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CHAPTER 22
"Bot.--Abibl we all met?
Qui.--Pat--pat; and here's a marvelous
convenient place for our rehearsal."
--Midsummer Night's Dream
The reader may better imagine, than we
describe the surprise of Heyward.
His lurking Indians were suddenly converted
into four-footed beasts; his lake into a
beaver pond; his cataract into a dam,
constructed by those industrious and
ingenious quadrupeds; and a suspected enemy
into his tried friend, David Gamut, the
master of psalmody.
The presence of the latter created so many
unexpected hopes relative to the sisters
that, without a moment's hesitation, the
young man broke out of his ambush, and
sprang forward to join the two principal
actors in the scene.
The merriment of Hawkeye was not easily
appeased.
Without ceremony, and with a rough hand, he
twirled the supple Gamut around on his
heel, and more than once affirmed that the
Hurons had done themselves great credit in
the fashion of his costume.
Then, seizing the hand of the other, he
squeezed it with a grip that brought tears
into the eyes of the placid David, and
wished him joy of his new condition.
"You were about opening your throat-
practisings among the beavers, were ye?" he
said.
"The cunning devils know half the trade
already, for they beat the time with their
tails, as you heard just now; and in good
time it was, too, or 'killdeer' might have
sounded the first note among them.
I have known greater fools, who could read
and write, than an experienced old beaver;
but as for squalling, the animals are born
dumb!
What think you of such a song as this?"
David shut his sensitive ears, and even
Heyward apprised as he was of the nature of
the cry, looked upward in quest of the
bird, as the cawing of a crow rang in the
air about them.
"See!" continued the laughing scout, as he
pointed toward the remainder of the party,
who, in obedience to the signal, were
already approaching; "this is music which
has its natural virtues; it brings two good
rifles to my elbow, to say nothing of the
knives and tomahawks.
But we see that you are safe; now tell us
what has become of the maidens."
"They are captives to the heathen," said
David; "and, though greatly troubled in
spirit, enjoying comfort and safety in the
body."
"Both!" demanded the breathless Heyward.
"Even so.
Though our wayfaring has been sore and our
sustenance scanty, we have had little other
cause for complaint, except the violence
done our feelings, by being thus led in
captivity into a far land."
"Bless ye for these very words!" exclaimed
the trembling Munro; "I shall then receive
my babes, spotless and angel-like, as I
lost them!"
"I know not that their delivery is at
hand," returned the doubting David; "the
leader of these savages is possessed of an
evil spirit that no power short of
Omnipotence can tame.
I have tried him sleeping and waking, but
neither sounds nor language seem to touch
his soul."
"Where is the knave?" bluntly interrupted
the scout.
"He hunts the moose to-day, with his young
men; and tomorrow, as I hear, they pass
further into the forests, and nigher to the
borders of Canada.
The elder maiden is conveyed to a
neighboring people, whose lodges are
situate beyond yonder black pinnacle of
rock; while the younger is detained among
the women of the Hurons, whose dwellings
are but two short miles hence, on a table-
land, where the fire had done the office of
the axe, and prepared the place for their
reception."
"Alice, my gentle Alice!" murmured Heyward;
"she has lost the consolation of her
sister's presence!"
"Even so.
But so far as praise and thanksgiving in
psalmody can temper the spirit in
affliction, she has not suffered."
"Has she then a heart for music?"
"Of the graver and more solemn character;
though it must be acknowledged that, in
spite of all my endeavors, the maiden weeps
oftener than she smiles.
At such moments I forbear to press the holy
songs; but there are many sweet and
comfortable periods of satisfactory
communication, when the ears of the savages
are astounded with the upliftings of our
voices."
"And why are you permitted to go at large,
unwatched?"
David composed his features into what he
intended should express an air of modest
humility, before he meekly replied:
"Little be the praise to such a worm as I.
But, though the power of psalmody was
suspended in the terrible business of that
field of blood through which we have
passed, it has recovered its influence even
over the souls of the heathen, and I am
suffered to go and come at will."
The scout laughed, and, tapping his own
forehead significantly, he perhaps
explained the singular indulgence more
satisfactorily when he said:
"The Indians never harm a non-composser.
But why, when the path lay open before your
eyes, did you not strike back on your own
trail (it is not so blind as that which a
squirrel would make), and bring in the
tidings to Edward?"
