University of Virginia Library

4. CHAPTER IV.

The party had landed on the border of a region
that is, even to this day, less known to the inhabitants
of the states, than the deserts of Arabia, or the
steppes of Tartary. It was the sterile and rugged
district, which separates the tributaries of Champlain
from those of the Hudson, the Mohawk, and of the
St. Lawrence. Since the period of our tale, the
active spirit of the country has surrounded it with a
belt of rich and thriving settlements, though none
but the hunter or the savage is ever known, even
now, to penetrate its rude and wild recesses.

As Hawk-eye and the Mohicans had, however,
often traversed the mountains and valleys of this vast
wilderness, they did not hesitate to plunge into its
depths, with the freedom of men accustomed to its
privations and difficulties. For many hours the
travellers toiled on their laborious way, guided by a
star, or following the direction of some water-course,
until the scout called a halt, and holding a short
consultation with the Indians, they lighted their fire,

and made the usual preparations to pass the remainder
of the night where they then were.

Imitating the example, and emulating the confidence
of their more experienced associates, Munro
and Duncan slept without fear, if not without uneasiness.
The dews were suffered to exhale, and the
sun had dispersed the mists, and was shedding a
strong and clear light in the forest, when the travellers
resumed their journey.

After proceeding a few miles, the progress of
Hawk-eye, who led the advance, became more deliberate
and watchful. He often stopped to examine
the tress; nor did he cross a rivulet, without attentively
considering the quantity, the velocity, and the
colour of its waters. Distrusting his own judgment,
his appeals to the opinion of Chingachgook were frequent
and earnest. During one of these conferences,
Heyward observed that Uncas stood a patient and
silent, though, as he imagined, an interested listener.
He was strongly tempted to address the young chieftain,
and demand his opinion of their progress; but
the calm and dignified demeanour of the native, induced
him to believe, that, like himself, the other was
wholly dependent on the sagacity and intelligence of
the seniors of the party. At last, the scout spoke in
English, and at once explained the embarrassment of
their situation.

“When I found that the home path of the Hurons
run north,” he said, “it did not need the judgment
of many long years to tell that they would follow the
valleys, and keep atween the waters of the Hudson
and the Horican, until they might strike the springs

of the Canada streams, which would lead them into
the heart of the country of the Frenchers. Yet
here are we, within a short range of the Scaroon,
and not a sign of a trail have we crossed! Human
natur is weak, and it is possible we may not have
taken the proper scent.”

“Heaven protect us from such an error!” exclaimed
Duncan. “Let us retrace our steps, and
examine as we go, with keener eyes. Has Uncas no
counsel to offer in such a strait?”

The young Mohican cast a quick glance at his
father, but instantly recovering his quiet and reserved
mien, he continued silent. Chingachgook had
caught the look, and motioning with his hand, he
bade him speak. The moment this permission was
accorded, the countenance of Uncas changed from
its grave composure to a gleam of intelligence and
joy. Bounding forward like a deer, he sprang up
the side of a little acclivity, a few rods in advance,
and stood, exultingly, over a spot of fresh earth, that
looked as though it had been recently upturned by
the passage of some heavy animal. The eyes of the
whole party followed the unexpected movement,
and read their success in the air of triumph that the
youth assumed.

“'Tis the trail!” exclaimed the scout, advancing
to the spot; “the lad is quick of sight and keen of
wit, for his years.”

“'Tis extraordinary, that he should have withheld
his knowledge so long,” muttered Duncan, at his
elbow.

“It would have been more wonderful had he spoken,

without a bidding! No, no; your young white,
who gathers his learning from books, and can measure
what he knows by the page, may conceit that
his knowledge, like his legs, outruns that of his father;
but where experience is the master, the scholar
is made to know the value of years, and respects
them accordingly.”

“See!” said Uncas, pointing north and south, at
the evident marks of the broad trail on either side of
him; “the dark-hair has gone towards the frost.”

