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

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