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

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Speaker 1: Chapter fourteen quote Quillella Puck pisl pofridgehn La Fronce unquote
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Speaker 1: King Henry the sixth. During the rapid movement from the blockhouse,
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Speaker 1: and until the party was deeply buried in the forest,
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Speaker 1: each individual was too much interested in the escape to
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Speaker 1: hazard a word, even in whispers. The scout resumed his
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Speaker 1: post in advance, though his steps after he had thrown
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Speaker 1: a safe distance between himself and his enemies were more
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Speaker 1: deliberate than in their previous march, in consequence of his
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Speaker 1: utter ignorance of the localities of the surrounding woods. More
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Speaker 1: than once he halted to consult with his confederates, the Mohicans,
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Speaker 1: pointing upward at the moon and examining the barks of
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Speaker 1: the trees with care. In these brief pauses, Heyward and
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Speaker 1: the sisters listened with senses rendered doubly acute by the danger,
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Speaker 1: to detect any symptoms which might announced the proximity of
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Speaker 1: their foes. At such moments, it seemed as if the
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Speaker 1: vast range of country lay buried in eternal sleep, not
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Speaker 1: the least sound arising from the forest, unless it was
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Speaker 1: the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a water course, birds, beast,
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Speaker 1: and man appeared to slumber alike, if indeed any of
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Speaker 1: the latter were to be found in that wide tract
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Speaker 1: of wilderness. But the sounds of the rivulet feeble and
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Speaker 1: murmuring as they were relieved the guides at once from
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Speaker 1: no trifling embarrassment, and toward it. They immediately held their way.
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Speaker 1: When the banks of the little stream were gained, Hawkeye
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Speaker 1: made another halt, and, taking the moccasins from his feet,
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Speaker 1: he invited Heyward and Gamut to follow his example. He
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Speaker 1: then entered the water, and for near an hour they
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Speaker 1: traveled in the bed of the brook, leaving no trail.
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Speaker 1: The moon had already sunk into an immense pile of
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Speaker 1: black clouds, which lay impending above the western horizon. When
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Speaker 1: they issued from the low and devious water course to
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Speaker 1: rise again to the light and the level of the
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Speaker 1: sandy but wooded plain. Here the scouts.
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Speaker 2: Seemed to be once more at home, for he held
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Speaker 2: on his way with the certainty and the diligence of
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Speaker 2: a man who moved in the security of his own knowledge.
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Speaker 2: The path soon became more uneven, and the travelers could
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Speaker 2: plainly perceive that the mountains drew Nigher to them on
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Speaker 2: each hand, and that they were in truth about entering
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Speaker 2: one of their gorges. Suddenly, Hawkeye made a pause, and
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Speaker 2: waiting until he was joined by the whole party, he spoke,
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Speaker 2: though in tones so low and cautious that they added
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Speaker 2: to the solemnity of his words. In the quiet and
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Speaker 2: darkness of the place, it is easy to know the
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Speaker 2: pathways and to find the licks and water courses of
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Speaker 2: the wilderness, he said. But who that saw this spot
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Speaker 2: could venture to say that a mighty army was at
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Speaker 2: rest among yonder silent trees and barren mountains. We are
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Speaker 2: then at no great distance from William Henry, said Heyward,
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Speaker 2: advancing Nigher to the scout. It is yet a long
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Speaker 2: and weary path, and when and where to strike it
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Speaker 2: is now our greatest difficulty. See, he said, pointing through
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Speaker 2: the trees toward a spot where a little basin of
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Speaker 2: water reflected the stars from its placid bosom. Here is
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Speaker 2: the bloody pond. And I am on ground that I
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Speaker 2: have not only often traveled, but over which I have
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Speaker 2: fought the enemy from the rising to the setting of
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Speaker 2: the sun. Ha That sheet of dull and dreary water.
