Latest / Adventure Books Library / 09 - The Last Of The Mohicans - James Cooper

Transcript

09 - The Last Of The Mohicans - James Cooper · Adventure Books Library

0:00
Chapter nine, quote be gay securely dispel my faith with smiles the timorous clouds
0:08
that hang on my clear brow unquote. From Death of Agrippina. The sudden
0:15
and almost magical change from the stirring incidents of the combat to the stillness that
0:20
now reigned around him acted on the heated imagination of Heyward, like some exciting
0:26
dream. While all the images and events he had witnessed remained deeply impressed on
0:32
his memory, he felt a difficulty in persuading him of their truth. Still
0:37
ignorant of the fate of those who had trusted to the aid of the swift
0:41
current, he at first listened intently to any signal or sounds of alarm,
0:46
which might announce the good or evil fortune of their hazardous undertaking. His attention,
0:53
however, was bestowed in vain, for with the disappearance of uncas,
0:58
every sign of the advances had been lost, leaving him in total uncertainty of
1:03
their fate. In a moment of such painful doubt, Duncan did not hesitate
1:08
to look around him without consulting that protection from the rocks which just before had
1:15
been so necessary to his safety. Every effort, however, to detect the
1:19
least evidence of the approach of their hidden enemies was as fruitless as the inquiry.
1:25
After his late companions, the wooded banks of the river seemed again deserted
1:30
by everything possessing animal life. The uproar which had so lately echoed through the
1:36
vaults of the forest was gone, leaving the rush of the waters to swell
1:41
and sink on the currents of the air in the unmingled sweetness of nature.
1:47
A fishhawk, which secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had
1:52
been a distant spectator of the fray, now swooped from his high and ragged
1:56
perch and soared in wide sweeps above his press. While a jay, whose
2:01
noisy voice had been stilled by the hoarser cries of the savages, ventured again
2:07
to open his discordant throat, as though once more in undisturbed possession of his
2:12
wild domains. Duncan caught from these natural accompaniments of the solitary scene a glimmering
2:19
of hope, and he began to rally his facilities to renewed exertions with something
2:24
like a reviving confidence of success. The Hurons are not to be seen,
2:30
he said, addressing David, who had by no means recovered from the effects
2:35
of the stunning blow he had received. Let us conceal ourselves in the cavern,
2:40
and trust the rest to providence. I remember to have united with two
2:46
comely maidens in lifting up our voices in praise and thanksgiving, returned the bewildered
2:52
singing master, Since which time I have been visited by heavy judgment for my
2:58
sins. I have been mocked with the likeness of sleep, while sounds of
3:02
discord have rent my ears, such as might manifest the fullness of time,
3:07
and that nature had forgotten her harmony. Poor fellow, thine own period was
3:13
in truth near its accomplishment. But arouse and come with me. I will
3:20
lead you where all other sounds but those from your own psalmoy, shall be
3:23
excluded. There is melody in the fall of the cataract, and the rushing
3:29
of many waters is sweet to the senses, said David, pressing his hand
3:34
confusedly on his brow. Is not the air yet filled with shrieks and cries?
3:39
As though the departed spirits of the damned not now not now interrupted?
3:46
The impatient Heyward, they have ceased, and they who raised them. I
3:50
trust in God They are gone too. Everything but the water is still and
3:55
at peace in them, where you may create those sounds you love so well
4:00
to hear. David smiled sadly, though not without a momentary gleam of pleasure
4:06
at this allusion to his beloved vocation. He no longer hesitated to be led
4:12
to a spot which promised such unalloyed gratification to his wearied senses, And,
4:17
leaning on the arm of his companion, he entered the narrow mouth of the
4:21
cave. Duncan seized a pollo sassyfrass, which he drew before the passage,
4:29
studiously concealing every appearance of an aperture. Within this fragile barrier, he arranged
4:34
the blankets abandoned by the foresters, darking the inner extremity of the cavern,
4:41
while its outer receive a chastened light from the narrow ravine through which one arm
4:46
of the river rushed to form the junction with its sister branch a few rods
4:50
below. I like not the principle of the natives, which teaches them to
4:55
submit without a struggle in emergencies that appeared desperate, he said, while busied
5:00
in his employment, our own maxim which says, while life remains, there
5:05
is hope is more consoling and better suited to a soldier's templament. To you,
5:13
Cora, I will urge no words of idle encouragement. Your own fortitude
5:18
and undisturbed reason will teach you all that may become your sex. But cannot
5:25
we drive the tears of that trembling weeper on your bosom. I am calmer,
5:30
duncan, said Alice, raising herself from the arms of her sister and
5:34
forcing an appearance of composure through her tears. Much calmer now, surely in
5:42
this hidden spot we are safe, We are secret free from injury. We
5:47
will hope everything from those generous men who have risked so much already in our
5:53
behalf. Now does our gentle Alice speak like the daughter of Monroe, said
5:59
Heyward, pausing to press her hand as he passed toward the outer entrance of
6:03
the cavern. With two such examples of courage before him, a man would
6:09
be ashamed to prove other than a hero. He then seated himself in the
6:13
center of the cavern, grasping his remaining pistol with a hand convulsively clenched while
6:18
his contracted and frowning eye announced the sollen desperation of his purpose. The Hurons,
6:26
if they come, may not gain or position so easily as they think.
