“Stand to your arms, and guard the door--all's lost
Unless that fearful bell be silenced soon.
The officer hath miss'd his path, or purpose,
Or met some unforeseen and hideous obstacle.
Anselmo, with thy company proceed
Straight to the tower; the rest remain with me.”
Byron, Marino Faliero, IV.ii.230-35.
The conjecture of Judith Hutter, concerning the manner in which the
Indian girl had met her death, was accurate in the main. After sleeping
several hours, her father and March awoke. This occurred a few minutes
after she had left the Ark to go in quest of her sister, and when of
course Chingachgook and his betrothed were on board. From the Delaware
the old man learned the position of the camp, and the recent events, as
well as the absence of his daughters. The latter gave him no concern,
for he relied greatly on the sagacity of the elder, and the known
impunity with which the younger passed among the savages. Long
familiarity with danger, too, had blunted his sensibilities. Nor did he
seem much to regret the captivity of Deerslayer, for, while he knew how
material his aid might be in a defence, the difference in their views on
the morality of the woods, had not left much sympathy between them. He
would have rejoiced to know the position of the camp before it had been
alarmed by the escape of Hist, but it would be too hazardous now to
venture to land, and he reluctantly relinquished for the night the
ruthless designs that cupidity and revenge had excited him to entertain.
In this mood Hutter took a seat in the head of the scow, where he
was quickly joined by Hurry, leaving the Serpent and Hist in quiet
possession of the other extremity of the vessel.
“Deerslayer has shown himself a boy, in going among the savages at this
hour, and letting himself fall into their hands like a deer that tumbles
into a pit,” growled the old man, perceiving as usual the mote in his
neighbor's eyes, while he overlooked the beam in his own; “if he is left
to pay for his stupidity with his own flesh, he can blame no one but
himself.”
“That's the way of the world, old Tom,” returned Hurry. “Every man must
meet his own debts, and answer for his own sins. I'm amazed, howsever,
that a lad as skilful and watchful as Deerslayer should have been caught
in such a trap! Didn't he know any better than to go prowling about a
Huron camp at midnight, with no place to retreat to but a lake? or did
he think himself a buck, that by taking to the water could throw off the
scent and swim himself out of difficulty? I had a better opinion of the
boy's judgment, I'll own; but we must overlook a little ignorance in a
raw hand. I say, Master Hutter, do you happen to know what has become of
the gals--I see no signs of Judith, or Hetty, though I've been through
the Ark, and looked into all its living creatur's.”
Hutter briefly explained the manner in which his daughters had taken to
the canoe, as it had been related by the Delaware, as well as the return
of Judith after landing her sister, and her second departure.
“This comes of a smooth tongue, Floating Tom,” exclaimed Hurry, grating
his teeth in pure resentment--“This comes of a smooth tongue, and a
silly gal's inclinations, and you had best look into the matter! You and
I were both prisoners--” Hurry could recall that circumstance now--“you
and I were both prisoners and yet Judith never stirred an inch to do us
any sarvice! She is bewitched with this lank-looking Deerslayer, and he,
and she, and you, and all of us, had best look to it. I am not a man to
put up with such a wrong quietly, and I say, all the parties had best
look to it! Let's up kedge, old fellow, and move nearer to this p'int,
and see how matters are getting on.”
Hutter had no objections to this movement, and the Ark was got under
way in the usual manner; care being taken to make no noise. The wind was
passing northward, and the sail soon swept the scow so far up the lake
as to render the dark outlines of the trees that clothed the point dimly
visible. Floating Tom steered, and he sailed along as near the land as
the depth of the water and the overhanging branches would allow. It was
impossible to distinguish anything that stood within the shadows of the
shore, but the forms of the sail and of the hut were discerned by the
young sentinel on the beach, who has already been mentioned. In the
moment of sudden surprise, a deep Indian exclamation escaped him. In
that spirit of recklessness and ferocity that formed the essence of
Hurry's character, this man dropped his rifle and fired. The ball was
sped by accident, or by that overruling providence which decides the
fates of all, and the girl fell. Then followed the scene with the
torches, which has just been described.
