University of Virginia Library

4. CHAPTER IV.

The conjecture of Judith Hutter, concerning the manner
in which the Indian girl had met her death, was accurate in
the main. After sleeping several hours, her father and
March awoke. This occurred a few minutes after she had
left the ark to go in quest of her sister, and when of course
Chingachgook and his betrothed were on board. From the
Delaware the old man learned the position of the camp, and
the recent events, as well as the absence of his daughters.
The latter gave him no concern; for he relied greatly on
the sagacity of the eldest, and the known impunity with
which the younger passed among the savages. Long familiarity
with danger, too, had blunted his sensibilities. Nor
did he seem much to regret the captivity of Deerslayer; for
while he knew how material his aid might be in a defence,
the difference in their views on the morality of the woods,
had not left much sympathy between them. He would have
rejoiced to know the position of the camp before it had been
alarmed by the escape of Hist, but it would be too hazardous
now to venture to land; and he reluctantly relinquished
for the night, the ruthless designs that captivity and revenge
had excited him to entertain. In this mood Hutter took a
seat in the head of the scow, where he was quickly joined
by Hurry; leaving the Serpent and Hist in quiet possession
of the other extremity of the vessel.

“Deerslayer has shown himself a boy, in going among
the savages at this hour, and letting himself fall into their
hands like a deer that tumbles into a pit,” growled the old
man, perceiving as usual the mote in his neighbour's eyes,
while he overlooked the beam in his own. “If he is left to

pay for his stupidity with his own flesh, he can blame no
one but himself.”

“That's the way of the world, Old Tom,” returned Hurry.
“Every man must meet his own debts, and answer
for his own sins. I 'm amazed, however, that a lad as skilful
and watchful as Deerslayer, should have been caught in
such a trap! Didn't he know any better than to go prowling
about a Huron camp, at midnight, with no place to retreat
to, but a lake? or did he think himself a buck, that by
taking to the water could throw off the scent and swim himself
out of difficulty? I had a better opinion of the boy's
judgment, I 'll own; but we must overlook a little ignorance
in a raw hand. I say, Master Hutter, do you happen to
know what has become of the gals—I see no signs of Judith,
or Hetty, though I 've been through the ark, and looked
into all its living creatur's?”

Hutter briefly explained the manner in which his daughters
had taken to the canoe, as it had been related by the
Delaware, as well as the return of Judith after landing her
sister, and her second departure.

“This comes of a smooth tongue, Floating Tom,” exclaimed
Hurry, grating his teeth in pure resentment—“this
comes of a smooth tongue, and a silly gal's inclinations—
and you had best look into the matter! You and I were
both prisoners”—Hurry could recall that circumstance now,
—“you and I were both prisoners, and yet Judith never
stirred an inch to do us any sarvice! She is bewitched
with this lank-looking Deerslayer; and he, and she, and you,
and all of us, had best look to it. I am not a man to put
up with such a wrong quietly, and do say, all the parties
had best look to it! Let's up kedge, old fellow, and move
nearer to this point, and see how matters are getting on.”

Hutter had no objections to this movement, and the ark
was got under way, in the usual manner, care being taken
to make no noise. The wind was passing northward, and the
sail soon swept the scow so far up the lake, as to render
the dark outlines of the trees that clothed the point, dimly
visible. Floating Tom steered, and he sailed along as near
the land, as the depth of the water, and the overhanging
branches would allow. It was impossible to distinguish any
thing that stood within the shadows of the shore; but the

forms of the sail and of the hut, were discerned by the young
sentinel on the beach, who has already been mentioned. In
the moment of sudden surprise, a deep Indian exclamation
escaped him. In that spirit of recklessness and ferocity that
formed the essence of Hurry's character, this man dropped
his rifle and fired. The ball was sped by accident, or by
that overruling Providence which decides the fates of all, and
the girl fell. Then followed the scene with the torches,
which has just been described.

At the precise moment when Hurry committed this act of
unthinking cruelty, the canoe of Judith was within a hundred
feet of the spot from which the ark had so lately moved.
Her own course has been described, and it has now become
our office to follow that of her father and his companions.
The shriek announced the effects of the random shot of
March, and it also proclaimed that the victim was a woman.
Hurry himself was startled at these unlooked-for consequences;
and for a moment he was sorely disturbed by conflicting
sensations. At first he laughed, in reckless and
rude-minded exultation; and then conscience, that monitor
planted in our breasts by God, and which receives its more
general growth from the training bestowed in the tillage of
childhood, shot a pang to his heart. For a minute, the mind
of this creature equally of civilization and barbarism, was a
sort of chaos as to feeling, not knowing what to think of its
own act; and then the obstinacy and pride of one of his
habits, interposed to assert their usual ascendency. He
struck the butt of his rifle on the bottom of the scow, with a
species of defiance, and began to whistle a low air, with an
affectation of indifference. All this time, the ark was in
motion, and it was already opening the bay above the point,
and was consequently quitting the land.

