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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, quote I'll seek a readier path unquote by Parnell.
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  Speaker 1: The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains,
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  Speaker 1: relieved by occasional valleys and swells of land, which had
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  Speaker 1: been traversed by their party on the morning of the
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  Speaker 1: same day, with the baffled Magua for their guide. The
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  Speaker 1: sun had now fallen low toward the distant mountains, and
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  Speaker 1: as their journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat
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  Speaker 1: was no longer oppressive. Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate,
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  Speaker 1: and long before the twilight gathered about them, they had
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  Speaker 1: made good many toilsome miles of their return. The hunter,
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  Speaker 1: like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to select
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  Speaker 1: among the blind signs of their wild route with a
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  Speaker 1: species of instinct, seldom abating his speed and never pausing
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  Speaker 1: to deliberate. A rapid and oblique glance at the moss
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  Speaker 1: of the trees, with an occasional upward gaze towards the
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  Speaker 1: setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the
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  Speaker 1: direction of the numerous watercourses through which he waited were
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  Speaker 1: sufficient to determine his path and remove his greatest difficulties.
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  Speaker 1: In the meantime, the forest began to change its hues,
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  Speaker 1: losing that lively green which had embellished its arches in
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  Speaker 1: the graver light, which is the usual precursor of the
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  Speaker 1: close of day. While the eyes of the sisters were
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  Speaker 1: endeavoring to catch glimpses through the trees of the flood
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  Speaker 1: of golden glory, which formed a glittering halo around the sun,
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  Speaker 1: tinging here and there with ruby streaks, or bordering with
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  Speaker 1: narrow edgings of shining yellow a mass of clouds that
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  Speaker 1: lay piled at no great distance above the western hills.
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  Speaker 1: Hawkeye turned suddenly, and pointing to war the gorgeous heavens,
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  Speaker 1: he spoke, Yonder is the signal given to man to
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  Speaker 1: seek his food in natural rest, he said, Better and
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  Speaker 1: wiser would it be if he could understand the signs
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  Speaker 1: of nature and take a lesson from the fowls of
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  Speaker 1: the air and the beast of our field. Our night, however,
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  Speaker 1: will soon be over, for with the moon we must
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  Speaker 1: be up and moving again. I remember to have fought
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  Speaker 1: the maquas here ways in the first war in which
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  Speaker 1: I ever drew blood from a man, and we threw
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  Speaker 1: up a work of blocks to keep the ravenous varmints
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  Speaker 1: from handling our scalps. If my marks do not fail me,
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  Speaker 1: we shall find the place a few rods further to
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  Speaker 1: our left. Without waiting for an assent, or indeed for
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  Speaker 1: any reply, the sturdy hunter moved boldly into a dense
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  Speaker 1: thicket of young chestnuts, shoving aside the branches of the
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  Speaker 1: exuberant shoots, which nearly covered the ground, like a man
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  Speaker 1: who expected at each step to discover some object he
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  Speaker 1: had formerly known. The recollection of the scout did not
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  Speaker 1: deceive him. After penetrating through the brush, matted as it
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  Speaker 1: was with briars, for a few hundred feet, he entered
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  Speaker 1: an open space that surrounded a low green hillock, which
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  Speaker 1: was crowned by the decayed blockhouse in question. This rude
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  Speaker 1: and neglected building was one of those deserted works which,
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  Speaker 1: having been thrown up on an emergency, had been abandoned
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  Speaker 1: with the disappearance of danger, and was now quietly crumbling
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  Speaker 1: in the solitude of the forest, neglected and nearly forgotten,
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  Speaker 1: like the circumstances which had caused it to be reared.
