CHAPTER 13
"I'll seek a readier path." --Parnell
The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy plains, relived byoccasional valleys and swells of land, which had been traversed by theirparty on the morning of the same day, with the baffled Magua for theirguide. The sun had now fallen low toward the distant mountains; andas their journey lay through the interminable forest, the heat was nolonger oppressive. Their progress, in consequence, was proportionate;and long before the twilight gathered about them, they had made goodmany toilsome miles on their return.
The hunter, like the savage whose place he filled, seemed to selectamong the blind signs of their wild route, with a species of instinct,seldom abating his speed, and never pausing to deliberate. A rapid andoblique glance at the moss on the trees, with an occasional upward gazetoward the setting sun, or a steady but passing look at the direction ofthe numerous water courses, through which he waded, were sufficientto determine his path, and remove his greatest difficulties. In themeantime, the forest began to change its hues, losing that lively greenwhich had embellished its arches, in the graver light which is the usualprecursor of the close of day.
While the eyes of the sisters were endeavoring to catch glimpses throughthe trees, of the flood of golden glory which formed a glittering haloaround the sun, tinging here and there with ruby streaks, or borderingwith narrow edgings of shining yellow, a mass of clouds that lay piledat no great distance above the western hills, Hawkeye turned suddenlyand pointing upward toward the gorgeous heavens, he spoke:
"Yonder is the signal given to man to seek his food and natural rest,"he said; "better and wiser would it be, if he could understand the signsof nature, and take a lesson from the fowls of the air and the beasts ofthe field! Our night, however, will soon be over, for with the moonwe 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 wethrew up a work of blocks, to keep the ravenous varmints from handlingour scalps. If my marks do not fail me, we shall find the place a fewrods further to our left."
Without waiting for an assent, or, indeed, for any reply, the sturdyhunter moved boldly into a dense thicket of young chestnuts, shovingaside the branches of the exuberant shoots which nearly covered theground, like a man who expected, at each step, to discover some objecthe had formerly known. The recollection of the scout did not deceivehim. After penetrating through the brush, matted as it was with briars,for a few hundred feet, he entered an open space, that surrounded a low,green hillock, which was crowned by the decayed blockhouse 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 thedisappearance of danger, and was now quietly crumbling in the solitudeof the forest, neglected and nearly forgotten, like the circumstanceswhich had caused it to be reared. Such memorials of the passage andstruggles of man are yet frequent throughout the broad barrier ofwilderness which once separated the hostile provinces, and form aspecies of ruins that are intimately associated with the recollectionsof colonial history, and which are in appropriate keeping with thegloomy character of the surrounding scenery. The roof of bark had longsince fallen, and mingled with the soil, but the huge logs of pine,which had been hastily thrown together, still preserved their relativepositions, though one angle of the work had given way under thepressure, and threatened a speedy downfall to the remainder of therustic edifice. While Heyward and his companions hesitated to approacha building so decayed, Hawkeye and the Indians entered within the lowwalls, not only without fear, but with obvious interest. While theformer surveyed the ruins, both internally and externally, with thecuriosity of one whose recollections were reviving at each moment,Chingachgook related to his son, in the language of the Delawares, andwith the pride of a conqueror, the brief history of the skirmish whichhad been fought, in his youth, in that secluded spot. A strain ofmelancholy, however, blended with his triumph, rendering his voice, asusual, soft and musical.
In the meantime, the sisters gladly dismounted, and prepared to enjoytheir halt in the coolness of the evening, and in a security which theybelieved 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 alreadyfinished his short survey, "had we chosen a spot less known, and onemore rarely visited than this?"
"Few live who know the blockhouse was ever raised," was the slow andmusing answer; "'tis not often that books are made, and narrativeswritten of such a scrimmage as was here fou't atween the Mohicans andthe Mohawks, in a war of their own waging. I was then a younker, andwent out with the Delawares, because I know'd they were a scandalizedand wronged race. Forty days and forty nights did the imps crave ourblood 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 totwenty, until our numbers were nearly equal, and then we sallied outupon the hounds, and not a man of them ever got back to tell the fateof 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 myselfshould lay on the naked ground, to be torn asunder by beasts, or tobleach in the rains, I buried the dead with my own hands, under thatvery little hillock where you have placed yourselves; and no bad seatdoes it make neither, though it be raised by the bones of mortal men."
