Chapter 7

"They do not sleep, On yonder cliffs, a grizzly band, I see

them sit." Gray

"'Twould be neglecting a warning that is given for our good

to lie hid any longer," said Hawkeye "when such sounds are

raised in the forest. These gentle ones may keep close, but

the Mohicans and I will watch upon the rock, where I suppose

a major of the Sixtieth would wish to keep us company."

"Is, then, our danger so pressing?" asked Cora.

"He who makes strange sounds, and gives them out for man's

information, alone knows our danger. I should think myself

wicked, unto rebellion against His will, was I to burrow

with such warnings in the air! Even the weak soul who

passes his days in singing is stirred by the cry, and, as he

says, is 'ready to go forth to the battle' If 'twere only a

battle, it would be a thing understood by us all, and easily

managed; but I have heard that when such shrieks are atween

heaven and 'arth, it betokens another sort of warfare!"

"If all our reasons for fear, my friend, are confined to

such as proceed from supernatural causes, we have but little

occasion to be alarmed," continued the undisturbed Cora,

"are you certain that our enemies have not invented some new

and ingenious method to strike us with terror, that their

conquest may become more easy?"

"Lady," returned the scout, solemnly, "I have listened to

all the sounds of the woods for thirty years, as a man will

listen whose life and death depend on the quickness of his

ears. There is no whine of the panther, no whistle of the

catbird, nor any invention of the devilish Mingoes, that can

cheat me! I have heard the forest moan like mortal men in

their affliction; often, and again, have I listened to the

wind playing its music in the branches of the girdled trees;

and I have heard the lightning cracking in the air like the

snapping of blazing brush as it spitted forth sparks and

forked flames; but never have I thought that I heard more

than the pleasure of him who sported with the things of his

hand. But neither the Mohicans, nor I, who am a white man

without a cross, can explain the cry just heard. We,

therefore, believe it a sign given for our good."

"It is extraordinary!" said Heyward, taking his pistols from

the place where he had laid them on entering; "be it a sign

of peach or a signal of war, it must be looked to. Lead the

way, my friend; I follow."

On issuing from their place of confinement, the whole party

instantly experienced a grateful renovation of spirits, by

exchanging the pent air of the hiding-place for the cool and

invigorating atmosphere which played around the whirlpools

and pitches of the cataract. A heavy evening breeze swept

along the surface of the river, and seemed to drive the roar

of the falls into the recesses of their own cavern, whence

it issued heavily and constant, like thunder rumbling beyond

the distant hills. The moon had risen, and its light was

already glancing here and there on the waters above them;

but the extremity of the rock where they stood still lay in

shadow. With the exception of the sounds produced by the

rushing waters, and an occasional breathing of the air, as

it murmured past them in fitful currents, the scene was as

still as night and solitude could make it. In vain were the

eyes of each individual bent along the opposite shores, in

quest of some signs of life, that might explain the nature

of the interruption they had heard. Their anxious and eager

looks were baffled by the deceptive light, or rested only on

naked rocks, and straight and immovable trees.

"Here is nothing to be seen but the gloom and quiet of a

lovely evening," whispered Duncan; "how much should we prize

such a scene, and all this breathing solitude, at any other

moment, Cora! Fancy yourselves in security, and what now,

perhaps, increases your terror, may be made conducive to

enjoyment--"

"Listen!" interrupted Alice.

The caution was unnecessary. One more the same sound arose,

as if from the bed of the river, and having broken out of

the narrow bounds of the cliffs, was heard undulating

through the forest, in distant and dying cadences.

"Can any here give a name to such a cry?" demanded Hawkeye,

when the last echo was lost in the woods; "if so, let him

speak; for myself, I judge it not to belong to 'arth!"

"Here, then, is one who can undeceive you," said Duncan; "I

know the sound full well, for often have I heard it on the

field of battle, and in situations which are frequent in a

soldier's life. 'Tis the horrid shriek that a horse will

give in his agony; oftener drawn from him in pain, though

sometimes in terror. My charger is either a prey to the

beasts of the forest, or he sees his danger, without the

power to avoid it. The sound might deceive me in the

cavern, but in the open air I know it too well to be wrong."

The scout and his companions listened to this simple

explanation with the interest of men who imbibe new ideas,

at the same time that they get rid of old ones, which had

proved disagreeable inmates. The two latter uttered their

usual expressive exclamation, "hugh!" as the truth first

glanced upon their minds, while the former, after a short,

musing pause, took upon himself to reply.