Hurry's companions did not view his conduct with the
same indulgence, as that with which he appeared disposed
to regard it himself. Hutter growled out his dissatisfaction,
for the act led to no advantage, while it threatened to render
the warfare more vindictive than ever; and none censure
motiveless departures from the right, more severely than the
mercenary and unprincipled. Still he commanded himself,
the captivity of Deerslayer rendering the arm of the offender
of double consequence to him at that moment. Chingachgook

arose, and for a single instant the ancient animosity of
tribes was forgotten, in a feeling of colour; but he recollected
himself in season to prevent any of the fierce consequences
that for a passing moment, he certainly meditated.
Not so with Hist. Rushing through the hut, or cabin, the
girl stood at the side of Hurry, almost as soon as his rifle
touched the bottom of the scow; and with a fearlessness that
did credit to her heart, she poured out her reproaches with
the generous warmth of a woman.

“What for you shoot?” she said. “What Huron gal do,
dat you kill him? What you t'ink Manitou say? What
you t'ink Manitou feel? What Iroquois do? No get honour
—no get camp—no get prisoner—no get battle—no get
scalp—no get not'ing at all. Blood come after blood!
How you feel, your wife killed? Who pity you, when
tear come for moder, or sister? You big as great pine—
Huron gal little slender birch—why you fall on her and
crush her! You t'ink Huron forget it? No; red-skin
never forget! Never forget friend; never forget enemy.
Red man Manitou in dat. Why you so wicked, great pale-face?”

Hurry had never been so daunted, as by this close and
warm attack of the Indian girl. It is true that she had a
powerful ally in his conscience; and while she spoke earnestly,
it was in tones so feminine as to deprive him of any
pretext for unmanly anger. The softness of her voice added
to the weight of her remonstrance, by lending to the latter an
air of purity and truth. Like most vulgar-minded men, he
had only regarded the Indians through the medium of their
coarser and fiercer characteristics. It had never struck him
that the affections are human; that even high principles—
modified by habits and prejudices, but not the less elevated
within their circle—can exist in the savage state; and that
the warrior who is most ruthless in the field, can submit to
the softest and gentlest influences, in the moments of domestic
quiet. In a word, it was the habit of his mind to regard
all Indians as beings only a slight degree removed from the
wild beasts that roamed the woods, and to feel disposed to
treat them accordingly, whenever interest or caprice supplied
a motive, or an impulse. Still, though daunted by
these reproaches, the handsome barbarian could hardly be

said to be penitent. He was too much rebuked by conscience,
to suffer an outbreak of temper to escape him; and
perhaps he felt that he had already committed an act that
might justly bring his manhood in question. Instead of resenting,
or answering, the simple, but natural appeal of
Hist, he walked away, like one who disdained entering into
a controversy with a woman.

In the mean while, the ark swept onward, and by the
time the scene with the torches was enacting beneath the
trees, it had reached the open lake; Floating Tom causing
it to sheer further from the land, with a sort of instinctive
dread of retaliation. An hour now passed in gloomy silence,
no one appearing disposed to break it. Hist had retired to
her pallet, and Chingachgook lay sleeping in the forward
part of the scow. Hutter and Hurry alone remained awake,
the former at the steering oar, while the latter brooded over
his own conduct with the stubbornness of one little given to
a confession of his errors, and the secret goadings of the
worm that never dies. This was at the moment when Judith
and Hetty reached the centre of the lake, and had lain
down to endeavour to sleep, in their drifting canoe.

The night was calm, though so much obscured by clouds.
The season was not one of storms, and those which did
occur in the month of June, on that embedded water, though
frequently violent, were always of short continuance. Nevertheless,
there was the usual current of heavy, damp night
air, which, passing over the summits of the trees, scarcely
appeared to descend so low as the surface of the glassy lake,
but kept moving a short distance above it, saturated with the
humidity that constantly arose from the woods, and apparently
never proceeding far in any one direction. The currents
were influenced by the formation of the hills, as a
matter of course,—a circumstance that rendered even fresh
breezes baffling, and which reduced the feebler efforts of the
night air to be a sort of capricious and fickle sighings of
the woods. Several times the head of the ark pointed east,
and once it was actually turned towards the south, again;
but, on the whole, it worked its way north; Hutter making
always a fair wind, if wind it could be called, his principal
motive appearing to be a wish to keep in motion, in order
to defeat any treacherous design of his enemies. He now

felt some little concern about his daughters, and perhaps as
much about the canoe; but, on the whole, this uncertainty
did not much disturb him, as he had the reliance already
mentioned on the intelligence of Judith.