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Speaker 2: Then is the sepulcher of the brave men who fell
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Speaker 2: in the contest. I have heard it named, but never
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Speaker 2: have I stood on its banks. Before three battles we
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Speaker 2: did make with the Dutch Frenchmen in a day, continued Hawk,
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Speaker 2: pursuing the train of his own thoughts, rather than replying
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Speaker 2: to the remark of Duncan. Footnote Baron Descoal, a German
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Speaker 2: in the service of France. A few years previously to
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Speaker 2: the period of the tale, this officer was defeated by
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Speaker 2: Sir William Johnson of Johnstown, New York, on the shores
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Speaker 2: of Lake George. And footnote he met us hard by
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Speaker 2: in our outward march to ambush his advance, and scattered
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Speaker 2: us like driven deer through the defile to the shores
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Speaker 2: of Horican. Then we rallied behind our fallen trees and
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Speaker 2: made head against him under Sir William, who was made
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Speaker 2: Sir William for that very deed. And well did we
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Speaker 2: pay him for the disgrace of the morning. Hundreds of
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Speaker 2: Frenchmen saw the sun that day for the last time,
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Speaker 2: and even their leader Descu himself fell into our hands,
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Speaker 2: so cut and torn with the lead that he has
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Speaker 2: gone back to his own country, unfit for further acts
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Speaker 2: in war twas a noble repulse, exclaimed Heyward in the
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Speaker 2: heat of his youthful ardor the fame of it reached
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Speaker 2: us early in our southern army. Ay, but it did
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Speaker 2: not end there. I was sent by Major Effingham, at
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Speaker 2: Sir William's own bidding, to outflank the French and carry
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Speaker 2: the tidings of their disaster across the portage to the
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Speaker 2: fort on the Hudson. Just here away, where you see
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Speaker 2: the trees rise into a mountain swell. I met a
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Speaker 2: party coming down to our aid, and I led them
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Speaker 2: where the enemy were taking their meal, little dreaming that
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Speaker 2: they had not finished the bloody work of the day.
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Speaker 2: And you surprise them, if death can be a surprise
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Speaker 2: to men who are thinking only of the cravings of
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Speaker 2: their appetites. We gave them but little breathing time, for
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Speaker 2: they had borne hard upon us in the fight of
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Speaker 2: the morning, and there were few in our party who
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Speaker 2: had not lost friend or relative by their hands. When
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Speaker 2: all was over, the dead, and some say the dying,
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Speaker 2: were cast into that little pond. These eyes seen its
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Speaker 2: waters colored with blood as natural water, never yet flowed
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Speaker 2: from the bowels of the earth. It was a convenient,
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Speaker 2: and I trust will prove a peaceful grave for a soldier.
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Speaker 2: You have then seen much service on this frontier, I
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Speaker 2: said the scout, erecting his tall person with an air
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Speaker 2: of military pride. There are not many echoes among these
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Speaker 2: hills that haven't rung with the crack of my rifle.
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Speaker 2: Nor is there the space of a square mile atwixt
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Speaker 2: the Horican and the river that kildeer hasn't dropped the
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Speaker 2: living body on. Be it an enemy or be it
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Speaker 2: a brute beast. As for the grave there being as
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Speaker 2: quiet as you mention, it is another matter. There are
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Speaker 2: them in the camp, say and think, man to lie
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Speaker 2: still should not be buried while the breath is in
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Speaker 2: the body. And certain it is that in the hurry
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Speaker 2: of that evening the doctors had but little time to
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Speaker 2: say who was living and who was dead. Hist see
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Speaker 2: you nothing walking on the shore of the pond. It
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Speaker 2: is not probable that any are as houseless as ourselves
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Speaker 2: in this dreary forest. Such as he may care but
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Speaker 2: little for hels ER's shelter, and night dew can never
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Speaker 2: wet a body that passes its days in the water,
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Speaker 2: returned the scout, grasping the shoulder of Hayward, with such
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Speaker 2: convulsive strength as to make the young soldier painfully sensible
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Speaker 2: how much superstitious terror had got the mastery of a
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Speaker 2: man usually so dauntless by heaven. There is a human form,
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Speaker 2: and it approaches. Stand to your arms, my friends, for
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Speaker 2: we know not whom we encounter. Kivi Eve demanded, a stern,
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Speaker 2: quick voice which sounded like a challenge from another worldd
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Speaker 2: issuing out from that solitary and solemn place. What says it,
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Speaker 2: whispered the scout. It speaks neither Indian nor English. Kivive
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Speaker 2: repeated the same voice, which was quickly followed by the
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Speaker 2: rattling of arms and a menacing attitude. France cried Heyward,
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Speaker 2: advancing from the shadow of the trees to the shore
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Speaker 2: of the pond, within a few yards of the sentinel.
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Speaker 3: Du veni vou oulivoud you see Bunon.
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Speaker 2: Demanded the grenadier, in the language and the accent of
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Speaker 2: a man from old France.
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Speaker 3: Jevon de de couvert jevemcuche at vueficier du ra san
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Speaker 3: du mont comrade the prone to purun provincial jesuit capitan
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Speaker 3: de cesi.
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Speaker 2: Heyward well knew that the other was a regiment of
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Speaker 2: the line.
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Speaker 3: I see amint de field commandante la fortification aha to
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Speaker 3: an ascentin du parlais j le I fight prisigner la
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Speaker 3: foi et j lendice a general ma foi Madame John suifachet.
