be as acid as the berry from which she
derived her name, and now that her great supporters, her husband and brother,
were both gone, few cared about concealing their aversion. Nevertheless, it
had become a point of honor to punish the pale face who disdained a Huron
woman, and more particularly one who coolly preferred death to relieving the
tribe from the support of a widow and her children. The young men showed an
impatience to begin to torture, that Rivenoak understood, and, as his older
associates manifested no disposition to permit any longer delay, he was
compelled to give the signal, for the infernal work to proceed.
Chapter XXIX.
"The ugly bear now minded not the stake,
Nor how the cruel mastiffs do him tear,
The stag lay still unroused from the brake,
The foamy boar feared not the hunter's spear:
All thing was still in desert, bush, and briar:"
Thomas Sackville; "The Complaint of Henry Duke of Buckingham," lxxxi.
Twas one of the common expedients of the savages, on such occasions, to put
the nerves of their victims to the severest proofs. On the other hand, it was
a matter of Indian pride to betray no yielding to terror, or pain, but for
the prisoner to provoke his enemies to such acts of violence as would soonest
produce death. Many a warrior had been known to bring his own sufferings to a
more speedy termination, by taunting reproaches and reviling language, when
he found that his physical system was giving way under the agony of
sufferings produced by a hellish ingenuity that might well eclipse all that
has been said of the infernal devices of religious persecution. This happy
expedient of taking refuge from the ferocity of his foes, in their passions,
was denied Deerslayer however, by his peculiar notions of the duty of a white
man, and he had stoutly made up his mind to endure every thing, in preference
to disgracing his colour.
No sooner did the young men understand that they were at liberty to commence,
than some of the boldest and most forward among them sprang into the arena,
tomahawk in hand. Here they prepared to throw that dangerous weapon, the
object being to strike the tree as near as possible to the victim's head,
without absolutely hitting him. This was so hazardous an experiment, that
none but those who were known to be exceedingly expert with the weapon, were
allowed to enter the lists, at all, lest an early death might interfere with
the expected entertainment. In the truest hands it was seldom that the
captive escaped injury in these trials, and it often happened that death
followed, even when the blow was not premeditated. In the particular case of
our hero, Rivenoak and the older warriors were apprehensive that the example
of. the Panther's fate might prove a motive with some fiery spirit suddenly
to sacrifice his conqueror, when the temptation of effecting it in precisely
the same manner, and possibly with the identical weapon with which the
warrior had fallen, offered. This circumstance of itself, rendered the ordeal
of the tomahawk doubly critical for the Deerslayer. It would seem, however,
that all who now entered, what we shall call the lists, were more disposed to
exhibit their own dexterity, than to resent the deaths of their comrades.
Each prepared himself for the trial, with the feelings of rivalry, rather
than with the desire for vengeance, and, for the first few minutes, the
prisoner had little more connection with the result, than grew out of the
interest that necessarily attached itself to a living target. The young men
were eager, instead of being fierce, and Rivenoak thought he still saw signs
of being able to save the life of the captive, when the vanity of the young
men had been gratified; always admitting, that it was not sacrificed to the
delicate experiments that were about to be made. The first youth who
presented himself, for the trial, was called The Raven, having as yet had no
opportunity of obtaining a more warlike sobriquet. He was remarkable for high
pretension, rather than for skill,, or exploits, and those who knew his
character thought the captive in imminent danger, when he took his stand, and
poised the tomahawk. Nevertheless, the young man was good natured, and no
thought was uppermost in his mind, other than the desire to make a better
cast, than any of his fellows. Deerslayer got an inkling of this warrior's
want of reputation, by the injunctions that he had received from the seniors,
who, indeed, would have objected to his appearing in the arena, at all, but
for an influence derived from his father; an aged warrior of great merit, who
was then in the lodges of the tribe. Still, our hero maintained an appearance
of self-possession. He had made up his mind that his hour was come, and it
would have been a mercy, instead of a calamity, to fall by the unsteadiness
of the first hand that was raised against him. After a suitable number of
flourishes, and gesticulations that promised much more than he could perform,
the Raven let the tomahawk quit his hand. The weapon whirled through the air,
with the usual evolutions, cut a chip from the sapling to which the prisoner
was bound, within a few inches of his cheek, and stuck in a large oak that
grew several yards behind him. This was decidedly a bad effort, and a common
sneer proclaimed as much, to the great mortification of the young man On the
other hand, there was a general but suppressed murmur of admiration at the
steadiness with which the captive stood the trial. The head was the only part
he could move, and this had been purposely left free, that the tormentors
might have the amusement, and the tormented endure the shame, of his dodging,
and otherwise attempting to avoid the blows. Deerslayer disappointed these
hopes, by a command of nerve that rendered his whole body as immovable as the
tree to which he was bound. Nor did he even adopt the natural and usual
expedient of shutting his eyes, the firmest and oldest warrior of the red-men
never having more disdainfully denied himself this advantage under similar
circumstances.
The Raven had no sooner made his unsuccessful and puerile effort, than he was
succeeded by le Daim-Mose, or the Moose; a middle aged warrior, who was
particularly skilful in the use of the tomahawk, and from whose attempt the
spectators confidently looked for gratification. This man had none of the
good nature of the Raven, but he would gladly have sacrificed the captive to
his hatred of the pale faces generally, were it not for the greater interest
he felt in his own success as one particularly skilled in the use of this
weapon. He took his stand quietly, but with an air of confidence, poised his
little axe but a single instant, advanced a foot with a quick motion, and
threw. Deerslayer saw the keen instrument whirling towards him, and believed
all was over; still, he was not touched. The tomahawk had actually bound the
head of the captive to the tree, by carrying before it some of his hair,
having buried itself deep beneath the soft bark. A general yell expressed the
delight of the spectators, and the Moose felt his heart soften a little
towards the prisoner, whose steadiness of nerve alone, enabled him to give
this evidence of his consummate skill.
Le Daim-Mose was succeeded by the Bounding Boy, or le Garcon qui Bondi who
came leaping into the circle, like a hound, or a goat, at play. This was one
of those elastic youths, whose muscles seemed always in motion, and who
either affected, or who from habit was actually unable, to move in any other
manner, than by showing the antics just mentioned. Nevertheless, he was both
brave and skilful, and had gained the respect of his people, by deeds in war,
as well as success in the hunts. A far nobler name would long since have
fallen to his share, had not a French-man of rank inadvertently given him
this sobriquet, which he religiously preserved as coming from his Great
Father, who lived beyond the Wide Salt Lake. The Bounding Boy skipped about
in front of the captive, menacing him with his tomahawk, now on one side and
now on another, and then again in front, in the vain hope of being able to
extort some sign of fear by this parade of danger. At length Deerslayer's
patience became exhausted by all this mummery, and he spoke for the first
time, since the trial had actually commenced.
"Throw away, Huron," he cried, "or your tomahawk will forget its ar'n'd. Why
do you keep loping about like a fa'a'n that's showing its dam how well it can
skip, when you're a warrior grown, yourself, and a warrior grown defies you
and all your silly antiks. Throw, or the Huron gals will laugh in your face."
Although not intended to produce such an effect, the last words aroused the
"Bounding" warrior to fury. The same nervous excitability which rendered him
so active in his person, made it difficult to repress his feelings, and the
words were scarcely past the lips of the speaker, than the tomahawk left the
hand of the Indian. Nor was it cast without ill-will, and a fierce
determination to slay. Had the intention been less deadly, the danger might
have been greater. The aim was uncertain, and the weapon glanced near the
cheek of the captive, slightly cutting the shoulder in its evolutions. This
was the first instance in which any other object, than that of terrifying the
prisoner, and of displaying skill had been manifested, and the Bounding Boy
was immediately led from the arena, and was warmly rebuked for his
intemperate haste, which had come so near defeating all the hopes of the
band.To this irritable person succeeded several other young warriors, who not
only hurled the tomahawk, but who cast the knife, a far more dangerous
experiment, with reckless indifference; yet they always manifested a skill
that prevented any injury to the captive. Several times Deerslayer was
grazed, but in no instance did he receive what might be termed a wound. The
unflinching firmness with which he faced his assailants, more especially in
the sort of rally with which this trial terminated, excited a profound
respect in the spectators, and when the chiefs announced that the prisoner
had well withstood the trials of the, knife and the tomahawk, there was not a
single individual in the band who really felt any hostility towards him, with
the exception 'of Sumach and the Bounding Boy. These two discontented spirits
got together, it is true, feeding each other's ire, but, as yet, their
malignant feelings were confined very much to themselves, though there
existed the danger that the others, ere long, could not fail to be excited by
their own efforts, into that demoniacal state which usually accompanied all
similar scenes among the red men.
Rivenoak now told his people that the pale face had proved himself to be a
man. He might live with the Delawares, but he had not been made woman, with
that tribe. He wished to know whether it was the desire of the Hurons to
proceed any further. Even the gentlest of the females, however, had received
too much satisfaction in the late trials, to forego their expectations of a
gratifying exhibition, and there was but one voice, in the request to
proceed. The politic chief, who had some such desire to receive so celebrated
a hunter into his tribe, as a European Minister has to devise a new and
available means of taxation, sought every plausible means of arresting the
trial in season, for, he well knew, if permitted to go far enough to arouse
the more ferocious passions of the tormentors, it would be as easy to dam the
waters of the great lakes of his own region, as to attempt to arrest them in
their bloody career. He therefore called four or five of the best marksmen to
him, and bid them put the captive to the proof of the rifle, while, at the
same time he cautioned them touching the necessity of their maintaining their
own credit, by the closest attention to the manner of exhibiting their skill.
When Deerslayer saw the chosen warriors step into the circle, with their arms
prepared for service, he felt some such relief, as the miserable sufferer,
who has long endured the agonies of disease, feels at the certain approach of
death. Any trifling variance in the aim of this formidable weapon, would
prove fatal; since, the head being the target, or rather the point it was
desired to graze without injuring, an inch or two of difference in the line
of projection, must at once determine the question of life or death.
In the torture by the rifle there was none of the latitude permitted that
appeared in the case of even Gessler's apple, a hair's breadth being, in
fact, the utmost limits that an expert marksman would allow himself on an
occasion like this. Victims were frequently shot through the head by too
eager, or unskilful hands, and it often occurred that, exasperated by the
fortitude and taunts of the prisoner, death was dealt intentionally, in a
moment of ungovernable irritation. All this Deerslayer well knew, for it was
in relating the traditions of such scenes, as well as of the battles and
victories of their people, that the old men beguiled the long winter
evenings, in their cabins. He now fully expected the end of his career, and
experienced a sort of melancholy pleasure in the idea that he was to fall by
a weapon as much beloved as the rifle. A slight interruption, however, took
place before the business was allowed to proceed.
Hetty Hutter witnessed all that passed, and the scene at first had pressed
upon her feeble mind in a way to paralyze it entirely; but, by this time, she
had rallied, and was growing indignant at the unmerited suffering the Indians
were inflicting on her friend. Though timid, and shy as the young of the
deer, on so many occasions, this right-feeling girl was always intrepid in
the cause of humanity; the lessons of her mother, and the impulses of her own
heart, - perhaps we might say the promptings of that unseen and pure spirit
that seemed ever to watch over and direct her actions - uniting to keep down
the apprehensions of woman, and to impel her to be bold and resolute. She now
appeared in the circle, gentle, feminine, even bashful in mien, as usual, but
earnest in her words and countenance, speaking like one who knew herself to
be sustained by the high authority of God.
"Why do you torment Deerslayer, red-men?" she asked -"What has he done that
you trifle with his life; who has given you the right to be his judges?
Suppose one of your knives, tomahawks had hit him; what Indian among you all
could cure the wound you would make. Besides, in harming Deerslayer, you
injure your own friend; when father and Hurry Harry came after your scalps,
he refused to be of the party, and staid in the canoe by himself. You are
tormenting a good friend, in tormenting this young man!"
