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13 - The Last Of The Mohicans - James Cooper · Adventure Books Collection

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Chapter thirteen, quote I'll seek a readier path unquote by Parnell. The route
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taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relieved by occasional valleys and swells
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of land, which had been traversed by their party on the morning of the
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same day, with the baffled Magua for their guide. The sun had now
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fallen low toward the distant mountains, and as their journey lay through the interminable
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forest, the heat was no longer oppressive. Their progress, in consequence,
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was proportionate, and long before the twilight gathered about them, they had made
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good many toilsome miles of their return. The hunter, like the savage whose
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place he filled, seemed to select among the blind signs of their wild route
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with a species of instinct, seldom abating his speed and never pausing to deliberate.
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A rapid and oblique glance at the moss of the trees, with an
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occasional upward gaze towards the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at
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the direction of the numerous watercourses through which he waited were sufficient to determine his
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path and remove his greatest difficulties. In the meantime, the forest began to
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change its hues, losing that lively green which had embellished its arches in the
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graver light, which is the usual precursor of the close of day. While
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the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch glimpses through the trees of the
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flood of golden glory, which formed a glittering halo around the sun, tinging
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here and there with ruby streaks, or bordering with narrow edgings of shining yellow
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a mass of clouds that lay piled at no great distance above the western hills.
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Hawkeye turned suddenly, and pointing to war the gorgeous heavens, he spoke,
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Yonder is the signal given to man to seek his food in natural rest,
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he said, Better and wiser would it be if he could understand the
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signs of nature and take a lesson from the fowls of the air and the
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beast of our field. Our night, however, will soon be over,
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for with the moon we must be up and moving again. I remember to
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have fought the maquas here ways in the first war in which I ever drew
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blood from a man, and we threw up a work of blocks to keep
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the ravenous varmints from handling our scalps. If my marks do not fail me,
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we shall find the place a few rods further to our left. Without
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waiting for an assent, or indeed for any reply, the sturdy hunter moved
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boldly into a dense thicket of young chestnuts, shoving aside the branches of the
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exuberant shoots, which nearly covered the ground, like a man who expected at
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each step to discover some object he had formerly known. The recollection of the
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scout did not deceive him. After penetrating through the brush, matted as it
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was with briars, for a few hundred feet, he entered an open space
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that surrounded a low green hillock, which was crowned by the decayed blockhouse in
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question. This rude and neglected building was one of those deserted works which,
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having been thrown up on an emergency, had been abandoned with the disappearance of
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danger, and was now quietly crumbling in the solitude of the forest, neglected
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and nearly forgotten, like the circumstances which had caused it to be reared.
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Such memorials of the passage and struggles of man are yet frequent throughout the broad
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barrier of wilderness which once separated the hostile provinces, and form a species of
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ruins that are intimately associated with the recollections of colonial history, and which are
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in appropriate keeping with the gloomy character of the surrounding scenery. The roof of
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bark had long since fallen and mingled with the soil, but the huge logs
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of pine, which had been hastily thrown together, still preserved their relative positions,
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though one angle of the work had given way under the pressure and threatened
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a speedy downfall to the remainder of the rustic edifice. While Heyward and his
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companions hesitated to approach a building so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians entered within
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the low walls, not only without fear, but with obvious interest. While
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the former surveyed the ruins both internally and externally, with the curiosity of one
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whose recollections were reviving at each moment, Chinkotchkuk related to his son in the
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language of the Delawares, and with the pride of a conqueror, the brief
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history of the skirmish which had been fought in his youth in that secluded spot.
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A strain of melancholy, however, blended with his triumph, rendering his
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voice as usual soft and musical. In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted
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and prepared to enjoy their halt in the coolness of the evening and in a
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security which they believed nothing but the beast of the forest could invade. Would
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not our resting place have been more retired, my worthy friend, demanded the
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more vigilant Duncan, perceiving that the scout had already finished his short survey.