Heyward and the sisters arose, on the instant, from the grassysepulcher; nor could the two latter, notwithstanding the terrific scenesthey had so recently passed through, entirely suppress an emotion ofnatural horror, when they found themselves in such familiar contact withthe grave of the dead Mohawks. The gray light, the gloomy little areaof dark grass, surrounded by its border of brush, beyond which the pinesrose, in breathing silence, apparently into the very clouds, and thedeathlike stillness of the vast forest, were all in unison to deepensuch a sensation. "They are gone, and they are harmless," continuedHawkeye, waving his hand, with a melancholy smile at their manifestalarm; "they'll never shout the war-whoop nor strike a blow with thetomahawk again! And of all those who aided in placing them where theylie, Chingachgook and I only are living! The brothers and family of theMohican formed our war party; and you see before you all that are nowleft of his race."
The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians,with a compassionate interest in their desolate fortune. Their darkpersons were still to be seen within the shadows of the blockhouse,the son listening to the relation of his father with that sort ofintenseness which would be created by a narrative that redounded so muchto the honor of those whose names he had long revered for their courageand savage virtues.
"I had thought the Delawares a pacific people," said Duncan, "and thatthey never waged war in person; trusting the defense of their hands tothose very Mohawks that you slew!"
"'Tis true in part," returned the scout, "and yet, at the bottom, 'tisa wicked lie. Such a treaty was made in ages gone by, through thedeviltries of the Dutchers, who wished to disarm the natives that hadthe best right to the country, where they had settled themselves. TheMohicans, though a part of the same nation, having to deal with theEnglish, never entered into the silly bargain, but kept to theirmanhood; as in truth did the Delawares, when their eyes were open totheir folly. You see before you a chief of the great Mohican Sagamores!Once his family could chase their deer over tracts of country wider thanthat which belongs to the Albany Patteroon, without crossing brook orhill that was not their own; but what is left of their descendant? Hemay 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 solow that the plowshares cannot reach it!"
"Enough!" said Heyward, apprehensive that the subject might lead toa discussion that would interrupt the harmony so necessary to thepreservation of his fair companions; "we have journeyed far, and fewam
ong us are blessed with forms like that of yours, which seems to knowneither fatigue nor weakness."
"The sinews and bones of a man carry me through it all," said thehunter, surveying his muscular limbs with a simplicity that betrayedthe honest pleasure the compliment afforded him; "there are larger andheavier men to be found in the settlements, but you might travel manydays in a city before you could meet one able to walk fifty mileswithout stopping to take breath, or who has kept the hounds withinhearing during a chase of hours. However, as flesh and blood are notalways the same, it is quite reasonable to suppose that the gentle onesare 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 theirtender heads of these chestnut shoots, and a bed of grass and leaves."
The dialogue ceased, while the hunter and his companions busiedthemselves in preparations for the comfort and protection of those theyguided. A spring, which many long years before had induced the nativesto select the place for their temporary fortification, was soon clearedof leaves, and a fountain of crystal gushed from the bed, diffusingits waters over the verdant hillock. A corner of the building was thenroofed 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 thesisters to repose on.
While the diligent woodsmen were employed in this manner, Cora andAlice partook of that refreshment which duty required much more thaninclination prompted them to accept. They then retired within thewalls, and first offering up their thanksgivings for past mercies, andpetitioning for a continuance of the Divine favor throughout the comingnight, they laid their tender forms on the fragrant couch, and in spiteof recollections and forebodings, soon sank into those slumbers whichnature so imperiously demanded, and which were sweetened by hopesfor the morrow. Duncan had prepared himself to pass the night inwatchfulness near them, just without the ruin, but the scout, perceivinghis intention, pointed toward Chingachgook, as he coolly disposed hisown person on the grass, and said:
"The eyes of a white man are too heavy and too blind for such a watch asthis! The Mohican will be our sentinel, therefore let us sleep."
"I proved myself a sluggard on my post during the past night," saidHeyward, "and have less need of repose than you, who did more creditto the character of a soldier. Let all the party seek their rest, then,while I hold the guard."
"If we lay among the white tents of the Sixtieth, and in front of anenemy like the French, I could not ask for a better watchman," returnedthe scout; "but in the darkness and among the signs of the wildernessyour judgment would be like the folly of a child, and your vigilancethrown away. Do then, like Uncas and myself, sleep, and sleep insafety."
