"I'll seek a readier path."
PARNELL.
The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relieved by
occasional valleys and swells of land, which had been traversed by their
party on the morning of the same day, with the baffled Magua for their
guide. The sun had now fallen low towards the distant mountains; and as
their journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat was no
longer oppressive. Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate;
and long before the twilight gathered about them, they had made good
many toilsome miles on their return.
The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to select
among the blind signs of their wild route, with a species of instinct,
seldom abating his speed, and never pausing to deliberate. A rapid and
oblique glance at the moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gaze
towards the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction
of the numerous water-courses, through which he waded, were sufficient
to determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties. In the
meantime, the forest began to change its hues, losing that lively green
which had embellished its arches, in the graver light which is the usual
precursor of the close of day.
While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch glimpses through
the trees, of the flood of golden glory which formed a glittering halo
around the sun, tinging here and there with ruby streaks, or bordering
with narrow edgings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piled
at no great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned suddenly,
and, pointing upwards towards the gorgeous heavens, he spoke:--
"Yonder is the signal given to a man to seek his food and natural rest,"
he said: "better and wiser would it be, if he could understand the signs
of nature, and take a lesson from the fowls of the air and the beasts of
the fields! Our night, however, will soon be over; for, with the moon,
we must be up and moving again. I remember to have fou't the Maquas,
hereaways, in the first war in which I ever drew blood from man; and we
threw up a work of blocks, to keep the ravenous varmints from handling
our scalps. If my marks do not fail me, we shall find the place a few
rods farther to our left."
Without waiting for an assent, or, indeed, for any reply, the sturdy
hunter moved boldly into a dense thicket of young chestnuts, shoving
aside the branches of the exuberant shoots which nearly covered the
ground, like a man who expected, at each step, to discover some object
he had formerly known. The recollection of the scout did not deceive
him. After penetrating through the brush, matted as it was with briers,
for a few hundred feet he entered an open space, that surrounded a low,
green hillock, which was crowned by the decayed block-house in question.
This rude and neglected building was one of those deserted works, which,
having been thrown up on an emergency, had been abandoned with the
disappearance of danger, and was now quietly crumbling in the solitude
of the forest, neglected, and nearly forgotten, like the circumstances
which had caused it to be reared. Such memorials of the passage and
struggles of man are yet frequent throughout the broad barrier of
wilderness which once separated the hostile provinces, and form a
species of ruins that are intimately associated with the recollections
of colonial history, and which are in appropriate keeping with the
gloomy character of the surrounding scenery.[19] The roof of bark had
long since fallen, and mingled with the soil; but the huge logs of pine,
which had been hastily thrown together, still preserved their relative
positions, though one angle of the work had given way under the
pressure, and threatened a speedy downfall to the remainder of the
rustic edifice. While Heyward and his companions hesitated to approach a
building so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians entered within the low
walls, not only without fear, but with obvious interest. While the
former surveyed the ruins, both internally and externally, with the
curiosity of one whose recollections were reviving at each moment,
Chingachgook related to his son, in the language of the Delawares, and
with the pride of a conqueror, the brief history of the skirmish which
had been fought, in his youth, in that secluded spot. A strain of
melancholy, however, blended with his triumph, rendering his voice, as
usual, soft and musical.
In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted, and prepared to enjoy
their halt in the coolness of the evening, and in a security which they
believed nothing but the beasts of the forest could invade.
"Would not our resting-place have been more retired, my worthy friend,"
demanded the more vigilant Duncan, perceiving that the scout had already
finished his short survey, "had we chosen a spot less known, and one
more rarely visited than this?"
"Few live who know the block-house was ever raised," was the slow and
musing answer; "'tis not often that books are made, and narratives
written, of such a scrimmage as was here fou't atween the Mohicans and
the Mohawks, in a war of their own waging. I was then a younker, and
went out with the Delawares, because I know'd they were a scandalized
and wronged race. Forty days and forty nights did the imps crave our
blood around this pile of logs, which I designed and partly reared,
being, as you'll remember, no Indian myself, but a man without a cross.
The Delawares lent themselves to the work, and we made it good, ten to
twenty, until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we sallied out
upon the hounds, and not a man of them ever got back to tell the fate of
his party. Yes, yes; I was then young, and new to the sight of blood;
and not relishing the thought that creatures who had spirits like myself
should lay on the naked ground, to be torn asunder by beasts, or to
bleach in the rains, I buried the dead with my own hands, under that
very little hillock where you have placed yourselves; and no bad seat
does it make neither, though it be raised by the bones of mortal men."