At the precise moment when Hurry committed this act of unthinking
cruelty, the canoe of Judith was within a hundred feet of the spot from
which the Ark had so lately moved. Her own course has been described,
and it has now become our office to follow that of her father and his
companions. The shriek announced the effects of the random shot of
March, and it also proclaimed that the victim was a woman. Hurry himself
was startled at these unlooked for consequences, and for a moment he
was sorely disturbed by conflicting sensations. At first he laughed, in
reckless and rude-minded exultation; and then conscience, that monitor
planted in our breasts by God, and which receives its more general
growth from the training bestowed in the tillage of childhood, shot a
pang to his heart. For a minute, the mind of this creature equally of
civilization and of barbarism, was a sort of chaos as to feeling, not
knowing what to think of its own act; and then the obstinacy and pride
of one of his habits, interposed to assert their usual ascendency. He
struck the butt of his rifle on the bottom of the scow, with a species
of defiance, and began to whistle a low air with an affectation of
indifference. All this time the Ark was in motion, and it was already
opening the bay above the point, and was consequently quitting the land.
Hurry's companions did not view his conduct with the same indulgence
as that with which he appeared disposed to regard it himself. Hutter
growled out his dissatisfaction, for the act led to no advantage, while
it threatened to render the warfare more vindictive than ever, and none
censure motiveless departures from the right more severely than the
mercenary and unprincipled. Still he commanded himself, the captivity
of Deerslayer rendering the arm of the offender of double consequence
to him at that moment. Chingachgook arose, and for a single instant the
ancient animosity of tribes was forgotten, in a feeling of colour;
but he recollected himself in season to prevent any of the fierce
consequences that, for a passing moment, he certainly meditated. Not so
with Hist. Rushing through the hut, or cabin, the girl stood at the side
of Hurry, almost as soon as his rifle touched the bottom of the scow,
and with a fearlessness that did credit to her heart, she poured out her
reproaches with the generous warmth of a woman.
“What for you shoot?” she said. “What Huron gal do, dat you kill him?
What you t'ink Manitou say? What you t'ink Manitou feel? What Iroquois
do? No get honour--no get camp--no get prisoner--no get battle--no get
scalp--no get not'ing at all! Blood come after blood! How you feel, your
wife killed? Who pity you, when tear come for moder, or sister? You big
as great pine--Huron gal little slender birch--why you fall on her and
crush her? You t'ink Huron forget it? No; red-skin never forget! Never
forget friend; never forget enemy. Red man Manitou in dat. Why you so
wicked, great pale-face?”
Hurry had never been so daunted as by this close and warm attack of the
Indian girl. It is true that she had a powerful ally in his conscience,
and while she spoke earnestly, it was in tones so feminine as to deprive
him of any pretext for unmanly anger. The softness of her voice added
to the weight of her remonstrance, by lending to the latter an air of
purity and truth. Like most vulgar minded men, he had only regarded the
Indians through the medium of their coarser and fiercer characteristics.
It had never struck him that the affections are human, that even high
principles--modified by habits and prejudices, but not the less elevated
within their circle--can exist in the savage state, and that the
warrior who is most ruthless in the field, can submit to the softest and
gentlest influences in the moments of domestic quiet. In a word, it
was the habit of his mind to regard all Indians as being only a slight
degree removed from the wild beasts that roamed the woods, and to
feel disposed to treat them accordingly, whenever interest or caprice
supplied a motive or an impulse. Still, though daunted by these
reproaches, the handsome barbarian could hardly be said to be penitent.
He was too much rebuked by conscience to suffer an outbreak of temper
to escape him, and perhaps he felt that he had already committed an act
that might justly bring his manhood in question. Instead of resenting,
or answering the simple but natural appeal of Hist, he walked away, like
one who disdained entering into a controversy with a woman.
In the mean while the Ark swept onward, and by the time the scene with
the torches was enacting beneath the trees, it had reached the open
lake, Floating Tom causing it to sheer further from the land with a
sort of instinctive dread of retaliation. An hour now passed in gloomy
silence, no one appearing disposed to break it. Hist had retired to her
pallet, and Chingachgook lay sleeping in the forward part of the scow.
Hutter and Hurry alone remained awake, the former at the steering oar,
while the latter brooded over his own conduct, with the stubbornness of
one little given to a confession of his errors, and the secret goadings
of the worm that never dies. This was at the moment when Judith and
Hetty reached the centre of the lake, and had lain down to endeavor to
sleep in their drifting canoe.