Heyward perceived, in truth, that the younger Indian had thrown his formon the side of the hillock while they were talking, like one who soughtto make the most of the time allotted to rest, and that his example hadbeen followed by David, whose voice literally "clove to his jaws," withthe fever of his wound, heightened, as it was, by their toilsome march.Unwilling to prolong a useless discussion, the young man affected tocomply, by posting his back against the logs of the blockhouse, in ahalf recumbent posture, though resolutely determined, in his own mind,not to close an eye until he had delivered his precious charge into thearms of Munro himself. Hawkeye, believing he had prevailed, soon fellasleep, and a silence as deep as the solitude in which they had foundit, 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 visionbecame more acute as the shades of evening settled on the place; andeven after the stars were glimmering above his head, he was able todistinguish the recumbent forms of his companions, as they lay stretchedon the grass, and to note the person of Chingachgook, who sat uprightand motionless as one of the trees which formed the dark barrier onevery side. He still heard the gentle breathings of the sisters, who laywithin a few feet of him, and not a leaf was ruffled by the passingair of which his ear did not detect the whispering sound. At length,however, the mournful notes of a whip-poor-will became blended with themoanings of an owl; his heavy eyes occasionally sought the bright raysof the stars, and he then fancied he saw them through the fallen lids.At instants of momentary wakefulness he mistook a bush for his associatesentinel; his head next sank upon his shoulder, which, in its turn,sought the support of the ground; and, finally, his whole person becamerelaxed and pliant, and the young man sank into a deep sleep, dreamingthat he was a knight of ancient chivalry, holding his midnight vigilsbefore the tent of a recaptured princess, whose favor he did not despairof gaining, by such a proof of devotion and watchfulness.
How long the tired Duncan lay in this insensible state he neverknew himself, but his slumbering visions had been long lost in totalforgetfulness, when he was awakened by a light tap on the shoulder.Aroused by this signal, slight as it was, he sprang upon his feet witha confused recollection of the self-imposed duty he had assumed with thecommencement of the night.
"Who comes?" he demanded, feeling for his sword, at the place where itwas usually suspended. "Speak! friend or enemy?"
"Friend," replied the low voice of Chingachgook; who, pointing upwardat the luminary which was shedding its mild light through the openingin the trees, directly in their bivouac, immediately added, in his rudeEnglish: "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 Iprepare my own companions for the march!"
"We are awake, Duncan," said the soft, silvery tones of Alice within thebuilding, "and ready to travel very fast after so refreshing a sleep;but you have watched through the tedious night in our behalf, afterhaving endured so much fatigue the livelong 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, issuingfrom the shadows of the building into the light of the moon, in all theloveliness 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 ofothers. Can we not tarry here a little longer while you find the restyou 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 eyeagain," said the uneasy youth, gazing at the ingenuous countenanceof Alice, where, however, in its sweet solicitude, he read nothing toconfirm his half-awakened suspicion. "It is but too true, that afterleading you into danger by my heedlessness, I have not even the merit ofguarding 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, willbetray our watch."
The young man was relieved from the awkwardness of making any furtherprotestations 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, incommon with the whole party, was awake and stirring. "They scent dangerin the wind!"
"God forbid!" exclaimed Heyward. "Surely we have had enough ofbloodshed!"
While he spoke, however, the young soldier seized his rifle, andadvancing toward the front, prepared to atone for his venial remissness,by freely exposing his life in defense 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 distantsounds, which had startled the Mohicans, reached his own ears.
"Hist!" returned the attentive scout; "'tis man; even I can now tellhis tread, poor as my senses are when compared to an Indian's! ThatScampering Huron has fallen in with one of Montcalm's outlying parties,and they have struck upon our trail. I shouldn't like, myself, to spillmore human
blood in this spot," he added, looking around with anxiety inhis features, at the dim objects by which he was surrounded; "but whatmust 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 acover, and has rung with the crack of a rifle afore to-night!"
He was instantly obeyed, the Mohicans leading the Narrangansettswithin the ruin, whither the whole party repaired with the most guardedsilence.
The sound of approaching footsteps were now too distinctly audible toleave any doubts as to the nature of the interruption. They were soonmingled with voices calling to each other in an Indian dialect, whichthe hunter, in a whisper, affirmed to Heyward was the language of theHurons. When the party reached the point where the horses had enteredthe thicket which surrounded the blockhouse, they were evidently atfault, having lost those marks which, until that moment, had directedtheir pursuit.