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Speaker 2: Pouvu, exclaimed the young soldier, touching his cap with grace
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Speaker 2: my fortune.
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Speaker 3: De guerre vu trevrie no general on brajon it bean
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Speaker 3: pulis avet ladame silic characterity Junes de guir.
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Speaker 2: Said, Cora, with admirable self possession.
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Speaker 3: But do moudomi je vou suetre un duvois rousa gread jarmpler.
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Speaker 2: The soldier made a low and humble acknowledgment for her civility,
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Speaker 2: and Heyward adding a bon comrade. They moved deliberately forward,
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Speaker 2: leaving the sentinel pacing the banks of the silent pond,
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Speaker 2: little suspecting an enemy of so much effrontery, and humming
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Speaker 2: to himself those words which were recalled to his mind
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Speaker 2: by the sight of women, and perhaps by recollections of
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Speaker 2: his own distant and beautiful friends. V. B. Levon v
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Speaker 2: b La mourd et cetera, et cetera. Tis well you
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Speaker 2: understood the knave, whispered the scout, when they had gained
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Speaker 2: a little distance from the place, and letting his rifle
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Speaker 2: fall into the hollow of his arm again.
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Speaker 3: I soon saw that.
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Speaker 2: He was one of them uneasy frenchers. And well for
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Speaker 2: him it was that his speech was friendly and his
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Speaker 2: wishes kind, or a place might have been found for
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Speaker 2: his bones among those of his countrymen. He was interrupted
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Speaker 2: by a long and heavy groan which arose from the
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Speaker 2: little basin, as though in truth the spirits of the
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Speaker 2: departed lingered about their watery sepulcher. Surely it was flesh,
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Speaker 2: continued the scout. No spirit could handle its arm so steadily.
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Speaker 3: It was a flesh.
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Speaker 2: But whether the poor fellow still belongs to this world
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Speaker 2: may well be doubted, said Heyward, glancing his eyes around him,
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Speaker 2: and missing Chinchcotchcook from their little band. Another groan, more
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Speaker 2: faint than the former, was succeeded by heavy and sullen
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Speaker 2: plunged into the water, and all was still again, as
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Speaker 2: if the borders of the Drury Pool had never been
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Speaker 2: awakened from the silence of creation. While they yet hesitated
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Speaker 2: an uncertainty. The form of the Indian was seen gliding
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Speaker 2: out of the thicket as the chief rejoined them. With
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Speaker 2: one hand he attached the reeking scalp of the unfortunate
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Speaker 2: young Frenchman to his girdle, and with the other he
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Speaker 2: replaced the knife and tomahawk that had drunk his blood.
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Speaker 2: He then took his wonted station. With the air of
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Speaker 2: a man who believed he had done a deed of merit.
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Speaker 2: The scout dropped one end of his rifle to the earth,
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Speaker 2: and leaning his hands on the other, he stood musing
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Speaker 2: in profound silence. Then shaking his head in a mournful manner,
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Speaker 2: he muttered, twould have been a cruel and unhuman act
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Speaker 2: for a white skin, but tis the gift and nature
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Speaker 2: of an Indian, and I suppose it should not be denied.
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Speaker 3: I could wish though.
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Speaker 2: It had befallen in accursed Mingo, rather than that gay
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Speaker 2: young boy from the old countries. Enough, said Heyward, apprehensive
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Speaker 2: the unconscious sisters might comprehend the nature of the detention,
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Speaker 2: and conquering his disgust by a train of reflections very
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Speaker 2: much like that of the hunter, tis done and though
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Speaker 2: better it were left undone cannot be amended. You see,
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Speaker 2: we are too obviously within the sentinels of the enemy.
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Speaker 2: What course do you propose to follow? Yes, said Hawkeye,
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Speaker 2: rousing himself again, tis, as you say, too late to
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Speaker 2: harbor further thoughts about it. I the French have gathered
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Speaker 2: around the fort in good earnest, and we have a
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Speaker 2: delicate needle to thread in passing them, and but little
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Speaker 2: time to do it in, added Heyward, glancing his eyes
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Speaker 2: upwards towards the bank of vapor that concealed the setting moon,
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Speaker 2: and little time to do it in repeated the scout.
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Speaker 2: The thing may be done in two fashions, by the
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Speaker 2: help of providence, without which it may not be done
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Speaker 2: at all. Name them quickly, for time presses. One would
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Speaker 2: be to dismount the gentle ones and let their peace
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Speaker 2: range the plain. By sending the Mohicans in front, we
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Speaker 2: might then cut a lane through their sentries and enter
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Speaker 2: the fort over the dead bodies. It will not do,
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Speaker 2: it will not do, interrupted the generous Heyward. A soldier
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Speaker 2: might force his way in this manner, but never with
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Speaker 2: such a convoy. Twould be indeed a bloody path for
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Speaker 2: such tender feet to wade in return the equally reluctant scout,
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Speaker 2: But I thought it befitting my man who.
