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31 - The Last Of The Mohicans - James Cooper · Thrilling Adventures - Daily

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty one. Quote flu kill the poise and the
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Speaker 1: luggage tis expressly against the law of arms. Tis an errant,
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Speaker 1: a piece of knavery mark you now as can be
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Speaker 1: offered in the earl unquote from King Henry the fifth.
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Speaker 1: So long as their enemy and his victim continued in sight,
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Speaker 1: the multitude remained motionless, as beings charmed to the place
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Speaker 1: by some power that was friendly to Turon. But the
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Speaker 1: instant he disappeared, it became tossed and agitated by fierce
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Speaker 1: and powerful passion. Uncas maintained his elevated stand, keeping his
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Speaker 1: eyes on the form of Cora until the colors of
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Speaker 1: her dress were blended with the foliage of the forest.
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Speaker 1: When he descended, and moving silently through the throng, he
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Speaker 1: disappeared in that lodge from which he had so recently ensued.
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Speaker 1: A few of the graver and more attentive warriors, who
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Speaker 1: caught the gleams of anger that shot from the eyes
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Speaker 1: of the young chief in passing, followed him to the
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Speaker 1: place he had selected for his meditations, after which Tamenund
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Speaker 1: and Alice were removed and the women and the children
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Speaker 1: were ordered to disperse. During the momentous hour that succeeded.
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Speaker 1: The encampment resembled a hive of troubled bees, who only
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Speaker 1: awaited the appearance and example of their leader. To take
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Speaker 1: some distance and momentous flight. A young warrior at length
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Speaker 1: issued from the lodge of uncas, and moving deliberately with
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Speaker 1: a sort of grave marsh, toward a dwarf pine that
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Speaker 1: grew in the crevices of the rocky terrace. He tore
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Speaker 1: the bark from its body, and then turned whence he
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Speaker 1: came without speaking. He was soon followed by another, who
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Speaker 1: stripped the sapling of its branches, leaving it a naked
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Speaker 1: and blazed trunk. Footnote, A tree which has been partially
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Speaker 1: or entirely stripped of its bark is said in the
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Speaker 1: language of the country to be blazed. The term is
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Speaker 1: strictly English, for a horse is said to be blazed
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Speaker 1: when it has a white mark and footnote. A third
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Speaker 1: colored the post with stripes of a dark red paint,
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Speaker 1: all which indications of a hostile design in the leaders
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Speaker 1: of the nation were received by the men without in
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Speaker 1: a gloomy and ominous silence. Finally, the Mohican himself reappeared,
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Speaker 1: difested of all his attire, except his girdle and leggings,
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Speaker 1: and with one half of his fine features hid under
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Speaker 1: a cloud of threatening black uncas moved with a slow
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Speaker 1: and dignified tread toward the post, which he immediately commenced in,
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Speaker 1: circling with a measured step, not unlike an ancient dance,
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Speaker 1: raising his voice at the same time in the wild
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Speaker 1: and irregular chant of his war song. The notes were
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Speaker 1: in the extremes of human sounds, being sometimes melancholy and
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Speaker 1: exquisitely plaintive, even rivaling the melody of birds, and then
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Speaker 1: by sudden and startling transitions, causing the auditors to tremble
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Speaker 1: by their depth and energy. The words were few and
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Speaker 1: often repeated, proceeding gradually from a sort of invocation or
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Speaker 1: him to the deity, to an intimation of the warrior's object,
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Speaker 1: and terminating as they commenced, with an acknowledgment of his
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Speaker 1: own dependence on the great Spirit. If it were possible
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Speaker 1: to translate the comprehensive and melodious language in which he spoke,
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Speaker 1: the ode might read something like the following, manitou, manitou, manito,
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Speaker 1: Thou art great, thou art good, thou art wise, Manito
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Speaker 1: Manito thou art just in the heavens. In the clouds,
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Speaker 1: oh I see many spots, many dark, many red in
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Speaker 1: the heavens. Oh I see many clouds in the woods,
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Speaker 1: in the air. Oh I hear the hoop, the long yell,
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Speaker 1: and this cry in the woods. Oh I hear the
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Speaker 1: loud hoop. Manito, manitou, Manito. I am weak, thou art strong,
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Speaker 1: I am slow? Manito, Manito, give me aid. At the
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Speaker 1: end of what might be called each verse, he made
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Speaker 1: a pause by raising a note louder and longer than common,
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Speaker 1: that was peculiarly suited to the sentiment just expressed. The
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Speaker 1: first close was solemn and intended to convey the idea
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Speaker 1: of veneration. The second descriptive, bordering on the alarming, and
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Speaker 1: the third was the well known and terrific war hoop,
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Speaker 1: which burst from the lips of the young warrior like
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Speaker 1: a combination of the frightful sounds of battle. The last was,
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Speaker 1: like the first, humble and imploring. Three times did he
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Speaker 1: repeat this song, and as often did he encircle the
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Speaker 1: post in his dance. At the close of the first turn.