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Had we chosen a spot less known and one more rarely visited than this?
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Few live who know the block house? Was ever raised? Was the slow,
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amusing answer. Tis not often that books are made and narratives written of
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such a scrimming as was fought between the Mohicans and Mohawks in a war of
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their own waging. I was then a yonker and went out with the Delawares
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because I knowed they were a scandalized and wrong race. Forty days and forty
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nights did the imps crave our blood around this pile of logs which I designed
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and partly reared, Being, as you remember, no Indian myself, but
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a man without a cross. The Delawares lent themselves to the work, and
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we made it good ten to twenty until our numbers were nearly equal, and
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then we sallied out upon the hounds, and not a man of them ever
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got back to tell the fate of his party. Yes, yes, I
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was then young and new to the sight of blood, and not relishing the
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thought that creatures who had spirits like myself should lay on the naked ground to
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be torn asunder by beasts or to bleach in the rains. I buried the
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dead with my own hands under them. That very little hillock where you have
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placed yourselves, and no bad seat doesn't make either, though it be raised
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by the bones of mortal men. Heyward and the sisters arose on the instant
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from the grassy sepulcher. Nor could the two later, notwithstanding the terrific scenes
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they had so recently passed through, entirely suppress an emotion of a natural horror
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when they found themselves in such familiar contact with the grave of the dead mohawks,
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the gray light, the gloomy little area of dark grass, surrounded by
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its border of brush, beyond which the pines rose in breathing silence, apparently
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into the very clouds and the deathlike stillness of the vast forest. Were all
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in unison to deepen such a sensation. They are gone, and they are
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harmless, continued Hawkeye, waving his hand with a melancholy smile at their manifest
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alarm. They'll never shout the war whoop, nor strike a blow with the
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tomahawk again. And of all those who aided in placing them where they lie,
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Chinkotchkok and I only are living. The brothers and family of the Mohican
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formed our war party. And you see before you all that are now left
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of his race. The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the
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Indians with a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune. Their dark persons were still
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to be seen within the shadows of the block house. The son listening on
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the relation of his father with that sort of intenseness which would be created by
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a narrative that redounded so much to the honor of those whose names he had
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long revered for their courage and savage virtues. I had thought the Delawares a
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pacific people, said Duncan, and that they never waged war in person,
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trusting the defense of their hands to those very Mohawks that you slew. Tis
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true in art, returned the scout, And yet at the bottom'tis a
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wicked lie. Such a treaty was made in ages gone by, through the
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deviltries of the Dutchers, who wished to disarm the natives that had the best
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right to the country where they had settled themselves. The Mohicans, though a
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part of the same nation having to deal with the English, never entered into
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the silly bargain, but kept to their manhood, as in truth did the
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Delawares when their eyes were open to their folly. You see before you a
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chief of the great Mohican Sagamores, once his family could chase their deer over
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tracts of country wider than which belongs to the Albany Pattereroon, without crossing brook
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or hill that was not their own. But what is left to their descendant.
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He may find his six feet of earth when God chooses, and keep
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it in peace, perhaps if he has a friend who will take the pains
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to sink his head so low that the plowshares cannot reach it. Enough,
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said Heyward, apprehensive that the subject might lead to a discussion that would interrupt
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the harmony so necessary to the preservation of his fair companions. We have journeyed
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far, and few among us are blessed with forms like that of yours,
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which seems not to know neither fatigue nor weakness. The sinews and bones of
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a man carry me through it all, said the hunter, surveying his muscular
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limbs, with the simplicity that betrayed the honest pleasure the compliment afforded him.
