American library books ยป Fiction ยป The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (e ink manga reader .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•

Read book online ยซThe Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (e ink manga reader .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป.   Author   -   James Fenimore Cooper



1 ... 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 ... 76
Go to page:
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.โ€

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.

โ€œThe Mohicans hear an enemy!โ€ whispered Hawkeye, who, by this time, in common with the whole party, was awake and stirring. โ€œThey scent danger in the wind!โ€

โ€œGod forbid!โ€ exclaimed Heyward. โ€œSurely we have had enough of bloodshed!โ€

While he spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle, and advancing toward the front, prepared to atone for his venial remissness, by freely exposing his life in defense of those he attended.

โ€œโ€˜Tis some creature of the forest prowling around us in quest of food,โ€ he said, in a whisper, as soon as the low, and apparently distant sounds, which had startled the Mohicans, reached his own ears.

โ€œHist!โ€ returned the attentive scout; โ€œโ€˜tis man; even I can now tell his tread, poor as my senses are when compared to an Indianโ€™s! That Scampering Huron has fallen in with one of Montcalmโ€™s outlying parties, and they have struck upon our trail. I shouldnโ€™t like, myself, to spill more human blood in this spot,โ€ he added, looking around with anxiety in his features, at the dim objects by which he was surrounded; โ€œbut what must be, must! Lead the horses into the blockhouse, 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!โ€

He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the Narrangansetts within the ruin, whither the whole party repaired with the most guarded silence.

The sound 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 blockhouse, 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.

โ€œThe knaves know our weakness,โ€ whispered Hawkeye, who stood by the side of Heyward, in deep shade, looking through an opening in the logs, โ€œor they wouldnโ€™t indulge their idleness in such a squawโ€™s march. Listen to the reptiles!

each man among them seems to have two tongues, and but a single leg.โ€

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 crackling 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 luster 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 travelers 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.

โ€œThey are coming,โ€ muttered Heyward, endeavoring to thrust his rifle through the chink in the logs; โ€œlet us fire on their approach.โ€

โ€œKeep everything in the shade,โ€ returned the scout; โ€œthe 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.โ€

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 blockhouse, 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 stopped to examine its nature. At this moment, Heyward observed that the scout loosened his knife in its 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:

โ€œAy! they respect the dead, and it has this time saved their own lives, and, it may be, the lives of better men too.โ€

Heyward lent his attention for a single moment to his companion, but without replying, he again turned toward 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 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.

CHAPTER 14

โ€œGuard.โ€”Qui est la? Puc.โ€”Paisans, pauvres gens de France.โ€โ€”King Henry VI

During the rapid movement from the blockhouse, and until the party was deeply buried in the forest, each individual was too much interested in the escape to hazard a word even in whispers. The scout resumed his post in advance, though his steps, after he had thrown a safe distance between himself and his enemies, were more deliberate than in their previous march, in consequence of his utter ignorance of the localities of the surrounding woods. More than once he halted to consult with his confederates, the Mohicans, pointing upward at the moon, and examining the barks of the trees with care. In these brief pauses, Heyward and the sisters listened, with senses rendered doubly acute by the danger, to detect any symptoms which might announce the proximity of their foes. At such moments, it seemed as if a vast range of country lay buried in eternal sleep; not the least sound arising from the forest, unless it was the distant and scarcely audible rippling of a watercourse.

Birds, beasts, and man, appeared to slumber alike, if, indeed, any of the latter were to be found in that wide tract of wilderness. But the sounds of the rivulet, feeble and murmuring as they were, relieved the guides at once from no trifling embarrassment, and toward it they immediately held their way.

When the banks of the little stream were gained, Hawkeye made another halt; and taking the moccasins from his feet, he invited Heyward and Gamut to follow his example. He then entered the water, and for near an hour they traveled in the bed of the brook, leaving no trail. The moon had already sunk into an immense pile of black clouds, which lay impending above the western horizon, when they issued from the low and devious watercourse to rise again to the light and level of the sandy but wooded plain. Here the scout seemed to be once more at home, for he held on this way with the certainty and diligence of a man who moved in the security of his own knowledge. The path soon became more uneven, and the travelers could plainly perceive that the mountains drew nigher to them on each hand, and that they were, in truth, about entering one of their gorges.

Suddenly, Hawkeye made a pause, and, waiting until he was joined by the whole party, he spoke, though in tones so low and cautious, that they added to the solemnity of his words, in the quiet and darkness of the place.

โ€œIt is easy to know the pathways, and to find the licks and watercourses of the wilderness,โ€ he said; โ€œbut who that saw this spot could venture to say, that a mighty army was at rest among yonder silent trees and barren mountains?โ€

โ€œWe are, then, at no great distance from William Henry?โ€

said Heyward, advancing nigher to the scout.

โ€œIt is yet a long and weary path, and when and where to strike it is now our greatest difficulty. See,โ€ he said, pointing through the trees toward a spot where a little basin of water reflected the stars from its placid bosom, โ€œhere is the โ€˜bloody pondโ€™; and I am on ground that I have not only often traveled, but over which I have fouโ€™t the enemy, from the rising to the setting sun.โ€

โ€œHa! that sheet of dull and dreary water, then, is the sepulcher of the brave men who fell in the contest. I have heard it named, but never have I stood on its banks before.โ€

โ€œThree battles did we make with the Dutch-Frenchman* in a day,โ€ continued Hawkeye, pursuing the train of his own thoughts, rather than replying to

1 ... 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 ... 76
Go to page:

Free e-book: ยซThe Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper (e ink manga reader .TXT) ๐Ÿ“•ยป   -   read online now on website american library books (americanlibrarybooks.com)

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet. You can be the first!
Add a comment