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Speaker 1: A grave and highly esteemed chief of the Lenape followed
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Speaker 1: his example singing words of his own, however, to music
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Speaker 1: of similar character. Warrior after warrior enlisted in the dance,
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Speaker 1: until all of any renowned and authority were numbered in
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Speaker 1: its mazes. The spectacle now became wildly terrific, the fierce
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Speaker 1: looking and menacing visages of the chiefs receiving additional power
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Speaker 1: from the appalling strains in which they mingled their guttural tones.
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Speaker 1: Just then, Uncas struck his tomahawk deep into the post
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Speaker 1: and raised his voice in a shout which might be
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Speaker 1: termed his own battle cry. The act announced that he
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Speaker 1: had assumed the chief authority in the intended expedition. It
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Speaker 1: was a signal that awakened all the slumbering passions of
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Speaker 1: the nation. A hundred youths, who had hitherto been restrained
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Speaker 1: by the diffidence of their years, rushed in a frantic
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Speaker 1: body on the fancied emblem of their enemy and severed
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Speaker 1: it asunder, splinter by splendor, until nothing remained of the
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Speaker 1: trunk but its roots in the earth. During this moment
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Speaker 1: of tumult, the ruthless deeds of war were performed on
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Speaker 1: the fragments of the tree with as much apparent ferocity
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Speaker 1: as if they were the living victims of their cruelty.
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Speaker 1: Some were scalped, some received the keen and trembling acts,
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Speaker 1: and offers suffered thrust from the fatal knife. In short,
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Speaker 1: the manifestations of zeal and fierce delight were so great
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Speaker 1: and unequivocal that the expedition was declared to be a
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Speaker 1: war of the nation. The instant Uncas had struck the blow,
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Speaker 1: he moved out of the circle and cast his eyes
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Speaker 1: up to the sun, which was just gaining the point
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Speaker 1: whence the truce with Maw was to end. The fact
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Speaker 1: was soon announced by a significant gesture accompanied by a
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Speaker 1: corresponding cry, and the whole of the excited multitude abandoned
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Speaker 1: their mimic warfare with shrill yells of pleasure, to prepare
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Speaker 1: for the more hazardous experiment of the reality. The whole
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Speaker 1: face of the encampment was instantly changed. The warriors, who
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Speaker 1: were already armed and painted, became still, as if they
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Speaker 1: were incapable of any uncommon burst of emotion. On the
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Speaker 1: other hand, the women broke out of the lodges with
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Speaker 1: songs of joy and those of lamentation so strangely mixed
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Speaker 1: that it might have been difficult to have said, which
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Speaker 1: passion preponderated. None, however, was idle. Some bore their choicest articles,
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Speaker 1: others their young, and some their aged and infirm, into
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Speaker 1: the forest, which spread itself like a verdant carpet of
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Speaker 1: bright green against the side of the mountain. Thither also
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Speaker 1: retired with calm composure after a short and touching interview
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Speaker 1: with Uncas, from whom the sage separated with the reluctance
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Speaker 1: that a parent would quit a long lost and just
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Speaker 1: recovered child. In the meantime, Duncan saw Alice to a
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Speaker 1: place of safety, and then sought the scout with a
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Speaker 1: countenance that denoted how eagerly he also panted for the
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Speaker 1: approaching contest. But Hawkeye was too much accustomed to the
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Speaker 1: war song and the enlistments of the natives to betray
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Speaker 1: any interest in the passing scene. He merely cast an
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Speaker 1: occasional look at the number and quality of the warriors,
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Speaker 1: who from time to time signified their readiness to accompany
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Speaker 1: Uncas through the field. In this particular, he was soon satisfied, for,
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Speaker 1: as has been already seen, the power of the young
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Speaker 1: chief quickly embraced every fighting man in the nation. After this,
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Speaker 1: this material point was so satisfactorily decided, he dispatched an
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Speaker 1: Indian boy in quest of Kildeer and the rifle of
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Speaker 1: Uncas to the place where they had deposited their weapons
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Speaker 1: on approaching the camp of the Delawares. A measure of
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Speaker 1: double policy inasmuch to protect the arms from their own
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Speaker 1: fate if detained as prisoners, and gave them the advantage
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Speaker 1: of appearing among the strangers rather as sufferers than as
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Speaker 1: men provided with means of defense and subsistence. In selecting
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Speaker 1: another to perform the office of reclaiming his highly prized rifle,
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Speaker 1: the scout had lost sight of none of his habitual caution.