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Speaker 3: Had to name it.
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Speaker 2: We must then turn in our trail and get without
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Speaker 2: the line of their lookout, when we will bend short
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Speaker 2: to the west and enter the mountains where I can
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Speaker 2: hide you, so that the devil's hounds in Montcalm's pay
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Speaker 2: will be thrown off the scent for months to come.
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Speaker 2: Let it be done, and that instantly. Further words were unnecessary,
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Speaker 2: for Hawkeye, merely uttering the mandate to follow, moved along
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Speaker 2: the route by which they had just entered their present
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Speaker 2: critical and even dangerous situation. Their progress, like their late dialogue,
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Speaker 2: was guarded and without noise, for none knew at what
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Speaker 2: moment a passing patrol or a crouching picket of the
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Speaker 2: enemy might rise upon their path. As they held their
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Speaker 2: silent way along the margin of the pond, again, Heyward
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Speaker 2: in the Scout, stole furtive glances at its appalling dreariness.
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Speaker 2: They looked in vain for the form they had so
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Speaker 2: recently seen stalking along in silent sh while a low
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Speaker 2: and regular wash of the little waves. By announcing that
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Speaker 2: the waters were not yet subsided, furnished a frightful memorial
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Speaker 2: of the deed of blood they had just witnessed. Like
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Speaker 2: all that passing and gloomy scene, the low basin, however,
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Speaker 2: quickly melted in the darkness and became blended with the
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Speaker 2: mass of black objects in the rear of the travelers.
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Speaker 2: Hawkeye soon deviated from the line of their retreat, and
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Speaker 2: striking off towards the mountains which formed the western boundary
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Speaker 2: of the narrow Plain. He led his followers with swift steps,
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Speaker 2: deep within the shadows that were cast from their high
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Speaker 2: and broken summits. The route was now painful, lying over ground,
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Speaker 2: ragged with rocks and intersected with ravines, and their progress
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Speaker 2: proportionately slow. Bleak and black hills lay on every side
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Speaker 2: of them. Compensating in some degree for the additional toil
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Speaker 2: of the march by the sense of security they imparted.
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Speaker 2: At length, the party began slowly to rise, a steep
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Speaker 2: and rugged ascent by a path that curiously wound among
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Speaker 2: rocks and trees, avoiding the one and supported by the other,
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Speaker 2: in a manner that showed it had been devised by
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Speaker 2: men long practiced in the arts of the wilderness. As
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Speaker 2: they gradually rose from the level of the valleys, the
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Speaker 2: thick darkness which usually precedes the approach of day, began
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Speaker 2: to disperse, and objects were seen in the plain and
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Speaker 2: palpable colors with which they had been gifted by nature.
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Speaker 2: When they issued from the stunted woods which clung to
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Speaker 2: the barren sides of the mountain, upon a flat and
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Speaker 2: mossy rock that formed its summit, they met the morning
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Speaker 2: as it came blushing above the green pines of a
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Speaker 2: hill that lay on the opposite side of the valley
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Speaker 2: of the Horican. The scout now told the sisters to dismount, and,
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Speaker 2: taking the bridles from the mouths and the saddles off
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Speaker 2: the backs of the beast, he turned them loose to
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Speaker 2: glean a scanty substance among the shrubs in meager herbage
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Speaker 2: of that elevated region. Go, he said, and seek your
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Speaker 2: food where nature gives it to you, And beware that
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Speaker 2: you become not food to ravenous wolves yourselves among these hills.
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Speaker 2: Have we no further need of them? Demanded heyward, see
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Speaker 2: and judge with your own eyes, said the scout, advancing
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Speaker 2: toward the eastern brow of the mountain, whither he beckoned
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Speaker 2: for the whole party to follow. If it was as
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Speaker 2: easy to look into the heart of man as it
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Speaker 2: is to spy out the nakedness of Montcalm's camp, from
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Speaker 2: this spot, hypocrites would grow scarce, and the cunning of
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Speaker 2: a Mingo might prove a losing game compared to the
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Speaker 2: honesty of a Delaware. When the travelers reached the verge
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Speaker 2: of the precipices, they saw at a glance the truth
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Speaker 2: of the scout's declaration and the admirable foresight with which
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Speaker 2: he had led them to their commanding station. The mountain
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Speaker 2: on which they stood, elevated perhaps a thousand feet in
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Speaker 2: the air, was a high cone that rose a little
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Speaker 2: in advance of that range, which stretches for miles along
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Speaker 2: the western shores of the lake, until meeting its sisters
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Speaker 2: miles beyond the water. It ran off toward the Canadas
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Speaker 2: in confused and broken masses of rock, thinly sprinkled with evergreens.
