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 on; 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.

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