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

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty four. Quote. Thus spoke the sage. The kings,
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Speaker 1: without delay, dissolved the council and their chief obey unquote
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Speaker 1: from Pope's Iliad. A single moment served to convince the
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Speaker 1: youth that he was mistaken. A hand was laid with
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Speaker 1: a powerful pressure on his arm, and the low voice
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Speaker 1: of Uncas muttered in his ear. The hurons are dogs.
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Speaker 1: The sight of a coward's blood can never make a
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Speaker 1: warrior tremble. The gray head and the sagamore are safe,
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Speaker 1: and the rifle of Hawkeye is not asleep. Go Uncas
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Speaker 1: and the open hand are now strangers. It is enough.
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Speaker 1: Heyward would gladly have heard more. But a gentle push
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Speaker 1: from his friend urged him toward the door and admonished
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Speaker 1: him of the danger that might attend the discovery of
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Speaker 1: their intercourse. Slowly and reluctantly, yielding to the necessity, he
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Speaker 1: quitted the place and mingled with the throng that had
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Speaker 1: hovered nigh. The dying fires in the clearing cast a
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Speaker 1: dim and uncertain light on the dusky figures that were
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Speaker 1: silently stalking to and fro, and occasionally a brighter gleam
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Speaker 1: than calm and glanced into the lodge and exhibited the
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Speaker 1: figure of Uncas, still maintaining his upright attitude, near the
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Speaker 1: dead body of the Huron. A knot of warrior soon
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Speaker 1: entered the place again, and reissuing, they bore the senseless
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Speaker 1: remains into the adjacent woods. After this termination of the scene,
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Speaker 1: Duncan wandered among the lodges, unquestioned and unnoticed, endeavoring to
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Speaker 1: find some trace of her in whose behalf he incurred
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Speaker 1: the risk he ran. In the present temper of the tribe,
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Speaker 1: it would have been easy to have fled and rejoined
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Speaker 1: his companions, had such a wish crossed his mind, But
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Speaker 1: in addition to the never ceasing anxiety on account of Alice,
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Speaker 1: a fresher though feebler interest in the fate of Uncas
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Speaker 1: assisted to chain him to the spot. He continued, therefore
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Speaker 1: to stray from hut to hut, looking into each, only
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Speaker 1: to encounter additional disappointment, until he had made the entire
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Speaker 1: circuit of the village. Abandoning a species of inquiry that
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Speaker 1: proved so fruitless, he retraced his steps to the council lodge,
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Speaker 1: resolved to seek and question David in order to put
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Speaker 1: an end to his doubts. On reaching the building, which
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Speaker 1: had proved alike the seat of judgment and the place
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Speaker 1: of execution, the young man found that the excitement had
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Speaker 1: already subsided. The warriors had reassembled and were now calmly
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Speaker 1: smoking while they conversed gravely on the chief incidents of
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Speaker 1: their recent expedition to the head of the Horican. Though
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Speaker 1: the return of Duncan was likely to remind them of
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Speaker 1: his character the suspicious circumstances of his visit, it produced
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Speaker 1: no visible sensation. So far, the terrible scene that had
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Speaker 1: just occurred proved favorable to his views, and he required
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Speaker 1: no other prompter than his own feelings to convince him
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Speaker 1: of the expediency of profiting by so unexpected an advantage.