"I cannot deny your words," he said, "for I am little

skilled in horses, though born where they abound. The

wolves must be hovering above their heads on the bank, and

the timorsome creatures are calling on man for help, in the

best manner they are able. Uncas"--he spoke in Delaware -

- "Uncas, drop down in the canoe, and whirl a brand among

the pack; or fear may do what the wolves can't get at to

perform, and leave us without horses in the morning, when we

shall have so much need to journey swiftly!"

The young native had already descended to the water to

comply, when a long howl was raised on the edge of the

river, and was borne swiftly off into the depths of the

forest, as though the beasts, of their own accord, were

abandoning their prey in sudden terror. Uncas, with

instinctive quickness, receded, and the three foresters held

another of their low, earnest conferences.

"We have been like hunters who have lost the points of the

heavens, and from whom the sun has been hid for days," said

Hawkeye, turning away from his companions; "now we begin

again to know the signs of our course, and the paths are

cleared from briers! Seat yourselves in the shade which the

moon throws from yonder beech--'tis thicker than that of

the pines--and let us wait for that which the Lord may

choose to send next. Let all your conversation be in

whispers; though it would be better, and, perhaps, in the

end, wiser, if each one held discourse with his own

thoughts, for a time."

The manner of the scout was seriously impressive, though no

longer distinguished by any signs of unmanly apprehension.

It was evident that his momentary weakness had vanished with

the explanation of a mystery which his own experience had

not served to fathom; and though he now felt all the

realities of their actual condition, that he was prepared to

meet them with the energy of his hardy nature. This feeling

seemed also common to the natives, who placed themselves in

positions which commanded a full view of both shores, while

their own persons were effectually concealed from

observation. In such circumstances, common prudence

dictated that Heyward and his companions should imitate a

caution that proceeded from so intelligent a source. The

young man drew a pile of the sassafras from the cave, and

placing it in the chasm which separated the two caverns, it

was occupied by the sisters, who were thus protected by the

rocks from any missiles, while their anxiety was relieved by

the assurance that no danger could approach without a

warning. Heyward himself was posted at hand, so near that

he might communicate with his companions without raising his

voice to a dangerous elevation; while David, in imitation of

the woodsmen, bestowed his person in such a manner among the

fissures of the rocks, that his ungainly limbs were no

longer offensive to the eye.

In this manner hours passed without further interruption.

The moon reached the zenith, and shed its mild light

perpendicularly on the lovely sight of the sisters

slumbering peacefully in each other's arms. Duncan cast the

wide shawl of Cora before a spectacle he so much loved to

contemplate, and then suffered his own head to seek a pillow

on the rock. David began to utter sounds that would have

shocked his delicate organs in more wakeful moments; in

short, all but Hawkeye and the Mohicans lost every idea of

consciousness, in uncontrollable drowsiness. But the

watchfulness of these vigilant protectors neither tired nor

slumbered. Immovable as that rock, of which each appeared

to form a part, they lay, with their eyes roving, without

intermission, along the dark margin of trees, that bounded

the adjacent shores of the narrow stream. Not a sound

escaped them; the most subtle examination could not have

told they breathed. It was evident that this excess of

caution proceeded from an experience that no subtlety on the

part of their enemies could deceive. It was, however,

continued without any apparent consequences, until the moon

had set, and a pale streak above the treetops, at the bend

of the river a little below, announced the approach of day.

Then, for the first time, Hawkeye was seen to stir. He

crawled along the rock and shook Duncan from his heavy

slumbers.

"Now is the time to journey," he whispered; "awake the

gentle ones, and be ready to get into the canoe when I bring

it to the landing-place."

"Have you had a quiet night?" said Heyward; "for myself, I

believe sleep has got the better of my vigilance."

"All is yet still as midnight. Be silent, but be quick."

By this time Duncan was thoroughly awake, and he immediately

lifted the shawl from the sleeping females. The motion

caused Cora to raise her hand as if to repulse him, while

Alice murmured, in her soft, gentle voice, "No, no, dear

father, we were not deserted; Duncan was with us!"

"Yes, sweet innocence," whispered the youth; "Duncan is

here, and while life continues or danger remains, he will

never quit thee. Cora! Alice! awake! The hour has come to

move!"