It would seem by the voices that twenty men were soon collected at thatone spot, mingling their different opinions and advice in noisy clamor.
"The knaves know our weakness," whispered Hawkeye, who stood by the sideof Heyward, in deep shade, looking through an opening in the logs, "orthey wouldn't indulge their idleness in such a squaw's march. Listen tothe reptiles! each man among them seems to have two tongues, and but asingle leg."
Duncan, brave as he was in the combat, could not, in such a moment ofpainful suspense, make any reply to the cool and characteristic remarkof the scout. He only grasped his rifle more firmly, and fastened hiseyes upon the narrow opening, through which he gazed upon the moonlightview with increasing anxiety. The deeper tones of one who spoke ashaving authority were next heard, amid a silence that denoted therespect with which his orders, or rather advice, was received. Afterwhich, by the rustling of leaves, and crackling of dried twigs, itwas apparent the savages were separating in pursuit of the lost trail.Fortunately for the pursued, the light of the moon, while it shed aflood of mild luster upon the little area around the ruin, was notsufficiently strong to penetrate the deep arches of the forest, wherethe objects still lay in deceptive shadow. The search proved fruitless;for so short and sudden had been the passage from the faint path thetravelers had journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of theirfootsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.
It was not long, however, before the restless savages were heard beatingthe brush, and gradually approaching the inner edge of that dense borderof young chestnuts which encircled the little area.
"They are coming," muttered Heyward, endeavoring to thrust his riflethrough the chink in the logs; "let us fire on their approach."
"Keep everything in the shade," returned the scout; "the snapping ofa flint, or even the smell of a single karnel of the brimstone, wouldbring the hungry varlets upon us in a body. Should it please God that wemust give battle for the scalps, trust to the experience of men whoknow the ways of the savages, and who are not often backward when thewar-whoop is howled."
Duncan cast his eyes behind him, and saw that the trembling sisters werecowering in the far corner of the building, while the Mohicans stood inthe shadow, like two upright posts, ready, and apparently willing, tostrike when the blow should be needed. Curbing his impatience, he againlooked out upon the area, and awaited the result in silence. At thatinstant the thicket opened, and a tall and armed Huron advanced a fewpaces into the open space. As he gazed upon the silent blockhouse, themoon fell upon his swarthy countenance, and betrayed its surprise andcuriosity. He made the exclamation which usually accompanies the formeremotion in an Indian, and, calling in a low voice, soon drew a companionto his side.
These children of the woods stood together for several moments pointingat the crumbling edifice, and conversing in the unintelligible languageof their tribe. They then approached, though with slow and cautioussteps, pausing every instant to look at the building, like startled deerwhose curiosity struggled powerfully with their awakened apprehensionsfor the mastery. The foot of one of them suddenly rested on the mound,and he stopped to examine its nature. At this moment, Heyward observedthat the scout loosened his knife in its sheath, and lowered the muzzleof his rifle. Imitating these movements, the young man prepared himselffor the struggle which now seemed inevitable.
The savages were so near, that the least motion in one of the horses, oreven a breath louder than common, would have betrayed the fugitives. Butin discovering the character of the mound, the attention of the Huronsappeared directed to a different object. They spoke together, andthe sounds of their voices were low and solemn, as if influenced by areverence that was deeply blended with awe. Then they drew warily back,keeping their eyes riveted on the ruin, as if they expected to seethe apparitions of the dead issue from its silent walls, until, havingreached the boundary of the area, they moved slowly into the thicket anddisappeared.
Hawkeye dropped the breech of his rifle to the earth, and drawing along, 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, butwithout replying, he again turned toward those who just then interestedhim more. He heard the two Hurons leave the bushes, and it was soonplain that all the pursuers were gathered about them, in deep attentionto their report. After a few minutes of earnest and solemn dialogue,altogether different from the noisy clamor with which they had firstcollected about the spot, the sounds grew fainter and more distant, andfinally were lost in the depths of the forest.
Hawkeye waited until a signal from the listening Chingachgook assuredhim that every sound from the retiring party was completely swallowed bythe distance, when he motioned to Heyward to lead forth the horses, andto assist the sisters into their saddles. The instant this was donethey issued through the broken gateway, and stealing out by a directionopposite to the one by which they entered, they quitted the spot, thesisters casting furtive glances at the silent, grave and crumbling ruin,as they left the soft light of the moon, to bury themselves in the gloomof the woods.