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Last of the Mohicans, The
CHAPTER 13
James Fenimore Cooper
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       CHAPTER 13
       "I'll seek a readier path."--Parnell
       The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains,
       relived by occasional valleys and swells of land, which had
       been traversed by their party on the morning of the same
       day, with the baffled Magua for their guide. The sun had
       now fallen low toward the distant mountains; and as their
       journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat was no
       longer oppressive. Their progress, in consequence, was
       proportionate; and long before the twilight gathered about
       them, they had made good many toilsome miles on their
       return.
       The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to
       select among the blind signs of their wild route, with a
       species of instinct, seldom abating his speed, and never
       pausing to deliberate. A rapid and oblique glance at the
       moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze toward the
       setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction
       of the numerous water courses, through which he waded, were
       sufficient to determine his path, and remove his greatest
       difficulties. In the meantime, the forest began to change
       its hues, losing that lively green which had embellished its
       arches, in the graver light which is the usual precursor of
       the close of day.
       While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch
       glimpses through the trees, of the flood of golden glory
       which formed a glittering halo around the sun, tinging here
       and there with ruby streaks, or bordering with narrow
       edgings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled
       at no great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned
       suddenly and pointing upward toward the gorgeous heavens, he
       spoke:
       "Yonder is the signal given to man to seek his food and
       natural rest," he said; "better and wiser would it be, if he
       could understand the signs of nature, and take a lesson from
       the fowls of the air and the beasts of the field! Our
       night, however, will soon be over, for with the moon we must
       be up and moving again. I remember to have fou't the
       Maquas, hereaways, in the first war in which I ever drew
       blood from man; and we threw up a work of blocks, to keep
       the ravenous varmints from handling our scalps. If my marks
       do not fail me, we shall find the place a few rods further
       to our left."
       Without waiting for an assent, or, indeed, for any reply,
       the sturdy hunter moved boldly into a dense thicket of young
       chestnuts, shoving aside the branches of the exuberant
       shoots which nearly covered the ground, like a man who
       expected, at each step, to discover some object he had
       formerly known. The recollection of the scout did not
       deceive him. After penetrating through the brush, matted as
       it was with briars, for a few hundred feet, he entered an
       open space, that surrounded a low, green hillock, which was
       crowned by the decayed blockhouse in question. This rude
       and neglected building was one of those deserted works,
       which, having been thrown up on an emergency, had been
       abandoned with the disappearance of danger, and was now
       quietly crumbling in the solitude of the forest, neglected
       and nearly forgotten, like the circumstances which had
       caused it to be reared. Such memorials of the passage and
       struggles of man are yet frequent throughout the broad
       barrier of wilderness which once separated the hostile
       provinces, and form a species of ruins that are intimately
       associated with the recollections of colonial history, and
       which are in appropriate keeping with the gloomy character
       of the surrounding scenery. The roof of bark had long since
       fallen, and mingled with the soil, but the huge logs of
       pine, which had been hastily thrown together, still
       preserved their relative positions, though one angle of the
       work had given way under the pressure, and threatened a
       speedy downfall to the remainder of the rustic edifice.
       While Heyward and his companions hesitated to approach a
       building so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians entered within
       the low walls, not only without fear, but with obvious
       interest. While the former surveyed the ruins, both
       internally and externally, with the curiosity of one whose
       recollections were reviving at each moment, Chingachgook
       related to his son, in the language of the Delawares, and
       with the pride of a conqueror, the brief history of the
       skirmish which had been fought, in his youth, in that
       secluded spot. A strain of melancholy, however, blended
       with his triumph, rendering his voice, as usual, soft and
       musical.
       In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted, and prepared
       to enjoy their halt in the coolness of the evening, and in a
       security which they believed nothing but the beasts of the
       forest could invade.
       "Would not our resting-place have been more retired, my
       worthy friend," demanded the more vigilant Duncan,
       perceiving that the scout had already finished his short
       survey, "had we chosen a spot less known, and one more
       rarely visited than this?"