“Hound never ran on a more beautiful scent,”
responded the scout, dashing forward, at once, on the
indicated route; “we are favoured, greatly favoured,
and can follow with high noses. Ay, here are
both your wadding beasts; this Huron travels like
a white general! The fellow is stricken with a judgment,
and is mad! Look sharp for wheels, Sagamore,”
he continued, looking back and laughing, in
his newly awakened satisfaction; “we shall soon have
the fool journeying in a coach, and that with three of
the best pair of eyes on the borders in his rear.”

The spirits of the scout, and the astonishing success
of the chase, in which a circuitous distance of
more than forty miles had been passed, did not fail to
impart a portion of hope to the whole party. Their
advance was rapid; and made with as much confidence
as a traveller would proceed along a wide
highway. If a rock, or a rivulet, or a bit of
earth harder than common, severed the links of the
clue they followed, the true eye of the scout recovered
them at a distance, and seldom rendered the
delay of a single moment necessary. Their progress

was much facilitated by the certainty that Magua
had found it necessary to journey through the valleys;
a circumstance which rendered the general direction
of the route sure. Nor had the Huron entirely neglected
the arts uniformly practised by the natives, when
retiring in front of an enemy. False trails, and sudden
turnings, were frequent, wherever a brook, or
the formation of the ground, rendered them feasible;
but his pursuers were rarely deceived, and never
failed to detect their error, before they had lost either
time or distance on the deceptive track.

By the middle of the afternoon they had passed
the Scaroon, and were following the route of the declining
sun. After descending an eminence to a low
bottom, through which a swift stream glided, they
suddenly came to a place where the party of le
Renard had made a halt. Extinguished brands
were lying around a spring, the offals of a deer were
scattered about the place, and the trees bore evident
marks of having been browsed long and closely by the
horses. At a little distance, Heyward discovered,
and contemplated with tender emotion, the small
bower under which, he was fain to believe, that
Cora and Alice had reposed. But while the earth
was trodden, and the footsteps of both men and
beasts were so plainly visible around the place, the
trail appeared to have suddenly ended.

It was easy to follow the tracks of the Narragansetts,
but they seemed only to have wandered without
guides, or any other object than the pursuit of food.
At length Uncas, who, with his father, had endeavoured
to trace the route of the horses, came upon a sign

of their presence, that was quite recent. Before following
the clue, he communicated his success to his
companions, and while the latter were consulting on
the circumstance, the youth re-appeared, leading the
two fillies, with their saddles broken, and the housings
soiled, as though they had been permitted to run,
at will, for several days.

“What should this prove?” said Duncan, turning
pale, and glancing his eyes around him, as if he feared
the brush and leaves were about to give up some
horrid secret.

“That our march is come to a quick end, and
that we are in an enemy's country,” returned the
scout. “Had the knave been pressed, and the gentle
ones wanted horses to keep up with the party, he
might have taken their scalps; but without an enemy
at his heels, and with such rugged beasts as these,
he would not hurt a hair of their heads. I know
your thoughts, and shame be it to our colour, that
you have reason for them; but he who thinks that
even a Mingo would ill treat a woman, unless it be
to tomahawk her, knows nothing of Indian natur,
or the laws of the woods. No, no; I have heard
that the French Indians had come into these hills,
to hunt the moose, and we are getting within scent
of their camp. Why should they not? the morning
and evening guns of Ty, may be heard any day among
these mountains; for the Frenchers are running a
new line atween the provinces of the king and the
Canadas. It is true, that the horses are here, but
the Hurons are gone; let us then hunt for the path
by which they departed.”

Hawk-eye and the Mohicans now applied themselves

to their task in good earnest. A circle of a
few hundred feet in circumference was drawn, and
each of the party took a segment for his portion.
The examination, however, resulted in no discovery.
The impressions of footsteps were numerous, but
they all appeared like those of men who had wandered
about the spot, without any design to quit it.
Again the scout and his companions made the circuit
of the halting-place, each slowly following the
other, until they assembled in the centre, once more,
no wiser than when they started.

“Such cunning is not without its deviltry?” exclaimed
Hawk-eye, when he met the disappointed
looks of his assistants. “We must get down to it,
Sagamore, beginning at the spring, and going over
the ground by inches. The Huron shall never
brag in his tribe that he has a foot which leaves no
print!”