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Speaker 1: He knew that Magua had not come unattended, and he
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Speaker 1: also knew that Huron's spies watched the movements of their
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Speaker 1: new enemies along the whole boundary of the woods. It
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Speaker 1: would therefore have been fatal to himself to have attempted
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Speaker 1: the experiment. A warrior would have fared no better, but
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Speaker 1: the danger of a boy would not be likely to
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Speaker 1: commend until after his object was discovered. When Hayward joined him,
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Speaker 1: the scout was coolly awaiting the result of this experiment.
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Speaker 1: The boy who had been well instructed, and was sufficiently crafty,
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Speaker 1: proceeded with a bosom that was swelling with the pride
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Speaker 1: of such a confidence and all the hopes of young ambition,
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Speaker 1: carelessly across the clearing to the wood, which he entered
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Speaker 1: at a point at some little distance from the place
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Speaker 1: where the guns were secreted. The instant, however, he was
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Speaker 1: concealed by the foliage of the bushes. His dusky form
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Speaker 1: was to be seen gliding like that of a serpent
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Speaker 1: toward the desired treasure. He was successful, and in another
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Speaker 1: moment he appeared flying across the narrow opening that skirted
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Speaker 1: the base of the terrace on which the village stood,
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Speaker 1: with the velocity of an arrow, and bearing a prize
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Speaker 1: in each hand. He had actually gained the crags and
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Speaker 1: was leaping up their sides with incredible activity. When a
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Speaker 1: shot from the wood showed how accurate had been the
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Speaker 1: judgment of the scout, The boy answered it with a
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Speaker 1: feeble but contemptuous shout, and immediately a second bullet was
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Speaker 1: sent after him from another part of the cover. At
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Speaker 1: the next instant, he appeared on the level above, elevating
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Speaker 1: his guns in triumph. While he moved with the air
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Speaker 1: of a conquer toward the renowned hunter who had honored
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Speaker 1: him by so glorious a commission. Notwithstanding the lively interest
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Speaker 1: Hawkeye had taken in the fate of his messenger, he
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Speaker 1: received Kilder with a satisfaction that momentarily drove all other
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Speaker 1: recollections from his mind. After examining the piece with an
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Speaker 1: intelligent eye, and opening and shutting the pan for some
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Speaker 1: ten or fifteen times, and trying sundry other equally important
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Speaker 1: experiments on the lock, he turned to the boy and demanded,
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Speaker 1: with great manifestations of kindness, if he was hurt. The
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Speaker 1: urchin looked proudly up in his face, but made no reply. Ah,
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Speaker 1: I see, lad, the knaves have barked your arm, added
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Speaker 1: the scout, taking up the limb of the patient sufferer,
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Speaker 1: across which a deep flesh wound had been made by
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Speaker 1: one of the bullets. But a little bruised order will
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Speaker 1: act like a charm. In the meantime, I will wrap
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Speaker 1: it in a bandage of wampum. You have commenced the
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Speaker 1: business of a warrior early, my brave boy, and are
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Speaker 1: likely to bear plenty of honorable scars to your grave.
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Speaker 1: I know many young men that have taken scalps that
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Speaker 1: cannot show such a mark as this go. Having bound
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Speaker 1: up the arm, you will be a chief. The lad departed,
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Speaker 1: prouder of his flowing blood than the vainous courtier could
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Speaker 1: be of his blushing ribbon, and stalked among the fellows
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Speaker 1: of his age, an object of general admiration and envy.
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Speaker 1: But in a moment of so many serious and important duties,
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Speaker 1: this single act of juvenile fortitude did not attract the
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Speaker 1: general notice and commendation it would have received under milder auspices.