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  Speaker 1: Such memorials of the passage and struggles of man are
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  Speaker 1: yet frequent throughout the broad barrier of wilderness which once
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  Speaker 1: separated the hostile provinces, and form a species of ruins
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  Speaker 1: that are intimately associated with the recollections of colonial history,
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  Speaker 1: and which are in appropriate keeping with the gloomy character
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  Speaker 1: of the surrounding scenery. The roof of bark had long
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  Speaker 1: since fallen and mingled with the soil, but the huge
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  Speaker 1: logs of pine, which had been hastily thrown together, still
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  Speaker 1: preserved their relative positions, though one angle of the work
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  Speaker 1: had given way under the pressure and threatened a speedy
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  Speaker 1: downfall to the remainder of the rustic edifice. While Heyward
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  Speaker 1: and his companions hesitated to approach a building so decayed,
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  Speaker 1: Hawkeye and the Indians entered within the low walls, not
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  Speaker 1: only without fear, but with obvious interest. While the former
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  Speaker 1: surveyed the ruins both internally and externally, with the curiosity
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  Speaker 1: of one whose recollections were reviving at each moment, Chinkotchkuk
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  Speaker 1: related to his son in the language of the Delawares,
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  Speaker 1: and with the pride of a conqueror, the brief history
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  Speaker 1: of the skirmish which had been fought in his youth
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  Speaker 1: in that secluded spot. A strain of melancholy, however, blended
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  Speaker 1: with his triumph, rendering his voice as usual soft and musical.
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  Speaker 1: In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted and prepared to
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  Speaker 1: enjoy their halt in the coolness of the evening and
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  Speaker 1: in a security which they believed nothing but the beast
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  Speaker 1: of the forest could invade. Would not our resting place
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  Speaker 1: have been more retired, my worthy friend, demanded the more
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  Speaker 1: vigilant Duncan, perceiving that the scout had already finished his
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  Speaker 1: short survey. Had we chosen a spot less known and
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  Speaker 1: one more rarely visited than this? Few live who know
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  Speaker 1: the block house? Was ever raised? Was the slow, amusing answer.
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  Speaker 1: Tis not often that books are made and narratives written
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  Speaker 1: of such a scrimming as was fought between the Mohicans
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  Speaker 1: and Mohawks in a war of their own waging. I
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  Speaker 1: was then a yonker and went out with the Delawares
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  Speaker 1: because I knowed they were a scandalized and wrong race.
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  Speaker 1: Forty days and forty nights did the imps crave our
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  Speaker 1: blood around this pile of logs which I designed and
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  Speaker 1: partly reared, Being, as you remember, no Indian myself, but
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  Speaker 1: a man without a cross. The Delawares lent themselves to
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  Speaker 1: the work, and we made it good ten to twenty
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  Speaker 1: until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we sallied
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  Speaker 1: out upon the hounds, and not a man of them
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  Speaker 1: ever got back to tell the fate of his party. Yes, yes,
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  Speaker 1: I was then young and new to the sight of blood,
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  Speaker 1: and not relishing the thought that creatures who had spirits
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  Speaker 1: like myself should lay on the naked ground to be
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  Speaker 1: torn asunder by beasts or to bleach in the rains.
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  Speaker 1: I buried the dead with my own hands under them.
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  Speaker 1: That very little hillock where you have placed yourselves, and
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  Speaker 1: no bad seat doesn't make either, though it be raised
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  Speaker 1: by the bones of mortal men. Heyward and the sisters
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  Speaker 1: arose on the instant from the grassy sepulcher. Nor could
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  Speaker 1: the two later, notwithstanding the terrific scenes they had so
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  Speaker 1: recently passed through, entirely suppress an emotion of a natural
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  Speaker 1: horror when they found themselves in such familiar contact with
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  Speaker 1: the grave of the dead mohawks, the gray light, the
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  Speaker 1: gloomy little area of dark grass, surrounded by its border
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  Speaker 1: of brush, beyond which the pines rose in breathing silence,
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  Speaker 1: apparently into the very clouds and the deathlike stillness of
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  Speaker 1: the vast forest. Were all in unison to deepen such
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  Speaker 1: a sensation. They are gone, and they are harmless, continued Hawkeye,
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  Speaker 1: waving his hand with a melancholy smile at their manifest alarm.
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  Speaker 1: They'll never shout the war whoop, nor strike a blow
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  Speaker 1: with the tomahawk again. And of all those who aided
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  Speaker 1: in placing them where they lie, Chinkotchkok and I only
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  Speaker 1: are living. The brothers and family of the Mohican formed
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  Speaker 1: our war party. And you see before you all that
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  Speaker 1: are now left of his race. The eyes of the
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  Speaker 1: listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians with a
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  Speaker 1: compassionate interest in their desolate fortune. Their dark persons were
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  Speaker 1: still to be seen within the shadows of the block house.