       "Few live who know the blockhouse was ever raised," was the
       slow and musing answer; "'tis not often that books are made,
       and narratives written of such a scrimmage as was here fou't
       atween the Mohicans and the Mohawks, in a war of their own
       waging. I was then a younker, and went out with the
       Delawares, because I know'd they were a scandalized and
       wronged race. Forty days and forty nights did the imps
       crave our blood around this pile of logs, which I designed
       and partly reared, being, as you'll remember, no Indian
       myself, but a man without a cross. The Delawares lent
       themselves to the work, and we made it good, ten to twenty,
       until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we sallied out
       upon the hounds, and not a man of them ever got back to tell
       the fate of his party. Yes, yes; I was then young, and new
       to the sight of blood; and not relishing the thought that
       creatures who had spirits like myself should lay on the
       naked ground, to be torn asunder by beasts, or to bleach in
       the rains, I buried the dead with my own hands, under that
       very little hillock where you have placed yourselves; and no
       bad seat does it make neither, though it be raised by the
       bones of mortal men."
       Heyward and the sisters arose, on the instant, from the
       grassy sepulcher; nor could the two latter, notwithstanding
       the terrific scenes they had so recently passed through,
       entirely suppress an emotion of natural horror, when they
       found themselves in such familiar contact with the grave of
       the dead Mohawks. The gray light, the gloomy little area of
       dark grass, surrounded by its border of brush, beyond which
       the pines rose, in breathing silence, apparently into the
       very clouds, and the deathlike stillness of the vast forest,
       were all in unison to deepen such a sensation. "They are
       gone, and they are harmless," continued Hawkeye, waving his
       hand, with a melancholy smile at their manifest alarm;
       "they'll never shout the war-whoop nor strike a blow with
       the tomahawk again! And of all those who aided in placing
       them where they lie, Chingachgook and I only are living!
       The brothers and family of the Mohican formed our war party;
       and you see before you all that are now left of his race."
       The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of
       the Indians, with a compassionate interest in their desolate
       fortune. Their dark persons were still to be seen within
       the shadows of the blockhouse, the son listening to the
       relation of his father with that sort of intenseness which
       would be created by a narrative that redounded so much to
       the honor of those whose names he had long revered for their
       courage and savage virtues.
       "I had thought the Delawares a pacific people," said Duncan,
       "and that they never waged war in person; trusting the
       defense of their hands to those very Mohawks that you slew!"
       "'Tis true in part," returned the scout, "and yet, at the
       bottom, 'tis a wicked lie. Such a treaty was made in ages
       gone by, through the deviltries of the Dutchers, who wished
       to disarm the natives that had the best right to the
       country, where they had settled themselves. The Mohicans,
       though a part of the same nation, having to deal with the
       English, never entered into the silly bargain, but kept to
       their manhood; as in truth did the Delawares, when their
       eyes were open to their folly. You see before you a chief
       of the great Mohican Sagamores! Once his family could chase
       their deer over tracts of country wider than that which
       belongs to the Albany Patteroon, without crossing brook or
       hill that was not their own; but what is left of their
       descendant? He may find his six feet of earth when God
       chooses, and keep it in peace, perhaps, if he has a friend
       who will take the pains to sink his head so low that the
       plowshares cannot reach it!"
       "Enough!" said Heyward, apprehensive that the subject might
       lead to a discussion that would interrupt the harmony so
       necessary to the preservation of his fair companions; "we
       have journeyed far, and few among us are blessed with forms
       like that of yours, which seems to know neither fatigue nor
       weakness."
       "The sinews and bones of a man carry me through it all,"
       said the hunter, surveying his muscular limbs with a
       simplicity that betrayed the honest pleasure the compliment
       afforded him; "there are larger and heavier men to be found
       in the settlements, but you might travel many days in a city
       before you could meet one able to walk fifty miles without
       stopping to take breath, or who has kept the hounds within
       hearing during a chase of hours. However, as flesh and
       blood are not always the same, it is quite reasonable to
       suppose that the gentle ones are willing to rest, after all
       they have seen and done this day. Uncas, clear out the
       spring, while your father and I make a cover for their
       tender heads of these chestnut shoots, and a bed of grass
       and leaves."