It was the season of the shortest nights, and it was not
long before the deep obscurity which precedes the day began
to yield to the returning light. If any earthly scene could
be presented to the senses of man that might soothe his passions
and temper his ferocity, it was that which grew upon
the eyes of Hutter and Hurry, as the hours advanced, changing
night to morning. There were the usual soft tints of
the sky, in which neither the gloom of darkness nor the
brilliancy of the sun prevails, and under which objects appear
more unearthly, and we might add holy, than at any
other portion of the twenty-four hours. The beautiful and
soothing calm of eventide has been extolled by a thousand
poets, and yet it does not bring with it the far-reaching and
sublime thoughts of the half-hour that precedes the rising
of a summer's sun. In the one case the panorama is gradually
hid from the sight, while in the other, its objects
start out from the unfolding picture, first dim and misty;
then marked in, in solemn back-ground; next seen in the
witchery of an increasing, a thing as different as possible
from the decreasing twilight; and finally mellow, distinct
and luminous, as the rays of the great centre of light
diffuse themselves in the atmosphere. The hymns of birds,
too, have no novel counterpart in the retreat to the roost, or
the flight to the nest; and these invariably accompany the
advent of the day, until the appearance of the sun itself

All this, however, Hutter and Hurry witnessed without
experiencing any of that calm delight, which the spectacle
is wont to bring, when the thoughts are just, and the aspirations
pure. They not only witnessed it, but they witnessed
it under circumstances that had a tendency to increase its
power, and to heighten its charms. Only one solitary object
became visible in the returning light, that had received
its form or uses from human taste, or human desires,
which as often deform as beautify a landscape. This was
the castle; all the rest being native, and fresh from the hand

of God. That singular residence, too, was in keeping with
the natural objects of the view; starting out from the gloom,
quaint, picturesque, and ornamental. Nevertheless the whole
was lost on the observers, who knew no feeling of poetry,
had lost their sense of natural devotion in lives of obdurate
and narrow selfishness, and had little other sympathy with
nature, than that which originated with her lowest wants.

As soon as the light was sufficiently strong to allow of a
distinct view of the lake, and more particularly of its shores,
Hutter turned the head of the ark directly towards the castle,
with the avowed intention of taking possession for the
day at least, as the place most favourable for meeting his
daughters, and for carrying on his operations against the
Indians. By this time, Chingachgook was up, and Hist was
heard stirring among the furniture of the kitchen. The
place for which they steered was distant only a mile, and
the air was sufficiently favourable to permit it to be neared
by means of the sail. At this moment, too, to render the
appearances generally auspicious, the canoe of Judith was
seen floating northward in the broadest part of the lake;
having actually passed the scow in the darkness, in obedience
to no other power than that of the elements. Hutter got his
glass, and took a long and anxious survey, to ascertain if
his daughters were in the light craft, or not; and a slight exclamation
like that of joy escaped him, as he caught a
glimpse of what he rightly conceived to be a part of Judith's
dress above the top of the canoe. At the next instant, the
girl arose, and was seen gazing about her, like one assuring
herself of her situation. A minute later, Hetty was seen on
her knees, in the other end of the canoe, repeating the
prayers that had been taught her, in childhood, by a misguided
but repentant mother. As Hutter laid down the
glass, still drawn to its focus, the Serpent raised it to his
eye, and turned it towards the canoe. It was the first time
he had ever used such an instrument, and Hist understood
by his “hugh!” the expression of his face, and his entire
mien, that something wonderful had excited his admiration.
It is well known that the American Indians, more particularly
those of superior character and stations, singularly
maintain their self-possession and stoicism, in the midst of
the flood of marvels that present themselves in their occasional

visits to the abodes of civilization; and Chingachgook
had imbibed enough of this impassibility to suppress any
very undignified manifestation of surprise. With Hist,
however, no such law was binding, and when her lover
managed to bring the glass in a line with a canoe, and her
eye was applied to the smaller end, the girl started back in
alarm; then she clapped her hands with delight, and a
laugh, the usual attendant of untutored admiration, followed.
A few minutes sufficed to enable this quick-witted girl to
manage the instrument for herself, and she directed it at
every prominent object that struck her fancy. Finding a
rest in one of the windows, she and the Delaware first surveyed
the lake; then the shores, the hills, and, finally, the
castle attracted their attention. After a long steady gaze at
the latter, Hist took away her eye, and spoke to her lover
in a low earnest manner. Chingachgook immediately
placed his eye to the glass, and his look even exceeded that
of his betrothed in length and intensity. Again they spoke
together, confidentially, appearing to compare opinions, after
which the glass was laid aside, and the young warrior quitted
the cabin to join Hutter and Hurry.