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Speaker 1: Without seeming to hesitate, he walked into the lodge and
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Speaker 1: took his seat with a gravity that accorded admirably with
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Speaker 1: the deportment of his host. A hasty but searching glance
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Speaker 1: sufficed to tell him that though Uncas still remained where
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Speaker 1: he had left him, David had not reappeared. No other
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Speaker 1: restraint was imposed on the former than the watchful looks
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Speaker 1: of a young Huron who had placed himself at hand,
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Speaker 1: Though an armed warrior leaned against the post that formed
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Speaker 1: one side of the narrow doorway. In every other respect,
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Speaker 1: the captive seemed at liberty. Still, he was excluded from
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Speaker 1: all participation in the discourse, and possessed much more of
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Speaker 1: the air of some finely molded statue than a man
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Speaker 1: having life and volition. Heyward had too recently witnessed a
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Speaker 1: frightful instance of the prompt punishments of the people in
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Speaker 1: whose hands he had fallen to hazard and exposure by
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Speaker 1: any officious boldness, He would greatly have preferred silence and
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Speaker 1: meditation to speech, when a discovery of his real condition
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Speaker 1: might prove so instantly fatal. Unfortunately, for this prudent resolution,
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Speaker 1: his entertainers appeared otherwise disposed. He had not long occupied
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Speaker 1: the seat, wisely taken a little in the shade, when
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Speaker 1: another of the elder warriors, who spoke the French language,
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Speaker 1: addressed him. My Canada father does not forget his children,
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Speaker 1: said the chief. I thank him. An evil spirit lives
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Speaker 1: in the wife of one of my young men. Can
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Speaker 1: the cunning stranger frighten him away? Hayward possessed some knowledge
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Speaker 1: of the mummery practiced among the Indians, in the cases
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Speaker 1: of such supposed visitations, he saw at a glance that
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Speaker 1: the circumstance might possibly be improved to further his own ends.
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Speaker 1: It would therefore have been difficult just then to have
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Speaker 1: uttered a proposal that would have given him more satisfaction.
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Speaker 1: Aware of the necessity preserving the dignity of his imaginary character, however,
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Speaker 1: he repressed his feelings and answered with suitable mystery. Spirits differ.
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Speaker 1: Some yield to the power of wisdom, while others are
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Speaker 1: too strong. My brother is a great medicine, said the
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Speaker 1: cunning savage. He will try. A gesture of assent was
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Speaker 1: the answer. The huron was content with the assurance, and
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Speaker 1: resuming his pipe, he awaited the proper moment to move
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Speaker 1: the impatient heyward inwardly, extricating the cold customs of the savages,
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Speaker 1: which required such sacrifices to appearance. Was fain to assume
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Speaker 1: an air of indifference equal to that maintained by the chief,
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Speaker 1: who was, in truth a near relative of the afflicted woman.
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Speaker 1: The minutes lingered, and the delay seemed an hour to
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Speaker 1: the adventure in the empiricism. When the huron laid aside
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Speaker 1: his pipe and drew his robe, across his breast, as
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Speaker 1: if about to lead the way to the lodge of
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Speaker 1: the invalid. Just then a warrior of powerful frame darkened
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Speaker 1: the door, and, stalking silently among the attentive group, he
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Speaker 1: seated himself on one end of the low pile of
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Speaker 1: brush which sustained Duncan. The latter cast an impatient look
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Speaker 1: at his neighbor, and felt his flesh creep with uncontrollable
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Speaker 1: horror when he found himself in actual contact with Magua.
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Speaker 1: The sudden return of this artful and dreaded chief caused
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Speaker 1: a delay in the departure of the huron. Several pipes
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Speaker 1: that had been extinguished were lighted again, while the newcomer,
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Speaker 1: without speaking a word, drew his tomahawk from his girdle, and,
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Speaker 1: filling the bowl on its head, began to inhale the
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Speaker 1: vapors of the weed through the hollow handle with as
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Speaker 1: much indifference as if he had not been absent to
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Speaker 1: weary days on a long and toilsome hunt. Ten minutes
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Speaker 1: which appeared so many ages to Duncan, might have passed
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Speaker 1: in this manner, and the warriors were fairly enveloped in
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Speaker 1: a cloud of white smoke before any of them, spoke welcome.
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Speaker 1: One at length muttered, has my friend found the moose?
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Speaker 1: The young men stagger under their burdens, returned Maqua, Let
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Speaker 1: read that bens go on the hunting path, he will
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Speaker 1: meet them. A deep and awful silence succeeded the utterance
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Speaker 1: of the forbidden name. Each type dropped from the lips
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Speaker 1: of its owner, as though all had inhaled an impurity.