The Hurons listened with grave attention, and one among them, who understood
English, translated what had been said into their native tongue. As soon as
Rivenoak was made acquainted with the purport of her address he answered it
in his own dialect; the interpreter conveying it to the girl in English.
"My daughter is very welcome to speak," said the stern old orator, using
gentle intonations and smiling as kindly as if addressing a child-"The Hurons
are glad to hear her voice; they listen to what she says. The Great Spirit
often speaks to men with such tongues. This time, her eyes have not been open
wide enough, to see all that has happened. Deerslayer did not come for our
scalps; that is true; why did he not come? Here they are; on our heads; the
war-locks are ready to be taken hold of; a bold enemy ought to stretch out
his hand to seize them. The Iroquois are too great a nation to punish men
that take scalps. What they do themselves, they like to see others do. Let my
daughter look around her and count my warriors. Had I as many hands as four
warriors, their fingers would be fewer than my people, when they came into
your hunting grounds. Now, a whole hand is missing. Where are the fingers?
Two have been cut off by this pale face; my Hurons wish to see if he did this
by means of a stout heart, or by treachery. Like a skulking fox, or like a
leaping panther."
"You know yourself, Huron, how one of them fell. I saw it, and you all saw
it, too. 'Twas too bloody to look at; but it was not Deerslayer's fault. Your
warrior sought his life, and he defended himself. I do n't know whether this
good book says that it was right, but all men will do that. Come, if you want
to know which of you, can shoot best, give Deerslayer a rifle, and then you
will find how much more expert he is, than any of your warriors; yes, than
all of them together!"
Could one have looked upon such a scene with indifference, he would have been
amused at the gravity with which the savages listened to the translation of
this unusual request. No taunt, no smile mingled with their surprise, for
Hetty had a character and a manner too saintly to subject her infirmity to
the mockings of the rude and ferocious. On the contrary, she was answered
with respectful attention.
"My daughter does not always talk, like a chief at a Council Fire," returned
Rivenoak, "or she would not have said this. Two of my warriors have fallen by
the blows of our prisoner; their grave is too small to hold a third. The
Hurons do not like to crowd their dead. If there is another spirit about to
set out for the far off world, it must not be the spirit of a Huron; it must
be the spirit of a pale face. Go, daughter, and sit by Sumach, who is in
grief; let the Huron warriors show how well they can shoot; let the pale face
show how little he cares for their bullets."
Hetty's mind was unequal to a sustained discussion, and accustomed to defer
to the directions of her seniors she did as told, seating herself passively
on a log, by the side of the Sumach, and averting her face from the painful
scene that was occurring within the circle.
The warriors, as soon as this interruption had ceased, resumed their places,
and again prepared to exhibit their skill. As there was a double object in
view, that of putting the constancy of the captive to the proof, and that of
showing how steady were the hands of the marksmen, under circumstances of
excitement, the distance was small, and, in one sense, safe. But in
diminishing the distance taken by the tormentors, the trial to the nerves of
the captive was essentially increased. The face of Deerslayer, indeed, was
just removed sufficiently from the ends of the guns to escape the effects of
the flash, and his steady eye was enabled to look directly into their
muzzles, as it might be, in anticipation of the fatal messenger that was to
issue from each. The cunning Hurons well knew this fact, and scarce one
levelled his piece without first causing it to point as near as possible at
the forehead of the prisoner, in the hope that his fortitude would fail him,
and that the band would enjoy the triumph of seeing a victim quail under
their ingenious cruelty. Nevertheless each of the competitors was still
careful not to injure, the disgrace of striking prematurely, being second
only to that of failing altogether in attaining the object. Shot after shot
was made; all the bullets coming in close proximity to the Deerslayer's head,
without touching it. Still no one could detect even the twitching of a muscle
on the part of the captive, or the slightest winking of an eye. This
indomitable resolution, which so much exceeded every thing of its kind that
any present had before witnessed, might be referred to three distinct causes.
The first was resignation to his fate, blended with natural steadiness of
deportment; for our hero had calmly made up his mind that he must die, and
preferred this mode to any other; the second was his great familiarity with
this particular weapon, which deprived it of all the terror that is usually
connected with the mere form of the danger; and the third was this
familiarity carried out in practice, to a degree so nice as to enable the
intended victim to tell, within an inch, the precise spot where each bullet
must strike, for he calculated its range by looking in at the bore of the
piece. So exact was Deerslayer's estimation of the line of fire, that his
pride of feeling finally got the better of his resignation, and when five or
six had discharged their bullets into the tree, he could not refrain from
expresing his contempt at their want of hand and eye.
"You may call this shooting, Mingos!" he exclaimed, "but we've squaws among
the Delawares, and I have known Dutch gals on the Mohawk, that could outdo
your greatest indivours. Ondo these arms of mine, put a rifle into my hands,
and I'll pin the thinnest warlock in your party, to any tree you can show me,
and this at a hundred yards-ay, or at two hundred if the objects can be seen,
nineteen shots in twenty; or, for that matter twenty in twenty, if the piece
is creditable and trusty!"
A low menacing murmur followed this cool taunt. The ire of the warriors
kindled at listening to such a reproach from one, who so far disdained their
efforts as to refuse even to wink, when a rifle was discharged as near his
face as could be done without burning it. Rivenoak perceived that the moment
was critical, and, still retaining his hope of adopting so noted a hunter
into his tribe, the politic old chief interposed in time, probably to prevent
an immediate resort to that portion of the torture, which must necessarily
have produced death through extreme bodily suffering, if in no other manner.
Moving into the centre of the irritated groupe, he addressed them with his
usual wily logic, and plausible manner, at once suppressing the fierce
movement that had commenced.
"I see how it is," he said. "We have been like the pale faces when they
fasten their doors at night, out of fear of the red men. They use so many
bars that the fire comes and burns them, before they can get out. We have
bound the Deerslayer too tight: the thongs keep his limbs from shaking and
his eyes from shutting. Loosen him; let us see what his own body is really
made of."
It is often the case when we are thwarted in a cherished scheme, that any
expedient, however unlikely to succeed, is gladly resorted to in preference
to a total abandonment of the project. So it was with the Hurons. The
proposal of the chief found instant favor, and several hands were immediately
at work, cutting and tearing the ropes of bark from the body of our hero. In
half a minute Deerslayer stood as free from bonds, as when, an hour before he
had commenced his flight on the side of the mountain. Some little time was
necessary that he should recover the use of his limbs, the circulation of the
blood having been checked by the tightness of the ligatures, and this was
accorded to him by the politic Rivenoak, under the pretence that his body
would be more likely to submit to apprehension, if its true tone were
restored; though really with a view to give time to the fierce passions which
had-been awakened in the bosoms of his young men, to subside. This ruse
succeeded, and Deerslayer by rubbing his limbs, stamping his feet, and moving
about, soon regained the circulation, recovering all his physical powers, as
effectually as if nothing had occurred to disturb them.
It is seldom men think of death in the pride of their health and strength. So
it was with Deerslayer. Having been helplessly bound and, as he had every
reason to suppose, so lately on the very verge of the other world, to find
himself so unexpectedly liberated, in possession of his strength and with a
full command of limb, acted on him like a sudden restoration to life,
reanimating hopes that he had once absolutely abandoned. From that instant
all his plans changed. In this, he simply obeyed a law of nature; for while
we have wished to represent our hero as being resigned to his fate, it has
been far from our intention to represent him as anxious to die. From the
instant that his buoyancy of feeling revived, his thoughts were keenly bent
on the various projects that presented themselves as modes of evading the
designs of his enemies, and he again became, the quick witted, ingenious and
determined woodsman, alive to all his own powers and resources. The change
was so great, that his mind resumed its elasticity, and no longer thinking of
submission, it dwelt only on the devices of the-sort of warfare in which he
was engaged.
As soon as Deerslayer was released, the band divided itself in a circle
around him, in order to hedge him in, and the desire to break down his spirit
grew in them, precisely as they saw proofs of the difficulty there would be
in subduing it. The honor of the band was now involved in the issue, and even
the sex lost all its sympathy with suffering, in the desire to save the
reputation of the tribe. The voices of the girls, soft and melodious as
nature had made them, were heard mingling with the menaces of the men, and
the wrongs of Sumach suddenly assumed the character of injuries inflicted on
every Huron female. Yielding to this rising tumult, the men drew back a
little, signifying to the females, that they left the captive, for a time, in
their hands, it being a common practice on such occasions, for the women to
endeavor to throw the victim into a rage, by their taunts and revilings, and
then to turn him suddenly over to the men, in a state of mind that was little
favorable to resisting the agony of bodily suffering. Nor was this party
without the proper instruments for effecting such a purpose. Sumach had a
notoriety as a scold, and one or two crones, like the She Bear, had come out
with the party, most probably as the conservators of its decency and moral
discipline; such things occurring in savage as well as in civilized life. It
is unnecessary to repeat all that ferocity and ignorance could invent for
such a purpose, the only difference between this outbreaking of feminine
anger, and a similar scene among ourselves, consisting in the figures of
speech and the epithets, the Huron women calling their prisoner by the names
of the lower and least respected animals that were known to themselves.
But Deerslayer's mind was too much occupied, to permit him to be disturbed by
the abuse of excited hags, and their rage necessarily increasing with his
indifference, as his indifference increased with their rage, the furies soon
rendered themselves impotent by their own excesses. Perceiving that the
attempt was a complete failure, the warriors interfered to put a stop to this
scene, and this so much the more, because preparations were now seriously
making for the commencement of the real tortures, or that which would put the
fortitude of the sufferer to the test of severe bodily pain. A sudden and
unlooked for announcement, that proceeded from one of the look-outs, a boy
ten or twelve years old, however, put a momentary check to the whole
proceedings. As this interruption has a close connection with the dénouemnent
of our story, it shall be given in a separate chapter.
Chapter XXX.
"So deem'st thou - so each mortal deems
Of that which is from that which seems;
But other harvest here
Than that which peasant's scythe demands,
Was gather'd in by sterner hands,
With bayonet, blade, and spear."
Scott, "The Field of Waterloo," V.i-6.
It exceeded Deerslayer's power to ascertain what had produced the sudden
pause in the movements of his enemies, until the fact was revealed in the due
course of events. He perceived that much agitation prevailed among the women
in particular, while the warriors rested on their arms, in a sort of
dignified expectation. It was plain no alarm was excited, though it was not
equally apparent that a friendly occurrence produced the delay. Rivenoak was
evidently apprised of all, and by a gesture of his arm he appeared to direct
the circle to remain unbroken, and for each person to await the issue in the
situation he, or she, then occupied. It required but a minute or two, to
bring an explanation of this singular and mysterious pause, which was soon
terminated by the appearance of Judith on the exterior of the line of bodies,
and her ready admission within its circle.
If Deerslayer was startled by this unexpected arrival, well knowing that the
quick witted girl could claim none of that exemption from the penalties of
captivity, that was so cheerfully accorded to her feebler minded sister, he
was equally astonished at the guise in which she came. All her ordinary
forest attire, neat and becoming as this usually was, had been laid aside for
the brocade that has been already mentioned, and which had once before
wrought so great and magical an effect in her appearance. Nor was this all.
Accustomed to see the ladies of the garrison, in the formal, gala attire of
the day, and familiar with the more critical niceties of these matters, the
girl had managed to complete her dress, in a way to leave nothing strikingly
defective in its details, or even to betray an in congruity that would have
been detected by one practised in the mysteries of the toilet. Head, feet,
arms, hands, bust, and drapery, were all ~n harmony, as female attire was
then deemed attractive and harmonious, and the end she aimed at, that of
imposing on the uninstructed senses of the savages, by causing them to
believe their guest was a woman of rank and importance, might well have
succeeded with those whose habits had taught them to discriminate between
persons. Judith, in addition to her rare native beauty, had a singular grace
of person, and her mother had imparted enough of her own deportment, to
prevent any striking or offensive vulgarity of manner; so that, sooth to say,
the gorgeous dress might have been worse bestowed in nearly every particular.