The ark was slowly but steadily advancing, and the castle
was materially within half a mile, when Chingachgook
joined the two white men in the stern of the scow. His
manner was calm, but it was evident to the others, who
were familiar with the habits of the Indians, that he had
something to communicate. Hurry was generally prompt
to speak, and, according to custom, he took the lead on this
occasion.

“Out with it, red-skin,” he cried, in his usual rough manner.
“Have you discovered a chip-munk in a tree, or is
there a salmon-trout swimming under the bottom of the
scow? You find what a pale-face can do in the way of
eyes, now, Sarpent, and mustn't wonder that they can see
the lands of the Indians from afar off.”

“No good to go to castle,” put in Chingachgook, with
emphasis, the moment the other gave him an opportunity of
speaking. “Huron there.”

“The devil he is! If this should turn out to be true,
Floating Tom, a pretty trap were we about to pull down on
our heads! Huron there! — well, this may be so; but no

signs can I see of any thing, near or about the old hut, but
logs, water, and bark—'bating two or three windows, and
one door.”

Hutter called for the glass, and took a careful survey of
the spot, before he ventured an opinion at all; then he somewhat
cavalierly expressed his dissent from that given by the
Indian.

“You 've got this glass wrong end foremost, Delaware,”
continued Hurry; “neither the old man, nor I, can see any
trail in the lake.”

“No trail — water make no trail,” said Hist, eagerly.
“Stop boat—no go too near—Huron there!”

“Ay, that 's it! Stick to the same tale, and more people
will believe you. I hope, Sarpent, you and your gal will
agree in telling the same story after marriage, as well as
you do now. Huron, there!—whereabouts is he to be seen
—in the padlock, or the chains, or the logs? There isn't a
gaol in the Colony that has a more lock-up look about it, than
old Tom's chientè; and, I know something about gaols from
exper'ence.”

“No see moccasin,” said Hist, impatiently; “why no
look—and see him.”

“Give me the glass, Harry,” interrupted Hutter, “and
lower the sail. It is seldom that an Indian woman meddles,
and when she does, there is generally a cause for it. There
is, truly, a moccasin floating against one of the piles; and
it may, or may not be, a sign that the castle hasn't escaped
visiters, in our absence. Moccasins are no rarities, however,
for I wear 'em myself, and Deerslayer wears 'em, and
you wear 'em, March; and, for that matter, so does Hetty,
quite as often as she wears shoes; though I never yet saw
Judith trust her pretty foot in a moccasin.”

Hurry had lowered the sail, and by this time the ark was
within two hundred yards of the castle, setting in, nearer and
nearer, each moment, but at a rate too slow to excite any
uneasiness. Each now took the glass in turn, and the castle,
and every thing near it, was subjected to a scrutiny still
more rigid than ever. There the moccasin lay, beyond a
question, floating so lightly, and preserving its form so well,
that it was scarcely wet. It had caught by a piece of the
rough bark of one of the piles, on the exterior of the water-palisade,

that formed the dock already mentioned; which circumstance
alone prevented it from drifting away before the
air. There were many modes, however, of accounting for
the presence of the moccasin, without supposing it to have
been dropped by an enemy. It might have fallen from the
platform, even while Hutter was in possession of the place,
and drifted to the spot where it was now seen, remaining unnoticed
until detected by the acute vision of Hist. It might
have drifted from a distance, up or down the lake, and accidentally
become attached to the pile, or palisade. It might
have been thrown from a window, and alighted in that particular
place; or it might certainly have fallen from a scout,
or an assailant, during the past night, who was obliged to
abandon it to the lake, in the deep obscurity which then prevailed.