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Speaker 2: Immediately at the feet of the party, the southern shore
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Speaker 2: of the Horrican swept in a broad semicircle from mountain
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Speaker 2: to mountain, making a wide strand that soon rose into
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Speaker 2: an uneven and somewhat elevated plain. To the north stretched
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Speaker 2: the limpid and as it appeared from that dizzy height,
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Speaker 2: the narrow sheet of the Holy Lake, indented with numberless bays,
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Speaker 2: embellished by fantastic headlands, and dotted with countless islands. At
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Speaker 2: the distance of a few leagues, the bed of the
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Speaker 2: water became lost among mountains or was wrapped in the
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Speaker 2: masses of vapor that came slowly rolling along their bosom
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Speaker 2: before a light morning air. But a narrow opening between
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Speaker 2: the crest of the hills pointed out the passage by
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Speaker 2: which they found their way still further north to spread
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Speaker 2: their pure and ample sheets again, before pouring out their
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Speaker 2: tribute into the distant champlain. To the south stretched the
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Speaker 2: defile or rather broken plain so often mentioned, For several
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Speaker 2: miles in this direction. The mountains appeared reluctant to yield
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Speaker 2: their dominion, but within reach of the eye they diverged
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Speaker 2: and finally melted into the level and sandy lands across
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Speaker 2: which we have accompanied our adventurers in their double journey.
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Speaker 2: Along both ranges of hills which bounded the opposite sides
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Speaker 2: of the lake and valley, clouds of light vapor were
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Speaker 2: rising in spiral wreaths from the uninhabited woods, looking like
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Speaker 2: the smoke of hidden cottages, or rolled lazily down the
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Speaker 2: declivities to mingle with the fogs of the lower land.
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Speaker 2: A single solitary, snow white cloud floated above the valley
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Speaker 2: and marked the spot beneath which lay the silent pool
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Speaker 2: of the Bloody Pond. Directly on the shore of the lake,
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Speaker 2: and nearer to its western than its eastern margin, lay
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Speaker 2: the extensive earthen ramparts and low buildings of William Henry.
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Speaker 2: Two of the sweeping bastions appeared to rest on the water,
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Speaker 2: which washed their bases, while a deep ditch and extensive
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Speaker 2: morasses guarded its other sides and angles. The land had
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Speaker 2: been cleared of wood for a reasonable distance around the work,
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Speaker 2: but every other part of the scene lay in the
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Speaker 2: green livery of nature, except where the limpid water mellowed
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Speaker 2: the view, or the bold rocks thrust their black and
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Speaker 2: naked heads above the undulating outline of the mountain ranges.
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Speaker 2: In this front might be seen the scattered sentinels, who
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Speaker 2: held a weary watch against their numerous foes, and within
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Speaker 2: the walls themselves, the travelers looked down upon men still
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Speaker 2: drowsy with a night of vigilance. Toward the southeast, but
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Speaker 2: in immediate contact with the fort, was an entrenched camp
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Speaker 2: posted on a rocky eminence that would have been far
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Speaker 2: more eligible for the work itself, in which Hawkeye pointed
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Speaker 2: out the presence of those auxiliary regiments that had so
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Speaker 2: recently left the Hudson in their company. From the woods.
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Speaker 2: A little further to the south rose numerous dark and
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Speaker 2: lurg smokes, which were easily to be distinguished from the
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Speaker 2: purer exultations of the springs, and which the scout also
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Speaker 2: showed to Heyward as evidences that the enemy lay in
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Speaker 2: force in that direction. But the spectacle which most concerned
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Speaker 2: the young soldier was on the western bank of the lake,
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Speaker 2: though quite near to its southern termination, on a strip
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Speaker 2: of land which appeared from this stand too narrow to
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Speaker 2: contain such an army, but which in truth extended many
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Speaker 2: hundreds of yards from the shores of the Horican to
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Speaker 2: the base of the mountain, were to be seen the
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Speaker 2: white tents and military engines of an encampment of ten
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Speaker 2: thousand men. Batteries were already thrown up in their front,
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Speaker 2: and even while the spectators above them were looking down
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Speaker 2: with such different emotions on a scene which lay like
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Speaker 2: a map beneath their feet. The roar of artillery rose
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Speaker 2: from the valley and passed off in thundering echoes along
22:37
Speaker 2: the eastern hills. Morning is just touching them below, said
22:41
Speaker 2: the deliberate, amusing scout. And the watchers have a mind
22:45
Speaker 2: to wake up the sleepers by the sound of cannon.