Setting the example himself, the scout engaged in
the scrutiny with renewed zeal. Not a leaf was left
unturned. The sticks were removed, and the stones
lifted—for Indian cunning was known frequently to
adopt these objects as covers, labouring with the utmost
patience and industry, to conceal each footstep
as they proceeded. Still, no discovery was made.
At length Uncas, whose activity had enabled him to
achieve his portion of the task the soonest, raked the
earth across the turbid little rill which ran from the
spring, and diverted its course into another channel.
So soon as its narrow bed below the dam was dry,
he stooped over it with keen and curious eyes. A
cry of exultation immediately announced the success

of the young warrior. The whole party crowded
to the spot, where Uncas pointed out the impression
of a moccasin in the rich and moist alluvion.

“The lad will be an honour to his people!” said
Hawk-eye, regarding the trail with as much admiration
as a naturalist would expend on the tusk of a
mammoth, or the rib of a mastoden; “ay, and a thorn
in the sides of the Hurons. Yet that is not the footstep
of an Indian! the weight is too much on the heel, and
the toes are squared, as though one of the French
dancers had been in, pigeon-winging his tribe! Run
back, Uncas, and bring me the size of the singer's
foot. You will find a beautiful print of it just opposite
yon rock, ag'in the hill side.”

While the youth was engaged in this commission,
the scout and Chingachgook were attentively considering
the impressions. The measurements agreed,
and the former unhesitatingly pronounced that the
footstep was that of David, who had, once more, been
made to exchange his shoes for moccasins.

“I can now read the whole of it, as plainly as if I
had seen the arts of le Subtil,” he added; “the
singer, being a man whose gifts lay chiefly in his
throat and feet, was made to go first, and the others
have trod in his steps, imitating their formation.”

“But,” cried Duncan, “I see no signs of—”

“The gentle ones,” interrupted the scout; “the
varlet has found a way to carry them, until he supposed
he had thrown any followers off the scent.
My life on it, we see their pretty little feet again,
before many rods go by.”

The whole party now proceeded, following the

course of the rill, keeping anxious eyes on the regular
impressions. The water soon flowed into its
bed again, but watching the ground on either side,
the foresters pursued their way, content with knowing
that the trail lay beneath. More than half a
mile was passed, before the rill rippled close around
the base of an extensive and dry rock. Here they
paused to make sure that the Hurons had not quitted
the water.

It was fortunate they did so. For the quick and
active Uncas soon found the impression of a foot on a
bunch of moss, where it would seem an Indian
had inadvertently trodden. Pursuing the direction
given by this discovery, he entered the neighbouring
thicket, and struck the trail, as fresh and obvious as
it had been before they reached the spring. Another
shout announced the good fortune of the youth
to his companions, and at once terminated the
search.

“Ay, it has been planned with Indian judgment,”
said the scout, when the party was assembled around
the place; “and would have blinded white eyes.”

“Shall we proceed?” demanded Heyward.

“Softly, softly; we know our path, but it is good to
examine the formation of things. This is my schooling,
major; and if one neglects the book, there is no
better chance of learning from the open hand of
Providence, than yon idle boy has with an old gal.
All is plain but one thing, which is, the manner that
the knave contrived to get the gentle ones along the
blind trail. Even a Huron would be too proud to
let their tender feet touch the water.”

“Will this assist in explaining the difficulty?”
said Heyward, pointing towards the fragments of
a sort of hand-barrow, that had been rudely constructed
of boughs, and bound together with withes,
and which now seemed carelessly cast aside as useless.

“'Tis all explained!” cried the delighted Hawk-eye.
“If them varlets have passed a minute, they
have spent hours in striving to fabricate a lying end
to their trail! Well, I've known them waste a
day in the same manner, to as little purpose. Here
we have three pair of moccasins, and two of little
feet. It is amazing that any mortal beings can journey
on limbs so small! Pass me the thong of buck-skin,
Uncas, and let me take the length of this foot.
By the Lord, it is no longer than a child's, and yet
the maidens are tall and comely. That Providence
is partial in its gifts, for its own wise reasons, the
best and most contented of us must allow!”

“The tender limbs of my daughters are unequal
to these hardships!” said Munro, looking at the light
footsteps of his children with a parent's love; “we
shall find their fainting forms in this desert.”