Had it been displayed in a capital, a thousand might have worn it, before one
could have been found to do more credit to its gay colours, glossy satins,
and rich laces, than the beautiful creature whose person it now aided to
adorn. The effect of such an apparition had not been miscalculated. The
instant Judith found herself within the circle, she was, in a degree,
compensated for the fearful personal risk she ran, by the unequivocal
sensation of surprise and admiration produced by her appearance. The grim old
warriors uttered their favorite exclamation "hugh!" The younger men were
still more sensibly overcome, and even the women were not backward in letting
open manifestations of pleasure escape them. It was seldom that these
untutored children of the forest had ever seen any white female above the
commonest sort, and, as to dress, never before had so much splendor shone
before their eyes. The gayest uniforms of both French and English seemed dull
compared with the lustre of the brocade, and while the rare personal beauty
of the wearer added to the effect produced by its hues, the attire did not
fail to adorn that beauty in a way which surpassed even the hopes of its
wearer. Deerslayer himself was astounded, and this quite as much by the
brilliant picture the girl presented, as at the indifference to consequences
with which she had braved the danger of the step she had taken. Under such
circumstances, all waited for the visiter to explain her object, which to
most of the spectators seemed as inexplicable as her appearance.
"Which of these warriors is the principal chief?" demanded Judith of
Deerslayer, as soon as she found it was expected that she should open the
communications; "my errand is too important to be delivered to any of
inferior rank. First explain to the Hurons, what I say; then give an answer
to the question I have put."
Deerslayer quietly complied, his auditors greedily listening to the
interpretation of the first words that fell from so extraordinary a vision.
The demand seemed perfectly in character for one who had every appearance of
an exalted rank, herself. Rivenoak gave an appropriate reply, by presenting
himself before his fair visiter in a way to leave no doubt that he was
entitled to all the consideration he claimed.
"I can believe this, Huron," resumed Judith, enacting her assumed part, with
a steadiness and dignity that did credit to her powers of imitation, for she
strove to impart to her manner the condescending courtesy she had once
observed in the wife of a general officer, at a similar though a more
amicable scene:
"I can believe you to be the principal person of this party; I see in your
countenance the marks of thought and reflection. To you, then, I must make my
communication."
"Let the Flower of the Woods speak," returned the old chief courteously, as
soon as her address had been translated so that all might understand it-"If
her words are as pleasant as her looks, they will never quit my ears; I shall
hear them long after the winter of Canada has killed all the flowers, and
frozen all the speeches of summer."
This admiration was grateful to one constituted like Judith, and contributed
to aid her self-possession, quite as much as it fed her vanity. Smiling
involuntarily, or in spite of her wish to seem reserved, she proceeded in her
plot.
"Now, Huron," she continued, "listen to my words. Your eyes tell you that I
am no common woman. I will not say I am queen of this country; she is afar
off, in a distant land; but under our gracious monarchs, there are many
degrees of rank; one of these I fill. What that rank is precisely, it is
unnecessary for me to say, since you would not understand it. For that
information you must trust your eyes. You see what I am; you must feel that
in listening to my words, you listen to one who can be your friend, or your
enemy, as you treat her."
This was well uttered, with a due attention to manner, and a steadiness of
tone, that was really surprising, considering all the circumstances of the
case. It was well, though simply rendered into the Indian dialect too, and it
was received with a respect and gravity that augured favourably for the
girl's success. But Indian thought is not easily traced to its sources.
Judith waited with anxiety to hear the answer, filled with hope even while
she doubted. Rivenoak was a ready speaker, and he answered as promptly as
comported with the notions of Indian decorum; that peculiar people seeming to
think a short delay respectful, inasmuch as it manifests that the words
already heard, have been duly weighed.
"My daughter is handsomer than the wild roses of Ontario; her voice is
pleasant to the ear as the song of the wren," answered the cautious and wily
chief, who of all the band, stood alone in not being fully imposed on by the
magnificent and unusual appearance of Judith; but who distrusted even while
he wondered: "the humming bird is not much larger than the bee; yet, its
feathers are as gay as the tail of the peacock. The Great Spirit sometimes
puts very bright clothes on very little animals. Still He covers the Moose
with coarse hair. These things are beyond the understanding of poor Indians,
who can only comprehend what they see and hear. No doubt my daughter has a
very large wigwam, somewhere about the lake; the Hurons have not found it, on
account of their ignorance?"
"I have told you, chief, that it would be useless to state my rank and
residence, in as much as you would not comprehend them. You must trust to
your eyes for this knowledge; what red man is there who cannot see? This
blanket that I wear, is not the blanket of a common squaw; these ornaments
are such as the wives and daughters of chiefs only appear in. Now, listen and
hear why I have come alone, among your people, and hearken to the errand that
has brought me here. The Yengeese have young men, as well as the Hurons; and
plenty of them, too; this you well know."
"The Yengeese are as plenty as the leaves on the trees! This every Huron
knows, and feels."
"I understand you, chief. Had I brought a party with me, it might have caused
trouble. My young men and your young men, would have looked angrily at each
other; especially had my young men seen that pale face bound for the torture.
He is a great hunter, and is much loved by all the garrisons, far and near.
There would have been blows about him, and the trail of the Iroquois back to
the Canadas would have been marked with blood."
"There is so much blood on it, now," returned the chief, gloomily, "that it
blinds our eyes. My young men see that it is all Huron."
"No doubt; and more Huron blood would be spilt had I come surrounded with
pale faces. I have heard of Rivenoak, and have thought it would be better to
send him back in peace to his village, that he might leave his women and
children behind him; if he then wished to come for our scalps, we would meet
him. He loves animals made of ivory, and little rifles. See; I have brought
some with me to show him. I am his friend. When he has packed up these things
among his goods, he will start for his village, before any of my young men
can overtake him, and then he will show his people in Canada what riches they
can come to seek, now that our great fathers, across the Salt Lake, have sent
each other the war hatchet. I will lead back with me, this great hunter, of
whom I have need to keep my house in venison."
Judith, who was sufficiently familiar with Indian phraseology, endeavored to
express her ideas in the sententious manner common to those people, and she
succeeded even beyond her own expectations. Deerslayer did her full justice
in the translation, and this so much the more readily, since the girl
carefully abstained from uttering any direct untruth; a homage she paid to
the young man's known aversion to falsehood, which he deemed a meanness
altogether unworthy of a white man's gifts. The offering of the two remaining
elephants, and of the pistols already mentioned, one of which was all the
worse for the recent accident, produced a lively sensation among the Hurons,
generally, though Rivenoak received it coldly, notwithstanding the delight
with which he had first discovered the probable existence of a creature with
two tails. In a word, this cool and sagacious savage was not so easily
imposed on, as his followers, and with a sentiment of honor, that half the
civilized world would have deemed supererogatory, he declined the acceptance
of a bribe that he felt no disposition to earn by a compliance with the
donor's wishes.
"Let my daughter keep her two-tailed hog, to eat, when venison is scarce," he
drily answered, "and the little gun, which has two muzzles. The Hurons will
kill deer when they are hungry, and they have long rifles to fight with. This
hunter cannot quit my young men now; they wish to know if he is as stout
hearted, as he boasts himself to be."
"That I deny, Huron-" interrupted Deerslayer, with warmth-"Yes, that I down
right deny, as ag'in truth and reason. No man has heard me boast, and no man
shall, though ye flay me alive, and then roast the quivering flesh, with your
own infarnal devices and cruelties! I may be humble, and misfortunate, and
your prisoner; but I'm no boaster, by my very gifts."
"My young pale-face boasts he is no boaster," returned the crafty chief: "he
must be right. I hear a strange bird singing. It has very rich feathers. No
Huron ever before saw such feathers! They will be ashamed to go back to their
village, and tell their people that they let their prisoner go on account of
the song of this strange bird and not be able to give the name of the bird.
They do not know how to say whether it is a wren, or a cat bird. This would
be a great disgrace; my young men would not be allowed to travel in the
woods, without taking their mothers with them, to tell them the names of the
birds!"
"You can ask my name of your prisoner," returned the girl. "It is Judith; and
there is a great deal of the history of Judith in the Pale face's best book,
the bible. If I am a bird of fine feathers, I have also my name."
"No," answered the wily Huron, betraying the artifice he had so long
practised, by speaking in English, with tolerable accuracy, "I not ask
prisoner. He tired; he want rest. I ask my daughter, with feeble mind. She
speak truth. Come here, daughter; you answer. Your name, Hetty?"
"Yes, that's what they call me," returned the girl, "though it's written
Esther in the bible."
"He write him in bible, too! All write in bible. No matter- what her name?"
"That's Judith, and it's so written in the bible, though father sometimes
called her Jude. That's my sister Judith. Thomas Hutter's daughter-Thomas
Hutter, whom you called the Muskrat; though he was no muskrat, but a man like
yourselves-he lived in a house on the water, and that was enough for you.
A smile of triumph gleamed on the hard wrinkled countenance of the chief,
when he found how completely his appeal to the truth-loving Hcttv had
succeeded. As for Judith, herself, the moment her sister was questioned, she
saw that all was lost; for no sign, or even intreaty could have induced the
right feeling girl to utter a falsehood. To attempt to impose a daughter of
the Muskrat on the savages, as a princess, or a great lady, she knew would be
idle, and she saw her bold and ingenious expedient for liberating the captive
fail, through one of the simplest and most natural causes that could be
imagined. She turned her eye on Deerslayer, therefore, as if imploring him to
interfere, to save them both.
"It will not do, Judith," said the young man, in answer to this appeal, which
he understood, though he saw its uselessness; "it will not do. Twas a bold
idea, and fit for a general's lady, but yonder Mingo " Rivenoak had withdrawn
to a little distance, and was out of ear-shot -"but yonder Mingo, is au
oncommon man, and not to he deceived by any unnat'ral sarcumvcntion. Things
must come afore him, in their right order, to draw a (loud afore his eves!
Twas too much to attempt making him fancy that a queen, or a great lady,
lived in these mountains, and no doubt lie thinks the line clothes you wear,
is some of the plunder of' your own father-or, at least, of him who once
passed for your father; as 1tiite likely it was, if all they say is true."
"At all events, Deerslayer , my presence here, will save you for a time. They
will hardly attempt torturing you before my face!"
"Why not, Judith? Do you think they will treat a woman of the pale faces,
more tenderly than they treat their own? It's true that your sex will most
likely save you from the torments, but it will not save your liberty, and may
not save your scalp. I wish you had not come, my good Judith; it can do no
good to me, while it may do great harm to yourself.
I can share your fate," the girl answered with generous enthusiasm. "They
shall not injure you, while I stand by, if in my power to prevent it-besides-
"
"Besides, what, Judith? What means have you to stop Injin cruelties, or to
avart Injin deviltries?"
"None, perhaps, Deerslayer," answered the girl, with firmness, "but I can
suffer with my friends-die with them if necessary."
"Ah! Judith-suffer you may; but die you will not, until the Lord's time shall
come. It's little likely that one of your sex and beauty will meet with a
harder fate than to become the wife of a chief, if, indeed your white
inclinations can stoop to match with an Injin. 'Twould have been better had
you said in the Ark, or the castle, but what has been done, is done. You was
about to say something, when you stopped at 'besides'?"
"It might not be safe to mention it here, Deerslayer," the girl hurriedly
answered, moving past him carelessly, that she might speak in a lower tone;
"half an hour, is all in all to us. None of your friends are idle."
The hunter replied merely by a grateful look. Then he turned towards his
enemies, as if ready again to face their torments. A short consultation had
passed among the elders of the band, and by this time they also were prepared
with their decision. The merciful purpose of Rivenoak had been much weakened
by the artifice of Judith, which, failing of its real object, was likely to
produce results the very opposite of those she had anticipated. This was
natural; the feeling being aided by the resentment of an Indian, who found
how near hr had been to becoming the dupe of an inexperienced girl. By this
time, Judith's real character was fully understood, the wide spread
reputation of her beauty contributing to the exposure. As for the unusual
attire, it was confounded with the profound mystery of the animals with two
tails, and, for the moment lost its influence.