The scout, remembering only his own sturdy
and iron nature, had probably exacted a
task that David, under no circumstances,
could have performed.
But, without entirely losing the meekness
of his air, the latter was content to
answer:
"Though my soul would rejoice to visit the
habitations of Christendom once more, my
feet would rather follow the tender spirits
intrusted to my keeping, even into the
idolatrous province of the Jesuits, than
take one step backward, while they pined in
captivity and sorrow."
Though the figurative language of David was
not very intelligible, the sincere and
steady expression of his eye, and the glow
of his honest countenance, were not easily
mistaken.
Uncas pressed closer to his side, and
regarded the speaker with a look of
commendation, while his father expressed
his satisfaction by the ordinary pithy
exclamation of approbation.
The scout shook his head as he rejoined:
"The Lord never intended that the man
should place all his endeavors in his
throat, to the neglect of other and better
gifts!
But he has fallen into the hands of some
silly woman, when he should have been
gathering his education under a blue sky,
among the beauties of the forest.
Here, friend; I did intend to kindle a fire
with this tooting-whistle of thine; but, as
you value the thing, take it, and blow your
best on it."
Gamut received his pitch-pipe with as
strong an expression of pleasure as he
believed compatible with the grave
functions he exercised.
After essaying its virtues repeatedly, in
contrast with his own voice, and,
satisfying himself that none of its melody
was lost, he made a very serious
demonstration toward achieving a few
stanzas of one of the longest effusions in
the little volume so often mentioned.
Heyward, however, hastily interrupted his
pious purpose by continuing questions
concerning the past and present condition
of his fellow captives, and in a manner
more methodical than had been permitted by
his feelings in the opening of their
interview.
David, though he regarded his treasure with
longing eyes, was constrained to answer,
especially as the venerable father took a
part in the interrogatories, with an
interest too imposing to be denied.
Nor did the scout fail to throw in a
pertinent inquiry, whenever a fitting
occasion presented.
In this manner, though with frequent
interruptions which were filled with
certain threatening sounds from the
recovered instrument, the pursuers were put
in possession of such leading circumstances
as were likely to prove useful in
accomplishing their great and engrossing
object--the recovery of the sisters.
The narrative of David was simple, and the
facts but few.
Magua had waited on the mountain until a
safe moment to retire presented itself,
when he had descended, and taken the route
along the western side of the Horican in
direction of the Canadas.
As the subtle Huron was familiar with the
paths, and well knew there was no immediate
danger of pursuit, their progress had been
moderate, and far from fatiguing.
It appeared from the unembellished
statement of David, that his own presence
had been rather endured than desired;
though even Magua had not been entirely
exempt from that veneration with which the
Indians regard those whom the Great Spirit
had visited in their intellects.
At night, the utmost care had been taken of
the captives, both to prevent injury from
the damps of the woods and to guard against
an escape.
At the spring, the horses were turned
loose, as has been seen; and,
notwithstanding the remoteness and length
of their trail, the artifices already named
were resorted to, in order to cut off every
clue to their place of retreat.
On their arrival at the encampment of his
people, Magua, in obedience to a policy
seldom departed from, separated his
prisoners.
Cora had been sent to a tribe that
temporarily occupied an adjacent valley,
though David was far too ignorant of the
customs and history of the natives, to be
able to declare anything satisfactory
concerning their name or character.
He only knew that they had not engaged in
the late expedition against William Henry;
that, like the Hurons themselves they were
allies of Montcalm; and that they
maintained an amicable, though a watchful
intercourse with the warlike and savage
people whom chance had, for a time, brought
in such close and disagreeable contact with
themselves.
The Mohicans and the scout listened to his
interrupted and imperfect narrative, with
an interest that obviously increased as he
proceeded; and it was while attempting to
explain the pursuits of the community in
which Cora was detained, that the latter
abruptly demanded:
"Did you see the fashion of their knives?
were they of English or French formation?"
"My thoughts were bent on no such vanities,
but rather mingled in consolation with
those of the maidens."
"The time may come when you will not
consider the knife of a savage such a
despicable vanity," returned the scout,
with a strong expression of contempt for
the other's dullness.
"Had they held their corn feast--or can you
say anything of the totems of the tribe?"
"Of corn, we had many and plentiful feasts;
for the grain, being in the milk is both
sweet to the mouth and comfortable to the
stomach.
Of totem, I know not the meaning; but if it
appertaineth in any wise to the art of
Indian music, it need not be inquired after
at their hands.