6:30
He slowly muttered, and propping his head back against the rock, he
6:34
seemed to await the result in patience, though his gaze was unceasingly bent on
6:41
the open avenue to their place of retreat. With the last sound of his
6:45
voice, a deep, a long, and almost breathless silence succeeded. The
6:50
fresh air of the morning had penetrated the recess, and its influence was gradually
6:57
felt on the spirits of its inmates. As minute after minute passed by,
7:01
leaving them in undisturbed security. The insinuating feeling of hope was gradually gaining possession
7:09
of every bosom, though each one felt reluctant to give utterance to expectations that
7:15
the next moment might so fearfully destroy. David alone formed an exception to these
7:19
varying emotions. A gleam of light from the opening crossed his wan countenance and
7:25
fell upon the pages of the little volume, whose leaves he was again occupied
7:30
in, turning, as if searching for some song more fitted to their condition
7:34
than any one had yet met. Their eye. He was most probably acting
7:40
all this time under a confused recollection of the promised consolation of Duncan. At
7:46
length, it would seem his patient industry found its reward, for without explanation
7:54
or apology, he pronounced aloud the words oh over wit, drew a long,
8:00
sweet sound from his pitch pipe, and then ran through the preliminary modulations
8:05
of the air whose name he had just mentioned, with the sweeter tones of
8:09
his own musical voice. May this not prove dangerous, asked Cora, glancing
8:16
her dark eye at Major Heyward, Poor fellow, his voice is too feeble
8:20
to be heard above the din of the falls, was the answer. Beside
8:26
the cavern will prove his friend. Let him indulge his passions, since it
8:31
may be done without hazard oil of weight, repeated David, looking about him
8:37
with that dignity with which he had long been wont to silence the whispering echoes
8:41
of his school. Tis a brave tune, and set to solemn words,
8:48
Let it be sung with meat respect. After allowing a moment of stillness to
8:52
enforce his discipline, the voice of the singer was heard in low, murmuring
8:58
syllables, gradually stealing on the ear, until it filled the narrow vault with
9:03
sounds rendered trebly thrilling by the feeble and tremulous utterance produced by his debility.
9:09
The melody, which no weakness could destroy, gradually wrought its sweet influence on
9:15
the senses of those who heard it. It even prevailed over the miserable travesty
9:20
of the song of David, which the singer had selected from a volume of
9:24
similar effusions, and caused the sense to be forgotten in the insinuating harmony of
9:31
the sounds. Alice unconsciously dried her tears and bent her melting eyes on the
9:37
pallid features of Gamut, with an expression of chastened delight that she neither affected
9:43
nor wished to conceal Cora bestowed an approving smile on the pious efforts of the
9:50
namesake of the Jewish Prince, and Heyward soon turned his steady, stern look
9:54
from the outlet of the cavern to fasten it with a milder character on the
9:58
face of day David, or to meet the wandering beams which at moments strayed
10:03
from the humid eyes of Alice. The open sympathy of the listeners stirred the
10:09
spirit of the votary of music, whose voice regained its richness and volume without
10:15
losing that touching softness which proved its secret charm. Exerting his renovated powers to
10:20
their utmost, he was yet feeling the arches of the cave with long and
10:24
full tones, when a yell burst into the air without that instantly stilled his
10:31
pious strains, choking his voice. Suddenly, as though his heart had literally
10:35
bounded into the passage of his throat. We are lost, exclaimed Alice,
10:39
throwing herself into the arms of Cora. No not yet returned the agitated but
10:45
undaunted heyward. The sound came from the center of the island, and it
10:48
has been produced by the sight of their dead companions. We are not yet
10:52
discovered, and there is still hope. Faint and almost despairing, as was
10:58
the prospect of escape, the words of Duncan were not thrown away, for
11:03
it awakened the powers of the sisters in such a manner that they awaited the
11:07
results in silence. A second yell soon followed the first. Then a rush
11:11
of voices was heard, pouring down the island from its upper to its lower
11:16
extremity, until they reached the naked rock above the caverns, where after a
11:22
shout of savage triumph, the air continued full of horrible cries and screams,