All these conjectures passed from Hutter to Hurry; the
former appearing disposed to regard the omen as a little sinister,
while the latter treated it with his usual reckless disdain.
As for the Indian, he was of opinion, that the moccasin
should be viewed as one would regard a trail in the
woods, which might, or might not, equally, prove to be
threatening. Hist, however, had something available to propose.
She declared her readiness to take a canoe, to proceed
to the palisade, and bring away the moccasin, when its ornaments
would show whether it came from the Canadas or not.
Both the white men were disposed to accept this offer; but
the Delaware interfered to prevent the risk. If such a
service was to be undertaken, it best became a warrior to
expose himself in its execution; and he gave his refusal to
let his betrothed proceed, much in the quiet but brief manner
in which an Indian husband issues his commands.

“Well then, Delaware, go yourself, if you 're so tender
of your squaw,” put in the unceremonious Hurry. “That
moccasin must be had, or Floating Tom will keep off, here,
at arm's-length, till the hearth cools in his cabin. It 's but
a little deer-skin, after all, and cut this-a-way or that-a-way,
it 's not a skear-crow to frighten true hunters from their
game. What say you, Sarpent, shall you or I canoe it?”

“Let red man go. Better eyes than pale-face—know
Huron trick better, too.”

“That I 'll gainsay, to the hour of my death! A white

man's eyes, and a white man's nose, and for that matter his
sight and ears, are all better than an Indian's, when fairly
tried. Time and ag'in have I put that to the proof, and what
is proved is sartain. Still I suppose the poorest vagabond going,
whether Delaware or Huron, can find his way to yonder
hut and back ag'in; and so, Sarpent, use your paddle and
welcome.”

Chingachgook was already in the canoe, and he dipped
the implement the other named, into the water, just as
Hurry's limber tongue ceased. Wah-ta!-Wah saw the departure
of her warrior on this occasion, with the submissive
silence of an Indian girl, but with most of the misgivings and
apprehensions of her sex. Throughout the whole of the
past night, and down to the moment when they used the
glass together in the hut, Chingachgook had manifested as
much manly tenderness towards his betrothed, as one of the
most refined sentiments could have shown under similar circumstances;
but now every sign of weakness was lost in an
appearance of stern resolution. Although Hist timidly endeavoured
to catch his eye, as the canoe left the side of the
ark, the pride of a warrior would not permit him to meet her
fond and anxious looks. The canoe departed, and not a
wandering glance rewarded her solicitude.

Nor were the Delaware's care and gravity misplaced,
under the impressions with which he proceeded on this enterprise.
If the enemy had really gained possession of the
building, he was obliged to put himself under the very muzzles
of their rifles, as it were, and this too without the protection
of any of that cover, which forms so essential an
ally in Indian warfare. It is scarcely possible to conceive
of a service more dangerous; and had the Serpent been
fortified by the experience of ten more years, or had his
friend, the Deerslayer, been present, it would never have
been attempted; the advantages in no degree compensating
for the risk. But the pride of an Indian chief was acted on
by the rivalry of colour; and it is not unlikely that the presence
of the very creature from whom his ideas of manhood
prevented his receiving a single glance, overflowing as he
was with the love she so well merited, had no small influence
on his determination.

Chingachgook paddled steadily towards the palisades,

keeping his eye on the different loops of the building. Each
instant he expected to see the muzzle of a rifle protruded,
or to hear its sharp crack; but he succeeded in reaching the
piles in safety. Here he was, in a measure, protected, having
the heads of the palisades between him and the hut;
and the chances of any attempt on his life, while thus covered,
were greatly diminished. The canoe had reached
the piles with its head inclining northward, and at a short
distance from the moccasin. Instead of turning to pick
up the latter, the Delaware slowly made the circuit of the
whole building, deliberately examining every object that
should betray the presence of enemies, or the commission
of violence. Not a single sign could be discovered, however,
to confirm the suspicions that had been awakened.
The stillness of desertion pervaded the building; not a fastening
was displaced; not a window had been broken. The
door looked as secure as at the hour when it was closed by
Hutter, and even the gate of the dock had all the customary
fastenings. In short, the most wary and jealous eye could
detect no other evidence of the visit of enemies, than that
which was connected with the appearance of the floating
moccasin.