A loud shriek from the younger of the sisters, and the form

of the other standing upright before him, in bewildered

horror, was the unexpected answer he received.

While the words were still on the lips of Heyward, there had

arisen such a tumult of yells and cries as served to drive

the swift currents of his own blood back from its bounding

course into the fountains of his heart. It seemed, for near

a minute, as if the demons of hell had possessed themselves

of the air about them, and were venting their savage humors

in barbarous sounds. The cries came from no particular

direction, though it was evident they filled the woods, and,

as the appalled listeners easily imagined, the caverns of

the falls, the rocks, the bed of the river, and the upper

air. David raised his tall person in the midst of the

infernal din, with a hand on either ear, exclaiming:

"Whence comes this discord! Has hell broke loose, that man

should utter sounds like these!"

The bright flashes and the quick reports of a dozen rifles,

from the opposite banks of the stream, followed this

incautious exposure of his person, and left the unfortunate

singing master senseless on that rock where he had been so

long slumbering. The Mohicans boldly sent back the

intimidating yell of their enemies, who raised a shout of

savage triumph at the fall of Gamut. The flash of rifles

was then quick and close between them, but either party was

too well skilled to leave even a limb exposed to the hostile

aim. Duncan listened with intense anxiety for the strokes

of the paddle, believing that flight was now their only

refuge. The river glanced by with its ordinary velocity,

but the canoe was nowhere to be seen on its dark waters. He

had just fancied they were cruelly deserted by their scout,

as a stream of flame issued from the rock beneath them, and

a fierce yell, blended with a shriek of agony, announced

that the messenger of death sent from the fatal weapon of

Hawkeye, had found a victim. At this slight repulse the

assailants instantly withdrew, and gradually the place

became as still as before the sudden tumult.

Duncan seized the favorable moment to spring to the body of

Gamut, which he bore within the shelter of the narrow chasm

that protected the sisters. In another minute the whole

party was collected in this spot of comparative safety.

"The poor fellow has saved his scalp," said Hawkeye, coolly

passing his hand over the head of David; "but he is a proof

that a man may be born with too long a tongue! 'Twas

downright madness to show six feet of flesh and blood, on a

naked rock, to the raging savages. I only wonder he has

escaped with life."

"Is he not dead?" demanded Cora, in a voice whose husky

tones showed how powerfully natural horror struggled with

her assumed firmness. "Can we do aught to assist the

wretched man?"

"No, no! the life is in his heart yet, and after he has

slept awhile he will come to himself, and be a wiser man for

it, till the hour of his real time shall come," returned

Hawkeye, casting another oblique glance at the insensible

body, while he filled his charger with admirable nicety.

"Carry him in, Uncas, and lay him on the sassafras. The

longer his nap lasts the better it will be for him, as I

doubt whether he can find a proper cover for such a shape on

these rocks; and singing won't do any good with the

Iroquois."

"You believe, then, the attack will be renewed?" asked

Heyward.

"Do I expect a hungry wolf will satisfy his craving with a

mouthful! They have lost a man, and 'tis their fashion,

when they meet a loss, and fail in the surprise, to fall

back; but we shall have them on again, with new expedients

to circumvent us, and master our scalps. Our main hope," he

continued, raising his rugged countenance, across which a

shade of anxiety just then passed like a darkening cloud,

"will be to keep the rock until Munro can send a party to

our help! God send it may be soon and under a leader that

knows the Indian customs!"

"You hear our probable fortunes, Cora," said Duncan, "and

you know we have everything to hope from the anxiety and

experience of your father. Come, then, with Alice, into

this cavern, where you, at least, will be safe from the

murderous rifles of our enemies, and where you may bestow a

care suited to your gentle natures on our unfortunate

comrade."

The sisters followed him into the outer cave, where David

was beginning, by his sighs, to give symptoms of returning

consciousness, and then commending the wounded man to their

attention, he immediately prepared to leave them.

"Duncan!" said the tremulous voice of Cora, when he had

reached the mouth of the cavern. He turned and beheld the

speaker, whose color had changed to a deadly paleness, and

whose lips quivered, gazing after him, with an expression of

interest which immediately recalled him to her side.

"Remember, Duncan, how necessary your safety is to our own -

- how you bear a father's sacred trust--how much depends

on your discretion and care--in short," she added, while

the telltale blood stole over her features, crimsoning her

very temples, "how very deservedly dear you are to all of

the name of Munro."