22:47
Speaker 2: We are a few hours too late. Montcalmb has already
22:51
Speaker 2: filled the woods with his accursed iroquois. The place is
22:55
Speaker 2: indeed invested, returned Duncan. But is there no expeedi by
23:00
Speaker 2: which we may enter? Capture in the works would be
23:03
Speaker 2: far preferable to falling again into the hands of roving indians, see,
23:08
Speaker 2: exclaimed the scout, unconsciously directing the attention of Cora to
23:12
Speaker 2: the quarters of her own father. How that shot has
23:15
Speaker 2: made the stones fly from the side of the commandant's house. Aye,
23:20
Speaker 2: these frenchers will pull it to pieces faster than it
23:22
Speaker 2: was put together, Solid and thick though it be Heyward,
23:27
Speaker 2: I sicken at the sight of danger that I cannot share,
23:30
Speaker 2: said the undaunted but anxious daughter. Let us go to
23:34
Speaker 2: Montcombe and demand ad mission. He dare not deny it, child,
23:40
Speaker 2: the boon you would scarce find the tent of the
23:43
Speaker 2: Frenchman with the hair on your head, said the blunt scout.
23:47
Speaker 2: If I had but one of the thousand boats which
23:50
Speaker 2: lie among that shore, it might be done.
23:53
Speaker 4: Ha.
23:54
Speaker 2: Here will soon be an end of the firing, for
23:57
Speaker 2: yonder comes a fog that will turn day to night
24:00
Speaker 2: and make an Indian arrow more dangerous than a molded cannon. Now,
24:05
Speaker 2: if you are equal to the work and will follow,
24:09
Speaker 2: I will make a push for I long to get
24:12
Speaker 2: down into the camp, if it be only to scatter
24:15
Speaker 2: some mingoed dogs that I see lurking in the skirts
24:18
Speaker 2: of yonder thicket of birch. We are equal, said Cora firmly,
24:23
Speaker 2: on such an errand we will follow to any danger.
24:27
Speaker 2: The scout turned to her with a smile of honest
24:30
Speaker 2: and cordial approbation, as he answered, I would I had
24:33
Speaker 2: a thousand men of brawny limbs and quick eyes that
24:37
Speaker 2: feared death as little as you, I'd send them jabbering
24:41
Speaker 2: frenchers back into their den again. Afore the week was ended,
24:45
Speaker 2: howling like so many fettered hounds or hungry wolves. But
24:49
Speaker 2: Sir he added, turning from her to the rest of
24:52
Speaker 2: the party. The fall comes rolling down so fast. We
24:56
Speaker 2: shall have but just the time to meet it on
24:59
Speaker 2: the plain and use it as a cover. Remember, if
25:04
Speaker 2: any accident should be follow me to keep the air
25:07
Speaker 2: blowing on your left cheeks. Or rather follow the Mohicans
25:13
Speaker 2: they'd sent their way, be it in day or be
25:17
Speaker 2: it at night. He then waved his hand for them
25:20
Speaker 2: to follow, and threw himself down the steep declivity. With
25:25
Speaker 2: free but careful footsteps, Heyward assisted the sisters to descend,
25:31
Speaker 2: and in a few minutes they were all far down
25:33
Speaker 2: a mountain whose sides they had climbed with so much
25:37
Speaker 2: toil and pain. The direction taken by Hawkeye soon brought
25:42
Speaker 2: the travelers to the level of the plain, nearly opposite
25:46
Speaker 2: to a sally port in the western curtain of the fort,
25:50
Speaker 2: which lay itself at the distance of about half a
25:53
Speaker 2: mile from the point where he haulted to allow Duncan
25:57
Speaker 2: to come up with his charge. In their eagerness and
26:01
Speaker 2: favored by the nature of the ground, they had anticipated
26:04
Speaker 2: the fog which was rolling heavily down the lake, and
26:08
Speaker 2: it became necessary to pause until the mist had wrapped
26:11
Speaker 2: the camp of the enemy in their fleecy mantle. The
26:14
Speaker 2: Mohicans profited by the delay to steal out of the
26:18
Speaker 2: woods and to make a survey of surrounding objects. They
26:22
Speaker 2: were followed at a little distance by the scout, with
26:25
Speaker 2: a view to profit early by their report and to
26:28
Speaker 2: obtain some faint knowledge for himself of the more immediate localities.