       The dialogue ceased, while the hunter and his companions
       busied themselves in preparations for the comfort and
       protection of those they guided. A spring, which many long
       years before had induced the natives to select the place for
       their temporary fortification, was soon cleared of leaves,
       and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed, diffusing its
       waters over the verdant hillock. A corner of the building
       was then roofed in such a manner as to exclude the heavy dew
       of the climate, and piles of sweet shrubs and dried leaves
       were laid beneath it for the sisters to repose on.
       While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this manner,
       Cora and Alice partook of that refreshment which duty
       required much more than inclination prompted them to accept.
       They then retired within the walls, and first offering up
       their thanksgivings for past mercies, and petitioning for a
       continuance of the Divine favor throughout the coming night,
       they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch, and in
       spite of recollections and forebodings, soon sank into those
       slumbers which nature so imperiously demanded, and which
       were sweetened by hopes for the morrow. Duncan had prepared
       himself to pass the night in watchfulness near them, just
       without the ruin, but the scout, perceiving his intention,
       pointed toward Chingachgook, as he coolly disposed his own
       person on the grass, and said:
       "The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind for
       such a watch as this! The Mohican will be our sentinel,
       therefore let us sleep."
       "I proved myself a sluggard on my post during the past
       night," said Heyward, "and have less need of repose than
       you, who did more credit to the character of a soldier. Let
       all the party seek their rest, then, while I hold the
       guard."
       "If we lay among the white tents of the Sixtieth, and in
       front of an enemy like the French, I could not ask for a
       better watchman," returned the scout; "but in the darkness
       and among the signs of the wilderness your judgment would be
       like the folly of a child, and your vigilance thrown away.
       Do then, like Uncas and myself, sleep, and sleep in safety."
       Heyward perceived, in truth, that the younger Indian had
       thrown his form on the side of the hillock while they were
       talking, like one who sought to make the most of the time
       allotted to rest, and that his example had been followed by
       David, whose voice literally "clove to his jaws," with the
       fever of his wound, heightened, as it was, by their toilsome
       march. Unwilling to prolong a useless discussion, the young
       man affected to comply, by posting his back against the logs
       of the blockhouse, in a half recumbent posture, though
       resolutely determined, in his own mind, not to close an eye
       until he had delivered his precious charge into the arms of
       Munro himself. Hawkeye, believing he had prevailed, soon
       fell asleep, and a silence as deep as the solitude in which
       they had found it, pervaded the retired spot.
       For many minutes Duncan succeeded in keeping his senses on
       the alert, and alive to every moaning sound that arose from
       the forest. His vision became more acute as the shades of
       evening settled on the place; and even after the stars were
       glimmering above his head, he was able to distinguish the
       recumbent forms of his companions, as they lay stretched on
       the grass, and to note the person of Chingachgook, who sat
       upright and motionless as one of the trees which formed the
       dark barrier on every side. He still heard the gentle
       breathings of the sisters, who lay within a few feet of him,
       and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air of which his
       ear did not detect the whispering sound. At length,
       however, the mournful notes of a whip-poor-will became
       blended with the moanings of an owl; his heavy eyes
       occasionally sought the bright rays of the stars, and he
       then fancied he saw them through the fallen lids. At
       instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his
       associate sentinel; his head next sank upon his shoulder,
       which, in its turn, sought the support of the ground; and,
       finally, his whole person became relaxed and pliant, and the
       young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming that he was a
       knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigils
       before the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did
       not despair of gaining, by such a proof of devotion and
       watchfulness.
       How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he
       never knew himself, but his slumbering visions had been long
       lost in total forgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light
       tap on the shoulder. Aroused by this signal, slight as it
       was, he sprang upon his feet with a confused recollection of
       the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the commencement
       of the night.
       "Who comes?" he demanded, feeling for his sword, at the
       place where it was usually suspended. "Speak! friend or
       enemy?"
       "Friend," replied the low voice of Chingachgook; who,
       pointing upward at the luminary which was shedding its mild
       light through the opening in the trees, directly in their
       bivouac, immediately added, in his rude English: "Moon comes
       and white man's fort far -- far off; time to move, when
       sleep shuts both eyes of the Frenchman!"