“Of that there is little cause of fear,” returned the
attentive scout, slowly shaking his head; “this is a
firm and straight, though a light step, and not over
long. See, the heel has hardly touched the ground;
and there the dark-hair has made a little jump, from
root to root. No, no; my knowledge for it, neither
of them was nigh fainting, hereaway. Now, the singer
was beginning to be foot-sore and leg-weary, as is
plain by his trail. There you see he slipped; here

he has travelled wide, and tottered; and there, again,
it looks as though he journeyed on snow-shoes. Ay,
ay, a man who uses his throat altogether, can hardly
give his legs a proper training!”

From such undeniable testimony, did the practised
woodsman arrive at the truth, with nearly as much
certainty and precision, as if he had been a witness
of all those events, which his ingenuity so easily elucidated.
Cheered by these assurances, and satisfied
by a reasoning that was so obvious, while it was so
simple, the party resumed its course, after making a
short halt, to take a hurried and slight repast.

When the meal was ended, the scout cast a glance
upward at the setting sun, and pushed forward with
a rapidity, to equal which compelled Heyward and
the still vigorous Munro to exert all their muscles.
Their route, now, lay along the bottom which has
already been mentioned. As the Hurons had made
no further efforts to conceal their footsteps, the progress
of the pursuers was no longer delayed by uncertainty.
Before an hour had elapsed, however,
the speed of Hawk-eye sensibly abated, and his head,
instead of maintaing its former direct and forward
look, began to turn suspiciously from side to side, as
if he were conscious of approaching danger. He
soon stopped again, and awaited for the whole party
to come up.

“I scent the Hurons,” he said, speaking to the
Mohicans; “yonder is open sky, through the tree-tops,
and we are getting too nigh their encampment.
Sagamore, you will take the hill side, to the right;
Uncas will bend along the brook to the left, while I

will try the trail. If any thing should happen, the
call will be three croaks of a crow. I saw one of the
birds fanning himself in the air, just beyond the dead
oak—another sign that we are touching an encampment.”

The Indians departed their several ways, without
deeming any reply necessary, while Hawk-eye cautiously
proceeded with the two gentlemen. Heyward
soon pressed to the side of their guide, eager to
catch an early glimpse of those enemies he had pursued
with so much toil and anxiety. His companion
told him to steal to the edge of the wood, which, as
usual, was fringed with a thicket, and wait his coming,
for he wished to examine certain suspicious
signs a little on one side. Duncan obeyed, and
soon found himself in a situation to command a view
which he found as extraordinary as it was novel.

The trees of many acres had been felled, and the
glow of a mild summer's evening had fallen on the
clearing, in beautiful contrast to the gray light of the
forest. A short distance from the place where Duncan
stood, the stream had seemingly expanded into
a little lake, covering most of the low land, from
mountain to mountain. The water fell out of this
wide basin, in a cataract so regular and gentle, that
it appeared rather to be the work of human hands,
than fashioned by nature. A hundred earthen
dwellings stood on the margin of the lake, and even in
its water, as though the latter had flowed its usual
banks. Their rounded roofs, admirably moulded
for defence against the weather, denoted more of industry
and foresight, than the natives were wont to

bestow on their regular habitations, much less on
those they occupied for the temporary purposes of
hunting and war. In short, the whole village, or
town, which ever it might be termed, possessed
more of method and neatness of execution, than the
white men had been accustomed to believe belonged,
ordinarily, to the Indian habits. It appeared,
however, to be deserted. At least, so thought
Duncan for many minutes; but, at length, he fancied
he discovered several human forms, advancing towards
him on all fours, and apparently dragging in
their train some heavy, and, as he was quick to apprehend,
some formidable engine. Just then a few
dark looking heads gleamed out of the dwellings, and
the place seemed suddenly alive with beings, which,
however, glided from cover to cover so swiftly, as to
allow no opportunity of examining their humours or
pursuits. Alarmed at these suspicious and inexplicable
movements, he was about to attempt the signal
of the crows, when the rustling of leaves at hand,
drew his eyes in another direction.