When Rivenoak, therefore, faced the captive again, it was with an altered
countenance. He had abandoned the wish of saving him, and was no longer
disposed to retard the more serious part of the torture This change of
sentiment was, in effect, communicated to the young men, who were already
eagerly engaged in making their preparations for the contemplated scene.
Fragments of dried wood were rapidly collected, near the sapling, the
splinters which it was intended to thrust into the flesh of the victim,
previously to lighting, were all collected, and the thongs were already
produced that were again to bind him to the tree. All this was done in
profound silence, Judith watching every movement with breathless expectation,
while Deerslayer himself, stood seemingly as unmoved, as one of the pines of
the hills. When the warriors advanced to bind him, however, the young man
glanced at Judith, as if to enquire whether resistance or submission were
most advisable. By a significant gesture she counselled the last, and, in a
minute, he was once more fastened to the tree, a helpless object of any
insult, or wrong, that might be offered. So eagerly did every one now act,
that nothing was said. The fire was immediately lighted in the pile, and the
end of all was anxiously expected.
It was not the intention of the Hurons absolutely to destroy the life of
their victim by means of fire. They designed merely to put his physical
fortitude to the severest proofs it could endure, short of that extremity. In
the end, they fully intended to carry his scalp with them into their village,
but it was their wish first to break down his resolution, and to reduce him
to the level of a complaining sufferer. With this view, the pile of brush and
branches had been placed at a proper distance, or, one at which it was
thought the heat would soon become intolerable, though it might not be
immediately dangerous. As often happened, however, on these occasions, this
distance had been miscalculated, and the flames began to wave their forked
tongues in a proximity to the face of the victim, that would have proved
fatal, in another instant, had not Hetty rushed through the crowd, armed with
a stick, and scattered the blazing pile, in a dozen directions. More than one
hand was raised to strike this presumptuous intruder to the earth, but the
chiefs prevented the blows, by reminding their irritated followers of the
state of her mind. Hetty, herself, was insensible to the risk she ran, but,
as soon as she had performed this bold act, she stood looking about her, in
frowning resentment, as if to rebuke the crowd of attentive savages, for
their cruelty.-I
"God bless you, dearest sister, for that brave and ready act!" murmured
Judith, herself unnerved so much as to be incapable of exertion-"Heaven,
itself, has sent you on its holy errand."
"Twas well meant, Judith-" rejoined the victim-"twas excellently meant, and
'twas timely; though it may prove ontimely in the ind! What is to come to
pass, must come to pass soon, or 'twill quickly be too late. Had I drawn in
one mouthful of that flame in breathing, the power of man could not save my
life, and you see that, this time, they've so bound my forehead, as not to
leave my head the smallest chance. Twas well meant, but it might have been
more marciful to let the flames act their part."
"Cruel, heartless Hurons!" exclaimed the still indignant Hetty-"Would you
burn a man and a christian, as you would burn a log of wood! Do you never
read your bibles?-Or do you think God will forget such things?"
A gesture from Rivenoak caused the scattered brands to be collected. Fresh
wood., was brought, even the women and children busying themselves eagerly,
in the gathering of dried sticks. The flame was just kindling a second time,
when an Indian female pushed through the circle, advanced to the heap, and
with her foot dashed aside the lighted twigs, in time to prevent the
conflagration. A yell followed this second disappointment, but when the
offender turned, towards the circle, and presented the countenance of Hist,
it was succeeded by a common exclamation of pleasure and surprise. For a
minute, all thought of pursuing the business in hand was forgotten. Young and
old crowded around the girl, in haste to demand an explanation of her sudden
and unlooked-for return. It was at this critical instant that Hist spoke to
Judith in a low voice, placed some small object unseen in her hand, and then
turned to meet the salutations of the Huron girls, with whom she was
personally a great favorite. Judith recovered her selfpossession, and acted
promptly. The small, keen edged knife, that Hist had given to the other, was
passed by the latter into the hands of Hetty, as the safest and least
suspected medium of transferring it to Deerslayer. But the feeble intellect
of the last, defeated the well-grounded hopes of all three. Instead of first
cutting loose the hands of the victim, and then concealing the knife in his
clothes, in readiness for action, at the most available instant, she went to
work herself, with earnestness and simplicity, to cut the thongs that bound
his head, that he might not again be in danger of inhaling flames. Of course
this deliberate procedure was seen, and the hands of Hetty were arrested, ere
she had more than liberated the upper portion of the captive's body, not
including his arms, below the elbows. This discovery at once pointed distrust
towards Hist, and to Judith's surprise, when questioned on the subject, that
spirited girl was not disposed to deny her agency in what had passed.
"Why should I not help the Deerslayer?" the girl demanded, in the tones of a
firm minded woman. "He is the brother of a Delaware chief; my heart is all
Delaware. Come forth, miserable Briarthorn, and wash the Iroquois paint from
your face; stand be'fore the Hurons, the crow that you are. You would eat the
carrion of your own dead, rather than starve. Put him face to face with
Deerslayer, chiefs and warriors; I will show you how great a knave you have
been keeping in your tribe."
This bold language, uttered in their own dialect, and with a manner full of
confidence, produced a deep sensation among the Hurons. Treachery is always
liable to distrust, and though the recreant Briarthorn had endeavoured to
serve the enemy well, his exertions and assiduities had gained for him little
more than toleration. His wish to obtain Hist for a wife, had first induced
him to betray her, and his own people, but serious rivals to his first
project had risen up among his new friends, weakening still more their
sympathies with treason. In a word, Briarthorn had been barely permitted to
remain in the Huron encampment, where he was as closely and as jealously
watched as Hist, herself, seldom appearing before the chiefs, and sedulously
keeping out of view of Deerslayer, who, until this moment, was ignorant even
of hi~ presence. Thus summoned, however, it was impossible to remain in the
back ground. "Wash the Iroquois paint from his face," he did not, for when he
stood in the centre of the circle, he was so disguised in these new colours,
that at first, the hunter did not recognise him. He assumed an air of
defiance, notwithstanding, and haughtily demanded what any could say against
"Briarthorn."
"Ask yourself that," continued Hist with spirit, though her manner grew less
concentrated, and there was a slight air of abstraction that became
observable to Deerslayer and Judith, if to no others - "Ask that of your own
heart, sneaking woodchuck of the Delawares; come not here with the face of an
innocent man. Go look into the spring; see the colours of your enemies on
your lying skin; then come back and boast how you run from your tribe and
took the blanket of the French for your covering! Paint yourself as bright as
the humming bird, you will still be black as the crow!"
Hist had been so uniformly gentle, while living with the Hurons, that they
now listened to her language with surprise. As for the delinquent, his blood
boiled in his veins, and it was well for the pretty speaker that it was not
in his power to execute the revenge he burned to inflict on her, in spite of
his pretended love.
"Who wishes Briarthorn?" he sternly asked-"If this pale face is tired of
life, if afraid of Indian torments, speak, Rivenoak; I will send him after
the warriors we have lost."
"No, chiefs- no, Rivenoak-" eagerly interrupted Hist- "Deerslayer fears
nothing; least of all a crow! Unbind him -cut his withes, place him face to
face with this cawing bird; then let us see which is tired of life!"
Hist made a forward movement, as if to take a knife from a young man, and
perform the office she had mentioned in person, but an aged warrior
interposed, at a sign from Rivenoak. This chief watched all the girl did with
distrust, for, even while speaking in her most boastful language, and in the
steadiest manner, there was an air of uncertainty and expectation about her,
that could not escape so close an observer. She acted well; but two or three
of the old men were equally satisfied that it was merely acting. Her proposal
to release Deerslayer, therefore, was rejected, and the disappointed Hist
found herself driven back from the sapling, at the very moment she fancied
herself about to be successful. At the same time, the circle, which had got
to be crowded and confused, was enlarged, and brought once more into order.
Rivenoak now announced the intention of the old men again to proceed, the
delay having continued long enough, and leading to no result.
"Stop Huron - stay chiefs! -" exclaimed Judith, scarce knowing what she said,
or why she interposed, unless to obtain time. "For God's sake, a single
minute longer-"
The words were cut short, by another and a still more extraordinary
interruption. A young Indian came bounding through the Huron ranks, leaping
into the very centre of the circle, in a way to denote the utmost confidence,
or a temerity bordering on fool-hardiness. Five or six sentinels were still
watching the lake at different and distant points, and it was the first
impression of Rivenoak that one of these had come in, with tidings of import.
Still the movements of the stranger were so rapid, and his war dress, which
scarcely left him more drapery than an antique statue, had so little
distinguishing about it, that, at the first moment, it was impossible to
ascertain whether he were friend or foe. Three leaps carried this warrior to
the side of Deerslayer, whose withes were cut, in the twinkling of an eye,
with a quickness and precision that left the prisoner perfect master of his
limbs. Not till this was effected, did the stranger bestow a glance on any
other object; then he turned and showed the astonished Hurons, the noble
brow, fine person, and eagle-eye, of a young warrior, in the paint and
panoply of a Delaware. He held a rifle in each hand, the butts of both,
resting on the earth, while from one dangled its proper pouch and horn. This
was Killdeer which, even as he looked boldly and in defiance at the crowd
around him, he suffered to fall back into the hands of its proper owner. The
presence of two armed men, though it was in their midst, startled the Hurons.
Their rifles were scattered about against the different trees, and their only
weapons were their knives and tomahawks. Still they had too much self-
possession to betray fear. It was little likely that so small a force would
assail so strong a band, and each man expected some extraordinary proposition
to succeed so decisive a step. The stranger did not seem disposed to
disappoint them; he prepared to speak.
"Hurons," he said, "this earth is very big. The Great Lakes are big, too;
there is room beyond them for the Iroquois; there is room for the Delawares
on this side. I am Chingachgook the Son of Uncas; the kinsman of Tamenund.
This is my betrothed; that pale face is my friend. My heart was heavy, when I
missed him; I followed him to your camp, to see that no harm happened to him.
All the Delaware girls are waiting for Wah; they wonder that she stays away
so long. Come, let us say farewell, and go on our path."
"Hurons, this is your mortal enemy, the Great Serpent of
them you hate!" cried Briarthorn. "If he escape, blood will be
in your moccasin prints, from this spot to the Canadas. I am all Huron!"
As the last words were uttered, the traitor cast his knife at the naked
breast of the Delaware. A quick movement of the arm, on the part of Hist, who
stood near, turned aside the blow, the dangerous weapon burying its point in
a pine. At the next instant, a similar weapon glanced from the hand of the
Serpent, and quivered in the recreant's heart. A minute had scarcely elapsed
from the moment in which Chingachgook bounded into the circle, and that in
which Briarthorn fell, like a log, dead in his tracks. The rapidity of events
had prevented the Hurons from acting; but this catastrophe permitted no
farther delay. A common exclamation followed, and the whole party was in
motion. At this instant a sound unusual to the woods was heard, and every
Huron, male and female, paused to listen, with ears erect and faces filled
with expectation. The sound was regular and heavy, as if the earth were
struck with beetles. Objects became visible among the trees of the back
ground, and a body of troops, was seen advancing with measured tread. They
came upon the charge, the scarlet of the King's livery shining among the
bright green foliage of the forest.
The scene that followed is not easily described. It was one in which wild
confusion, despair, and frenzied efforts, were so blended, as to destroy the
unity and distinctness of the action. A general yell burst from the enclosed
Hurons; it was succeeded by the hearty cheers of England. Still not a musket
or rifle was fired, though that steady, measured, tramp continued, and the
bayonet was seen gleaming in advance of a line that counted nearly sixty men.