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Speaker 1: At the same instant, the smoke wreathed above their heads
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Speaker 1: in little eddies, and curling in a spiral form. It
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Speaker 1: ascended swiftly through the opening in the roof of the lodge,
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Speaker 1: leaving the place beneath clear of its fumes, and each
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Speaker 1: dark visage distinctly visible. The looks of most of the
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Speaker 1: warriors were riveted on the earth, though a few of
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Speaker 1: the younger and less gifted the party suffered their wild
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Speaker 1: and glaring eyeballs to roll in the direction of a
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Speaker 1: white headed savage who sat between two of the most
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Speaker 1: venerated chiefs of the tribe. There was nothing in the
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Speaker 1: air or attire this Indian that would seem to entitle
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Speaker 1: him to such a distinction. The former was rather depressed
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Speaker 1: than remarkable, for the bearing of the natives, and the
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Speaker 1: latter was such as was commonly worn by the ordinary
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Speaker 1: men of the nation. Like most around him, for more
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Speaker 1: than a minute, his look, too was on the ground,
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Speaker 1: but trusting his eyes at length to steal a glance aside,
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Speaker 1: he perceived that he was becoming an object of general attention.
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Speaker 1: Then he arose and lifted his voice in the general silence.
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Speaker 1: It was a lie, he said, I had no son.
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Speaker 1: He who was called by that name is forgotten. His
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Speaker 1: blood was pale, and it came not from the veins
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Speaker 1: of a huron. The wicked Chippewas cheated my squaw. The
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Speaker 1: great Spirit has said that the family of Wish and
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Speaker 1: Touche should end. He is happy. He knows that the
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Speaker 1: evil of his race dies with himself. I have done.
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Speaker 1: The speaker, who was the father of the recreant young Indian,
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Speaker 1: looked round and about him, as if seeking commendation of
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Speaker 1: his stoicism in the eyes of the auditors. But the
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Speaker 1: stern customs of his people had made too severe an
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Speaker 1: exaction on the feeble old man. Expression of his eye
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Speaker 1: contradicted his figurative, imboastful language, while every muscle in his
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Speaker 1: wrinkled visage was working with anguish, standing a single minute
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Speaker 1: to enjoy his bitter triumph, he turned away as if
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Speaker 1: sickening at the gaze of men, and veiling his face
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Speaker 1: in his blanket. He walked from the lodge with the
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Speaker 1: noiseless step of an Indian, seeking, in the privacy of
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Speaker 1: his own abode the sympathy of one like himself, aged
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Speaker 1: forlorn and childless. The Indians, who believe in the hereditary
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Speaker 1: transmission of virtues and defects in character, suffered him to
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Speaker 1: depart in silence. Then with an elevation of breeding that
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Speaker 1: many in a more cultivated state of society might profitably emulate.
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Speaker 1: One of the chiefs drew the attention of the young
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Speaker 1: men from the weakness they had just witnessed by saying
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Speaker 1: the cheerful voice, addressing himself in courtesy to Magua, as
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Speaker 1: the newest comer. The Delawares have been like bears after
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Speaker 1: the honeypots, prowling around my village. But who has ever
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Speaker 1: found i Iran asleep? The darkness of the impending cloud
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Speaker 1: which precedes a burst of thunder was not blacker than
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Speaker 1: the brow of Magua, as he exclaimed, the Delawares are
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Speaker 1: the lakes, not so they who bear the pettiquodes of
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Speaker 1: squaws on their own river. One of them has been
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Speaker 1: passing the tribe.
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Speaker 2: Did my young men take his scalp? His legs were good,
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Speaker 2: though his arm is better for the hoe than the tomahawk,
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Speaker 2: returned the other, pointing to the immovable form of Uncas.
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Speaker 2: Instead of manifesting any womanish curiosity to feast his eyes
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Speaker 2: with the sight of a captive from a people he
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Speaker 2: was known to have so much reason to hate, Maqua
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Speaker 2: continued to smoke with the meditative air that he usually
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Speaker 2: maintained when there was no immediate call on his cunning
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Speaker 2: or his eloquence. Although secretly amazed at the facts communicated
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Speaker 2: by the speech of the aged father, he permitted himself
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Speaker 2: to ask no questions, reserving his inquiries for a more
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Speaker 2: suitable moment. It was only after a sufficient interval that
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Speaker 2: he shook the ashes from his pipe, replaced the tomahawk,
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Speaker 2: tightened his girdle, and arose, casting for the first time
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Speaker 2: a glance in the direction of the prisoner, who stood
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Speaker 2: a little behind him. The weary, though seemingly abstracted Uncas
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Speaker 2: caught a glimpse of the movement, and turning suddenly to
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Speaker 2: the light, their looks met. Near a minute, these two
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Speaker 2: bold and untamed spirits stood regarding one another steadily in
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Speaker 2: the eye, neither quelling in the least before the fierce gaze.