The night was calm, though so much obscured by clouds. The season was
not one of storms, and those which did occur in the month of June, on
that embedded water, though frequently violent were always of short
continuance. Nevertheless, there was the usual current of heavy, damp
night air, which, passing over the summits of the trees, scarcely
appeared to descend as low as the surface of the glassy lake, but kept
moving a short distance above it, saturated with the humidity that
constantly arose from the woods, and apparently never proceeding far in
any one direction. The currents were influenced by the formation of the
hills, as a matter of course, a circumstance that rendered even fresh
breezes baffling, and which reduced the feebler efforts of the night
air to be a sort of capricious and fickle sighings of the woods. Several
times the head of the Ark pointed east, and once it was actually turned
towards the south, again; but, on the whole, it worked its way north;
Hutter making always a fair wind, if wind it could be called, his
principal motive appearing to keep in motion, in order to defeat any
treacherous design of his enemies. He now felt some little concern about
his daughters, and perhaps as much about the canoe; but, on the whole,
this uncertainty did not much disturb him, as he had the reliance
already mentioned on the intelligence of Judith.
It was the season of the shortest nights, and it was not long before the
deep obscurity which precedes the day began to yield to the returning
light. If any earthly scene could be presented to the senses of man that
might soothe his passions and temper his ferocity, it was that which
grew upon the eyes of Hutter and Hurry as the hours advanced, changing
night to morning. There were the usual soft tints of the sky, in which
neither the gloom of darkness nor the brilliancy of the sun prevails,
and under which objects appear more unearthly, and we might add holy,
than at any other portion of the twenty four hours. The beautiful and
soothing calm of eventide has been extolled by a thousand poets, and yet
it does not bring with it the far-reaching and sublime thoughts of the
half hour that precedes the rising of a summer sun. In the one case the
panorama is gradually hid from the sight, while in the other its objects
start out from the unfolding picture, first dim and misty; then marked
in, in solemn background; next seen in the witchery of an increasing, a
thing as different as possible from the decreasing twilight, and finally
mellow, distinct and luminous, as the rays of the great centre of light
diffuse themselves in the atmosphere. The hymns of birds, too, have
no moral counterpart in the retreat to the roost, or the flight to the
nest, and these invariably accompany the advent of the day, until the
appearance of the sun itself--
“Bathes in deep joy, the land and sea.”
All this, however, Hutter and Hurry witnessed without experiencing any
of that calm delight which the spectacle is wont to bring, when the
thoughts are just and the aspirations pure. They not only witnessed
it, but they witnessed it under circumstances that had a tendency to
increase its power, and to heighten its charms. Only one solitary object
became visible in the returning light that had received its form or uses
from human taste or human desires, which as often deform as beautify
a landscape. This was the castle, all the rest being native, and fresh
from the hand of God. That singular residence, too, was in keeping with
the natural objects of the view, starting out from the gloom, quaint,
picturesque and ornamental. Nevertheless the whole was lost on the
observers, who knew no feeling of poetry, had lost their sense of
natural devotion in lives of obdurate and narrow selfishness, and had
little other sympathy with nature, than that which originated with her
lowest wants.
As soon as the light was sufficiently strong to allow of a distinct view
of the lake, and more particularly of its shores, Hutter turned the head
of the Ark directly towards the castle, with the avowed intention of
taking possession, for the day at least, as the place most favorable
for meeting his daughters and for carrying on his operations against the
Indians. By this time, Chingachgook was up, and Hist was heard stirring
among the furniture of the kitchen. The place for which they steered was
distant only a mile, and the air was sufficiently favorable to permit it
to be reached by means of the sail. At this moment, too, to render the
appearances generally auspicious, the canoe of Judith was seen floating
northward in the broadest part of the lake; having actually passed the
scow in the darkness, in obedience to no other power than that of the
elements. Hutter got his glass, and took a long and anxious survey, to
ascertain if his daughters were in the light craft or not, and a slight
exclamation like that of joy escaped him, as he caught a glimpse of what
he rightly conceived to be a part of Judith's dress above the top of the
canoe. At the next instant the girl arose and was seen gazing about her,
like one assuring herself of her situation. A minute later, Hetty was
seen on her knees in the other end of the canoe, repeating the prayers
that had been taught her in childhood by a misguided but repentant
mother. As Hutter laid down the glass, still drawn to its focus, the
Serpent raised it to his eye and turned it towards the canoe. It was the
first time he had ever used such an instrument, and Hist understood
by his “Hugh!,” the expression of his face, and his entire mien, that
something wonderful had excited his admiration. It is well known that
the American Indians, more particularly those of superior characters and
stations, singularly maintain their self-possession and stoicism, in
the midst of the flood of marvels that present themselves in their
occasional visits to the abodes of civilization, and Chingachgook had
imbibed enough of this impassibility to suppress any very undignified
manifestation of surprise. With Hist, however, no such law was binding,
and when her lover managed to bring the glass in a line with the canoe,
and her eye was applied to the smaller end, the girl started back in
alarm; then she clapped her hands with delight, and a laugh, the usual
attendant of untutored admiration, followed. A few minutes sufficed to
enable this quick witted girl to manage the instrument for herself, and
she directed it at every prominent object that struck her fancy. Finding
a rest in one of the windows, she and the Delaware first surveyed the
lake; then the shores, the hills, and, finally, the castle attracted
their attention. After a long steady gaze at the latter, Hist took away
her eye, and spoke to her lover in a low, earnest manner. Chingachgook
immediately placed his eye to the glass, and his look even exceeded that
of his betrothed in length and intensity. Again they spoke together,
confidentially, appearing to compare opinions, after which the glass was
laid aside, and the young warrior quitted the cabin to join Hutter and
Hurry.