Heyward and the sisters arose, on the instant, from the grassy
sepulchre; nor could the two latter, notwithstanding the terrific scenes
they had so recently passed through, entirely suppress an emotion of
natural horror, when they found themselves in such familiar contact with
the grave of the dead Mohawks. The gray light, the gloomy little area of
dark grass, surrounded by its border of brush, beyond which the pines
rose, in breathing silence, apparently, into the very clouds, and the
death-like stillness of the vast forest, were all in unison to deepen
such a sensation.
"They are gone, and they are harmless," continued Hawkeye, waving his
hand, with a melancholy smile, at their manifest alarm: "they'll never
shout the war-whoop nor strike a blow with the tomahawk again! And of
all those who aided in placing them where they lie, Chingachgook and I
only are living! The brothers and family of the Mohican formed our
war-party; and you see before you all that are now left of his race."
The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians,
with a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune. The dark
persons were still to be seen within the shadows of the block-house, the
son listening to the relation of his father with that sort of
intenseness which would be created by a narrative that redounded so much
to the honor of those whose names he had long revered for their courage
and savage virtues.
"I had thought the Delawares a pacific people," said Duncan, "and that
they never waged war in person; trusting the defence of their lands to
those very Mohawks that you slew!"
"'Tis true in part," returned the scout, "and yet, at the bottom, 'tis a
wicked lie. Such a treaty was made in ages gone by, through the
deviltries of the Dutchers, who wished to disarm the natives that had
the best right to the country where they had settled themselves. The
Mohicans, though a part of the same nation, having to deal with the
English, never entered into the silly bargain, but kept to their
manhood; as in truth did the Delawares, when their eyes were opened to
their folly. You see before you a chief of the great Mohican Sagamores!
Once his family could chase their deer over tracts of country wider than
that which belongs to the Albany Patteroon, without crossing brook or
hill that was not their own; but what is left to their descendant! He
may find his six feet of earth when God chooses, and keep it in peace,
perhaps, if he has a friend who will take the pains to sink his head so
low that the ploughshares cannot reach it!"
"Enough!" said Heyward, apprehensive that the subject might lead to a
discussion that would interrupt the harmony so necessary to the
preservation of his fair companions: "we have journeyed far, and few
among us are blessed with forms like that of yours, which seems to know
neither fatigue nor weakness."
"The sinews and bones of a man carry me through it all," said the
hunter, surveying his muscular limbs with a simplicity that betrayed the
honest pleasure the compliment afforded him: "there are larger and
heavier men to be found in the settlements, but you might travel many
days in a city before you could meet one able to walk fifty miles
without stopping to take breath, or who has kept the hounds within
hearing during a chase of hours. However, as flesh and blood are not
always the same, it is quite reasonable to suppose that the gentle ones
are willing to rest, after all they have seen and done this day. Uncas,
clear out the spring, while your father and I make a cover for their
tender heads of these chestnut shoots, and a bed of grass and leaves."
The dialogue ceased, while the hunter and his companions busied
themselves in preparations for the comfort and protection of those they
guided. A spring, which many long years before had induced the natives
to select the place for their temporary fortification, was soon cleared
of leaves, and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed, diffusing its
waters over the verdant hillock. A corner of the building was then
roofed in such a manner as to exclude the heavy dew of the climate, and
piles of sweet shrubs and dried leaves were laid beneath it for the
sisters to repose on.
While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this manner, Cora and Alice
partook of that refreshment which duty required much more than
inclination prompted them to accept. They then retired within the walls,
and first offering up their thanksgivings for past mercies, and
petitioning for a continuance of the divine favor throughout the coming
night, they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch, and in spite
of recollections and forebodings, soon sank into those slumbers which
nature so imperiously demanded, and which were sweetened by hopes for
the morrow. Duncan had prepared himself to pass the night in
watchfulness near them, just without the ruin, but the scout, perceiving
his intention, pointed towards Chingachgook, as he coolly disposed his
own person on the grass, and said--
"The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind for such a watch as
this! The Mohican will be our sentinel, therefore let us sleep."
"I proved myself a sluggard on my post during the past night," said
Heyward, "and have less need of repose than you, who did more credit to
the character of a soldier. Let all the party seek their rest, then,
while I hold guard."
"If we lay among the white tents of the 60th, and in front of an enemy
like the French, I could not ask for a better watchman," returned the
scout; "but in the darkness and among the signs of the wilderness your
judgment would be like the folly of a child, and your vigilance thrown
away. Do then, like Uncas and myself, sleep, and sleep in safety."
Heyward perceived, in truth, that the younger Indian had thrown his form
on the side of the hillock while they were talking, like one who sought
to make the most of the time allotted to rest, and that his example had
been followed by David, whose voice literally "clove to his jaws," with
the fever of his wound, heightened, as it was, by their toilsome march.
