 | CHAPTER XIII. The deerslayer: or, The first war-path |  |
13. CHAPTER XIII.
A candle-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.”
Dean Swift's Inventory.
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 is 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 we'pons.”
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 doesn'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
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 favourable 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, endeavoured 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 don'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
isn'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 wounded — yes, the poor gal's wounded, Sarpent,
though one couldn't foresee it, standing where she did.
We'll lead her into a seat, and we must do the best for her
that our knowledge and skill can afford.”
Judith suffered 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.
Wiping 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 lived 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 further 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
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 chessmen. 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 “Hughs!” 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
which time Judith and the Indian had all the rapture to themselves.
Deerslayer sat 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 commendation passed his lips. At length his
companions observed his silence, and then, for the first time
since the chessmen 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 doesn'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, like all the other
articles, and have fallen into Thomas Hutter's hands when
he has been 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
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 head, 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
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 heavily.
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 these 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 comprehends 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 Indian that wouldn'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 Indian tribe, here-away,
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
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 effigies, and then fall
down before 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
was carefully replaced in the chest, and 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 Judith,
who experienced a lively pleasure in the open, undisguised
admiration with which Deerslayer's honest eye 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,
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
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 stated. 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 the trees—”
“Ay, that did he—that did he,” muttered Deerslayer;
“and a goodly harvest has followed.”
“God planted the seeds of all the 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
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,
Deerslayer?”
“First let me talk a little with Hetty,” returned the party
appealed to; “was this raft made after 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 comprehend
this affair, now, Judith, and I'll first get rid of this
young Canadian 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 't will
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,
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 isn'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 aptant.
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
inquired 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, and 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 don'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 the 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 cheek, and the girl looked up archly at
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?”
“She sang Chin-gach-gook oftener than any thing else;
and she laughed heartily, when I told how the Iroquois
these logs haven'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
mustn'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 to 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,
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 don'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 don'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 don'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 mustn'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-face. 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
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 XIII. The deerslayer: or, The first war-path | |