26:34
Speaker 2: In a very few moments he returned, his face reddened
26:38
Speaker 2: with vexation, while he muttered his disappointment in words of
26:43
Speaker 2: no very gentle import Here has the cunning Frenchman been
26:48
Speaker 2: posting a picket directly in our path? He said, redskins
26:54
Speaker 2: and whites, and we shall be as likely to fall
26:57
Speaker 2: into their midst as to pass them. The fog cannot
27:01
Speaker 2: we make a circuit to avoid the danger, asked heyward,
27:05
Speaker 2: and come into our path again when it is past.
27:09
Speaker 2: Who that once bends from the line of his march
27:11
Speaker 2: in a fog can tell when he or how to
27:14
Speaker 2: find it again. The mist of Horican are not like
27:18
Speaker 2: the curls of us peace pipe, or the smoke which
27:21
Speaker 2: settles above a mosquito fire. He was yet speaking when
27:25
Speaker 2: a crashing sound was heard, and a cannon ball entered
27:29
Speaker 2: the thicket, striking the body of a sapling, and rebounding
27:33
Speaker 2: to the earth, its force much expended by previous resistance.
27:38
Speaker 2: The Indians followed instantly, like busy attendants on the terrible messenger,
27:43
Speaker 2: and Uncas commenced, speaking earnestly and with much action in
27:47
Speaker 2: the delaware tongue. It may be so, lad, muttered the
27:51
Speaker 2: scout when he had ended, For desperate fevers are not
27:54
Speaker 2: to be treated like a toothache. Come, then, the fog
27:58
Speaker 2: is shutting in. Stop, cried Heyward. First explain your expectations.
28:06
Speaker 2: Tis soon done, and a small hope it is, But
28:09
Speaker 2: it is better than nothing. This shot that you see,
28:14
Speaker 2: added the scout, kicking the harmless iron with his foot,
28:18
Speaker 2: has plowed the earth in its road from the fort,
28:21
Speaker 2: and we shall hunt for the furrow it has made.
28:24
Speaker 2: When all other signs may fail, No more words but follow,
28:30
Speaker 2: or the fog may leave us in the middle of
28:31
Speaker 2: our path, a mark for both armies to shoot at. Heyward,
28:36
Speaker 2: perceiving that in fact a crisis had arrived when acts
28:40
Speaker 2: were more required than words, placed himself between the sisters
28:44
Speaker 2: and drew them swiftly forward, keeping the dim figure of
28:48
Speaker 2: their leader in his eye. It was soon apparent that
28:51
Speaker 2: Hawkeye had not magnified the power of the fog, for
28:55
Speaker 2: before they had proceeded twenty yards it was difficult for
28:58
Speaker 2: the different individuals of the party to distinguish each other
29:02
Speaker 2: in the vapor. They had made their little circuit to
29:05
Speaker 2: the left, and were already inclining again toward the right, having,
29:09
Speaker 2: as Heyward thought, got over nearly half the distance to
29:12
Speaker 2: the friendly works when his ears were saluted with the
29:16
Speaker 2: fierce summons, apparently within twenty feet of them of.
29:19
Speaker 3: Give all up.
29:21
Speaker 2: Push on, whispered the scalp once more, bending to the left,
29:25
Speaker 2: Push on, repeated Heyward. When the summons was renewed by
29:29
Speaker 2: a dozen voices, each of which seemed charged with menace,
29:33
Speaker 2: Simon cried duncan dragging, rather than leading those he supported
29:37
Speaker 2: swiftly onward.
29:39
Speaker 4: Bt Cima, I'll beat out a fance. Two bus plus
29:43
Speaker 4: later Donna met dea frants. Hooray o podieu je teffey
29:48
Speaker 4: ami du diabla, non fool, come on, for.
29:53
Speaker 2: The order was instantly obeyed, and the fog was stirred
29:56
Speaker 2: by the explosion of fifty muskets. Happily, the aim was
30:00
Speaker 2: bad and the bullets cut the air in a direction
30:03
Speaker 2: a little different from that taken by the fugitives, though
30:07
Speaker 2: still so nigh them that to the unpracticed ears of
30:10
Speaker 2: David and the two females, it appeared as if they
30:13
Speaker 2: whistled within a few inches of the organs. The outcry
30:17
Speaker 2: was renewed, and the order not only to fire again
30:21
Speaker 2: but to pursue, was too plainly audible. When Hayward briefly
30:26
Speaker 2: explained the meaning of the words they heard, Hawkeye halted
30:29
Speaker 2: and spoke with quick decision and great firmness. Let us
30:33
Speaker 2: deliver our fire, he said. They will believe it a
30:36
Speaker 2: sortie and give way, or they will wait for reinforcements.