The Hurons were taken at a fearful disadvantage. On three sides was the
water, while their formidable and trained foes, cut them off from flight, on
the fourth. Each warrior rushed for his arms, and then all on the point, man,
woman and child, eagerly sought the covers. In this scene of confusion and
dismay, however, nothing could surpass the discretion and coolness of
Deerslayer. His first care was to place Judith and Hist, behind trees, and he
looked for Hetty; but she had been hurried away in the crowd of Huron women.
This effected, he threw himself on a flank of the retiring Hurons, who were
inclining off towards the southern margin of the point, in the hope of
escaping through the water. Deerslayer watched his opportunity, and finding
two of his recent tormentors in a range, his rifle first broke the silence of
the terrific scene. The bullet brought down both at one discharge. This drew
a general fire from the Hurons, and the rifle and war cry of the Serpent were
heard in the clamor. Still the trained men returned no answering volley, the
whoop and piece of Hurry alone being heard on their side, if we except, the
short, prompt word of authority, and that heavy, measured and menacing tread.
Presently, however, the shrieks, groans, and denunciations that usually
accompany the use of the bayonet followed. That terrible and deadly weapon
was glutted in vengeance. The scene that succeeded was one of those, of which
so many have occurred in our own times, in which neither age nor sex forms an
exemption to the lot of a savage warfare.
Chapter XXXI.
"The flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow dies;
All that we wish to stay,
Tempts and then flies:
What is this world's delight? -Lightning that mocks the night, Brief even as
bright."
Shelley, "Mutability," 11. i-v.
The picture next presented, by the point of land that the unfortunate Hurons
had selected for their last place of encampment, need scarcely be laid before
the eyes of the reader. Happily for the more tender-minded and the more
timid, the trunks of the trees, the leaves, and the smoke had concealed much
of that which passed, and night shortly after drew its veil over the lake,
and the whole of that seemingly interminable wilderness; which may be said to
have then stretched, with few and immaterial interruptions, from the banks of
the Hudson to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Our business carries us into
the following day, when light returned upon the earth, as sunny and as
smiling, as if nothing extraordinary had occurred.
When the sun rose on the following morning, every sign of hostility and alarm
had vanished from the basin of the Glimmerglass The frightful event of the
preceding evening had left no impression on the placid sheet, and the
untiring hours pursued their course in the placid order prescribed by the
powerful hand that set them in motion. The birds were again skimming the
water, or were seen poised on the wing, high above the tops of the tallest
pines of the mountains, ready to make their swoops, in obedience to the
irresistable law of their natures. In a word, nothing was changed, but the
air of movement and life that prevailed in and around the castle. Here,
indeed, was an alteration that must have struck the least observant eye. A
sentinel, who wore the light infantry uniform of a royal regiment, paced the
platform with measured tread, and some twenty more of the same corps, lounged
about the place, or were seated in the ark. Their arms were stacked under the
eye of their comrade on post. Two officers stood examining the shore, with
the ship's glass so often mentioned. Their looks were directed to that fatal
point, where scarlet coats were still to be seen gliding among the trees, and
where the magnifying power of the instrument also showed spades at work, and
the sad duty of interment going on. Several of the common men bore proofs on
their persons, that their enemies had not been overcome entirely without
resistance, and the youngest of the two officers on the platform, wore an arm
in a sling. His companion, who commanded the party, had been more fortunate.
He it was who used the glass, in making the reconnoissances in which the two
were engaged.
A serjeant approached to make a report. He addressed the senior of these
officers, as Capt. Warley, while the other was alluded to as Mr. - which was
equivalent to Ensign Thornton. The former it will at once be seen was the
officer who had been named with so much feeling, in the parting dialogue
between Judith and Hurry. He was, in truth, the very individual with whom the
scandal of the garrisons had most freely connected the name of this beautiful
but indiscreet girl. He was a hard featured, red faced, man, of about five
and thirty; but of a military carriage, and with an air of fashion that might
easily impose on the imagination of one as ignorant of the world, as Judith.
"Craig is covering us with benedictions," observed this person to his young
ensign, with an air of indifference as he shut the glass, and handed it to
his servant; "to say the truth, not without reason; it is certainly more
agreeable to be here in attendance on Miss Judith Hutter, than to be burying
Indians, on a point of the lake, however romantic the position, or brilliant
the victory. By the way, Wright-is Davis still living?"
"He died about ten minutes since, your honor," returned the sergeant to whom
this question was addressed. "I knew how it would be, as soon as I found the
bullet had touched the stomach. I never knew a man who could hold out long,
if he had a hole in his stomach."
"No; it is rather inconvenient for carrying away any thing very nourishing,"
observed Warley gaping. "This being up two nights de suite, Arthur, plays the
devil with a man's faculties! I'm as stupid, as one of those Dutch parsons on
the Mohawk- I hope your arm is not painful, my dear boy?"
~It draws a few grimaces from me, sir, as I suppose you see," answered the
youth, laughing at the very moment, his countenance was a little awry with
pain. "But it may be borne. I suppose Graham can spare a few minutes, soon,
to look at my hurt."
"She is a lovely creature, this Judith Hutter, after all, Thornton; and it
shall not be my fault if she is not seen and admired in the Parks!" resumed
Warley, who thought little of his companion's wound-"your arm, eh! Quite
true-Go into the ark, serjeant, and tell Dr. Graham I desire he would look at
Mr. Thornton's injury, as soon as he has done with the poor fellow with the
broken leg. A lovely creature! and she looked like a queen in that brocade
dress in which we met her. I find all changed here; father and mother both
gone, the sister dying, if not dead, and none of the family left, but the
beauty! This has been a lucky expedition all round, and promises to terminate
better than Indian skirmishes in general."
"Am I to suppose, sir, that you are about to desert your colours, in the
great corps of bachelors, and close the campaign with matrimony?"
"I, Tom Warley, turn Benedict! Faith, my dear boy, you little know the corps
you speak of, if you fancy any such thing. I do suppose there are women in
the colonies, that a captain of Light Infantry need not disdain; but they are
not to be found up here, on a mountain lake; or even down on the Dutch river
where we are posted. It is true, my uncle, the general, once did me the favor
to choose a wife for me in Yorkshire; but she had no beauty, and I would not
marry a princess, unless she were handsome."
"If handsome, you would marry a beggar?"
"Ay, these are the notions of an ensign! Love in a cottage- doors- and
windows- the old story, for the hundredth time. The twenty - th do n't marry.
We are not a marrying corps, my dear boy. There's the Colonel, Old Sir Edwin-
, now; though a full General he has never thought of a wife; and when a man
gets as high as a Lieutenant General, without matrimony, he is pretty safe.
Then the Lieutenant Colonel is confirmed, as I tell my cousin 'he Bishop. The
Major is a widower, having tried matrimony, for twelve months in his youth,
and we look upon him, now, as one of our most certain men. Out of ten
captains, but one is in the dilemma, and he, poor devil, is always kept at
regimental head quarters, as a sort of memento mori, to the young men as they
join. As for the subalterns, not one has ever yet had the audacity to speak
of introducing a wife into the regiment. But your arm is troublesome, and
we'll go ourselves and see what has become of Graham."
The Surgeon who had accompanied the party, was employed very differently from
what the captain supposed. When the assault was over, and the dead and
wounded were collected, poor Hetty had been found among the latter. A rifle
bullet had passed through her body, inflicting an injury that was known at a
glance, to be mortal. How this wound was received, no one knew; it was
probably one of those casualties that ever accompany scenes like that related
in the previous chapter.
The Sumach, all the elderly women, and some of the Huron girls, had fallen by
the bayonet, either in the confusion of the m~1ée, or from the difficulty of
distinguishing the sexes, when the dress was so simple. Much the greater
portion of the warriors suffered on the spot. A few had escaped, however, and
two or three had been taken unharmed. As for the wounded, the bayonet saved
the surgeon much trouble. Rivenoak had escaped with life and limb, but was
injured and a prisoner. As Captain Warley, and his ensign, went into the Ark,
they passed him, seated, in dignified silence, in one end of the scow, his
head and leg bound, but betraying no visible sign of despondency or despair.
That he mourned the loss of his tribe, is certain; still he did it in a
manner that best became a warrior and a chief.
The two soldiers found their surgeon in the principal room of the Ark. He was
just quitting the pallet of Hetty, with an expression of sorrowful regret, on
his hard, pock-marked Scottish features, that it was not usual to see there.
All his assiduity had been useless, and he was compelled, reluctantly to
abandon the expectation of seeing the girl survive many hours. Dr. Graham was
accustomed to death-bed scenes, and ordinarily they produced but little
impression on him. In all that relates to religion, his was one of those
minds which, in consequence of reasoning much on material things, logically
and consecutively, and overlooking the total want of premises which such a
theory must ever possess, through its want of a primary agent, had become
sceptical; leaving a vague opinion concerning the origin of things, that,
with high pretentions to philosophy, failed in the first of all philosophical
principles, a cause. To him religious dependence appeared a weakness, but
when he found one gentle and young like Hetty, with a mind beneath the level
of her race, sustained at such a moment by these pious sentiments, and that,
too, in a way that many a sturdy warrior, and reputed hero might have looked
upon with envy, he found himself affected by the sight, to a degree that he
would have been ashamed to confess. Edinburgh and Aberdeen, then as now,
supplied no small portion of the medical men of the British service, and Dr.
Graham, as indeed his name and countenance equally indicated, was, by birth,
a North Briton.
"Here is an extraordinary exhibition for a forest, and one but half-gifted
with reason," he observed with a decided Scotch accent, as Warley and the
ensign entered; "I just hope, gentlemen, that when we three shall be called
on to quit the twenty - th, we may be found as resigned to go on the half pay
of another existence, as this poor demented chief!"
"Is there no hope that she can survive the hurt?" demanded Warley, turning
his eyes towards the pallid Judith, on whose cheeks, however, two large spots
of red had settled, as soon as he came into the cabin.
"No more than there is for Chairlie Stuart! Approach and judge for
yourselves, gentlemen; ye'll see faith exemplified in an exceeding and
wonderful manner. There is a sort of bitrium between life and death, in
actual conflict in the poor girl's mind, that renders her an interesting
study to a philosopher. Mr. Thornton, I'm at your service, now; we can just
look at the arm, in the next room, while we speculate as much as we please on
the operations and sinuosities of the human mind."
The surgeon and ensign retired, and Warley had an opportunity of looking
about him, more at leisure, and with a better understanding of the nature and
feelings of the group collected in the cabin. Poor Hetty had been placed on
her own simple bed, and was reclining in a half seated attitude, with the
approaches of death on her countenance, though they were singularly dimmed by
the lustre of an expression, in which all the intelligence of her entire
being appeared to be concentrated. Judith and Hist were near her, the former
seated in deep grief; the latter standing, in readiness to offer any of the
gentle attentions of feminine care. Deerslayer stood at the end of the
pallet, leaning on Kilideer, unharmed in person, all the fine martial ardor
that had so lately glowed in his countenance, having given place to the usual
look of honesty and benevolence, qualities of which the expression was now
softened by manly regret and pity. The Serpent was in the back-ground of the
picture, erect, and motionless as a statue; but so observant that not a look
of the eye, escaped his own keen glances. Hurry completed the group, being
seated on a stool near the door, like one who felt himself out of place in
such a scene, but who was ashamed to quit it, unbidden.
"Who is that, in scarlet?" asked Hetty, as soon as the Captain's uniform
caught her eye. "Tell me, Judith, is it the friend of Hurry?"
"'Tis the officer who commands the troops, that have rescued us all from the
hands of the Hurons," was the low answer of the sister. -
"Am I rescued, too! - I thought they said I was shot, and about to die.
Mother is dead; and so is father; but you are living, Judith, and so is
Hurry. I was afraid Hurry would be killed, when I heard him shouting among
the soldiers."
"Never mind-never mind, dear Hetty-" interrupted Judith, sensitively alive to
the preservation of her sister's secret, more, perhaps at such a moment, than
at any other. "Hurry is well, and Deerslayer is well, and the Delaware is
well, too."
"How came they to shoot a poor girl like me, and let so many men go unharmed?