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  Speaker 1: The son listening on the relation of his father with
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  Speaker 1: that sort of intenseness which would be created by a
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  Speaker 1: narrative that redounded so much to the honor of those
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  Speaker 1: whose names he had long revered for their courage and
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  Speaker 1: savage virtues. I had thought the Delawares a pacific people,
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  Speaker 1: said Duncan, and that they never waged war in person,
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  Speaker 1: trusting the defense of their hands to those very Mohawks
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  Speaker 1: that you slew. Tis true in art, returned the scout,
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  Speaker 1: And yet at the bottom 'tis a wicked lie. Such
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  Speaker 1: a treaty was made in ages gone by, through the
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  Speaker 1: deviltries of the Dutchers, who wished to disarm the natives
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  Speaker 1: that had the best right to the country where they
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  Speaker 1: had settled themselves. The Mohicans, though a part of the
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  Speaker 1: same nation having to deal with the English, never entered
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  Speaker 1: into the silly bargain, but kept to their manhood, as
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  Speaker 1: in truth did the Delawares when their eyes were open
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  Speaker 1: to their folly. You see before you a chief of
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  Speaker 1: the great Mohican Sagamores, once his family could chase their
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  Speaker 1: deer over tracts of country wider than which belongs to
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  Speaker 1: the Albany Pattereroon, without crossing brook or hill that was
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  Speaker 1: not their own. But what is left to their descendant.
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  Speaker 1: He may find his six feet of earth when God chooses,
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  Speaker 1: and keep it in peace, perhaps if he has a
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  Speaker 1: friend who will take the pains to sink his head
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  Speaker 1: so low that the plowshares cannot reach it. Enough, said Heyward,
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  Speaker 1: apprehensive that the subject might lead to a discussion that
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  Speaker 1: would interrupt the harmony so necessary to the preservation of
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  Speaker 1: his fair companions. We have journeyed far, and few among
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  Speaker 1: us are blessed with forms like that of yours, which
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  Speaker 1: seems not to know neither fatigue nor weakness. The sinews
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  Speaker 1: and bones of a man carry me through it all,
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  Speaker 1: said the hunter, surveying his muscular limbs, with the simplicity
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  Speaker 1: that betrayed the honest pleasure the compliment afforded him. There
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  Speaker 1: are larger and heavier men to be found in the settlements,
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  Speaker 1: but you might travel many days in a city before
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  Speaker 1: you could meet one able to walk fifty miles without
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  Speaker 1: stopping to take breath, or who has kept the hounds
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  Speaker 1: within hearing during a chase of hours. However, as flesh
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  Speaker 1: and blood are not always the same, it is quite
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  Speaker 1: reasonable to suppose that the gentle ones are willing to
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  Speaker 1: rest after all they have seen and done this day,
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  Speaker 1: Uncas clear out the spring, while your father and I
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  Speaker 1: make a cover for their tender heads of these chestnut
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  Speaker 1: shoots and a bed of grass and leaves. The dialog ceased,
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  Speaker 1: while the hunter and his companions busied themselves in preparations
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  Speaker 1: for the comfort and protection of those they guided. A spring,
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  Speaker 1: which many long years before had induced the natives to
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  Speaker 1: select the place for their temporary fortification, was soon cleared
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  Speaker 1: of leaves, and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed,
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  Speaker 1: diffusing its waters over the verdant hillock. A corner of
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  Speaker 1: the building was then roofed in such a manner as
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  Speaker 1: to exclude the heavy dew of the climate, and piles
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  Speaker 1: of sweet shrubs and dried leaves were laid beneath it
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  Speaker 1: for the sisters to repose on. While the diligent woodsmen
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  Speaker 1: were employed in this manner, Cora and Alice partook of
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  Speaker 1: that refreshment which duty required much more than inclination prompted
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  Speaker 1: them to accept. They then retired within the walls, and
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  Speaker 1: first offering up their thanksgiving for past mercies and petitioning
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  Speaker 1: for continuance of the divine favor. Throughout the coming night,
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  Speaker 1: they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch, and,
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  Speaker 1: in spite of recollections and forebodings, soon sank into those
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  Speaker 1: slumbers which nature so imperiously demanded, and which were sweetened
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  Speaker 1: by hopes of the morrow. Duncan had prepared himself to
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  Speaker 1: pass the night in watchfulness near them, just without the ruin.