30:41
Speaker 2: The scheme was well conceived, but failed in its effects.
30:44
Speaker 2: The instant the French heard the pieces, it seemed as
30:48
Speaker 2: if the plane was alive, with men muskets rattling along
30:51
Speaker 2: its whole extent, from the shores of the lake to
30:54
Speaker 2: the furthest boundary of the woods. We shall draw their
30:58
Speaker 2: entire army upon us and bring on a general assault,
31:01
Speaker 2: said duncan lead on, my friend, for your own life
31:05
Speaker 2: and ours. The Scouts seemed willing to comply, but in
31:09
Speaker 2: the hurry of the moment, and in the change of
31:12
Speaker 2: position he had lost the direction. In vain, he turned
31:16
Speaker 2: either cheek toward the light air. They felt equally cool
31:20
Speaker 2: in this dilemma. Uncas lighted on the furrow of the cannonball,
31:25
Speaker 2: where it had cut the ground in three adjacent ant hills.
31:28
Speaker 2: Give me the range, said Hawkeye, bending to catch a
31:32
Speaker 2: glimpse of the direction, and then instantly moving onward. Cries, oaths,
31:37
Speaker 2: voices calling to each other, and the reports of muskets,
31:41
Speaker 2: which were now quick and incessant, and apparently on every
31:44
Speaker 2: side of them. Suddenly, a strong glare of light flashed
31:48
Speaker 2: across the scene. The fog rolled upward in thick wreaths,
31:53
Speaker 2: and several cannons belched across the plain, and the roar
31:57
Speaker 2: was thrown heavily back from the bellowing echoes of the mountain.
32:01
Speaker 2: 'tis from the fort, exclaimed Hawkeye, turning short on his tracks,
32:07
Speaker 2: And we, like stricken fools, were rushing to the woods
32:10
Speaker 2: under the very knives of the maquas. The instant their
32:14
Speaker 2: mistake was rectified. The whole party retraced the air with
32:18
Speaker 2: the utmost diligence. Duncan willingly relinquished the support of Cora
32:22
Speaker 2: to the arm of Uncas, and cora As readily accepted
32:26
Speaker 2: the welcome assistance. Men hot and angry in pursuit were
32:30
Speaker 2: evidently on their footsteps, and each instant threatened their capture,
32:35
Speaker 2: if not their destruction, cried an eager pursuer who seemed
32:41
Speaker 2: to direct the operations of the enemy.
32:43
Speaker 3: Stand firm and be.
32:45
Speaker 2: Ready, my gallant sixtieths, suddenly, exclaimed the voice above them.
32:49
Speaker 2: Wait to see the enemy fire low and sweep the Glassies. Father, father,
32:55
Speaker 2: exclaimed a piercing cry from out the mist. It is
32:59
Speaker 2: high Alice. Hadn't Elsie spare? Oh save your daughters. Hold,
33:05
Speaker 2: shouted the former speaker in the awful tones of paternal agony,
33:09
Speaker 2: the sound reaching even to the woods and rolling back
33:12
Speaker 2: in solemn echo, do.
33:13
Speaker 5: She God has restored me to my children. Throw open
33:18
Speaker 5: the sally port in the field. Sixtieth to the field.
33:21
Speaker 5: Pull not a trigger lest you kill my lambs. Drive
33:25
Speaker 5: off these dogs of France with your steel.
33:28
Speaker 2: Duncan heard the grating of the rusty hinges, and darting
33:32
Speaker 2: to the spot directed by the sound, he met a
33:34
Speaker 2: long line of dark red warriors passing swiftly toward the Glassies.
33:39
Speaker 2: He knew them from his own battalion of the Royal Americans,
33:42
Speaker 2: and flying to their head, soon swept every trace of
33:45
Speaker 2: his pursuers from before the works. For an instant Cora
33:49
Speaker 2: and Alice stood trembling and bewildered by this unexpected desertion,
33:53
Speaker 2: But before either had leisure for speech or even thought,
33:57
Speaker 2: an officer of gigantic frame, whose locks were bleached with
34:00
Speaker 2: years of service, but whose air of military grandeur had
34:04
Speaker 2: been rather softened than destroyed by time, rushed out of
34:08
Speaker 2: the body of Mist and folded them to his bosom,
34:11
Speaker 2: while large scalding tears rolled down his pale and wrinkled cheeks,
34:15
Speaker 2: and he exclaimed, in the peculiar accent of Scotland. For this,
34:19
Speaker 2: I thank thee Lord. Let danger come as it will,
34:23
Speaker 2: Thy servant is now prepared. End Chapter fourteen