The Delaware was now greatly at a loss how to proceed.
At one moment, as he came round in front of the castle, he
was on the point of stepping up on the platform, and of applying
his eye to one of the loops, with a view of taking a
direct personal inspection of the state of things within; but
he hesitated. Though of little experience in such matters,
himself, he had heard so much of Indian artifices through
traditions, had listened with such breathless interest to the
narration of the escapes of the elder warriors, and, in short,
was so well schooled in the theory of his calling, that it
was almost as impossible for him to make any gross blunder
on such an occasion, as it was for a well-grounded
scholar, who had commenced correctly, to fail in solving
his problem in mathematics. Relinquishing the momentary
intention to land, the chief slowly pursued his course round
the palisades. As he approached the moccasin—having
now nearly completed the circuit of the building—he threw
the ominous article into the canoe, by a dexterous and
almost imperceptible movement of his paddle. He was now

ready to depart; but retreat was even more dangerous than
the approach, as the eye could no longer be riveted on the
loops. If there was really any one in the castle, the motive
of the Delaware in reconnoitring must be understood;
and it was the wisest way, however perilous it might be, to
retire with an air of confidence, as if all distrust were terminated
by the examination. Such, accordingly, was the
course adopted by the Indian, who paddled deliberately
away, taking the direction of the ark, suffering no nervous
impulse to quicken the motions of his arms, or to induce
him to turn even a furtive glance behind him.

No tender wife, reared in the refinements of the highest
civilization, ever met a husband on his return from the field,
with more of sensibility in her countenance, than Hist discovered,
as she saw the Great Serpent of the Delawares
step, unharmed, into the ark. Still she repressed her emotions,
though the joy that sparkled in her dark eyes, and
the smile that lighted her pretty mouth, spoke a language
that her betrothed could understand.

“Well, Sarpent,” cried Hurry, always the first to speak,
“what news from the Muskrats? Did they show their
teeth, as you surrounded their dwelling?”

“I no like him”—sententiously returned the Delaware.
“Too still. So still, can see silence!”

“That's downright Indian—as if any thing could make
less noise than nothing! If you 've no better reason than
this to give, Old Tom had better hoist his sail, and go and
get his breakfast under his own roof. What has become of
the moccasin?”

“Here,” returned Chingachgook, holding up his prize for
the general inspection.

The moccasin was examined, and Hist confidently pronounced
it to be Huron, by the manner in which the porcupine's
quills were arranged on its front. Hutter, and the
Delaware, too, were decidedly of the same opinion. Admitting
all this, however, it did not necessarily follow that
its owners were in the castle. The moccasin might have
drifted from a distance, or it might have fallen from the
foot of some scout, who had quitted the place when his errand
was accomplished. In short, it explained nothing,
while it awakened so much distrust.

Under the circumstances, Hutter and Hurry were not
men to be long deterred from proceeding, by proofs as slight
as that of the moccasin. They hoisted the sail again, and
the ark was soon in motion, heading towards the castle.
The wind, or air, continued light, and the movement was
sufficiently slow to allow of a deliberate survey of the building
as the scow approached. The same death-like silence
reigned, and it was difficult to fancy that any thing possessing
animal life could be in or around the place. Unlike the
Serpent, whose imagination had acted through his traditions
until he was ready to perceive an artificial in a natural stillness,
the others saw nothing to apprehend in a tranquillity
that, in truth, denoted merely the repose of inanimate objects.
The accessories of the scene, too, were soothing and
calm, rather than exciting. The day had not yet advanced
so far as to bring the sun above the horizon, but the heavens,
the atmosphere, and the woods and lake were all seen
under that softened light which immediately precedes his
appearance, and which perhaps is the most witching period
of the four-and-twenty hours. It is the moment when every
thing is distinct, even the atmosphere seeming to possess a
liquid lucidity, the hues appearing grey and softened, with
the outlines of objects diffused, and the perspective just as
moral truths, that are presented in their simplicity without
the meretricious aids of ornament or glitter. In a word, it
is the moment when the senses seem to recover their powers
in the simplest and most accurate forms, like the mind
emerging from the obscurity of doubts into the tranquillity
and peace of demonstration. Most of the influence that
such a scene is apt to produce on those who are properly
constituted in a moral sense, was lost on Hutter and Hurry;
but both the Delawares, though too much accustomed to
witness the loveliness of morning-tide, to stop to analyze
their feelings, were equally sensible of the beauties of the
hour, though it it was probably in a way unknown to themselves.
It disposed the young warrior to peace; and never
had he felt less longings for the glory of the combat than
when he joined Hist in the cabin, the instant the scow rubbed
against the side of the platform. From the indulgence
of such gentle emotions, however, he was aroused by a rude

summons from Hurry, who called on him to come forth and
help to take in the sail and to secure the ark.