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  Speaker 1: But the scout, perceiving his intention, pointed toward Chinegotchkook as
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  Speaker 1: he coolly disposed his own person on the grass, and said,
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  Speaker 1: the eyes of a white man are too heavy and
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  Speaker 1: too blind for such a watch as this. The Mohican
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  Speaker 1: will be our sentinel. Therefore let us sleep. I proved
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  Speaker 1: myself sluggered on my post during the past night, said Heyward,
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  Speaker 1: and have less need of repose than you, who did
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  Speaker 1: more credit to the character of a soldier. Let all
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  Speaker 1: the party seek their rest, then, while I hold the guard.
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  Speaker 1: If we lay among the white tents of the sixtieth
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  Speaker 1: and in front of an enemy like the French, I
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  Speaker 1: could not ask for a better watchman, returned the scout.
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  Speaker 1: But in the darkness and among the signs of the wilderness,
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  Speaker 1: your judgment will be like the folly of a child,
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  Speaker 1: and your vigilance thrown away. Do, then, like uncasson myself,
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  Speaker 1: sleep and sleep in safety. Heyward perceived in truth that
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  Speaker 1: the younger Indian had prone his form on the side
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  Speaker 1: of the hillock while they were talking, like one who
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  Speaker 1: sought to make the most of the time allotted to rest,
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  Speaker 1: and that his example had been followed by David, whose
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  Speaker 1: voice literally clove to his jaws, with the fever of
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  Speaker 1: his heightened as it was by their toilsome march. Unwilling
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  Speaker 1: to prolong a useless discussion, the young man affected to
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  Speaker 1: comply by posting his back against the logs of the
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  Speaker 1: block house in a half recumbent posture, though resolutely determined
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  Speaker 1: in his own mind not to close an eye until
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  Speaker 1: he delivered his precious charge into the arms of Monroe himself. Hawkeye,
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  Speaker 1: believing he had prevailed, soon fell asleep, and a silence
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  Speaker 1: as deep as the solitude in which they had found it,
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: pervaded the retired spot for many minutes. Duncan succeeded in
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  Speaker 1: keeping his senses on the alert and alive to every
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: moaning sound that arose from the forest. His vision became
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  Speaker 1: more acute as the shades of evening settled on the place,
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  Speaker 1: and even after the stars were glimmering above his head,
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  Speaker 1: he was able to distinguish the recumbent forms of his
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  Speaker 1: companions as they lay st wretched on the grass, and
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  Speaker 1: to note the person of Chinkotchkok, who sat upright and
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  Speaker 1: motionless as one of the trees which formed the dark
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  Speaker 1: barrier on every side. He still heard the breathings of
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  Speaker 1: the sisters who lay within a few feet of him,
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  Speaker 1: and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air,
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  Speaker 1: of which his ear did not detect the whispering sound.
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  Speaker 1: At length, however, the mournful notes of a whipper wheel
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  Speaker 1: became blended with the moanings of an owl. His heavy
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: eyes occasionally sought the bright rays of the stars, and
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  Speaker 1: he then fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.
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  Speaker 1: At instance of momentary wakefulness, he mistook a bush for
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  Speaker 1: his associate sentinel. His head next sank upon his shoulder,
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  Speaker 1: which in its turn sought the support of the ground.
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  Speaker 1: And finally his whole person became relaxed and pliant, and
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  Speaker 1: the young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming that
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  Speaker 1: he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: vigils before the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: he did not despair of gaining by such a proof
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  Speaker 1: of devotion and watchfulness. How long the tired duncan lay
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: in this insensible state, he never knew himself but his
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: slumbering visions had been long lost in total forgetfulness when
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  Speaker 1: he was awakened by a light tap on the shoulder.
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  Speaker 1: Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang
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  Speaker 1: upon his feet with a confused recollection of the self
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  Speaker 1: imposed duty he had assumed with the commencement of the night.