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There are larger and heavier men to be found in the settlements, but you
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might travel many days in a city before you could meet one able to walk
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fifty miles without stopping to take breath, or who has kept the hounds within
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hearing during a chase of hours. However, as flesh and blood are not
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always the same, it is quite reasonable to suppose that the gentle ones are
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willing to rest after all they have seen and done this day, Uncas clear
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out the spring, while your father and I make a cover for their tender
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heads of these chestnut shoots and a bed of grass and leaves. The dialog
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ceased, while the hunter and his companions busied themselves in preparations for the comfort
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and protection of those they guided. A spring, which many long years before
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had induced the natives to select the place for their temporary fortification, was soon
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cleared of leaves, and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed, diffusing
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its waters over the verdant hillock. A corner of the building was then roofed
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in such a manner as to exclude the heavy dew of the climate, and
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piles of sweet shrubs and dried leaves were laid beneath it for the sisters to
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repose on. While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this manner, Cora and
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Alice partook of that refreshment which duty required much more than inclination prompted them to
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accept. They then retired within the walls, and first offering up their thanksgiving
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for past mercies and petitioning for continuance of the divine favor. Throughout the coming
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night, they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch, and, in
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spite of recollections and forebodings, soon sank into those slumbers which nature so imperiously
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demanded, and which were sweetened by hopes of the morrow. Duncan had prepared
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himself to pass the night in watchfulness near them, just without the ruin.
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But the scout, perceiving his intention, pointed toward Chinegotchkook as he coolly disposed
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his own person on the grass, and said, the eyes of a white
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man are too heavy and too blind for such a watch as this. The
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Mohican will be our sentinel. Therefore let us sleep. I proved myself sluggered
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on my post during the past night, said Heyward, and have less need
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of repose than you, who did more credit to the character of a soldier.
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Let all the party seek their rest, then, while I hold the
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guard. If we lay among the white tents of the sixtieth and in front
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of an enemy like the French, I could not ask for a better watchman,
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returned the scout. But in the darkness and among the signs of the
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wilderness, your judgment will be like the folly of a child, and your
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vigilance thrown away. Do, then, like uncasson myself, sleep and sleep
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in safety. Heyward perceived in truth that the younger Indian had prone his form
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on the side of the hillock while they were talking, like one who sought
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to make the most of the time allotted to rest, and that his example
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had been followed by David, whose voice literally clove to his jaws, with
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the fever of his heightened as it was by their toilsome march. Unwilling to
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prolong a useless discussion, the young man affected to comply by posting his back
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against the logs of the block house in a half recumbent posture, though resolutely
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determined in his own mind not to close an eye until he delivered his precious
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charge into the arms of Monroe himself. Hawkeye, believing he had prevailed,
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soon fell asleep, and a silence as deep as the solitude in which they
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had found it, pervaded the retired spot for many minutes. Duncan succeeded in
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keeping his senses on the alert and alive to every moaning sound that arose from
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the forest. His vision became more acute as the shades of evening settled on
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the place, and even after the stars were glimmering above his head, he
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was able to distinguish the recumbent forms of his companions as they lay st wretched
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on the grass, and to note the person of Chinkotchkok, who sat upright
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and motionless as one of the trees which formed the dark barrier on every side.
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He still heard the breathings of the sisters who lay within a few feet
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of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air, of
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which his ear did not detect the whispering sound. At length, however,
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the mournful notes of a whipper wheel became blended with the moanings of an owl.
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His heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays of the stars, and he
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then fancied he saw them through the fallen lids. At instance of momentary wakefulness,
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he mistook a bush for his associate sentinel. His head next sank upon
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his shoulder, which in its turn sought the support of the ground. And
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finally his whole person became relaxed and pliant, and the young man sank into
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a deep sleep, dreaming that he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding
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his midnight vigils before the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did
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not despair of gaining by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness. How long
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the tired duncan lay in this insensible state, he never knew himself but his
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slumbering visions had been long lost in total forgetfulness when he was awakened by a
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light tap on the shoulder. Aroused by this signal, slight as it was,
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he sprang upon his feet with a confused recollection of the self imposed duty
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he had assumed with the commencement of the night. Who comes? He demanded,
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feeling for his sword at the place where it was usually suspended. Speak
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friend or enemy, Friend, replied the low voice of Chinchgotch Cook, who,
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pointing upward at the luminary which was shedding its mild light through the opening
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in the trees directly above their bivouac, immediately added in his rude English,
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moon comes and white Man's fort far far off. Time to move when sleep
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shuts both eyes of the Frenchman, You say, true, call up your
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friends and bridle the horses, while I prepare my own companions for the march.