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Speaker 1: It had, however, served to apprize the Delawares of the
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Speaker 1: position and intentions of their enemies. Accordingly, a party of
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Speaker 1: adventurers better suited to the task than the weeks, though
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Speaker 1: spirited boy, was ordered to dislodge the skulkers. The duty
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Speaker 1: was soon performed, for most of the Hurons retired of
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Speaker 1: themselves when they found they had been discovered. The Delawares
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Speaker 1: followed to a sufficient distance from their own encampment, and
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Speaker 1: then halted for orders, apprehensive of being led into an ambush.
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Speaker 1: As both parties secreted themselves, the woods were again as
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Speaker 1: still and quiet as a mild summer morning, and deep
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Speaker 1: solitude could render them the calm, but still impatient, Uncas
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Speaker 1: now collected his chiefs and divided his power. He presented
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Speaker 1: Hawkeye as a warrior often tried and always found deserving
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Speaker 1: of confidence. When he found his friend met with a
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Speaker 1: favorable reception, he bestowed on him the command of twenty
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Speaker 1: men like himself, active, skillful, and resolute. He gave the
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Speaker 1: Delawares to understand the rank of Heyward among the troops
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Speaker 1: of the Angeese, and then tendered to him a trust
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Speaker 1: of equal authority. But Duncan declined the charge, professing his
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Speaker 1: readiness to serve as a volunteer by the side of
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Speaker 1: the scout. After this disposition, the young Mohican appointed various
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Speaker 1: native chiefs to fill the different situations of responsibility and
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Speaker 1: the time pressing. He gave forth the word to march.
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Speaker 1: He was cheerfully but silently obeyed by more than two
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Speaker 1: hundred men. Their entrance into the forest was perfectly unmolested,
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Speaker 1: nor did they encounter any living objects which could either
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Speaker 1: give the alarm or furnish the intelligence they needed, until
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Speaker 1: they came upon the lairs of their own scouts. Here
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Speaker 1: a halt was ordered, and the chiefs were assembled to
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Speaker 1: hold a whispering council. At this meeting, diverse plans of
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Speaker 1: operation were suggested, though none of a character to meet
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Speaker 1: the wishes of their ardent leader. Had Uncas followed the
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Speaker 1: promptings of his own inclinations, he would have led his
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Speaker 1: followers to the charge without a moment's delay, and put
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Speaker 1: the conflict to the hazard of an instant issue. But such,
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Speaker 1: of course, would have been in opposition to all the
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Speaker 1: received practices and opinions of his countrymen. He was therefore
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Speaker 1: fain to adopt the caution that, in the present temper
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Speaker 1: of his mind he exricated, and to listen to advice
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Speaker 1: at which his fiery spirit chafed under the vivid recollection
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Speaker 1: of Cora's danger and Mauqua's insolence. After an unsatisfactory conference
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Speaker 1: of many minutes, a solitary individual was seen advancing from
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Speaker 1: the side of the enemy with such apparent haste as
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Speaker 1: to induce the belief he might be a messenger charged
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Speaker 1: with pacific overtures. When within a hundred yards, however, of
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Speaker 1: the cover behind which the Delaware Council had assembled, the
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Speaker 1: stranger hesitated, appeared uncertain what course to take, and finally halted.
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Speaker 1: All eyes were turned now on Uncas As if seeking
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Speaker 1: directions how to proceed. O God, said the young chief
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Speaker 1: in a low voice. He must never speak to the
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Speaker 1: hurons again. His time has come, said the laconic Scalp,
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Speaker 1: thrusting the long barrel of his rifle through the leaves
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Speaker 1: and taking his deliberate and fatal aim. But instead of
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Speaker 1: pulling the trigger, he lowered the muzzle again and indulged
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Speaker 1: himself in a fit of his peculiar mirth. I took
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Speaker 1: the inframingo as I'm a miserable sinner, he said. But
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Speaker 1: when my eye ranged along his ribs for a place
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Speaker 1: to get the bullet in, would you think it Uncas,
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Speaker 1: I saw the musicianer's blower. And so after all, it
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Speaker 1: is the man and they call Gamut, whose death can
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Speaker 1: profit no one, and whose life, if this tongue can
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Speaker 1: do anything but sing, may be made serviceable to our
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Speaker 1: own ends. If sounds have not lost their virtue, I'll
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Speaker 1: soon have a discourse with the honest fellow, and that
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Speaker 1: in a voice he'll find more agreeable than the speech
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Speaker 1: of Kildeer. So saying, Hawkeye laid aside his rifle and
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Speaker 1: crawling through the bushes until within hearing of David. He
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Speaker 1: attempted to repeat the musical effort which had conducted himself
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Speaker 1: with so much safety, and he clopt through the Huron encampment.