       "You say true! Call up your friends, and bridle the horses
       while I prepare my own companions for the march!"
       "We are awake, Duncan," said the soft, silvery tones of
       Alice within the building, "and ready to travel very fast
       after so refreshing a sleep; but you have watched through
       the tedious night in our behalf, after having endured so
       much fatigue the livelong day!"
       "Say, rather, I would have watched, but my treacherous eyes
       betrayed me; twice have I proved myself unfit for the trust
       I bear."
       "Nay, Duncan, deny it not," interrupted the smiling Alice,
       issuing from the shadows of the building into the light of
       the moon, in all the loveliness of her freshened beauty; "I
       know you to be a heedless one, when self is the object of
       your care, and but too vigilant in favor of others. Can we
       not tarry here a little longer while you find the rest you
       need? Cheerfully, most cheerfully, will Cora and I keep the
       vigils, while you and all these brave men endeavor to snatch
       a little sleep!"
       "If shame could cure me of my drowsiness, I should never
       close an eye again," said the uneasy youth, gazing at the
       ingenuous countenance of Alice, where, however, in its sweet
       solicitude, he read nothing to confirm his half-awakened
       suspicion. "It is but too true, that after leading you into
       danger by my heedlessness, I have not even the merit of
       guarding your pillows as should become a soldier."
       "No one but Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of such a
       weakness. Go, then, and sleep; believe me, neither of us,
       weak girls as we are, will betray our watch."
       The young man was relieved from the awkwardness of making
       any further protestations of his own demerits, by an
       exclamation from Chingachgook, and the attitude of riveted
       attention assumed by his son.
       "The Mohicans hear an enemy!" whispered Hawkeye, who, by
       this time, in common with the whole party, was awake and
       stirring. "They scent danger in the wind!"
       "God forbid!" exclaimed Heyward. "Surely we have had enough
       of bloodshed!"
       While he spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle,
       and advancing toward the front, prepared to atone for his
       venial remissness, by freely exposing his life in defense of
       those he attended.
       "'Tis some creature of the forest prowling around us in
       quest of food," he said, in a whisper, as soon as the low,
       and apparently distant sounds, which had startled the
       Mohicans, reached his own ears.
       "Hist!" returned the attentive scout; "'tis man; even I can
       now tell his tread, poor as my senses are when compared to
       an Indian's! That Scampering Huron has fallen in with one
       of Montcalm's outlying parties, and they have struck upon
       our trail. I shouldn't like, myself, to spill more human
       blood in this spot," he added, looking around with anxiety
       in his features, at the dim objects by which he was
       surrounded; "but what must be, must! Lead the horses into
       the blockhouse, Uncas; and, friends, do you follow to the
       same shelter. Poor and old as it is, it offers a cover, and
       has rung with the crack of a rifle afore to-night!"
       He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the
       Narrangansetts within the ruin, whither the whole party
       repaired with the most guarded silence.
       The sound of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly
       audible to leave any doubts as to the nature of the
       interruption. They were soon mingled with voices calling to
       each other in an Indian dialect, which the hunter, in a
       whisper, affirmed to Heyward was the language of the Hurons.
       When the party reached the point where the horses had
       entered the thicket which surrounded the blockhouse, they
       were evidently at fault, having lost those marks which,
       until that moment, had directed their pursuit.
       It would seem by the voices that twenty men were soon
       collected at that one spot, mingling their different
       opinions and advice in noisy clamor.
       "The knaves know our weakness," whispered Hawkeye, who stood
       by the side of Heyward, in deep shade, looking through an
       opening in the logs, "or they wouldn't indulge their
       idleness in such a squaw's march. Listen to the reptiles!
       each man among them seems to have two tongues, and but a
       single leg."
       Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in such a
       moment of painful suspense, make any reply to the cool and
       characteristic remark of the scout. He only grasped his
       rifle more firmly, and fastened his eyes upon the narrow
       opening, through which he gazed upon the moonlight view with
       increasing anxiety. The deeper tones of one who spoke as
       having authority were next heard, amid a silence that
       denoted the respect with which his orders, or rather advice,
       was received. After which, by the rustling of leaves, and
       crackling of dried twigs, it was apparent the savages were
       separating in pursuit of the lost trail. Fortunately for
       the pursued, the light of the moon, while it shed a flood of
       mild luster upon the little area around the ruin, was not
       sufficiently strong to penetrate the deep arches of the
       forest, where the objects still lay in deceptive shadow.
       The search proved fruitless; for so short and sudden had
       been the passage from the faint path the travelers had
       journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of their
       footsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.
       It was not long, however, before the restless savages were
       heard beating the brush, and gradually approaching the inner
       edge of that dense border of young chestnuts which encircled
       the little area.
       "They are coming," muttered Heyward, endeavoring to thrust
       his rifle through the chink in the logs; "let us fire on
       their approach."
       "Keep everything in the shade," returned the scout; "the
       snapping of a flint, or even the smell of a single karnel of the
       brimstone, would bring the hungry varlets upon us in a body.
       Should it please God that we must give battle for the scalps,
       trust to the experience of men who know the ways of the savages,
       and who are not often backward when the war-whoop is howled."
       Duncan cast his eyes behind him, and saw that the trembling
       sisters were cowering in the far corner of the building,
       while the Mohicans stood in the shadow, like two upright
       posts, ready, and apparently willing, to strike when the
       blow should be needed. Curbing his impatience, he again
       looked out upon the area, and awaited the result in silence.
       At that instant the thicket opened, and a tall and armed
       Huron advanced a few paces into the open space. As he gazed
       upon the silent blockhouse, the moon fell upon his swarthy
       countenance, and betrayed its surprise and curiosity. He
       made the exclamation which usually accompanies the former
       emotion in an Indian, and, calling in a low voice, soon drew
       a companion to his side.
       These children of the woods stood together for several
       moments pointing at the crumbling edifice, and conversing in
       the unintelligible language of their tribe. They then
       approached, though with slow and cautious steps, pausing
       every instant to look at the building, like startled deer
       whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened
       apprehensions for the mastery. The foot of one of them
       suddenly rested on the mound, and he stopped to examine its
       nature. At this moment, Heyward observed that the scout
       loosened his knife in its sheath, and lowered the muzzle of
       his rifle. Imitating these movements, the young man
       prepared himself for the struggle which now seemed
       inevitable.
       The savages were so near, that the least motion in one of
       the horses, or even a breath louder than common, would have
       betrayed the fugitives. But in discovering the character of
       the mound, the attention of the Hurons appeared directed to
       a different object. They spoke together, and the sounds of
       their voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by a
       reverence that was deeply blended with awe. Then they drew
       warily back, keeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if
       they expected to see the apparitions of the dead issue from
       its silent walls, until, having reached the boundary of the
       area, they moved slowly into the thicket and disappeared.
       Hawkeye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth, and
       drawing a long, free breath, exclaimed, in an audible
       whisper:
       "Ay! they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their
       own lives, and, it may be, the lives of better men too."
       Heyward lent his attention for a single moment to his
       companion, but without replying, he again turned toward
       those who just then interested him more. He heard the two
       Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soon plain that all the
       pursuers were gathered about them, in deep attention to
       their report. After a few minutes of earnest and solemn
       dialogue, altogether different from the noisy clamor with
       which they had first collected about the spot, the sounds
       grew fainter and more distant, and finally were lost in the
       depths of the forest.
       Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening
       Chingachgook assured him that every sound from the retiring
       party was completely swallowed by the distance, when he
       motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, and to assist
       the sisters into their saddles. The instant this was done
       they issued through the broken gateway, and stealing out by
       a direction opposite to the one by which they entered, they
       quitted the spot, the sisters casting furtive glances at the
       silent, grave and crumbling ruin, as they left the soft
       light of the moon, to bury themselves in the gloom of the
       woods.
       Content of CHAPTER 13 [James Fenimore Cooper's novel: The Last of the Mohicans]
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