11:26
such as man alone can utter, and he only went in a state of
11:31
the fiercest barbarity. The sounds quickly spread around them in every direction. Some
11:37
called to their fellows from the water's edge, and were answered from the heights
11:41
above. Cries were heard in the startling vicinity of the chasm between the two
11:46
caves, which mingled with horser yells that arose out of the abyss of the
11:50
deep ravine. In short, so rapidly had the savage sounds diffused themselves over
11:56
the barren rock that it was not difficult for the anxious listeners to imagine they
12:01
could be heard beneath, as in truth they were above on every side of
12:07
them. In the midst of this tumult, a triumphant yell was raised within
12:11
a few yards of the hidden entrance to the cave. Heyward abandoned every hope
12:16
with the belief it was the signal that they were discovered again. The impression
12:22
passed away as he heard the voices collect near the spot where the white man
12:26
had so reluctantly abandoned his rifle. Amid the jargon of Indian dialects that he
12:33
now plainly heard, it was easy to distinguish not only words, but sentences
12:39
in the petois of the Canadas. A burst of voices had shouted simultaneously the
12:46
long Carabine, causing the opposite woods to re echo with the name, which
12:50
Heyward well remembered had been given by his enemies to a celebrated hunter and scout
12:56
of the English camp, and who he now learned for the first time,
13:00
had been his late companion, La long Caribine. La Long Caribine passed from
13:07
mouth to mouth until the whole band appeared to be collected around a trophy which
13:11
would seem to announce the death of its formidable owner. After a vociferous consultation,
13:16
which was at time deafened by bursts of savage joy, they again separated,
13:22
filling the air with the name of a foe whose body Hayward could collect
13:26
from their expressions they hoped to find concealed in some crevice of the island.
13:33
Now, he whispered to the trembling sisters, Now is the moment of uncertainty.
13:39
If our place of retreat escape this scrutiny. We are still safe in
13:46
every event. We are assured by what has fallen from our enemies, that
13:50
our friends have escaped, and in two short hours we may look for succor
13:56
from Webb. There were now a few minutes of fearful stay illness, during
14:01
which Heyward Well knew that the savages conducted their search with greater vigilance and method.
14:07
More than once he could distinguish their footsteps as they brushed the sassyfrass,
14:13
causing the faded leaves to rustle and the branches to snap. At length,
14:18
the pile yielded a little, A corner of a blanket fell, and a
14:22
faint ray of light gleamed into the inner part of the cave. Cora folded
14:28
Alice to her bosom and Agony, and Duncan sprang to his feet. A
14:33
shout was at that moment, heard as if issuing from the center of the
14:35
rock, announcing that the neighboring cavern had at length been entered. In a
14:41
minute, the number and loudness of the voices indicated that the whole party was
14:45
collected in and around that secret place. As the inner passages of the two
14:50
caves were so close to each other. Duncan, believing that escape was no
14:54
longer possible, passed David and the sisters to place himself between the land and
15:00
the first onset of the terrible meaning. Grown desperate by his situation, he
15:05
drew nigh the slight barrier which separated him only a few feet from his relentless
15:11
pursuers, and placing his face to the casual opening, he even looked out
15:16
with a sort of desperate indifference on their movements. Within reach of his arm
15:22
was the brawny shoulder of a gigantic Indian, whose deep and authoritative voice appeared
15:28
to give directions to the proceedings of his fellows. Beyond him, Again,
15:33
Duncan could look into the vault opposite, which was filled with savages, upturning
15:37
and rifling the humble furniture of the scout. The wound of David had dyed
15:41
the leaves of sassyfras with a color that the native new well as anticipating the
15:46
season. Over this sign of their success, they sent up a howl like
15:52
an opening from so many hounds who had recovered a lost trail. After this
15:56
yellow victory, they tore up the fragrant bed of the cavern, and bore
16:00
the branches into the chasm, scattering the bowels, as if they suspected them
16:04
of concealing the person of the man they had so long hated and feared.