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Speaker 1: The exquisite organsic of Mout could not readily be deceived,
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Speaker 1: and to say the truth, it would have been difficult
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Speaker 1: for any other than Hawkeye to produce a similar noise.
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Speaker 1: And consequently, having once before heard the sounds, he now
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Speaker 1: knew whence they proceeded. The poor fellow appeared relieved from
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Speaker 1: a state of great embarrassment for pursuing the direction of
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Speaker 1: the voice, a task that to him was not much
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Speaker 1: less arduous than it would have been to have gone
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Speaker 1: up in the face of a battery. He soon discovered
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Speaker 1: the hidden songster. I wonder what the Hurons will think
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Speaker 1: of that, said the scout, laughing, as he took his
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Speaker 1: companion by the arm and urged him toward the rear.
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Speaker 1: If the knaves lie within earshot, they will say there
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Speaker 1: are two non composers instead of one. But here we
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Speaker 1: are safe, he added, pointing to Uncas and his associates.
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Speaker 1: Now give us the history of the mingo inventions in
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Speaker 1: natural English, and without any ups and Down's voice. David
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Speaker 1: gazed about him at the fierce and wild looking chiefs
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Speaker 1: in mute wonder, but assured by the presence of faces
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Speaker 1: that he knew, he soon rallied his faculties so far
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Speaker 1: as to make an intelligent reply.
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Speaker 2: The Heathen are abroad in goodly numbers, said David, and
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Speaker 2: I fear with evil intent. There has been much howling
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Speaker 2: and godly revelie, together with such sounds as it is
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Speaker 2: profaned to the utter in their habitations, within the past hour,
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Speaker 2: So much so in truth, that I have fled to
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Speaker 2: the Delawares in search of peace.
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Speaker 1: Your ears might not have profited much by the exchange,
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Speaker 1: had you been quicker. Afoot returned the scout a little dryly.
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Speaker 1: But let that be as it may. Where are the Hurons?
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Speaker 2: They lie hid in the forest between this spot and
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Speaker 2: their village in such force that prudence would teach you
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Speaker 2: instantly to return.
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Speaker 1: Uncas cast a glance along the range of trees which
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Speaker 1: concealed his own band, and mentioned the name of Maqua.
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Speaker 2: He is among them. He brought in the maiden that
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Speaker 2: had sojourned with the Delawares, and leaving her in the cave,
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Speaker 2: has put himself like a raging wolf at the head
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Speaker 2: of his savages. I know not what has troubled his
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Speaker 2: spirits so great he.
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Speaker 1: Has left her, you say in the cave, interrupted, Heyward,
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Speaker 1: 'tis well that we know its situation? May not something
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Speaker 1: be done for her instant relief? Uncas looked earnestly at
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Speaker 1: the scout before he asked, what says Hawkeye, Give me
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Speaker 1: twenty rifles, and I will turn to the right along
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Speaker 1: the stream, and, passing by the huts of the beaver,
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Speaker 1: will join the Sagamore and the colonel. You shall then
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Speaker 1: hear the hoop from that quarter. With this wind, one
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Speaker 1: may easily send it a mile. Then, Uncas, do you
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Speaker 1: drive in the front. When they come within range of
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Speaker 1: our pieces, we will give them a blow that I
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Speaker 1: pledge the good name of an old frontiersman, shall make
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Speaker 1: their line bend like an ashen bow, after which we
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Speaker 1: will carry the village and take the woman from the cave.
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Speaker 1: When the affair may be finished with the tribe according
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Speaker 1: to a white man's battle by a blow and a victory,
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Speaker 1: or in the Indian fashion, with lodge and cover. There
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Speaker 1: may be no great learning major in this plan, but
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Speaker 1: with courage and patience. It can all be done. I
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Speaker 1: like it very much, cried Duncan, who saw that the
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Speaker 1: release of Cora was the primary object in the mind
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Speaker 1: of the Scout. I like it much. Let it be
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Speaker 1: instantly attempted. After a short conference, the plan was matured
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Speaker 1: and rendered more intelligible to the several parties. The different
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Speaker 1: signals were appointed and the chiefs separated, each to his
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Speaker 1: allotted station. End of Chapter thirty one.