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Speaker 2: He encountered the form of Uncas dilated and his nostrils
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Speaker 2: opened like those of a tigrit. But so rigid and
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Speaker 2: unyielding was his posture that he might easily have been
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Speaker 2: converted by the imagination into an exquisite and faultless representation
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Speaker 2: of the warlike deity of his tribe. The lineaments and
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Speaker 2: the quivering features of Maqua proved more ductile. His countenance
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Speaker 2: gradually lost its character of defiance in an expression of
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Speaker 2: ferocious joy, and, heaving a breath from the very bottom
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Speaker 2: of his chest, he pronounced aloud the formidable name.
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Speaker 1: Of Lais Serfagieu. Each warrior sprang upon his feet at
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Speaker 1: the utterance of the well known appellation, and there was
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Speaker 1: a short period during which the stoical constancy of the
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Speaker 1: natives was completely conquered by surprise. The hated and yet
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Speaker 1: respected name was repeated as by one voice, carrying the
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Speaker 1: sound even beyond the limits of the lodge. The women
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Speaker 1: and children who linger around the entrance, took up the
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Speaker 1: words in an echo, which was succeeded by another shrill
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Speaker 1: and plaintive howl. The latter was not yet ended when
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Speaker 1: the sensation among the men had entirely abated. Each one
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Speaker 1: in presence seated himself, as though ashamed of his precipitation.
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Speaker 1: But it was many minutes before the meaning eyes ceased
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Speaker 1: to roll toward their captive. In curious examination of a
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Speaker 1: warrior who had so often proved his prowess at the
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Speaker 1: best and proudest of their nation, Uncas enjoyed his victory,
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Speaker 1: but was content with merely exhibiting his triumph by a
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Speaker 1: quiet smile, an emblem of scorn which belongs to all
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Speaker 1: time and every nation. Makua caught the expression, and raising
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Speaker 1: his arm, he shook it at the captive, the light
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Speaker 1: silver ornaments attached to his braceless rattling with the trembling
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Speaker 1: agitation of the limb as. In a tone of vengeance,
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Speaker 1: he exclaimed in English, mo he can you die? The
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Speaker 1: healing waters will never bring the dead urons to life,
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Speaker 1: returned Uncas in the music of the Delawares, The tumbling
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Speaker 1: river watches their bones. Their men are squaws. Their woman
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Speaker 1: owls go call together the Uron dogs, that they may
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Speaker 1: look upon a warrior. My nostrils are offended. They scent
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Speaker 1: the blood of a coward. The latter illusion struck deep,
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Speaker 1: and the injury rankled. Many of the Hurons understood the
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Speaker 1: strange tongue in which the captives spoke, among which number
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Speaker 1: was Maqua. This cunning savage beheld and instantly profited by
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Speaker 1: his advantage. Dropping the light robe of skin from his shoulder,
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Speaker 1: he stretched forth his arm and commenced a burst of
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Speaker 1: his dangerous and artful eloquence. However, much his influence among
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Speaker 1: his people have been impaired by his occasional and besetting weakness,
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Speaker 1: as well as by his desertion of the tribe, His
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Speaker 1: courage and his fame as an orator were undeniable. He
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Speaker 1: never spoke without auditors, and rarely without making converts to
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Speaker 1: his opinions. On the present occasion, his native powers were
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Speaker 1: stimulated by the thirst of revenge. He again recounted the
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Speaker 1: events of the attack on the island at Glen's, the
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Speaker 1: death of his associates and the escape of their most
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Speaker 1: formidable enemies. Then he described the nature and position of
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Speaker 1: the mount whither he had led such captives as had
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Speaker 1: fallen into their hands. Of his own bloody intentions toward
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Speaker 1: the maidens, and of his baffled malice, he made no mention,
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Speaker 1: but passed rapidly on to the surprise of the party
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Speaker 1: by la longue carabine and its fatal termination. Here he
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Speaker 1: paused and looked about him, in effected veneration of the departed,
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Speaker 1: but in truth to note the effect of his opening narrative.