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  Speaker 1: Who comes? He demanded, feeling for his sword at the
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: place where it was usually suspended. Speak friend or enemy, Friend,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: replied the low voice of Chinchgotch Cook, who, pointing upward
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  Speaker 1: at the luminary which was shedding its mild light through
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: the opening in the trees directly above their bivouac, immediately
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  Speaker 1: added in his rude English, moon comes and white Man's
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  Speaker 1: fort far far off. Time to move when sleep shuts
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  Speaker 1: both eyes of the Frenchman, You say, true, call up
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  Speaker 1: your friends and bridle the horses, while I prepare my
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: own companions for the march. We are awake, Duncan, said
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: the soft, silvery tones of alice within the building, and
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  Speaker 1: ready to travel very fast after so refreshing a sleep.
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  Speaker 2: But you have watched through the tedious night in our behalf,
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  Speaker 2: after having endured so much fatigue the livelong day.
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  Speaker 1: Say rather I would have watched, but my treacherous eyes
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  Speaker 1: betrayed me. Twice have I proved myself unfit for the
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: trust I bear? Nay duncan deny it not interrupted the
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: smiling Alice issuing from the shadows of the into the
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  Speaker 1: light of the moon, in all the loveliness of her
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  Speaker 1: fresh and beauty. I know you to be a heedless one,
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  Speaker 1: when self is the object of your care, but too
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: vigilant in favor of others. Can we not tarry here
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  Speaker 1: a little longer while you find the rest you need? Cheerfully?
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  Speaker 1: Most cheerfully? Will Cora and I keep the vigils while
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: you and all these brave men endeavor to snatch a
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: little sleep. If shame could cure me of my drowsiness,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: I should never close an eye again, said the uneasy youth,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: gazing at the ingenuous countenance of Alice, where however, in
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: its sweet solicitude, he read nothing to confirm his half
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: awakened suspicion. It is but true that after leading you
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: into danger by my heedlessness, I have not even the
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: merit of guarding your pillows, as should become a soldier.
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  Speaker 1: No one but.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of such a weakness. Go
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: then and sleep. Believe me, neither of us weak girls
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  Speaker 2: as we are, will betray our watch. The young man
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: was relieved from the awkwardness of making any further protestations
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: of his own demerits by an exclamation from Chinskotchkok and
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: the attitude of riveted attention assumed by his.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Son the Mechicans. Hear an enemy, whispered Hawkeye, who by
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: this time, in common with the whole party, was awakened. Stirring,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: they sent danger in the wind. God forbid, exclaimed Heyward,
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: surely we have had enough of bloodshed. While he spoke, however,
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: the young soldier seized his rifle, and, advancing toward the front,
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: prepared to atone for his venial remissness by freely exposing
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: his life in defense of those he attended. Do some
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: creature of the forest crawling around us in quest of food,
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  Speaker 1: he said in a whisper. As soon as the low
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: and apparently distant sounds which had startled the Mohicans reached
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  Speaker 1: his own ears s returned the attentive scout, Tis man,
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  Speaker 1: even I can now tell his tread poor as my
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: senses are. When compared to an Indian's. That scampering Huron
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: has fallen in with one of Montcalm's outlying parties, and
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: they have struck upon our trail. I shouldn't like myself
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: to spill more human blood in this spot, he added,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: looking around with anxiety in his features at the dim
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: objects by which he was surrounded. But what must be
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: must lead the horses into the blockhouse, uncas and friends,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: do you follow to the same shelter, poor and old
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: as it is, it offers a cover and as ung
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: with the crack of a rifle before tonight, he was
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the narragansets within the ruin,
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: whither the whole party repaired with the most guarded silence.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: The sound of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly audible
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: to leave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: They were soon mingled with voices calling to each other
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: in an Indian dialect, which the hunter in a whisper
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: affirmed to Hayward was the language of the Hurons. When
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: the party reached the point where the horses had entered
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: the thicket which surrounded the blockhouse, they were evidently at fault,
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: having lost those marks which until that moment had directed
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: their pursuit. It would seem by the voices that twenteen
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: men were soon collected at that one spot, mingling their
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: different opinions and advice in noisy Clamor the knaves know
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: our weakness, whispered Hawkeye, who stood by the side of
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Heyward in deep shade, looking through an opening in the logs.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: Or they wouldn't indulge their idleness in such a squaw's march.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Listen to the reptiles. Each man among them seems to
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: have two tongues and put a single leg. Duncan, brave
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: as he was in the combat, could not, in such
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: a moment of painful suspense, make any reply to the
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: cool and characteristic remark of the scout. He only grasped
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: his rifle more firmly and fastened his eyes upon the