"If anything could add to my own base love of life," said

Heyward, suffering his unconscious eyes to wander to the

youthful form of the silent Alice, "it would be so kind an

assurance. As major of the Sixtieth, our honest host will

tell you I must take my share of the fray; but our task will

be easy; it is merely to keep these blood-hounds at bay for

a few hours."

Without waiting for a reply, he tore himself from the

presence of the sisters, and joined the scout and his

companions, who still lay within the protection of the

little chasm between the two caves.

"I tell you, Uncas," said the former, as Heyward joined

them, "you are wasteful of your powder, and the kick of the

rifle disconcerts your aim! Little powder, light lead, and

a long arm, seldom fail of bringing the death screech from a

Mingo! At least, such has been my experience with the

creatur's. Come, friends: let us to our covers, for no man

can tell when or where a Maqua* will strike his blow."

* Mingo was the Delaware term of the Five Nations.

Maquas was the name given them by the Dutch. The French,

from their first intercourse with them, called them

Iroquois.

The Indians silently repaired to their appointed stations,

which were fissures in the rocks, whence they could command

the approaches to the foot of the falls. In the center of

the little island, a few short and stunted pines had found

root, forming a thicket, into which Hawkeye darted with the

swiftness of a deer, followed by the active Duncan. Here

they secured themselves, as well as circumstances would

permit, among the shrubs and fragments of stone that were

scattered about the place. Above them was a bare, rounded

rock, on each side of which the water played its gambols,

and plunged into the abysses beneath, in the manner already

described. As the day had now dawned, the opposite shores

no longer presented a confused outline, but they were able

to look into the woods, and distinguish objects beneath a

canopy of gloomy pines.

A long and anxious watch succeeded, but without any further

evidences of a renewed attack; and Duncan began to hope that

their fire had proved more fatal than was supposed, and that

their enemies had been effectually repulsed. When he

ventured to utter this impression to his companions, it was

met by Hawkeye with an incredulous shake of the head.

"You know not the nature of a Maqua, if you think he is so

easily beaten back without a scalp!" he answered. "If there

was one of the imps yelling this morning, there were forty!

and they know our number and quality too well to give up the

chase so soon. Hist! look into the water above, just where

it breaks over the rocks. I am no mortal, if the risky

devils haven't swam down upon the very pitch, and, as bad

luck would have it, they have hit the head of the island.

Hist! man, keep close! or the hair will be off your crown in

the turning of a knife!"

Heyward lifted his head from the cover, and beheld what he

justly considered a prodigy of rashness and skill. The

river had worn away the edge of the soft rock in such a

manner as to render its first pitch less abrupt and

perpendicular than is usual at waterfalls. With no other

guide than the ripple of the stream where it met the head of

the island, a party of their insatiable foes had ventured

into the current, and swam down upon this point, knowing the

ready access it would give, if successful, to their intended

victims.

As Hawkeye ceased speaking, four human heads could be seen

peering above a few logs of drift-wood that had lodged on

these naked rocks, and which had probably suggested the idea

of the practicability of the hazardous undertaking. At the

next moment, a fifth form was seen floating over the green

edge of the fall, a little from the line of the island. The

savage struggled powerfully to gain the point of safety,

and, favored by the glancing water, he was already

stretching forth an arm to meet the grasp of his companions,

when he shot away again with the shirling current, appeared

to rise into the air, with uplifted arms and starting

eyeballs, and fell, with a sudden plunge, into that deep and

yawning abyss over which he hovered. A single, wild,

despairing shriek rose from the cavern, and all was hushed

again as the grave.

The first generous impulse of Duncan was to rush to the

rescue of the hapless wretch; but he felt himself bound to

the spot by the iron grasp of the immovable scout.

"Would ye bring certain death upon us, by telling the

Mingoes where we lie?" demanded Hawkeye, sternly; "'Tis a

charge of powder saved, and ammunition is as precious now as

breath to a worried deer! Freshen the priming of your

pistols--the midst of the falls is apt to dampen the

brimstone--and stand firm for a close struggle, while I

fire on their rush."

He placed a finger in his mouth, and drew a long, shrill

whistle, which was answered from the rocks that were guarded

by the Mohicans. Duncan caught glimpses of heads above the

scattered drift-wood, as this signal rose on the air, but

they disappeared again as suddenly as they had glanced upon

his sight. A low, rustling sound next drew his attention

behind him, and turning his head, he beheld Uncas within a

few feet, creeping to his side. Hawkeye spoke to him in

Delaware, when the young chief took his position with

singular caution and undisturbed coolness. To Heyward this

was a moment of feverish and impatient suspense; though the

scout saw fit to select it as a fit occasion to read a

lecture to his more youthful associates on the art of using

firearms with discretion.