I did n't know that the Hurons were so wicked, Judith!"
"'Twas an accident, poor Hetty; a sad- sad- accident it has been! No one
would willingly have injured you."
"I'm glad of that!-I thought it strange; lam feeble minded, and the red men
have never harmed me before. I should he sorry to think that they had changed
their minds. I am glad too, Judith, that they haven't hurt Hurry. Deerslayer,
I don't think God will suffer any one to harm. It was very fortunate the
soldiers came as they did though. for fire will burn!"
"It was, indeed fortunate, my sister; God's holy name be forever blessed for
the mercy!"
"I dare say, Judith, you know some of the officers; you used to know so
many!"
Judith made no reply; she hid her face in her hands and groaned. Hetty gazed
at her in wonder; but naturally supposing her own situation was the cause of
this grief, she kindly offered to console her sister.
"Don't mind me, dear Judith," said the affectionate and pure-hearted
creature-"! don't suffer; if I do die, why father and mother are both dead,
and what happens to them, may well happen to me. You know I am of less
account than any of the family; therefore few will think of me after I'm in
the lake."
"No - no - no - poor, dear, dear Hetty!" exclaimed Judith, in an
uncontrollable burst of sorrow, "I, at least, will ever think of you; and
gladly, oh! how gladly would I exchange places with you, to be the pure,
excellent, sinless creature you are!"
Until now, Captain Warley had stood leaning against the door of the cabin;
when this outbreak of feeling, and perchance of penitence, however, escaped
the beautiful girl, he walked slowly and thoughtfully away; even passing the
ensign, then suffering under the surgeon's care, without noticing him.
"I have got my bible here, Judith," returned her sister, in a voice of
triumph. "It's true, I can't read any longer, there's something the matter
with my eyes-you look dim and distant-and so does Hurry, now I look at him-
well, I never could have believed that Henry March would have so dull a
look!-What can be the reason, Judith, that! see so badly, today? I, who
mother always said, had the best eyes in the whole family. Yes, that was it:
my mind was feeble-what people call half-witted-but my eyes were so good!"
Again Judith groaned; this time no feeling of self, no retrospect of the past
caused the pain. It was the pure,
Heartfelt sorrow of sisterly love, heightened by a sense of the meek humility
and perfect truth of the being before her. At that moment, she would gladly
have given up her own life to save that of Hetty. As the last, however, was
beyond the reach of human power, she felt there was nothing left her but
sorrow. At this moment Warley returned to the cabin, drawn by a secret
impulse he could not withstand, though he felt, just then, as if he would
gladly abandon the American continent for ever, were it practicable. Instead
of pausing at the door, he now advanced so near the pallet of the sufferer as
to come more plainly within her gaze. Hetty could still distinguish large
objects, and her look soon fastened on him.
"Are you the officer that came with Hurry?" she asked- "If you are, we ought
all to thank you, for, though I am hurt, the rest have saved their lives. Did
Harry March tell you, where to find us, and how much need there was for your
services?"
"The news of the party reached us by means of a friendly runner,' returned
the Captain, glad to relieve his feelings by this appearance of a friendly
communication, "and I was immediately sent out to cut it off. It was
fortunate, certainly, that we met Hurry Harry, as you call him, for he acted
as a guide, and it was not less fortunate, that we heard a firing, which I
now understand was merely a shooting at the mark, for it not only quickened
our march, but called us to the right side of the lake. The Delaware saw us
on the shore, with the glass it would seem, and he and Hist, as I find his
squaw is named, did us excellent service. It was really altogether, a
fortunate concurrence of circumstances, Judith?"
"Talk not to me of any thing fortunate, sir," returned the girl huskily,
again concealing her face. "To me the world is full of misery. I wish never
to hear of marks, or rifles, or soldiers, or men, again!"
"Do you know my sister?" asked Hetty, ere the rebuked soldier had time to
rally for an answer. "How came you to know that her name is Judith? You are
right, for that is her name; and I am Hetty, Thomas Hutter's daughters."
"For heaven's sake, dearest sister, -for my sake, beloved Hetty," interposed
Judith, imploringly, "say no more of this!"
Hetty looked surprised, but accustomed to comply, she ceased her awkward and
painful interrogations of Warley, bending her eyes towards the bible which
she still held between her hands, as one would cling to a casket of precious
stones, in a shipwreck, or a conflagration. Her mind now adverted to the
future, losing sight, in a great measure, of the scenes of the past.
"We shall not long be parted, Judith," she said; "when you die, you must be
brought and be buried in the lake, by the side of mother too."
"Would to God, Hetty, that I lay there, at this moment!"
"No, that cannot be, Judith; people must die before they have any right to be
buried. 'Twould be wicked to bury you, or for you to bury yourself, while
living. Once I thought of burying myself; God kept me from that sin."
"You! -You, Hetty Hutter, think of such an act!" exclaimed Judith, looking up
in uncontrollable surprise, for she well knew nothing passed the lips of her
conscientious sister, that was not religiously true.
"Yes, I did, Judith, but God has forgotten-no he forgets nothing-but he has
forgiven it," returned the dying girl, with the subdued manner of a repentant
child. " 'Twas after mother's death; I felt I had lost the best friend I had
on earth, if not the only friend. 'Tis true, you and father were kind to me,
Judith, but I was so feeble-minded, I knew I should only give you trouble;
and then you were so often ashamed of such a sister and daughter, and 'tis
hard to live in a world where all look upon you as below them. I thought
then, if I could bury myself by the side of mother, I should be happier in
the lake, than in the hut."
"Forgive me-pardon me, dearest Hetty-on my bended knees, I beg you to pardon
me, sweet sister, if any word, or act of mine drove you to so maddening and
cruel a thought!"
"Get up, Judith-kneel to God; do n't kneel to me. Just so I felt when mother
was dying! I remembered every thing I had said and done to vex her, and could
have kissed her feet for forgiveness. I think it must be so with all dying
people; though, now I think of it, I don't remember to have had such feelings
on account of father."
Judith arose, hid her face in her apron, and wept. A long pause-one of more
than two hours succeeded, during which Warley entered and left the cabin
several times; apparently uneasy when absent, and yet unable to remain. He
issued various orders, which his men proceeded to execute, and there was an
air of movement in the party, more especially as Mr. Craig, the lieutenant,
had got through the unpleasant duty of burying the dead, and had sent for
instructions from the shore, desiring to know what he was to do with his
detachment. During this interval Hetty slept a little, and Deerslayer and
Chingachgook left the Ark to confer together. But, at the end of the time
mentioned, the Surgeon passed upon the platform, and with a degree of feeling
his comrades had never before observed in one of his habits, he announced
that the patient was rapidly drawing near her end. On receiving this
intelligence the group collected again, curiosity to witness such a death-or
a better feeling-drawing to the spot, men who had so lately been actors in a
scene seemingly~ of so much greater interest and moment. By this time, Judith
had got to be inactive through grief, and Hist alone was performing the
little offices of feminine attention that are so appropriate to the sick bed.
Hetty herself, had undergone no other apparent change, than the general
failing that indicated the near approach of dissolution. All that she
possessed of mind was as clear as ever, and, in some respects, her intellect
perhaps was more than usually active.
"Don't grieve for me so much, Judith," said the gentle sufferer, after a
pause in her remarks-"I shall soon see mother-I think I see her now; her face
is just as sweet and smiling as it used to be! Perhaps when I'm dead, God
will give me all my mind, and I shall become a more fitting companion for
mother, than I ever was before."
"You will be an angel in heaven, Hetty," sobbed the sister; "no spirit there
will be more worthy of its holy residence!"
"I don't understand it quite; still, I know it must be all true; I've read it
in the bible. How dark it's becoming! Can it be night so soon? I can hardly
see you at all-where is Hist?"
"I here, poor girl-Why you no see me."
"I do see you; but I could n't tell whether 'twas you, or Judith. I believe I
shan't see you much longer, Hist."
"Sorry for that, poor Hetty. Never mind - pale face got a heaven for girls as
well as for warrior."
"Where's the Serpent-let me speak to him-Give me his hand-so-I feel it.
Delaware you will love and cherish this young Indian woman - I know how fond
she is of you; you must be fond of her. Don't treat her as some of your
people treat their wives; be a real husband to her. Now, bring Deerslayer
near me; give me his hand."
This request was complied with, and the hunter stood by the side of the
pallet, submitting to the wishes of the girl, with the docility of a child.
"I feel, Deerslayer,' she resumed --- ' though I could n't tell why -- but I
feel that you and I are not going to part for ever. "Tis a strange feeling! -
- I never had it before -- I wonder what it comes from!"
"Tis God encoraging you in extremity, Hetty; as such it ought to be harbored
and respected. Yes, we shall meet ag'in, though it may be a long time, first,
and in a far distant land."
"Do you mean to be buried in the lake, too? If so, that may account for the
feeling."
"'Tis little likely, gal; 'tis little likely-- but there's a region for
christian souls, where ther's no lakes, nor woods, they say; though why there
should be none of the last, is more than I can account for; seeing that
pleasantness and peace is the object in view. My grave will be found in he
foes, most likely, but I hope my spirit will not be far from yourn."
"So it must be, then. I am too weak-minded to understand these things, but I
feel that you and I will meet again, -- Sister, where are you? -- I feel that
you and I will meet again, --Sister, where are you -- I can't see, now, any
ting but darkness--it must be night, surely!"
"Oh! Hetty, I am here--at your side -- these are my arms that are around
you," sobbed Judith, ' Speak, dearest; is there any thing you wish to say, or
have done, in this awful moment."
By this time Hetty's sight had enirely failed her. Nevertheless death
approached with less than usual of its horrors, as if in tenderness to one of
her half endowed faculties. She was pale as a corpse, but her breathing was
easy and unbroken, while her voice, though lowered almost to a whisper,
remained clear and distinct. When her sister put this question, however, a
blush diffused itself over he features of the dying girl, so faint however as
to be nearly imperceptible; resembling that hue of the rose which is thought
to portray the tint of modesty, rather than the dye of the flower in its
richer bloom. No one but Judith detected this exposure of feeling, one of he
gentle expressions of womanly sensibility even in death. On her however, it
was not lost, nor did she conceal from herself the cause.
"Hurry is here, dearest Hetty --" whispered the sister, with her face so near
the sufferer, as to keep the words from other ears. "Shall I tell him to come
and receive your good wishes?"
A gentle pressure of the hand answered in the affirmative. Then Hurry was
brought to the side of the pallet. It is probable that this handsom, but
rude woodsman had never before found himself so awkwardly placed, though the
inclination whic Hetty felt for him -- was to pure and ounobrusive to have
created the slightes suspicion of the circumstance in his mind. He allowed
Judith to put hishard colossal hand between those of Hetty, and stood waiting
the result in awkward silence.
"This is Hurry, dearest,: whispered Judith, bending over her sister, ashamed
to utter the words so as to be audible to herself. "Speak to him, and let him
go."
"What shall I say, Judith?"
"Nay, whatever your own pure spirit teaches, my love. Trust to that, and you
need fear nothing."
"Good bye, Hurry --- " murmured the girl, with a gentle pressure of his hand
-- "I wish you would try and be more like Deerslayer."
These words were uttered with difficulty; a faint flush succeeded them for a
single instant. Then the hand was relinquished, and Hetty turned her face
aside, as if done with the world. The mysterious feling that bound her to
the young man, a sentiment so gentle as to be almost imperceptible to
herself, and which could never have existed at all, had her reason possessed
more command over her senses, was forever lost in thoughts of a more
elevated, though scarcely of a purer character.
"Of what are you thinking, my sweet sister?" whispered Judith -- "Tell me,
that I may aid you, at this moment."
"Mother -- I see Mother, now, and bright beings around her in the lake. Why
is n't father there? -- It's odd, that I can see mother, when I cn't see you!
-- Farewell, Judith.