The Ark was slowly but steadily advancing, and the castle was materially
within half a mile, when Chingachgook joined the two white men in
the stern of the scow. His manner was calm, but it was evident to the
others, who were familiar with the habits of the Indians, that he had
something to communicate. Hurry was generally prompt to speak and,
according to custom, he took the lead on this occasion.
“Out with it, red-skin,” he cried, in his usual rough manner. “Have you
discovered a chipmunk in a tree, or is there a salmon-trout swimming
under the bottom of the scow? You find what a pale-face can do in the
way of eyes, now, Sarpent, and mustn't wonder that they can see the land
of the Indians from afar off.”
“No good to go to Castle,” put in Chingachgook with emphasis, the moment
the other gave him an opportunity of speaking. “Huron there.”
“The devil he is!--If this should turn out to be true, Floating Tom,
a pretty trap were we about to pull down on our heads! Huron,
there!--Well, this may be so; but no signs can I see of any thing, near
or about the old hut, but logs, water, and bark--bating two or three
windows, and one door.”
Hutter called for the glass, and took a careful survey of the spot,
before he ventured an opinion, at all; then he somewhat cavalierly
expressed his dissent from that given by the Indian.
“You've got this glass wrong end foremost, Delaware,” continued Hurry.
“Neither the old man nor I can see any trail in the lake.”
“No trail--water make no trail,” said Hist, eagerly. “Stop boat--no go
too near. Huron there!”
“Ay, that's it!--Stick to the same tale, and more people will believe
you. I hope, Sarpent, you and your gal will agree in telling the same
story arter marriage, as well as you do now. 'Huron, there!'--Whereabouts
is he to be seen--in the padlock, or the chains, or the logs. There
isn't a gaol in the colony that has a more lock up look about it, than
old Tom's chiente, and I know something about gaols from exper'ence.”
“No see moccasin,” said Hist, impatiently “why no look--and see him.”
“Give me the glass, Harry,” interrupted Hutter, “and lower the sail.
It is seldom that an Indian woman meddles, and when she does, there is
generally a cause for it. There is, truly, a moccasin floating against
one of the piles, and it may or may not be a sign that the castle hasn't
escaped visitors in our absence. Moccasins are no rarities, however, for
I wear 'em myself; and Deerslayer wears 'em, and you wear 'em, March,
and, for that matter so does Hetty, quite as often as she wears shoes,
though I never yet saw Judith trust her pretty foot in a moccasin.”
Hurry had lowered the sail, and by this time the Ark was within two
hundred yards of the castle, setting in, nearer and nearer, each moment,
but at a rate too slow to excite any uneasiness. Each now took the glass
in turn, and the castle, and every thing near it, was subjected to a
scrutiny still more rigid than ever. There the moccasin lay, beyond a
question, floating so lightly, and preserving its form so well, that it
was scarcely wet. It had caught by a piece of the rough bark of one of
the piles, on the exterior of the water-palisade that formed the dock
already mentioned, which circumstance alone prevented it from drifting
away before the air. There were many modes, however, of accounting for
the presence of the moccasin, without supposing it to have been dropped
by an enemy. It might have fallen from the platform, even while Hutter
was in possession of the place, and drifted to the spot where it was now
seen, remaining unnoticed until detected by the acute vision of Hist.
It might have drifted from a distance, up or down the lake, and
accidentally become attached to the pile, or palisade. It might have
been thrown from a window, and alighted in that particular place; or it
might certainly have fallen from a scout, or an assailant, during the
past night, who was obliged to abandon it to the lake, in the deep
obscurity which then prevailed.