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Speaker 1: As usual, every eye was riveted on his face, Each
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Speaker 1: dusky figure seemed a breathing statue. So motionless was the posture,
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Speaker 1: so intense the attention of the individual. Then Makwad dropped
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Speaker 1: his voice, which had hitherto been clear, strong and elevated,
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Speaker 1: and touched upon the merits of the dead. No quality
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Speaker 1: that was likely to command the sympathy of an Indian
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Speaker 1: escaped his notice. One had never been known to follow
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Speaker 1: the chase in vain, another had been indefatigable on the
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Speaker 1: trail of their enemies. This was brave, that generous. In short,
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Speaker 1: he so managed his illusions that, in a nation which
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Speaker 1: was composed of so few families, he contrived to strike
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Speaker 1: every cord that might find in its turn some breast
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Speaker 1: in which to vibrate. Are the bones of my young men,
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Speaker 1: he concluded, in the burial place of the Hurons, you
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Speaker 1: know that they are not. Their spirits are gone toward
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Speaker 1: the setting sun, and are already crossing the great waters
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Speaker 1: to the happy hunting grounds. But they departed without food,
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Speaker 1: without guns or knives, without moccasins, naked and poor as
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Speaker 1: they were born. Shall this be.
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Speaker 3: Are their souls to enter the land of the just
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Speaker 3: like hungry Iroquois or unmanly Delawares. Or shall they meet
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Speaker 3: their friends with arms in their hands and rolls on
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Speaker 3: their backs? What will our fathers think the tribes of
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Speaker 3: the Wyandotes have become. They will look on their children
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Speaker 3: with a dark eye and say, go, a Chippewa has
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Speaker 3: come hither with the name of a Huron. Brothers, we
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Speaker 3: must not forget the dead. Our redskin never ceases to remember.
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Speaker 3: We will load the back of this Mohican until he
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Speaker 3: staggers under our bounty, and despatch him. After my young
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Speaker 3: men they call to us for aid, though our ears
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Speaker 3: are not open. They say, forget us not when they
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Speaker 3: see the spirit of this Mohican toiling after them with
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Speaker 3: his burden they will know that we are of that mind.
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Speaker 3: Then they will go on happy, and our children will say,
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Speaker 3: so did our fathers to their friends, so must we
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Speaker 3: do to them? What is a Yankee? We have slain many,
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Speaker 3: but the earth is still pale. A stain on the
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Speaker 3: name of a Huron can only be hid by blood
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Speaker 3: that comes from the veins of an Indian.
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Speaker 1: Let this delaware die. The effect of such a harangue,
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Speaker 1: delivered in the nervous language and with the emphatic manner
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Speaker 1: of a huron orator, could scarcely be mistaken. Makua had
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Speaker 1: so artfully blended the natural sympathies with the religious superstition
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Speaker 1: of his auditors that their minds, already prepared by custom
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Speaker 1: to sacrifice a victim to the mans of their countrymen,
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Speaker 1: lost every vestige of humanity in a wish for revenge.
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Speaker 1: One warrior, in particular, a man of wild and ferocious mien,
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Speaker 1: had been conspicuous for the attention he had given to
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Speaker 1: the words of the speaker. His countenance had changed with
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Speaker 1: each passing emotion, until it settled on a look of
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Speaker 1: deadly malice. As Magua ended, he arose and uttering the
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Speaker 1: yell of a demon. His polished little axe was seen
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Speaker 1: glancing in the torchlight as he whirled it above his head.
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Speaker 1: The motion in the cry were too sudden for words
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Speaker 1: to enter up his bloody intention. It appeared as if
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Speaker 1: a bright gleam shot from his hand, which was crossed
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Speaker 1: at the same moment by a dark and powerful line.