The last words were uttered after a pause, and her sister had hung over her
some time, in anxious watchfulness, before she perceived that the gentle
spirit had departed. Thus died Hetty Hutter, one of those mysterious links
between the material and immaterial world, which, while they appear to be
deprived of so much that it is esteemed and necessary for this state of
being, draw so near to, and offer so beautiful an illustration of the truth,
purity, and simplicity of another.
Chapter XXXII
"A baron's chylde to be begylde! it were a cursed dede:
To be felàwe with an outlàwe! Almighty God forbede!
Yea, better were, the pore squyère alone to forest yede,
Then ye sholde say another day, that by my cursed dede
Ye were betrayed: wherefore, good mayde, the best rede that I can,
Is, that I to the grene wode go, alone, a banyshed man."
Thomas Percy, 'Notbrowne Mayde,' 11. 265-76 from Reliques of Ancient
English Poetriy, Vol. II.
THE day that followed, proved to be melancholy, though one of much activity.
The soldiers, who had so lately been employed in interring their victims,
were now called on to bury their own dead. The scene of the morning had left
a saddened feeling on all the gentlemen of the party, and the rest felt the
influence of a similar sensation, in a variety of ways, and from many causes.
Hour dragged on after hour, until evening arrived, and then came the last
melancholy offices in honor of poor Hetty Hutter. Her body was laid in the
lake, by the side of that of the mother she had so loved and reverenced, the
surgeon, though actually an unbeliever, so far complying with the received
decencies of life, as to read the funeral service over her grave, as he had
previously done over those of the other christian slain! It mattered not; -
that all seeing eye which reads the heart, could not fail to discriminate
between the living and the dead, and the gentle soul of the unfortunate girl,
was already far removed beyond the errors, or deceptions, of any human
ritual. These simple rites, however, were not wholly wanting in suitable
accompaniments. The tears of Judith and Hist were shed freely, and Deerslayer
gazed upon the limpid water, that now flowed over one whose spirit was even
purer than its own mountain springs, with glistening eyes. Even the Delaware
turned aside to conceal his weakness, while the common men gazed on the
ceremony with wondering eyes and chastened feelings.
The business of the day closed with this pious office. By order of the
commanding officer, all retired early to rest, for it
was intended to begin the march homeward, with the return of light. One
party, indeed, bearing the wounded, the prisoners, and the trophies, had left
the castle in the middle of the day, under the guidance of Hurry, intending
to reach the fort by shorter marches. It had been landed on the point, so
often mentioned, or that described in our opening pages, and, when the sun
set, was already encamped on the brow of the long, broken, and ridgy hills,
that fell away towards the valley of the Mohawk. The departure of this
detachment had greatly simplified the duty of the succeeding day,
disencumbering its march of its baggage and wounded, and otherwise leaving
him who had issued the order greater liberty of action.
Judith held no communications with any but Hist, after the death of her
sister, until she retired for the night. Her sorrow had been respected, and
both the females had been left with the body, unintruded on, to the last
moment. The rattling of the drum broke the silence of that tranquil water,
and the echoes of the tattoo were heard among the mountains, so soon after
the ceremony was over, as to preclude the danger of interruption. That star
which had been the guide of Hist, rose on a scene as silent as if the quiet
of nature had never yet been disturbed, by the labors or passions of man. One
solitary sentinel, with his relief, paced the platform throughout the night,
and morning was ushered in, as usual, by the martial beat of the reveille.
Military precision succeeded to the desultory proceedings of border men, and
when a hasty and frugal breakfast was taken, the party began its movement
towards the shore, with a regularity and order, that prevented noise or
confusion. Of all the officers, Warley alone remained. Craig headed the
detachment in advance, Thornton was with the wounded, and Graham accompanied
his patients as a matter of course. Even the chest of Hutter, with all the
more valuable of his effects, was borne away, leaving nothing behind that was
worth the labor of a removal. Judith was not sorry to see that the captain
respected her feelings, and that he occupied himself entirely with the duty
of his command, leaving her to her own discretion and feelings. It was
understood by all, that the place was to be totally abandoned; but beyond
this no explanations were asked or given.'
The soldiers embarked in the Ark, with the captain at their head. He had
enquired of Judith in what way she chose to proceed, and understanding her
wish to remain with Hist to the last moment, he neither molested her with
requests, nor offended her with advice. There was but one safe and familiar
trail to the Mohawk, and on that, at the proper hour, he doubted not that
they should meet in amity, if not in renewed intercourse. When all were on
board, the sweeps were manned, and the Ark moved in its sluggish manner
towards the distant point. Deerslayer and Chingachgook, now lifted two of the
canoes from the water, and placed them in the castle. The windows and door
were then barred, and the house was left by means of the trap, in the manner
already described. On quitting the palisades, Hist was seen in the remaining
canoe, where the Delaware immediately joined her, and paddled away, leaving
Judith standing alone on the platform. Owing to this prompt proceeding,
Deerslayer found himself alone with the beautiful and still weeping mourner.
Too simple to suspect any thing, the young man swept the light boat round,
and received its mistress in it, when he followed the course already taken by
his friend. The direction to the point, led diagonally past, and at no great
distance from, the graves of the dead. As the canoe glided by, Judith, for
the first time that morning spoke to her companion. She said but little;
merely uttering a simple request to stop, for a minute or two, ere she left
the place.
"I may never see this spot again, Deerslayer," she said, "and it contains the
bodies of my mother and sister! Is it not possible, think you, that the
innocence of one of these beings, may answer in the eyes of God, for the
salvation of both?"
"I do n't understand it so, Judith, though I'm no missionary, and am but
poorly taught. Each spirit answers for its own backslidings, though a hearty
repentance will satisfy God's laws."
"Then must my poor poor mother be in heaven! - Bitterly- bitterly-has she
repented of her sins, and surely her sufferings in this life, ought to count
as something against her sufferings in the next!"
-
"All this goes beyond me, Judith - I strive to do right, here, as the surest
means of keeping all right, hereafter. Hetty was oncommon, as all that know'd
her must allow, and her soul was as fit to consart with angels the hour it
left its body, as that of any saint in the bible!"
"I do believe you only do her justice! Alas! - Alas! - that there should be
so great differences between those who were nursed at the same breast, slept
in the same bed, and dwelt under the same roof! But, no matter-move the
canoe, a little farther east, Deerslayer- the sun so dazzles my eyes that I
cannot see the graves. This is Hetty's, on the right of mother's?"
"Sartain - you ask'd that of us, and all are glad to do as you wish, Judith,
when you do that which is right."
The girl gazed at him near a minute, in silent attention; then she turned her
eyes backward, at the castle. "This lake will soon be entirely deserted," she
said-"and this, too, at a moment when it will be a more secure dwelling place
than ever. What has so lately happened will prevent the Iroquois from
venturing again to visit it, for a long time to come."
"That it will! - yes, that may be set down as sartain. I do not mean to pass
this-a-way, ag'in, so long as the war lasts, for, to my mind no Huron
moccasin will leave its print on the leaves of this forest, until their
traditions have forgotten to tell their young men of their disgrace and
rout."
"And do you so delight in violence and bloodshed?-! had thought better of
you, Deerslayer-believed you one, who could find his happiness in a quiet
domestic home, with an attached and loving wife, ready to study your wishes,
and healthy and dutiful children, anxious to follow in your footsteps, and to
become as honest and just as yourself."
"Lord, Judith, what a tongue you're mistress of! Speech and looks go hand in
hand, like, and what one can't do, the other is pretty sartain to perform!
Such a gal, in a month, might spoil the stoutest warrior in the colony."
"And am I then so mistaken?-Do you really love war, Deerslayer, better than
the hearth, and the affections?"
"I understand your meaning, gal; yes, I do understand what you mean, I
believe, though I do n't think you altogether understand me. Warrior I may
now call myself, I suppose, for I've both fou't and conquered, which is
sufficient for the name; neither will I deny that I've feelin's for the
callin', which is both manful and honorable, when carried on accordin' to
nat'ral gifts, but I've no relish for blood. Youth is youth, howsever, and a
Mingo is a Mingo. If the young men of this region stood by, and suffered the
vagabonds to overrun the land, why, we might as well all turn Frenchers at
once, and give up country and kin. I'm no fire eater, Judith, or one that
likes fightin' for fightin's sake, but I can see no great difference atween
givin' up territory afore a war, out of a dread of war, and givin' it up
a'ter a war, because we can't help ii, onless it be that the last is the most
manful and honorable."
"No woman would ever wish to see her husband, or brother, stand by, and
submit to insult and wrong, Deerslayer, however she might mourn the necessity
of his running into the dangers of battle. But, you've done enough already,
in clearing this region of the Hurons; since to you is principally owing the
credit of our late victory. Now, listen to me patiently, and answer me with
that native honesty, which it is as pleasant to regard in one of your sex, as
it is unusual to meet with."
Judith paused, for now that she was on the very point of explaining herself,
native modesty asserted its power, notwithstanding the encouragement and
confidence she derived from the great simplicity of her companion's
character. Her cheeks, which had so lately been pale, flushed, and her eyes
lighted with some of their former brilliancy. Feeling gave expression to her
countenance and softness to her voice, rendering her who was always
beautiful, trebly seductive and winning.
"Deerslayer," she said, after a considerable pause, "this is not a moment for
affectation, deception, or a want of frankness of any sort. Here, over my
mother's grave, and over the grave of truth-loving, truth-telling Hetty,
every thing like unfair dealing seems to be out of place. I will, therefore,
speak to you without any reserve, and without any dread of being
misunderstood. You are not an acquaintance of a week, but it appears to me as
if I had known you for years. So much, and so much that is important has
taken place, within that short time, that the sorrows, and dangers, and
escapes of a whole life have been crowded into a few days, and they who have
suffered and acted together in such scenes, ought not to feel like strangers.
I know that what I am about to say might be misunderstood by most men, but I
hope for a generous construction of my course from you. We are not here,
dwelling among the arts and deceptions of the settlements, but young people
who have no occasion to deceive each other, in any manner or form. - I hope I
make myself understood?"
"Sartain, Judith; few convarse better than yourself, and none more agreeable,
like. Your words are as pleasant as your looks."
"It is the manner in which you have so often praised those looks, that gives
me courage to proceed - Still, Deerslayer, it is not easy, for one of my sex
and years to forget all her lessons of infancy, all her habits, and her
natural diffidence, and say openly what her heart feels!"
"Why not, Judith? Why should n't women as well as men deal fairly and
honestly by their fellow creatur's? I see no reason why you should not speak
as plainly as myself, when there is any thing ra'ally important to be said."
This indomitable diffidence, which still prevented the young man from
suspecting the truth, would have completely discouraged the girl, had not her
whole soul, as well as her whole heart, been set upon making a desperate
effort to rescue herself from a future that she dreaded with a horror as
vivid, as the distinctness with which she fancied she foresaw it. This
motive, however, raised her above all common considerations, and she
persevered even to her own surprise, if not to her great confusion.
"I will-I must deal as plainly with you, as I would with poor, dear Hetty,
were that sweet child living!" she continued, turning pale, instead of
blushing, the high resolution by which she was prompted reversing the effect
that such a procedure would ordinarily produce on one of her sex; "yes, I
will smother all other feelings, in the one that is now uppermost! You love
the woods and the life that we pass, here, in the wilderness, away from the
dwellings and towns of the whites."
"As I loved my parents, Judith, when they was living! This very spot, would
be all creation to me, could this war be fairly over, once; and the settlers
kept at a distance."
"Why quit it then?-It has no owner-at least none who can claim a better right
than mine, and that I freely give to you. Were it a kingdom, Deerslayer, I
think I should delight to say the same. Let us then return to it, after we
have seen the priest at the fort, and never quit it again, until God calls us
away to that world where we shall find the spirits of my poor mother and
sister."
A long, thoughtful pause succeeded; Judith here covered her face with both
her hands, after forcing herself to utter so plain a proposal, and Deerslayer
musing equally in sorrow and surprise, on the meaning of the language he had
just heard. At length the hunter broke the silence, speaking in a tone that
was softened to gentleness by his desire not to offend.