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: narrow opening, through which he gazed upon the moonlight view
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: with increasing anxiety. The deeper tones of one who spoke
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: as having authority were next heard, amid a silence that
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: denoted the respect with which his orders or rather advice,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: was received, after which, by the rustling of leaves and
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: crackling of dried twigs, it was apparent that the savages
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: were separating in pursuit of the lost trail. Fortunately for
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: the pursued, the light of the moon, while it shed
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: a flood of wild luster upon the little area about
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: the ruin, was not sufficiently strong to penetrate the deep
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: arches of the forest, where the objects still lay in
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: deceptive shadow. The search proved fruitless, for so short and
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: sudden had been the passage from the faint path the
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: travelers had journeyed into the thicket that every trace of
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: their footsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: It was not long, however, before the restless savages were
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: heard beating the brush and gradually approaching the inner edge
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: of that dense border of young chestnuts which encircled the
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: little area they are combing, muttered Heyward, endeavoring to thrust
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: his rifle through the chink in the logs. Let us
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: fire upon their approach. Keep everything in the shade, returned
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: the scalp. The snapping of a flint, or even the
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: smell of a single carnal of brimstone, would bring the
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: hungry varlets upon us in a body, Should it please
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: God that we must give battle for the scalps. Trust
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: to the experience of men who know the ways of
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: the savages, and who are not often backward. When the
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: war whoop is howled, Duncan cast his eyes behind him
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: and saw that the trembling sisters were cowering in the
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: far corner of the building, while the Mohicans stood in
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the shadow like two upright posts, ready and apparently willing
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: to strike when the blow should be needed. Curbing his impatience,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: he again looked out upon the area and awaited the
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: result in silence. At that instant, the thicket opened, and
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: a tall and armed Huron advanced a few paces into
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: the open space. As he gazed upon the silent blockhouse,
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: the moon fell upon his swarthy countenance and betrayed its
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: surprise and curiosity. He made the exclamation which usually accompanies
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: the former emotion of an Indian, and calling in a
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: low voice, soon drew a companion to his side. These
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: children of the woods stood together for several moments, pointing
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: at the crumbling edifice and conversing in the unintelligible language
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: of their tribe. They then approached, though with slow and
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: cautious steps, pausing every instant to look at the building,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: like startled deer whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: apprehensions for the mastery. The foot of one of them
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: suddenly rested on the mound, and he stopped to examine
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: its nature. At this moment, Heyward observed that the scout
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: loosened his knife in its sheath and lowered the muzzle
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: of his rifle. Imitating these movements, the young man prepared
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: himself for the struggle, which now seemed inevitable. The savages
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: were so near that the least motion in one of
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: the horses, or even a breath louder than common, would
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: have betrayed the fugitives. But in discovering the character of
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: the mound, the attention of the Hurons appeared directed to
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: a different object. They spoke together, and the sound of
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: their voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: a reverence that was deeply blended with awe. Then they
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: drew warily back, keeping their eyes riveted on the ruin,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: as if they expected to see the apparitions of the
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: dead issue from its silent walls, Until having reached the
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: and disappeared. Hawkeye dropped the breach of his rifle to
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: the earth, and, drawing a long free breath, exclaimed in
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: an audible whisper, Aye, they respect the dead, and it has
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: this time saved their own lives, and it may be
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: the lives of better men too. Heyward lent his attention
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: for a single moment to his companion, but without replying,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: he again turned toward those who had just then interested
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: him more. He heard the two Hurons leave the bushes,
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: and it was soon plain that all the pursuers were
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: gathered about them in deep attention of their report. After
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: a few minutes of earnest and solemn dialog, altogether different
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: from the noisy clamor with which they had first collected
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: and finally were lost in the depths of the forest.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chinskotchkook assured
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: him that every sound from the retiring party was complete,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: swallowed by the distance. When he motioned to Hayward to
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: lead forth the horses and to assist the sisters into
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: their saddles, the instant this was done, they issued through
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: the broken gateway, and, stealing out by a direction opposite
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: to the one by which they entered, they quitted the spot,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: the sisters casting furtive glances at the silent grave and
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: crumbling ruin as they left the soft light of the
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: moon to bury themselves in the gloom of the woods.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: End of Chapter thirteen.