"Of all we'pons," he commenced, "the long barreled, true-

grooved, soft-metaled rifle is the most dangerous in

skillful hands, though it wants a strong arm, a quick eye,

and great judgment in charging, to put forth all its

beauties. The gunsmiths can have but little insight into

their trade when they make their fowling-pieces and short

horsemen's--"

He was interrupted by the low but expressive "hugh" of

Uncas.

"I see them, boy, I see them!" continued Hawkeye; "they are

gathering for the rush, or they would keep their dingy backs

below the logs. Well, let them," he added, examining his

flint; "the leading man certainly comes on to his death,

though it should be Montcalm himself!"

At that moment the woods were filled with another burst of

cries, and at the signal four savages sprang from the cover

of the driftwood. Heyward felt a burning desire to rush

forward to meet them, so intense was the delirious anxiety

of the moment; but he was restrained by the deliberate

examples of the scout and Uncas.

When their foes, who had leaped over the black rocks that

divided them, with long bounds, uttering the wildest yells,

were within a few rods, the rifle of Hawkeye slowly rose

among the shrubs, and poured out its fatal contents. The

foremost Indian bounded like a stricken deer, and fell

headlong among the clefts of the island.

"Now, Uncas!" cried the scout, drawing his long knife, while

his quick eyes began to flash with ardor, "take the last of

the screeching imps; of the other two we are sartain!"

He was obeyed; and but two enemies remained to be overcome.

Heyward had given one of his pistols to Hawkeye, and

together they rushed down a little declivity toward their

foes; they discharged their weapons at the same instant, and

equally without success.

"I know'd it! and I said it!" muttered the scout, whirling

the despised little implement over the falls with bitter

disdain. "Come on, ye bloody minded hell-hounds! ye meet a

man without a cross!"

The words were barely uttered, when he encountered a savage

of gigantic stature, of the fiercest mien. At the same

moment, Duncan found himself engaged with the other, in a

similar contest of hand to hand. With ready skill, Hawkeye

and his antagonist each grasped that uplifted arm of the

other which held the dangerous knife. For near a minute

they stood looking one another in the eye, and gradually

exerting the power of their muscles for the mastery.

At length, the toughened sinews of the white man prevailed

over the less practiced limbs of the native. The arm of the

latter slowly gave way before the increasing force of the

scout, who, suddenly wresting his armed hand from the grasp

of the foe, drove the sharp weapon through his naked bosom

to the heart. In the meantime, Heyward had been pressed in

a more deadly struggle. His slight sword was snapped in the

first encounter. As he was destitute of any other means of

defense, his safety now depended entirely on bodily strength

and resolution. Though deficient in neither of these

qualities, he had met an enemy every way his equal.

Happily, he soon succeeded in disarming his adversary, whose

knife fell on the rock at their feet; and from this moment

it became a fierce struggle who should cast the other over

the dizzy height into a neighboring cavern of the falls.

Every successive struggle brought them nearer to the verge,

where Duncan perceived the final and conquering effort must

be made. Each of the combatants threw all his energies into

that effort, and the result was, that both tottered on the

brink of the precipice. Heyward felt the grasp of the other

at his throat, and saw the grim smile the savage gave, under

the revengeful hope that he hurried his enemy to a fate

similar to his own, as he felt his body slowly yielding to a

resistless power, and the young man experienced the passing

agony of such a moment in all its horrors. At that instant

of extreme danger, a dark hand and glancing knife appeared

before him; the Indian released his hold, as the blood

flowed freely from around the severed tendons of the wrist;

and while Duncan was drawn backward by the saving hand of

Uncas, his charmed eyes still were riveted on the fierce and

disappointed countenance of his foe, who fell sullenly and

disappointed down the irrecoverable precipice.

"To cover! to cover!" cried Hawkeye, who just then had

despatched the enemy; "to cover, for your lives! the work is

but half ended!"

The young Mohican gave a shout of triumph, and followed by

Duncan, he glided up the acclivity they had descended to the

combat, and sought the friendly shelter of the rocks and

shrubs.

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