Chingachgook obeyed; and by the time he had reached
the head of the scow, Hurry was on the platform, stamping
his feet, like one glad to touch what, by comparison, might
be called terra firma, and proclaiming his indifference to
the whole Huron tribe, in his customary noisy, dogmatical
manner. Hutter had hauled a canoe up to the head of the
scow, and was already about to undo the fastenings of the
gate, in order to enter within the dock. March had no other
motive in landing than a senseless bravado, and having shaken
the door in a manner to put its solidity to the proof, he
joined Hutter in the canoe, and began to aid him in opening
the gate. The reader will remember that this mode of entrance
was rendered necessary by the manner in which the
owner of this singular residence habitually secured it whenever
it was left empty; more particularly at moments when
danger was apprehended. Hutter had placed a line in the
Delaware's hand, on entering the canoe, intimating that the
other was to fasten the ark to the platform and to lower the
sail. Instead of following these directions, however, Chingachgook
left the sail standing, and throwing the bight of
the rope over the head of a pile, he permitted the ark to
drift round until it lay against the defences in a position
where it could be entered only by means of a boat, or by
passing along the summits of the palisades; the latter being
an exploit that required some command of the feet, and
which was not to be attempted in the face of a resolute enemy.

In consequence of this change in the position of the scow,
which was effected before Hutter had succeeded in opening
the gate of his dock, the ark and the castle lay, as sailors
would express it, yard-arm and yard-arm, kept asunder some
ten or twelve feet by means of the piles. As the scow pressed
close against the latter, their tops formed a species of
breast-work that rose to the height of a man's head, covering
in a certain degree the parts of the scow that were
not protected by the cabin. The Delaware surveyed this
arrangement with great satisfaction, and, as the canoe of
Hutter passed through the gate into the dock, he thought
that he might defend his position against any garrison in
the castle, for a sufficient time, could he but have had the

helping arm of his friend Deerslayer. As it was, he felt
comparatively secure, and no longer suffered the keen apprehensions
he had lately experienced in behalf of Hist.

A single shove sent the canoe from the gate, to the trap
beneath the castle. Here Hutter found all fast, neither padlock,
nor chain, nor bar, having been molested. The key
was produced, the locks removed, the chain loosened, and
the trap pushed upward. Hurry now thrust his head in at
the opening; the arms followed, and the colossal legs rose
without any apparent effort. At the next instant, his heavy
foot was heard stamping in the passage above; that which
separated the chambers of the father and daughters, and into
which the trap opened. He then gave a shout of triumph.

“Come on, old Tom,” the reckless woodsman called out
from within the building—“here's your tenement, safe and
sound; ay, and as empty as a nut that has passed half an
hour in the paws of a squirrel! The Delaware brags of
being able to see silence; let him come here, and he may
feel it, in the bargain.”

“Any silence where you are, Hurry Harry,” returned
Hutter, thrusting his head in at the hole, as he uttered the
last word, which instantly caused his voice to sound smothered
to those without—“any silence where you are, ought
to be both seen and felt, for it's unlike any other silence.”

“Come, come—old fellow; hoist yourself up, and we'll
open doors and windows and let in the fresh air to brighten
up matters. Few words in troublesome times, make men
the best fri'nds. Your darter Judith, is what I call a misbehaving
young woman, and the hold of the whole family
on me is so much weakened by her late conduct, that it
wouldn't take a speech as long as the ten commandments
to send me off to the river, leaving you and your traps, your
ark and your children, your man-servants and your maid-servants,
your oxen and your asses, to fight this battle with
the Iroquois, by yourselves. Open that window, Floating
Tom, and I'll blunder through and do the same job to the
front door.”

A moment of silence succeeded, and a noise like that produced
by the fall of a heavy body followed. A deep execration
from Hurry succeeded, and then the whole interior
of the building seemed alive. The noises that now so suddenly,

and we may add so unexpectedly even to the Delaware,
broke the stillness within, could not be mistaken.
They resembled those that would be produced by a struggle
between tigers in a cage. Once or twice the Indian yell
was given, but it seemed smothered, and as if it proceeded
from exhausted or compressed throats; and, in a single instance,
a deep and another shockingly revolting execration
came from the throat of Hurry. It appeared as if bodies
were constantly thrown upon the floor with violence, as
often rising to renew the struggle. Chingachgook felt greatly
at a loss what to do. He had all the arms in the ark, Hutter
and Hurry having proceeded without their rifles; but
there was no means of using them, or of passing them to the
hands of their owners. The combatants were literally caged,
rendering it almost as impossible, under the circumstances,
to get out, as to get into the building. Then there was Hist
to embarrass his movements, and to cripple his efforts.
With a view to relieve himself from this disadvantage, he
told the girl to take the remaining canoe, and to join Hutter's
daughters, who were incautiously but deliberately approaching,
in order to save herself, and to warn the others
of their danger. But the girl positively and firmly refused
to comply. At that moment, no human power, short of an
exercise of superior physical force, could have induced her
to quit the ark. The exigency of the moment did not admit
of delay, and the Delaware seeing no possibility of
serving his friends, cut the line and by a strong shove forced
the scow some twenty feet clear of the piles. Here he took
the sweeps and succeeded in getting a short distance to
windward, if any direction could be thus termed in so light
an air, but neither the time, nor his skill at the oars, allowed
this distance to be great. When he ceased rowing, the ark
might have been a hundred yards from the platform, and
half that distance to the southward of it, the sail being lowered.
Judith and Hetty had now discovered that something
was wrong, and were stationary a thousand feet farther
north.