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We are awake, Duncan, said the soft, silvery tones of alice
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within the building, and ready to travel very fast after so refreshing a sleep.
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But you have watched through the tedious night in our behalf, after having
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endured so much fatigue the livelong day, say rather I would have watched,
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but my treacherous eyes betrayed me. Twice have I proved myself unfit for the
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trust I bear? Nay duncan deny it not interrupted the smiling Alice issuing from
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the shadows of the into the light of the moon, in all the loveliness
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of her fresh and beauty. I know you to be a heedless one,
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when self is the object of your care, but too vigilant in favor of
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others. Can we not tarry here a little longer while you find the rest
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you need? Cheerfully? Most cheerfully? Will Cora and I keep the vigils
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while you and all these brave men endeavor to snatch a little sleep. If
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shame could cure me of my drowsiness, I should never close an eye again,
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said the uneasy youth, gazing at the ingenuous countenance of Alice, where
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however, in its sweet solicitude, he read nothing to confirm his half awakened
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suspicion. It is but true that after leading you into danger by my heedlessness,
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I have not even the merit of guarding your pillows, as should become
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a soldier. No one but Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of such a weakness.
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Go then and sleep. Believe me, neither of us weak girls as
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we are, will betray our watch. The young man was relieved from the
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awkwardness of making any further protestations of his own demerits by an exclamation from Chinskotchkok
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and the attitude of riveted attention assumed by his son the Mechicans. Hear an
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enemy, whispered Hawkeye, who by this time, in common with the whole
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party, was awakened. Stirring, they sent danger in the wind. God
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forbid, exclaimed Heyward, surely we have had enough of bloodshed. While he
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spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle, and, advancing toward
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the front, prepared to atone for his venial remissness by freely exposing his life
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in defense of those he attended. Do some creature of the forest crawling around
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us in quest of food, he said in a whisper. As soon as
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the low and apparently distant sounds which had startled the Mohicans reached his own ears
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s returned the attentive scout, Tis man, even I can now tell his
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tread poor as my senses are. When compared to an Indian's. That scampering
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Huron has fallen in with one of Montcalm's outlying parties, and they have struck
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upon our trail. I shouldn't like myself to spill more human blood in this
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spot, he added, looking around with anxiety in his features at the dim
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objects by which he was surrounded. But what must be must lead the horses
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into the blockhouse, uncas and friends, do you follow to the same shelter,
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poor and old as it is, it offers a cover, and as
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hung with the crack of a rifle before tonight, He was instantly obeyed,
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the Mohicans leading the narragansets within the ruin, whither the whole party repaired with
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the most guarded silence. The sound of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly audible
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to leave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption. They were soon
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mingled with voices calling to each other in an Indian dialect, which the hunter
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in a whisper affirmed to Hayward was the language of the Hurons. When the
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party reached the point where the horses had entered the thicket which surrounded the blockhouse,
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they were evidently at fault, having lost those marks which until that moment
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had directed their pursuit. It would seem by the voices that twenteen men were
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soon collected at that one spot, mingling their different opinions and advice in noisy
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Clamor the knaves know our weakness, whispered Hawkeye, who stood by the side
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of Heyward in deep shade, looking through an opening in the logs. Or
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they wouldn't indulge their idleness in such a squaw's march. Listen to the reptiles.
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Each man among them seems to have two tongues and put a single leg.