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Speaker 1: The former was the tomahawk in its passage, the latter,
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Speaker 1: the arm of Maqua, darted forward to divert its aim.
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Speaker 1: The quick and ready motion of the chief was not
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Speaker 1: entirely too late. The keen weapon cut the war plume
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Speaker 1: of the scalping tuft of Uncas, and passed through the
21:31
Speaker 1: frail wall of the lodge, as though were hurled from
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Speaker 1: some formidable engine. Duncan had seen the threatening action and
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Speaker 1: sprung upon his feet with a heart which, while it
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Speaker 1: leaped into its throat, swelled with the most generous resolution
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Speaker 1: in behalf of his friend. A glance told him that
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Speaker 1: the blow had failed, and terror changed to admiration. Uncas
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Speaker 1: stood still, looking his enemy in the eye, with features
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Speaker 1: that seemed superior to emotion. Marble could not be colder, calmer,
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Speaker 1: or steadier than the countenance he put upon this sudden
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Speaker 1: and vindictive attack. Then, as if pitying a want of
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Speaker 1: skill which had proved so fortunate to himself, he smiled
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Speaker 1: and muttered a few words of contempt in his own tongue. No,
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Speaker 1: said Maqua, after satisfying himself of the safety of the captive.
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Speaker 1: The sun must shine on his shame, the squaws must
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Speaker 1: see his flesh tremble, or our revenge would be like
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Speaker 1: the play of boys. Go take him where there is silence.
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Speaker 1: Let us see if a delaware can sleep at night
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Speaker 1: and in the morning die. The young men whose duty
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Speaker 1: it was to guard the prisoner instantly passed their ligaments
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Speaker 1: of bark across his arms, and led him from the
22:54
Speaker 1: lodge amid a profound and ominous silence. It was only
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Speaker 1: as the figure of Uncas stood in the opening of
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Speaker 1: the door that his firm step hesitated. There he turned,
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Speaker 1: and in the sweeping and haughty glance that he threw
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Speaker 1: around the circle of his enemies, Duncan caught a look
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Speaker 1: which he was glad to construe into an expression that
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Speaker 1: he was not entirely deserted by hope. Makwell was content
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Speaker 1: with its success or, too much occupied with his secret
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Speaker 1: purposes to push his inquiries any further, shaking his mantle
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Speaker 1: and folding it on his bosom. He also quitted the
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Speaker 1: place without pursuing a subject which might have proved so
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Speaker 1: fatal to the individual at his elbow. Notwithstanding his rising resentment,
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Speaker 1: his natural firmness, and his anxiety on behalf of uncas,
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Speaker 1: Heyward felt sensibly relieved by the absence of so dangerous
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Speaker 1: and subtle a foe. The excitement produced by the speech
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Speaker 1: gradually subsided. The warriors resumed their seats, and clouds of
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Speaker 1: smoke once more filled the lodge. For near half an hour,
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Speaker 1: not a syllable was uttered, or scarcely a look cast aside,
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Speaker 1: a grave and meditative silence being the ordinary succession to
24:15
Speaker 1: every scheme of violence and commotion among these beings, who
24:19
Speaker 1: were alike so impetuous and yet so self restrained. When
24:24
Speaker 1: the chief who had solicited the aid of Duncan finished
24:27
Speaker 1: his pipe, he made a final and successful movement toward
24:31
Speaker 1: the departing. A motion of a finger was the intimation
24:35
Speaker 1: he gave the supposed physician to follow, and, passing through
24:39
Speaker 1: the clouds of smoke, Duncan was glad, on more accounts
24:43
Speaker 1: than one to be able at least to breathe the
24:46
Speaker 1: pure air of a cool and refreshing summer evening. Instead
24:50
Speaker 1: of pursuing his way among those lodges where Heyward had
24:53
Speaker 1: already made his unsuccessful search, his companion turned aside and
24:59
Speaker 1: proceeded directly to toward the base of an adjacent mountain
25:02
Speaker 1: which overhung the temporary village. A thicket of brush skirted
25:06
Speaker 1: its foot, and it became necessary to proceed through a
25:10
Speaker 1: crooked and narrow path. The boys had resumed their sports
25:14
Speaker 1: in the clearing and were enacting the mimic chase to
25:17
Speaker 1: the posts among themselves. In order to render their games
25:22
Speaker 1: as like the reality as possible. One of the boldest
25:26
Speaker 1: of their number had conveyed a few brands into some
25:29
Speaker 1: piles of tree tops that had hitherto escape the burning.