Unwilling to prolong a useless discussion, the young man affected to
comply, by posting his back against the logs of the block-house, in a
half-recumbent posture, though resolutely determined, in his own mind,
not to close an eye until he had delivered his precious charge into the
arms of Munro himself. Hawkeye, believing he had prevailed, soon fell
asleep, and a silence as deep as the solitude in which they had found
it, pervaded the retired spot.
For many minutes Duncan succeeded in keeping his senses on the alert,
and alive to every moaning sound that arose from the forest. His vision
became more acute as the shades of evening settled on the place; and
even after the stars were glimmering above his head, he was able to
distinguish the recumbent forms of his companions, as they lay stretched
on the grass, and to note the person of Chingachgook, who sat upright
and motionless as one of the trees which formed the dark barrier on
every side. He still heard the gentle breathings of the sisters, who lay
within a few feet of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passing air,
of which his ear did not detect the whispering sound. At length,
however, the mournful notes of a whippoorwill became blended with the
moanings of an owl; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright rays
of the stars, and then he fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.
At instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his associate
sentinel; his head next sank upon his shoulder, which, in its turn,
sought the support of the ground; and, finally, his whole person become
relaxed and pliant, and the young man sank into a deep sleep, dreaming
that he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigils
before the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did not despair
of gaining, by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness.
How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he never knew
himself, but his slumbering visions had been long lost in total
forgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light tap on the shoulder.
Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang upon his feet with a
confused recollection of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with the
commencement of the night.
"Who comes?" he demanded, feeling for his sword at the place where it
was usually suspended, "Speak! friend or enemy?"
"Friend," replied the low voice of Chingachgook; who, pointing upwards
at the luminary which was shedding its mild light through the opening in
the trees, directly in their bivouac, immediately added, in his rude
English, "moon comes, and white man's fort far--far off; time to move,
when sleep shuts both eyes of the Frenchman!"
"You say true! call up your friends, and bridle the horses, while I
prepare my own companions for the march!"
"We are awake, Duncan," said the soft, silvery tones of Alice within the
building, "and ready to travel very fast after so refreshing a sleep;
but you have watched through the tedious night in our behalf, after
having endured so much fatigue the live-long day!"
"Say, rather, I would have watched, but my treacherous eyes betrayed me;
twice have I proved myself unfit for the trust I bear."
"Nay, Duncan, deny it not," interrupted the smiling Alice, issuing from
the shadows of the building into the light of the moon, in all the
loveliness of her freshened beauty; "I know you to be a heedless one,
when self is the object of your care, and but too vigilant in favor of
others. Can we not tarry here a little longer, while you find the rest
you need? Cheerfully, most cheerfully, will Cora and I keep the vigils,
while you, and all these brave men, endeavor to snatch a little sleep!"
"If shame could cure me of my drowsiness, I should never close an eye
again," said the uneasy youth, gazing at the ingenuous countenance of
Alice, where, however, in its sweet solicitude, he read nothing to
confirm his half awakened suspicion. "It is but too true, that after
leading you into danger by my heedlessness, I have not even the merit of
guarding your pillows as should become a soldier."
"No one but Duncan himself should accuse Duncan of such a weakness. Go,
then, and sleep; believe me, neither of us, weak girls as we are, will
betray our watch."
The young man was relieved from the awkwardness of making any further
protestations of his own demerits, by an exclamation from Chingachgook,
and the attitude of riveted attention assumed by his son.
"The Mohicans hear an enemy!" whispered Hawkeye, who, by this time, in
common with the whole party, was awake and stirring. "They scent danger
in the wind!"
"God forbid!" exclaimed Heyward. "Surely we have had enough of
bloodshed!"
While he spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle, and
advancing towards the front, prepared to atone for his venial
remissness, by freely exposing his life in defence of those he attended.
"'Tis some creature of the forest prowling around us in quest of food,"
he said, in a whisper, as soon as the low, and apparently distant
sounds, which had startled the Mohicans, reached his own ears.
"Hist!" returned the attentive scout; "'tis man; even I can now tell his
tread, poor as my senses are when compared to an Indian's! That
scampering Huron has fallen in with one of Montcalm's outlying parties,
and they have struck upon our trail. I shouldn't like, myself, to spill
more human blood in this spot," he added, looking around with anxiety in
his features, at the dim objects by which he was surrounded; "but what
must be, must! Lead the horses into the block-house, Uncas; and,
friends, do you follow to the same shelter. Poor and old as it is, it
offers a cover, and has rung with the crack of a rifle afore to-night!"