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Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in
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such a moment of painful suspense, make any reply to the cool and characteristic
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remark of the scout. He only grasped his rifle more firmly and fastened his
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eyes upon the narrow opening, through which he gazed upon the moonlight view with
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increasing anxiety. The deeper tones of one who spoke as having authority were next
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heard, amid a silence that denoted the respect with which his orders or rather
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advice, was received, after which, by the rustling of leaves and crackling
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of dried twigs, it was apparent that the savages were separating in pursuit of
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the lost trail. Fortunately for the pursued, the light of the moon,
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while it shed a flood of wild luster upon the little area about the ruin,
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was not sufficiently strong to penetrate the deep arches of the forest, where
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the objects still lay in deceptive shadow. The search proved fruitless, for so
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short and sudden had been the passage from the faint path the travelers had journeyed
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into the thicket that every trace of their footsteps was lost in the obscurity of
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the woods. It was not long, however, before the restless savages were
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heard beating the brush and gradually approaching the inner edge of that dense border of
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young chestnuts which encircled the little area they are combing, muttered Heyward, endeavoring
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to thrust his rifle through the chink in the logs. Let us fire upon
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their approach. Keep everything in the shade, returned the scalp. The snapping
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of a flint, or even the smell of a single carnal of brimstone,
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would bring the hungry varlets upon us in a body, Should it please God
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that we must give battle for the scalps. Trust to the experience of men
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who know the ways of the savages, and who are not often backward.
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When the war whoop is howled, Duncan cast his eyes behind him and saw
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that the trembling sisters were cowering in the far corner of the building, while
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the Mohicans stood in the shadow like two upright posts, ready and apparently willing
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to strike when the blow should be needed. Curbing his impatience, he again
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looked out upon the area and awaited the result in silence. At that instant,
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the thicket opened, and a tall and armed Huron advanced a few paces
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into the open space. As he gazed upon the silent blockhouse, the moon
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fell upon his swarthy countenance and betrayed its surprise and curiosity. He made the
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exclamation which usually accompanies the former emotion of an Indian, and calling in a
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low voice, soon drew a companion to his side. These children of the
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woods stood together for several moments, pointing at the crumbling edifice and conversing in
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the unintelligible language of their tribe. They then approached, though with slow and
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cautious steps, pausing every instant to look at the building, like startled deer
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whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened apprehensions for the mastery. The foot of
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one of them suddenly rested on the mound, and he stopped to examine its
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nature. At this moment, Heyward observed that the scout loosened his knife in
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its sheath and lowered the muzzle of his rifle. Imitating these movements, the
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young man prepared himself for the struggle, which now seemed inevitable. The savages
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were so near that the least motion in one of the horses, or even
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a breath louder than common, would have betrayed the fugitives. But in discovering
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the character of the mound, the attention of the Hurons appeared directed to a
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different object. They spoke together, and the sound of their voices were low
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and solemn, as if influenced by a reverence that was deeply blended with awe.
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Then they drew warily back, keeping their eyes riveted on the ruin,
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as if they expected to see the apparitions of the dead issue from its silent
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walls, Until having reached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly into
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the thicket and disappeared. Hawkeye dropped the breach of his rifle to the earth,
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and, drawing a long free breath, exclaimed in an audible whisper,
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Aye, they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their own
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lives, and it may be the lives of better men too. Heyward lent
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his attention for a single moment to his companion, but without replying, he
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again turned toward those who had just then interested him more. He heard the
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two Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soon plain that all the pursuers
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were gathered about them in deep attention of their report. After a few minutes
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of earnest and solemn dialog, altogether different from the noisy clamor with which they
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had first collected about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant,
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and finally were lost in the depths of the forest. Hawkeye waited until a
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signal from the listening Chinskotchkook assured him that every sound from the retiring party was
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complete, swallowed by the distance. When he motioned to Hayward to lead forth
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the horses and to assist the sisters into their saddles, the instant this was
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done, they issued through the broken gateway, and, stealing out by a
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direction opposite to the one by which they entered, they quitted the spot,
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the sisters casting furtive glances at the silent grave and crumbling ruin as they left
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the soft light of the moon to bury themselves in the gloom of the woods.
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End of Chapter thirteen.