25:33
Speaker 1: The blaze of one of these fires lighted the way
25:35
Speaker 1: of the Chief and Duncan, and gave a character of
25:38
Speaker 1: additional wildness to the rude scenery. At a little distance
25:42
Speaker 1: from a bald rock and directly in its front, they
25:45
Speaker 1: entered a grassy opening, which they prepared to cross. Just
25:50
Speaker 1: then fresh fuel was added to the fire, and a
25:53
Speaker 1: powerful light penetrated even to that distant spot. It fell
25:58
Speaker 1: upon the white surface of the mountain, and was reflected
26:01
Speaker 1: downward upon a dark and mysterious looking being that arose
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Speaker 1: unexpectedly in their path. The Indian paused, as if doubtful,
26:09
Speaker 1: whether to proceed, and permitted his companion to approach his side.
26:14
Speaker 1: A large black ball, which at first seemed stationary, now
26:18
Speaker 1: began to move in a manner that, to the latter
26:21
Speaker 1: was inexplicable. Again, the fire brightened and its glare fellm
26:26
Speaker 1: more distinctly on the object. Then even Duncan knew it
26:30
Speaker 1: by its restless and sidling attitudes, which kept the upper
26:33
Speaker 1: part of its forming constant motion. While the animal itself
26:37
Speaker 1: appeared seated to be a bear. Though it growled loudly
26:42
Speaker 1: and fiercely, and there were instants when its glistening eyeballs
26:46
Speaker 1: might be seen, it gave no other indications of hostility.
26:50
Speaker 1: The Huron at least seemed assured that the intentions of
26:54
Speaker 1: this singular intruduble were peaceable, for after giving it an
27:00
Speaker 1: attentive examination, he quietly pursued his course. Duncan, who knew
27:06
Speaker 1: that the animal was often domesticated among the Indians, followed
27:10
Speaker 1: the example of his companion, believing that some favorite of
27:14
Speaker 1: the tribe had found its way into the thicket in
27:16
Speaker 1: search of food. They passed it unmolested, though obliged to
27:22
Speaker 1: come nearly in contact with the monster. The Huron, who
27:26
Speaker 1: at first so warily determined the character of this strange visitor,
27:31
Speaker 1: was now content with proceeding without wasting a moment in
27:34
Speaker 1: further examination. But Heyward was unable to prevent his eyes
27:39
Speaker 1: from looking backward in salutary watchfulness against attacks from the rear.
27:45
Speaker 1: His uneasiness was in no degree diminished when he perceived
27:49
Speaker 1: the beast rolling along their path and following their footsteps.
27:53
Speaker 1: He would have spoken, but the Indian at that moment
27:56
Speaker 1: shoved aside a door of bark and entered a cavern
27:59
Speaker 1: in the bosom of the mountain. Profiting by so easy
28:02
Speaker 1: a method of retreat, Duncan stepped after him and was
28:06
Speaker 1: gladly closing the slight cover to the opening when he
28:09
Speaker 1: felt it drawn from his hand by the beast, whose
28:13
Speaker 1: shaggy form immediately darkened the passage. They were now in
28:17
Speaker 1: a straight and long gallery in a chasm of the rocks,
28:21
Speaker 1: where retreat without encountering the animal was impossible, Making the
28:26
Speaker 1: best of the circumstances. The young man pressed forward, keeping
28:30
Speaker 1: as close as possible to his conductor. The bare growled
28:35
Speaker 1: frequently at his heels, and once or twice its enormous
28:38
Speaker 1: palls were laid on his person, as if disposed to
28:42
Speaker 1: prevent his further passage into the den. How long the
28:46
Speaker 1: nerves of Hayward would have sustained him in this extraordinary situation,
28:51
Speaker 1: it might be difficult to decide. For Happily, he soon
28:55
Speaker 1: found relief. A glimmer of light had constantly been in
28:59
Speaker 1: their front, and they now arrived at the place whence
29:03
Speaker 1: it proceeded. A large cavity in the rock had been
29:06
Speaker 1: rudely fitted to answer the purposes of many apartments. These
29:10
Speaker 1: subdivisions were simple but ingenious, being composed of stone, sticks
29:16
Speaker 1: and bark intermingled. Openings above admitted the light by day,
29:22
Speaker 1: and at night, fires and torches supplied the place of
29:24
Speaker 1: the sun. Hither the Hurons had brought most of their valuables,
29:29
Speaker 1: especially those which were more particularly pertained to the nation.