All these conjectures passed from Hutter to Hurry, the former appearing
disposed to regard the omen as a little sinister, while the latter
treated it with his usual reckless disdain. As for the Indian, he was of
opinion that the moccasin should be viewed as one would regard a
trail in the woods, which might, or might not, equally, prove to be
threatening. Hist, however, had something available to propose. She
declared her readiness to take a canoe, to proceed to the palisade and
bring away the moccasin, when its ornaments would show whether it came
from the Canadas or not. Both the white men were disposed to accept
this offer, but the Delaware interfered to prevent the risk. If such a
service was to be undertaken, it best became a warrior to expose himself
in its execution, and he gave his refusal to let his betrothed proceed,
much in the quiet but brief manner in which an Indian husband issues his
commands.
“Well then, Delaware, go yourself if you're so tender of your squaw,”
put in the unceremonious Hurry. “That moccasin must be had, or Floating
Tom will keep off, here, at arm's length, till the hearth cools in his
cabin. It's but a little deerskin, a'ter all, and cut this-a-way or
that-a-way, it's not a skear-crow to frighten true hunters from their
game. What say you, Sarpent, shall you or I canoe it?”
“Let red man go.--Better eyes than pale-face--know Huron trick better,
too.”
“That I'll gainsay, to the hour of my death! A white man's eyes, and a
white man's nose, and for that matter his sight and ears are all better
than an Injin's when fairly tried. Time and ag'in have I put that to
the proof, and what is proved is sartain. Still I suppose the poorest
vagabond going, whether Delaware or Huron, can find his way to yonder
hut and back ag'in, and so, Sarpent, use your paddle and welcome.”
Chingachgook was already in the canoe, and he dipped the implement
the other named into the water, just as Hurry's limber tongue ceased.
Wah-ta-Wah saw the departure of her warrior on this occasion with the
submissive silence of an Indian girl, but with most of the misgivings
and apprehensions of her sex. Throughout the whole of the past night,
and down to the moment, when they used the glass together in the
hut, Chingachgook had manifested as much manly tenderness towards his
betrothed as one of the most refined sentiment could have shown under
similar circumstances, but now every sign of weakness was lost in an
appearance of stern resolution. Although Hist timidly endeavored to
catch his eye as the canoe left the side of the Ark, the pride of a
warrior would not permit him to meet her fond and anxious looks. The
canoe departed and not a wandering glance rewarded her solicitude.
Nor were the Delaware's care and gravity misplaced, under the
impressions with which he proceeded on this enterprise. If the enemy had
really gained possession of the building he was obliged to put himself
under the very muzzles of their rifles, as it were, and this too without
the protection of any of that cover which forms so essential an ally in
Indian warfare. It is scarcely possible to conceive of a service more
dangerous, and had the Serpent been fortified by the experience of ten
more years, or had his friend the Deerslayer been present, it would
never have been attempted; the advantages in no degree compensating for
the risk. But the pride of an Indian chief was acted on by the rivalry
of colour, and it is not unlikely that the presence of the very creature
from whom his ideas of manhood prevented his receiving a single glance,
overflowing as he was with the love she so well merited, had no small
influence on his determination.
Chingachgook paddled steadily towards the palisades, keeping his eyes on
the different loops of the building. Each instant he expected to see
the muzzle of a rifle protruded, or to hear its sharp crack; but he
succeeded in reaching the piles in safety. Here he was, in a measure,
protected, having the heads of the palisades between him and the hut,
and the chances of any attempt on his life while thus covered, were
greatly diminished. The canoe had reached the piles with its head
inclining northward, and at a short distance from the moccasin. Instead
of turning to pick up the latter, the Delaware slowly made the circuit
of the whole building, deliberately examining every object that should
betray the presence of enemies, or the commission of violence. Not a
single sign could he discover, however, to confirm the suspicions that
had been awakened. The stillness of desertion pervaded the building; not
a fastening was displaced, not a window had been broken. The door looked
as secure as at the hour when it was closed by Hutter, and even the gate
of the dock had all the customary fastenings. In short, the most wary
and jealous eye could detect no other evidence of the visit of enemies,
than that which was connected with the appearance of the floating
moccasin.