All this while the furious struggle continued within the
house. In scenes like these, events thicken in less time
than they can be related. From the moment when the first
fall was heard within the building, to that when the Delaware

ceased his awkward attempts to row, it might have
been three or four minutes, but it had evidently served to
weaken the combatants. The oaths and execrations of Hurry
were no longer heard, and even the struggles had lost some
of their force and fury; nevertheless, they still continued
with unabated perseverance. At this instant the door flew
open, and the fight was transferred to the platform, the light,
and the open air.

A Huron had undone the fastenings of the door, and
three or four of his tribe rushed after him upon the narrow
space, as if glad to escape from some terrible scene within.
The body of another followed, pitched headlong through the
door, with terrific violence. Then March appeared, raging
like a lion at bay, and for an instant freed from his numerous
enemies. Hutter was already a captive and bound.
There was now a pause in the struggle, which resembled a
lull in a tempest. The necessity of breathing was common
to all, and the combatants stood watching each other, like
mastiffs that have been driven from their holds, and are
waiting for a favourable opportunity of renewing them. We
shall profit by this pause, to relate the manner in which the
Indians had obtained possession of the castle; and this the
more willingly, because it may be necessary to explain to
the reader why a conflict which had been so close and fierce,
should have also been so comparatively bloodless.

Rivenoak and his companion, particularly the latter, who
had appeared to be a subordinate and occupied solely with
his raft, had made the closest observations in their visits to
the castle; even the boy had brought away minute and valuable
information. By these means the Hurons had obtained a
general idea of the manner in which the place was constructed
and secured, as well as details that enabled them
to act intelligently in the dark. Notwithstanding the care
that Hutter had taken to drop the ark on the east side of the
building, when he was in the act of transferring the furniture
from the former to the latter, he had been watched in a
way to render the precaution useless. Scouts were on the
look-out on the eastern, as well as on the western, shore of the
lake, and the whole proceeding had been noted. As soon
as it was dark, rafts like that already described, approached
from both shores to reconnoitre; and the ark had passed
within fifty feet of one of them, without its being discovered;

the men it held, lying at their length on the logs, so as to
blend themselves and their slow-moving machine with the
water. When these two sets of adventurers drew near the
castle, they encountered each other, and after communicating
their respective observations, they unhesitatingly approached
the building. As had been expected, it was found
empty. The rafts were immediately sent for a reinforcement
to the shore, and two of the savages remained to profit by
their situation. These men succeeded in getting on the
roof, and, by removing some of the bark, in entering what
might be termed the garret. Here they were found by their
companions. Hatchets now opened a hole through the
square logs of the upper floor, through which no less than
eight of the most athletic of the Indians dropped into the
room beneath. Here they were left, well supplied with
arms and provisions, either to stand a siege, or to make a
sortie, as the case might require. The night was passed in
sleep, as is usual with Indians in a state of activity. The
returning day brought them a view of the approach of the
ark, through the loops, the only manner in which light and
air were now admitted, the windows being closed most effectually
with plank, rudely fashioned to fit. As soon as it was
ascertained that the two white men were about to enter by
the trap, the chief who directed the proceedings of the Hurons
took his measures accordingly. He removed all the
arms from his own people, even to the knives, in distrust of
savage ferocity, when awakened by personal injuries, and
he hid them where they could not be found without a search.
Ropes of bark were then prepared, and taking their stations
in the three different rooms, they all waited for the signal to
fall upon their intended captives. As soon as the party had
entered the building, men without replaced the bark of the
roof, removed every sign of their visit, with care, and then
departed for the shore. It was one of these who had dropped
his moccasin, which he had not been able to find again,
in the dark. Had the death of the girl been known, it is
probable nothing could have saved the lives of Hurry and
Hutter; but that event occurred after the ambush was laid,
and at a distance of several miles from the encampment
near the castle. Such were the means that had been employed
to produce the state of things we shall continue to
to describe.