29:33
Speaker 1: And hither, as it now appeared, the sick woman, who
29:37
Speaker 1: was believed to be the victim of supernatural power, had
29:40
Speaker 1: been transported, also under an impression that her tormentor would
29:45
Speaker 1: find more difficulty in making his assaults through the walls
29:48
Speaker 1: of stone than through the leafy coverings of the lodges.
29:52
Speaker 1: The apartment into which Duncan and his guide first entered
29:55
Speaker 1: had been exclusively devoted to her accommodation. The at her
30:00
Speaker 1: approached her bedside, which was surrounded by females in the
30:04
Speaker 1: center of whom Heyward was surprised to find his missing
30:08
Speaker 1: friend David. A single look was sufficient to apprize the
30:12
Speaker 1: pretended leech that the invalid was far beyond his powers
30:15
Speaker 1: of healing. She lay in a sort of paralysis, indifferent
30:20
Speaker 1: to the objects which crowded before her sight, and happily
30:24
Speaker 1: unconscious of suffering. Heyward was far from regretting that his
30:29
Speaker 1: memories were to be performed on one who was much
30:32
Speaker 1: too ill to take an interest in their failure or success.
30:36
Speaker 1: The slight qualm of conscience which had been excited by
30:39
Speaker 1: the intended deception, was instantly appeased, and he began to
30:44
Speaker 1: collect his thoughts in order to enact his part with
30:47
Speaker 1: suitable spirit. When he found that he was about to
30:50
Speaker 1: be anticipated in his skill by an attempt to prove
30:53
Speaker 1: the power of music, Gammout who had stood prepared to
30:57
Speaker 1: pour forth his spirit and song when the visitors entered,
31:00
Speaker 1: after delaying a moment, drew a strain from his pipe
31:04
Speaker 1: and commenced to him that might have worked a miracle,
31:06
Speaker 1: had faith in its efficacy been of much avail. He
31:10
Speaker 1: was allowed to proceed to the close, the Indians, respecting
31:14
Speaker 1: his imaginary infirmity, and Duncan, too, glad of the delay,
31:18
Speaker 1: to hazard the slightest interruption. As the dying cadence of
31:23
Speaker 1: his strains was falling on the ears of the latter,
31:26
Speaker 1: he started aside, and, hearing them repeated behind him in
31:29
Speaker 1: a voice half human and half sepuchal. Looking around, he
31:33
Speaker 1: beheld the shaggy monster seated on end in a shadow
31:38
Speaker 1: of the cavern, where while his restless body swung in
31:42
Speaker 1: the uneasy manner of the animal, it repeated a sort
31:46
Speaker 1: of low growl, sounds, if not words, which bore some
31:50
Speaker 1: slight resemblance to the melody of the singer. The effect
31:54
Speaker 1: of so strange an echo on David may be better
31:57
Speaker 1: imagined than described. His eyes opened as if he doubted
32:02
Speaker 1: their truth, and his voice became instantly mute. In excess
32:07
Speaker 1: of wonder, a deep laid scheme of communicating some important
32:12
Speaker 1: intelligence to Heyward was driven from his recollection by an
32:16
Speaker 1: emotion which very nearly resembled fear, but which he was
32:20
Speaker 1: fain to believe was admiration. Under its influence, he exclaimed aloud,
32:27
Speaker 1: she expects you and is at hand, and precipitately left
32:31
Speaker 1: the cavern end of chapter twenty four