The Delaware was now greatly at a loss how to proceed. At one moment, as
he came round in front of the castle, he was on the point of stepping up
on the platform and of applying his eye to one of the loops, with a view
of taking a direct personal inspection of the state of things within;
but he hesitated. Though of little experience in such matters, himself,
he had heard so much of Indian artifices through traditions, had
listened with such breathless interest to the narration of the escapes
of the elder warriors, and, in short, was so well schooled in the theory
of his calling, that it was almost as impossible for him to make
any gross blunder on such an occasion, as it was for a well grounded
scholar, who had commenced correctly, to fail in solving his problem in
mathematics. Relinquishing the momentary intention to land, the chief
slowly pursued his course round the palisades. As he approached the
moccasin, having now nearly completed the circuit of the building, he
threw the ominous article into the canoe, by a dexterous and almost
imperceptible movement of his paddle. He was now ready to depart, but
retreat was even more dangerous than the approach, as the eye could
no longer be riveted on the loops. If there was really any one in the
castle, the motive of the Delaware in reconnoitering must be understood,
and it was the wisest way, however perilous it might be, to retire
with an air of confidence, as if all distrust were terminated by the
examination. Such, accordingly, was the course adopted by the Indian,
who paddled deliberately away, taking the direction of the Ark,
suffering no nervous impulse to quicken the motions of his arms, or to
induce him to turn even a furtive glance behind him.
No tender wife, reared in the refinements of the highest civilization,
ever met a husband on his return from the field with more of sensibility
in her countenance than Hist discovered, as she saw the Great Serpent
of the Delawares step, unharmed, into the Ark. Still she repressed her
emotion, though the joy that sparkled in her dark eyes, and the smile
that lighted her pretty mouth, spoke a language that her betrothed could
understand.
“Well, Sarpent,” cried Hurry, always the first to speak, “what news
from the muskrats? Did they shew their teeth, as you surrounded their
dwelling?”
“I no like him,” sententiously returned the Delaware. “Too still. So
still, can see silence!”
“That's downright Injin--as if any thing could make less noise than
nothing! If you've no better reason than this to give, old Tom had
better hoist his sail, and go and get his breakfast under his own roof.
What has become of the moccasin?”
“Here,” returned Chingachgook, holding up his prize for the general
inspection. The moccasin was examined, and Hist confidently pronounced
it to be Huron, by the manner in which the porcupine's quills were
arranged on its front. Hutter and the Delaware, too, were decidedly of
the same opinion. Admitting all this, however, it did not necessarily
follow that its owners were in the castle. The moccasin might have
drifted from a distance, or it might have fallen from the foot of some
scout, who had quitted the place when his errand was accomplished. In
short it explained nothing, while it awakened so much distrust.
Under the circumstances, Hutter and Hurry were not men to be long
deterred from proceeding by proofs as slight as that of the moccasin.
They hoisted the sail again, and the Ark was soon in motion, heading
towards the castle. The wind or air continued light, and the movement
was sufficiently slow to allow of a deliberate survey of the building,
as the scow approached. The same death-like silence reigned, and it was
difficult to fancy that any thing possessing animal life could be in
or around the place. Unlike the Serpent, whose imagination had acted
through his traditions until he was ready to perceive an artificial,
in a natural stillness, the others saw nothing to apprehend in a
tranquility that, in truth, merely denoted the repose of inanimate
objects. The accessories of the scene, too, were soothing and calm,
rather than exciting. The day had not yet advanced so far as to bring
the sun above the horizon, but the heavens, the atmosphere, and the
woods and lake were all seen under that softened light which immediately
precedes his appearance, and which perhaps is the most witching period
of the four and twenty hours. It is the moment when every thing is
distinct, even the atmosphere seeming to possess a liquid lucidity, the
hues appearing gray and softened, with the outlines of objects defined,
and the perspective just as moral truths that are presented in their
simplicity, without the meretricious aids of ornament or glitter. In a
word, it is the moment when the senses seem to recover their powers, in
the simplest and most accurate forms, like the mind emerging from the
obscurity of doubts into the tranquility and peace of demonstration.
Most of the influence that such a scene is apt to produce on those who
are properly constituted in a moral sense, was lost on Hutter and
Hurry; but both the Delawares, though too much accustomed to witness
the loveliness of morning-tide to stop to analyze their feelings, were
equally sensible of the beauties of the hour, though it was probably in
a way unknown to themselves. It disposed the young warrior to peace, and
never had he felt less longings for the glory of the combat, than when
he joined Hist in the cabin, the instant the scow rubbed against the
side of the platform. From the indulgence of such gentle emotions,
however, he was aroused by a rude summons from Hurry, who called on him
to come forth and help to take in the sail, and to secure the Ark.