"You have n't thought well of this, Judith-" he said-"no, your feelin's are
awakened by all that has lately happened, and believin' yourself to be
without kindred in the world, you are in too great haste to find some to fill
the places of them that's lost."
"Were I living in a crowd of friends, Deerslayer, I should still think, as I
now think-say as I now say," returned Judith, speaking with her hands still
shading her lovely face.
"Thank you, gal- thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Howsever, I am not
one to take advantage of a weak moment, when you're forgetful of your own
great advantages, and fancy 'arth and all it holds, is in this little canoe.
No-no-Judith 'twould be onginerous in me; what you've offered can never come
to pass!"
"It all may be, and that without leaving cause of repentance to any-"
answered Judith, with an impetuosity of feeling and manner, that at once
unveiled her eyes. "We can cause the soldiers to leave our goods on the road,
till we return, when they can easily be brought back to the house; the lake
will be no more visited by the enemy, this war at least; all your skins may
be readily sold at the garrison; thereyou can buy the few necessaries we
shall want, for I wish never to see the spot, again; and Deerslayer," added
the girl smiling with a sweetness and nature that the young man found it hard
to resist-"as a proof how wholly I am and wish to be yours, - how completely
I desire to be nothing but your wife, the very first fire that we kindle,
after our return, shall be
lighted with the brocade dress, and fed by every article I have that you may
think unfit for the woman you wish to live with!"
"Ah's! me-you're a winning and a lovely creatur', Judith; yes, you are all
that, and no one can deny it, and speak truth. These pictur's are pleasant to
the thoughts, but they mightn't prove so happy as you now think 'em. Forget
it all, therefore, and let us paddle after the Sarpent and Hist, as if
nothing had been said on the subject."
Judith was deeply mortified, and, what is more, she was profoundly grieved.
Still there was a steadiness and quiet in the manner of Deerslayer that
completely smothered her hopes, and told her that for once, her exceeding
beauty had Failed to excite the admiration and homage it was wont to receive.
Women are said seldom to forgive those who slight their advances, but this
high spirited and impetuous girl entertained no shadow of resentment, then or
ever, against the fair lealing and ingenuous hunter. At the moment, the
prevailing Feeling was the wish to be certain that there was no
misunderstanding. After another painful pause, therefore, she brought the
matter to an issue by a question too direct to admit of equivocation.
"God forbid, that we lay up regrets, in after life, through my want of
sincerity now," she said. "I hope we understand each other, at least. You
will not accept me for a wife, Deer ;layer?"
"Tis better for both that I should n't take advantage of your own
forgetfulness, Judith. We can never marry."
"You do not love me, - cannot find it in your heart, perhaps, to esteem me,
Deerslayer!"
"Every thing in the way of fri'ndship, Judith-every thing, Even to sarvices
and life itself. Yes, I'd risk as much for you, at his moment, as I would
risk in behalf of Hist, and that is sayin' as much as I can say of any darter
of woman. I do not think I feel towards either-mind I say either, Judith-as
if I wished to quit father and mother- if father and mother was livin',
which, howsever, neither is-but if both was livin', I do not feel towards any
woman as if I wish'd to quit 'em in order to cleave unto her."
"This is enough!" answered Judith, in a rebuked and smothered voice-"!
understand all that you mean. Marry you cannot with loving, and that love you
do not feel for me. Make no answer, if I am right, for I shalll understand
your silence - That will be painful enough of itself."
Deerslayer obeyed her, and he made no reply. For more than a minute, the girl
riveted her bright eyes on him, as if to read his soul, while he was playing
with the water, like a corrected school boy. Then Judith, herself, dropped
the end of her paddle, and urged the canoe away fom the spot, with a movement
as reluctant as the feelings which controlled it. Deerslayer quietly aided
the effort, however, and they were soon on the trackless line taken by the
Delaware.
In their way to the point, not another syllable was exchanged between
Deerslayer and his fair companion. As Judith sat in the bow of the canoe, her
back was turned towards him, else it is probable the expression of her
countenance might have induced him to venture some soothing terms of
friendship and regard. Contrary to what would have been expected, resentment
was still absent, though the colour frequently changed, from the deep flush
of mortification to the paleness of disappointment. Sorrow, deep, heart-felt
sorrow, however, was the predominant emotion, and this was betrayed in a
manner not to be mistaken.
As neither labored hard at the paddle, the ark had already arrived and the
soldiers had disembarked, before the canoe of the two loiterers reached the
point. Chingachgook had preceded it, and was already some distance in the
wood, at a spot, where the two trails, that to the garrison, and that to the
villages of the Delawares separated. The soldiers, too, had taken up their
line of march, first setting the Ark adrift again, with a reckless disregard
of its fate. All this Judith saw, but she heeded it not. The glimmerglass had
no longer any charms for her, and when she put her foot on the strand, she
immediately proceeded on the trail of the soldiers, without casting a single
glance behind her. Even Hist was passed unnoticed, that modest young creature
shrinking from the averted face of Judith, as if guilyy herself of some
wrongdoing.
"Wait you here, Sarpent," said Deerslayer as he followed in the footsteps of
the dejected beauty, while passing his friend - "I will just see Judith among
her parth, and come and j'ine you."
A hundred yards had hid the couple from those in front, as well as those in
their rear, when Judith turned, and spoke.
"This will do, Deerslayer," she said sadly-"! understand your kindness but
shall not need it. In a few minutes I shall reach the soldiers. As you cannot
go with me on the journey of life, I do not wish you to go further on this.
But, stop-before we part, I would ask you a single question. And I require of
you, as you fear God, and reverence the truth, not to deceive me in your
answer. I know you do not love another and I can see but one reason why you
cannot, will not love me. Tell me then, Deerslayer, -" The girl paused, the
words she was about to utter seeming to choke her. Then rallying all her
resolution, with a face that flushed and paled at every breath she drew, she
continued.
"Tell me then, Deerslayer, if any thing light of me, that Henry March has
said may not have influenced your feelings?"
Truth was the Deerslayer's polar star. He ever kept it in view, and it was
nearly impossible for him to avoid uttering it, even when prudence demanded
silence. Judith read his answer in his countenance, and with a heart nearly
broken by the consciousness of undue erring, she signed to him an adieu, and
buried herself in the woods. For some time Deerslayer was irresolute as to
his course; but, in the end, he retraced his steps, and joined the Delaware.
That night the three 'camped on the head waters of their own river, and the
succeeding evening they entered the village of the tribe, Chingachgook and
his betrothed in triumph; their companion honored and admired, but in a
sorrow that it required months of activity to remove.
The war that then had its rise was stirring and bloody. The Delaware chief
rose among his people, until his name was never mentioned without eulogiums,
while another Uncas, the last of his race, was added to the long line of
warriors who bore that distinguishing appellation. As for the Deerslayer,
under the sobriquet of Hawkeye, he made his fame spread far and near, until
the crack of his rifle became as terrible to the ears of the Mingos, as the
thunders of the Manitou. His services were soon required by the officers of
the crown, and he especially attached himself, in the field, to one in
particular, with whose after life, he had a close and important connection.
Fifteen years had passed away, ere it was in the power of the Deerslayer to
revisit the Glimmerglass. A peace had intervened, and it was on the eve of
another and still more important war, when he and his constant friend,
Chingachgook, were hastening to the forts to join their allies. A stripling
accompanied them, for Hist already slumbered beneath the pines of the
Delawares, and the three survivors had now become in separable. They reached
the lake just as the sun was setting. Here all was unchanged. The river still
rushed through its bower of trees; the little rock was washing away, by the
slow action of the waves, in the course of centuries, the mountains stood in
their native dress, dark, rich and mysterious, while the sheet glistened in
its solitude, a beautiful gem of the forest.
The following morning, the youth discovered one of the canoes drifted on the
shore, in a state of decay. A little labor put it in a state for service, and
they all embarked, with a desire to examine the place. All the points were
passed, and Chingachgook pointed out to his son, the spot where the Hurons
had first encamped, and the point whence he had succeeded in stealing his
bride. Here they even landed, but all traces of the former visit had
disappeared. Next they proceeded to the scene of the battle, and there they
found a few of the signs that linger around such localities. Wild beasts had
disinterred many of the bodies, and human bones were bleaching in the rains
of summer. Uncas regarded all with reverence and pity, though traditions were
already rousing his young mind to the ambition and sternness of a warrior.
From the point, the canoe took its way toward the shoal, where the remains of
the castle were still visible, a picturesque ruin. The storms of winter had
long since unroofed the house, and decay had eaten into the logs. All the
fastenings were un touched, but the seasons rioted in the place, as if in
mockery at the attempt to exclude them. The palisades were rotting, as were
the piles, and it was evident that a few more recurrences of winter, a few
more gales and tempests, would sweep all into the lake, and blot the building
from the face of that magnificent solitude. The graves could not be found.
Either the elements had obliterated their traces, or time had caused those
who looked for them, to forget their position.
The Ark was discovered stranded on the eastern shore, where it had long
before been driven with the prevalent northwest winds. It lay on the sandy
extremity of a long low point, that is situated about two miles from the
outlet, and which is itself fast disappearing before the action of the
elements. The scow was filled with water, the cabin unroofed, and the logs
were decaying. Some of its coarser furniture still remained, and the heart of
Deerslayer beat quick, as he found a ribband of Judith's fluttering from a
log. It recalled all her beauty, and we may add all her failings. Although
the girl had never touched his heart, the Hawkeye, for so we ought now to
call him, still retained a kind and sincere interest in her welfare. He tore
away the ribband, and knotted it to the stock of Killdeer, which had been the
gift of the girl herself.
A few miles farther up the lake, another of the canoes was discovered, and on
the point where the party finally landed, were found those which had been
left there upon the shore. That in which the present navigation was made, and
the one discovered on the eastern shore, had dropped through the decayed
floor of the castle, drifted past the falling palisades, and had been thrown
as waifs upon the beach.
From all these signs, it was probable the lake had not been visited, since
the occurrence of the final scene of our tale. Accident, or tradition, had
rendered it again, a spot sacred to nature, the frequent wars, and the feeble
population of the colonies, still confining the settlements within narrow
boundaries. Chingachgook and his friend left the spot with melancholy
feelings. It had been the region of their First War Path, and it carried back
the minds of both to scenes of tenderness, as well as to hours of triumph.
They held their way towards the Mohawk in silence, however, to rush into new
adventures, as stirring and as remarkable as those which had attended their
opening careers, on this lovely lake. At a later day, they returned to the
place, where the Indian found a grave.
Time and circumstances have drawn an impenetrable mystery around all else
connected with the Hutters. They lived, erred, died, and are forgotten. None
connected have felt sufficient interest in the disgraced and disgracing to
withdraw the veil, and a century is about to erase even the recollection of
their names. The history of crime is ever revolting, and it is fortunate that
few love to dwell on its incidents. The sins of the family have long since
been arraigned at the judgment seat of God, or are registered for the
terrible settlement of the last great day.
The same fate attended Judith. When Hawkeye reached the garrison on the
Mohawk he enquired anxiously after that lovely but misguided creature. None
knew her-even her person was no longer remembered. Other officers had, again
and again, succeeded the Warleys and Craigs and Grahams, though an old
sergeant of the garrison, who had lately come from England, was enabled to
tell our hero, that Sir Robert Warley lived on his paternal estates, and that
there was a lady of rare beauty in the Lodge, who had great influence over
him, though she did not bear his name. Whether this was Judith relapsed into
her early failing, or some other victim of the soldier's, Hawkeye never knew,
nor would it be pleasant or profitable to inquire. We live in a world of
transgressions and selfishness, and no pictures that represent us otherwise
can be true, though, happily, for human nature, gleamings of that pure spirit
in whose likeness man has been fashioned, are to be seen relieving its
deformities, and mitigating if not excusing its crimes.
End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Deerslayer, by James Fenimore Cooper