He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the Narragansetts within
the ruin, whither the whole party repaired with the most guarded
silence.
The sounds of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly audible to
leave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption. They were soon
mingled with voices calling to each other in an Indian dialect, which
the hunter, in a whisper, affirmed to Heyward was the language of the
Hurons. When the party reached the point where the horses had entered
the thicket which surrounded the block-house, they were evidently at
fault, having lost those marks which, until that moment, had directed
their pursuit.
It would seem by the voices that twenty men were soon collected at that
one spot, mingling their different opinions and advice in noisy clamor.
"The knaves know our weakness," whispered Hawkeye, who stood by the side
of Heyward, in deep shade, looking through an opening in the logs, "or
they wouldn't indulge their idleness in such a squaw's march. Listen to
the reptiles! each man among them seems to have two tongues, and but a
single leg."
Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in such a moment of
painful suspense, make any reply to the cool and characteristic remark
of the scout. He only grasped his rifle more firmly, and fastened his
eyes upon the narrow opening, through which he gazed upon the moonlight
view with increasing anxiety. The deeper tones of one who spoke as
having authority were next heard, amid a silence that denoted the
respect with which his orders, or rather advice, was received. After
which, by the rustling of leaves, and cracking of dried twigs, it was
apparent the savages were separating in pursuit of the lost trail.
Fortunately for the pursued, the light of the moon, while it shed a
flood of mild lustre upon the little area around the ruin, was not
sufficiently strong to penetrate the deep arches of the forest, where
the objects still lay in deceptive shadow. The search proved fruitless;
for so short and sudden had been the passage from the faint path the
travellers had journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of their
footsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.
It was not long, however, before the restless savages were heard beating
the brush, and gradually approaching the inner edge of that dense border
of young chestnuts which encircled the little area.
"They are coming," muttered Heyward, endeavoring to thrust his rifle
through the chink in the logs; "let us fire on their approach."
"Keep everything in the shade," returned the scout; "the snapping of a
flint, or even the smell of a single karnel of the brimstone, would
bring the hungry varlets upon us in a body. Should it please God that we
must give battle for the scalps, trust to the experience of men who know
the ways of the savages, and who are not often backward when the
war-whoop is howled."
Duncan cast his eyes behind him, and saw that the trembling sisters were
cowering in the far corner of the building, while the Mohicans stood in
the shadow, like two upright posts, ready, and apparently willing, to
strike when the blow should be needed. Curbing his impatience, he again
looked out upon the area, and awaited the result in silence. At that
instant the thicket opened, and a tall and armed Huron advanced a few
paces into the open space. As he gazed upon the silent block-house, the
moon fell upon his swarthy countenance, and betrayed its surprise and
curiosity. He made the exclamation which usually accompanies the former
emotion in an Indian, and, calling in a low voice, soon drew a companion
to his side.
These children of the woods stood together for several moments pointing
at the crumbling edifice, and conversing in the unintelligible language
of their tribe. They then approached, though with slow and cautious
steps, pausing every instant to look at the building, like startled
deer, whose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened
apprehensions for the mastery. The foot of one of them suddenly rested
on the mound, and he stooped to examine its nature. At this moment,
Heyward observed that the scout loosened his knife in his sheath, and
lowered the muzzle of his rifle. Imitating these movements, the young
man prepared himself for the struggle, which now seemed inevitable.
The savages were so near, that the least motion in one of the horses, or
even a breath louder than common, would have betrayed the fugitives.
But, in discovering the character of the mound, the attention of the
Hurons appeared directed to a different object. They spoke together, and
the sounds of their voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by a
reverence that was deeply blended with awe. Then they drew warily back,
keeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if they expected to see the
apparitions of the dead issue from its silent walls, until having
reached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket,
and disappeared.
Hawkeye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth, and drawing a
long, free breath, exclaimed, in an audible whisper,--
"Ay! they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their own lives,
and, it may be, the lives of better men too."
Heyward lent his attention for a single moment to his companion, but
without replying, he again turned towards those who just then interested
him more. He heard the two Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soon
plain that all the pursuers were gathered about them, in deep attention
to their report. After a few minutes of earnest and solemn dialogue,
altogether different from the noisy clamor with which they had first
collected about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant, and
finally were lost in the depths of the forest.
Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chingachgook assured
him that every sound from the retiring party was completely swallowed by
the distance, when he motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, and
to assist the sisters into their saddles. The instant this was done,
they issued through the broken gateway, and stealing out by a direction
opposite to the one by which they had entered, they quitted the spot,
the sisters casting furtive glances at the silent grave and crumbling
ruin, as they left the soft light of the moon, to bury themselves in the
gloom of the woods.