Chingachgook obeyed, and by the time he had reached the head of the
scow, Hurry was on the platform, stamping his feet, like one glad to
touch what, by comparison, might be called terra firma, and proclaiming
his indifference to the whole Huron tribe in his customary noisy,
dogmatical manner. Hutter had hauled a canoe up to the head of the scow,
and was already about to undo the fastenings of the gate, in order to
enter within the 'dock.' March had no other motive in landing than a
senseless bravado, and having shaken the door in a manner to put its
solidity to the proof, he joined Hutter in the canoe and began to aid
him in opening the gate. The reader will remember that this mode of
entrance was rendered necessary by the manner in which the owner of this
singular residence habitually secured it, whenever it was left empty;
more particularly at moments when danger was apprehended. Hutter had
placed a line in the Delaware's hand, on entering the canoe, intimating
that the other was to fasten the Ark to the platform and to lower the
sail. Instead of following these directions, however, Chingachgook left
the sail standing, and throwing the bight of the rope over the head of
a pile, he permitted the Ark to drift round until it lay against the
defences, in a position where it could be entered only by means of a
boat, or by passing along the summits of the palisades; the latter being
an exploit that required some command of the feet, and which was not to
be attempted in the face of a resolute enemy.
In consequence of this change in the position of the scow, which was
effected before Hutter had succeeded in opening the gate of his dock,
the Ark and the Castle lay, as sailors would express it, yard-arm and
yard-arm, kept asunder some ten or twelve feet by means of the piles. As
the scow pressed close against the latter, their tops formed a species
of breast work that rose to the height of a man's head, covering in
a certain degree the parts of the scow that were not protected by the
cabin. The Delaware surveyed this arrangement with great satisfaction
and, as the canoe of Hutter passed through the gate into the dock, he
thought that he might defend his position against any garrison in the
castle, for a sufficient time, could he but have had the helping arm of
his friend Deerslayer. As it was, he felt comparatively secure, and
no longer suffered the keen apprehensions he had lately experienced in
behalf of Hist.
A single shove sent the canoe from the gate to the trap beneath the
castle. Here Hutter found all fast, neither padlock nor chain nor bar
having been molested. The key was produced, the locks removed, the chain
loosened, and the trap pushed upward. Hurry now thrust his head in at
the opening; the arms followed, and the colossal legs rose without any
apparent effort. At the next instant, his heavy foot was heard stamping
in the passage above; that which separated the chambers of the father
and daughters, and into which the trap opened. He then gave a shout of
triumph.
“Come on, old Tom,” the reckless woodsman called out from within the
building--“here's your tenement, safe and sound; ay, and as empty as a
nut that has passed half an hour in the paws of a squirrel! The Delaware
brags of being able to see silence; let him come here, and he may feel
it, in the bargain.”
“Any silence where you are, Hurry Harry,” returned Hutter, thrusting his
head in at the hole as he uttered the last word, which instantly caused
his voice to sound smothered to those without--“Any silence where you
are, ought to be both seen and felt, for it's unlike any other silence.”
“Come, come, old fellow; hoist yourself up, and we'll open doors and
windows and let in the fresh air to brighten up matters. Few words in
troublesome times, make men the best fri'nds. Your darter Judith is what
I call a misbehaving young woman, and the hold of the whole family on me
is so much weakened by her late conduct, that it wouldn't take a speech
as long as the ten commandments to send me off to the river, leaving you
and your traps, your Ark and your children, your man servants and your
maid servants, your oxen and your asses, to fight this battle with the
Iroquois by yourselves. Open that window, Floating Tom, and I'll blunder
through and do the same job to the front door.”
A moment of silence succeeded, and a noise like that produced by the
fall of a heavy body followed. A deep execration from Hurry succeeded,
and then the whole interior of the building seemed alive. The noises
that now so suddenly, and we may add so unexpectedly even to the
Delaware, broke the stillness within, could not be mistaken. They
resembled those that would be produced by a struggle between tigers in a
cage. Once or twice the Indian yell was given, but it seemed smothered,
and as if it proceeded from exhausted or compressed throats, and, in a
single instance, a deep and another shockingly revolting execration
came from the throat of Hurry. It appeared as if bodies were constantly
thrown upon the floor with violence, as often rising to renew the
struggle. Chingachgook felt greatly at a loss what to do. He had all the
arms in the Ark, Hutter and Hurry having proceeded without their rifles,
but there was no means of using them, or of passing them to the hands of
their owners. The combatants were literally caged, rendering it almost
as impossible under the circumstances to get out, as to get into the
building. Then there was Hist to embarrass his movements, and to cripple
his efforts. With a view to relieve himself from this disadvantage,
he told the girl to take the remaining canoe and to join Hutter's
daughters, who were incautiously but deliberately approaching, in order
to save herself, and to warn the others of their danger. But the girl
positively and firmly refused to comply. At that moment no human power,
short of an exercise of superior physical force, could have induced her
to quit the Ark. The exigency of the moment did not admit of delay, and
the Delaware seeing no possibility of serving his friends, cut the line
and by a strong shove forced the scow some twenty feet clear of the
piles. Here he took the sweeps and succeeded in getting a short distance
to windward, if any direction could be thus termed in so light an air,
but neither the time, nor his skill at the oars, allowed the distance to
be great. When he ceased rowing, the Ark might have been a hundred yards
from the platform, and half that distance to the southward of it, the
sail being lowered. Judith and Hetty had now discovered that something
was wrong, and were stationary a thousand feet farther north.