16:11
One fierce and wild looking warrior approached the chief, bearing a load of the
16:17
brush, and, pointing exultingly to the deep red stains with which it was
16:22
sprinkled, uttered his joy in Indian yells, whose meaning Heyward was only enabled
16:26
to comprehend by the frequent repetition of the name La longue Carabine. When his
16:33
triumph had ceased, he cast the brush onto the slight heap Duncan had made
16:37
before the entrance of the second cavern, and closed the view. His example
16:44
was followed by others, who, as they drew the branches from the cave
16:47
of the scout, threw them into one pile, adding unconsciously to the security
16:53
of those they sought. The very slightness of the defense was its chief merit,
17:00
for no one thought of disturbing a mass of brush, which all of
17:03
them believed, in that moment of hurry and confusion, had been accidentally raised
17:08
by the hands of their own party. As the blankets yielded before the outward
17:12
pressure, and the branches settled in the fissure of the rock by their own
17:17
weight, forming a compact body. Duncan once more breathed freely, with a
17:22
light step and a lighter heart. He returned to the center of the cave
17:26
and took the place he had left, where he could command a view of
17:29
the opening next the river. While he was in the act of making this
17:33
movement, the Indians, as if changing their purpose by a common impulse,
17:38
broke away from the chasm in a body, and were heard rushing up the
17:42
island again toward the point whence they had originally descended. Here, another wailing
17:48
cry betrayed that they were again collected around the bodies of their dead comrades.
17:55
Duncan now ventured to look at his companions, for during most of the critical
18:00
moments of their danger, he had been apprehensive that the anxiety of his countenance
18:06
might communicate some additional alarm to those who were so little able to sustain it.
18:11
They are gone, Cora, he whispered, alice. They are returned
18:18
whence they came, and we are saved to heaven that has alone delivered us
18:23
from the grasp of so merciless an enemy, be all praise, then do
18:29
Heaven, I will return my thanks exclaimed the younger sister, rising from the
18:33
encircling arm of Cora, and casting herself with enthusiastic gratitude on the naked rock,
18:40
to that heaven which had spared the tears of a gray headed father,
18:45
has saved the lives of those I so much love. Both Heyward and the
18:48
more tempered Cora witnessed the act of involuntary emotion with powerful sympathy, the former
18:56
secretly believing that piety had never worn a formed so lovely as it had now
19:00
assumed in the youthful person of Alice. Her eyes were radiant with the glow
19:06
of grateful feelings. The flush of her beauty was again seated on her cheeks,
19:11
and her whole soul seemed ready and anxious to pour out its thanksgiving through
19:15
the medium of her eloquent features. But when her lips moved, the words
19:21
they should have uttered appeared frozen by some new and sudden chill. Her bloom
19:26
gave place to the paleness of death. Her soft and melting eyes grew hard
19:33
and seemed contracting with horror, while those hands which she had raised clasped in
19:38
each other toward Heaven, dropped in horizontal lines before her, the fingers pointed
19:44
forward in convulse motion. Heyward turned the instant she gave a direction to his
19:48
suspicions, and, peering just above the ledge which formed the threshold of the
19:53
open outlet of the cavern, he beheld the malignant, fierce, and savage
20:00
features of lurinhard subtill in that moment of surprise, the self possession of Hayward
20:07
did not desert him. He observed by the vacant expression of the Indian's countenance
20:14
that his eye, accustomed to the open air, had not yet been able
20:18
to penetrate the dusky light which pervaded the depth of the cavern. He had
20:22
even thought of retreating beyond a curvature in the natural wall, which might still
20:27
conceal him and his companions, when by the sudden gleam of intelligence that shot
20:33
across the features of the savage, he saw it was too late, and
20:37
that they were betrayed. The look of exaltation and brutal triumph which announced this
20:42
terrible truth was irresistibly irritating, forgetful of everything but the impulses of his hot
20:49
blood, Duncan leveled his pistol and fired. The report of the weapon made
20:55
the cavern below like an eruption from a volcano, and when the smoke it
21:00
vomited had been driven away before the current of air which issued from the ravine,
21:06
the place so lately occupied by the features of his treacherous guide was vacant.
21:11
Rushing to the outlet, Heyward caught a glimpse of his dark figure stealing
21:15
around a low and narrow ledge, which soon hid him entirely from sight.
21:21
Among the savages, a frightful stillness succeeded the explosion which had just been heard
21:26
bursting from the bowels of the rock. But when Les Renard raised his voice
21:32
in the long and intelligible hoop, it was answered by a spontaneous yell from
21:37
the mouth of every Indian within hearing of the sound. The clamorous noises again
21:42
rushed down the island, and before Duncan had time to recover from the shock,
21:48
his feeble barrier of brush was scattered to the winds. The cavern was
21:53
entered at both its extremities, and he and his companions were dragged from their
21:59
shelter and born into the day, where they stood surrounded by the whole band
22:03
of the triumphant Hurons. End of chapter nine,