The young man started, and recoiled a few paces
instinctively, when he found himself within a hundred
yards of a stranger Indian. Recovering his recollection
on the instant, instead of sounding an alarm,
which might prove fatal to himself, he remained stationary,
an attentive observer of the other's motions.

An instant of calm observation, served to assure
Duncan that he was undiscovered. The native, like
himself, seemed occupied in considering the low
dwellings of the village, and the stolen movements of

its inhabitants. It was impossible to discover the expression
of his features, through the grotesque masque
of paint, under which they were concealed; though
Duncan fancied it was rather melancholy than savage.
His head was shaved, as usual, with the exception
of the crown, from whose tuft three or four
faded feathers, from a hawk's wing, were loosely dangling.
A ragged calico mantle half encircled his body,
while his nether garment was composed of an ordinary
shirt, the sleeves of which were made to perform
the office that is usually executed by a much
more commodious arrangement. His legs were
bare, and sadly cut and torn by briars. The feet
were, however, covered with a pair of good bear-skin
moccasins. Altogether, the appearance of the individual
was forlorn and miserable.

Duncan was still curiously observing the person of
his neighbour, when the scout stole silently and cautiously
to his side.

“You see we have reached their settlement, or
encampment,” whispered the young man; “and
here is one of the savages himself in a very embarrassing
position for our further movements.”

Hawk-eye started, and dropped his rifle, when, directed
by the finger of his companion, the stranger
came under his view. Then lowering the dangerous
muzzle, he stretched forward his long neck, as if to
assist a scrutiny that was already intensely keen.

“The imp is not a Huron,” he said, “nor of any of
the Canada tribes! and yet you see by his clothes, the
knave has been plundering a white. Ay, Montcalm,
has raked the woods for his inroad, and a whooping,

murdering set of varlets has he gathered together!
Can you see where he has put his rifle, or his bow?”

“He appears to have no arms; nor does he seem
to be viciously inclined. Unless he communicate
the alarm to his fellows, who, as you see, are dodging
about the water, we have but little to fear from him.”

The scout turned to Heyward, and regarded him
a moment with unconcealed amazement. Then
opening wide his mouth, he indulged in unrestrained
and heartfelt laughter, though in that silent and peculiar
manner, which danger had so long taught him
to practise.

Repeating the words, “fellows who are dodging
about the water!” he added, “so much for schooling
and passing a boyhood in the settlements! The
knave has long legs though, and shall not be trusted.
Do you keep him under your rifle, while I creep in
behind, through the bush, and take him alive. Fire
on no account.”

Heyward had already permitted his companion
to bury part of his person in the thicket, when
stretching forth an arm, he arrested him, in order to
ask—

“If I see you in danger, may I not risk a shot?”

Hawk-eye regarded him a moment, like one who
knew not how to take the question; then nodding his
head, he answered, still laughing, though inaudibly—

“Fire a whole platoon, major.”

In the next moment he was concealed by the
leaves. Duncan waited several minutes in feverish
impatience, before he caught another glimpse of the

scout. Then he re-appeared, creeping along the
earth, from which his dress was hardly distinguishable,
directly in the rear of his intended captive.
Having reached within a few yards of the latter, he
arose to his feet, silently and slowly. At that instant,
several loud blows were struck on the water, and
Duncan turned his eyes just in time to perceive that
a hundred dark forms were plunging, in a body, into
the troubled little sheet. Grasping his rifle, his
looks were again bent on the Indian near him. Instead
of taking the alarm, the unconscious savage
stretched forward his neck, as if he also watched
the movements about the gloomy lake, with a sort of
silly curiosity. In the mean time, the uplifted hand
of Hawk-eye was above him. But, without any
apparent reason, it was withdrawn, and its owner
indulged in another long, though still silent, fit of
merriment. When the peculiar and hearty laughter
of Hawk-eye was ended, instead of grasping his victim,
by the throat, he tapped him lightly on the
shoulder, and exclaimed aloud—

“How now, friend! have you a mind to teach the
beavers to sing?”

“Even so,” was the ready answer. “It would
seem that the Being that gave them power to improve
his gifts so well, would not deny them voices to
proclaim his praise.”