All this while the furious struggle continued within the house. In
scenes like these, events thicken in less time than they can be related.
From the moment when the first fall was heard within the building to
that when the Delaware ceased his awkward attempts to row, it might have
been three or four minutes, but it had evidently served to weaken the
combatants. The oaths and execrations of Hurry were no longer heard, and
even the struggles had lost some of their force and fury. Nevertheless
they still continued with unabated perseverance. At this instant the
door flew open, and the fight was transferred to the platform, the light
and the open air. A Huron had undone the fastenings of the door, and
three or four of his tribe rushed after him upon the narrow space, as
if glad to escape from some terrible scene within. The body of another
followed, pitched headlong through the door with terrific violence. Then
March appeared, raging like a lion at bay, and for an instant freed from
his numerous enemies. Hutter was already a captive and bound. There was
now a pause in the struggle, which resembled a lull in a tempest. The
necessity of breathing was common to all, and the combatants stood
watching each other, like mastiffs that have been driven from their
holds, and are waiting for a favorable opportunity of renewing them. We
shall profit by this pause to relate the manner in which the Indians had
obtained possession of the castle, and this the more willingly because
it may be necessary to explain to the reader why a conflict which
had been so close and fierce, should have also been so comparatively
bloodless.
Rivenoak and his companion, particularly the latter who had appeared to
be a subordinate and occupied solely with his raft, had made the closest
observations in their visits to the castle. Even the boy had brought
away minute and valuable information. By these means the Hurons obtained
a general idea of the manner in which the place was constructed and
secured, as well as of details that enabled them to act intelligently in
the dark. Notwithstanding the care that Hutter had taken to drop the Ark
on the east side of the building when he was in the act of transferring
the furniture from the former to the latter, he had been watched in a
way to render the precaution useless. Scouts were on the look-out on
the eastern as well as on the western shore of the lake, and the whole
proceeding had been noted. As soon as it was dark, rafts like that
already described approached from both shores to reconnoitre, and
the Ark had passed within fifty feet of one of them without its being
discovered; the men it held lying at their length on the logs, so as
to blend themselves and their slow moving machine with the water. When
these two sets of adventurers drew near the castle they encountered
each other, and after communicating their respective observations, they
unhesitatingly approached the building. As had been expected, it was
found empty. The rafts were immediately sent for a reinforcement to the
shore, and two of the savages remained to profit by their situation.
These men succeeded in getting on the roof, and by removing some of the
bark, in entering what might be termed the garret. Here they were found
by their companions. Hatchets now opened a hole through the squared
logs of the upper floor, through which no less than eight of the most
athletic of the Indians dropped into the rooms beneath. Here they were
left, well supplied with arms and provisions, either to stand a siege,
or to make a sortie, as the case might require. The night was passed in
sleep, as is usual with Indians in a state of inactivity. The returning
day brought them a view of the approach of the Ark through the loops,
the only manner in which light and air were now admitted, the windows
being closed most effectually with plank, rudely fashioned to fit. As
soon as it was ascertained that the two white men were about to enter by
the trap, the chief who directed the proceedings of the Hurons took his
measures accordingly. He removed all the arms from his own people, even
to the knives, in distrust of savage ferocity when awakened by personal
injuries, and he hid them where they could not be found without a
search. Ropes of bark were then prepared, and taking their stations in
the three different rooms, they all waited for the signal to fall upon
their intended captives. As soon as the party had entered the building,
men without replaced the bark of the roof, removed every sign of their
visit, with care, and then departed for the shore. It was one of these
who had dropped his moccasin, which he had not been able to find again
in the dark. Had the death of the girl been known, it is probable
nothing could have saved the lives of Hurry and Hutter, but that event
occurred after the ambush was laid, and at a distance of several miles
from the encampment near the castle. Such were the means that had been
employed to produce the state of things we shall continue to describe.