They never join their voices in praise, and
it would seem that they are among the
profanest of the idolatrous."
"Therein you belie the natur' of an Indian.
Even the Mingo adores but the true and
loving God.
'Tis wicked fabrication of the whites, and
I say it to the shame of my color that
would make the warrior bow down before
images of his own creation.
It is true, they endeavor to make truces to
the wicked one--as who would not with an
enemy he cannot conquer! but they look up
for favor and assistance to the Great and
Good Spirit only."
"It may be so," said David; "but I have
seen strange and fantastic images drawn in
their paint, of which their admiration and
care savored of spiritual pride; especially
one, and that, too, a foul and loathsome
object."
"Was it a sarpent?" quickly demanded the
"Much the same.
It was in the likeness of an abject and
creeping tortoise."
"Hugh!" exclaimed both the attentive
Mohicans in a breath; while the scout shook
his head with the air of one who had made
an important but by no means a pleasing
discovery.
Then the father spoke, in the language of
the Delawares, and with a calmness and
dignity that instantly arrested the
attention even of those to whom his words
were unintelligible.
His gestures were impressive, and at times
energetic.
Once he lifted his arm on high; and, as it
descended, the action threw aside the folds
of his light mantle, a finger resting on
his breast, as if he would enforce his
meaning by the attitude.
Duncan's eyes followed the movement, and he
perceived that the animal just mentioned
was beautifully, though faintly, worked in
blue tint, on the swarthy breast of the
chief.
All that he had ever heard of the violent
separation of the vast tribes of the
Delawares rushed across his mind, and he
awaited the proper moment to speak, with a
suspense that was rendered nearly
intolerable by his interest in the stake.
His wish, however, was anticipated by the
scout who turned from his red friend,
saying:
"We have found that which may be good or
evil to us, as heaven disposes.
The Sagamore is of the high blood of the
Delawares, and is the great chief of their
Tortoises!
That some of this stock are among the
people of whom the singer tells us, is
plain by his words; and, had he but spent
half the breath in prudent questions that
he has blown away in making a trumpet of
his throat, we might have known how many
warriors they numbered.
It is, altogether, a dangerous path we move
in; for a friend whose face is turned from
you often bears a bloodier mind than the
enemy who seeks your scalp."
"Explain," said Duncan.
"'Tis a long and melancholy tradition, and
one I little like to think of; for it is
not to be denied that the evil has been
mainly done by men with white skins.
But it has ended in turning the tomahawk of
brother against brother, and brought the
Mingo and the Delaware to travel in the
same path."
"You, then, suspect it is a portion of that
people among whom Cora resides?"
The scout nodded his head in assent, though
he seemed anxious to waive the further
discussion of a subject that appeared
painful.
The impatient Duncan now made several hasty
and desperate propositions to attempt the
release of the sisters.
Munro seemed to shake off his apathy, and
listened to the wild schemes of the young
man with a deference that his gray hairs
and reverend years should have denied.
But the scout, after suffering the ardor of
the lover to expend itself a little, found
means to convince him of the folly of
precipitation, in a manner that would
require their coolest judgment and utmost
fortitude.
"It would be well," he added, "to let this
man go in again, as usual, and for him to
tarry in the lodges, giving notice to the
gentle ones of our approach, until we call
him out, by signal, to consult.
You know the cry of a crow, friend, from
the whistle of the whip-poor-will?"
"'Tis a pleasing bird," returned David,
"and has a soft and melancholy note! though
the time is rather quick and ill-measured."
"He speaks of the wish-ton-wish," said the
scout; "well, since you like his whistle,
it shall be your signal.
Remember, then, when you hear the whip-
poor-will's call three times repeated, you
are to come into the bushes where the bird
might be supposed--"
"Stop," interrupted Heyward; "I will
accompany him."
"You!" exclaimed the astonished Hawkeye;
"are you tired of seeing the sun rise and
set?"
"David is a living proof that the Hurons
can be merciful."
"Ay, but David can use his throat, as no
man in his senses would pervart the gift."
"I too can play the madman, the fool, the
hero; in short, any or everything to rescue
her I love.
Name your objections no longer: I am
resolved."
Hawkeye regarded the young man a moment in
speechless amazement.
But Duncan, who, in deference to the
other's skill and services, had hitherto
submitted somewhat implicitly to his
dictation, now assumed the superior, with a
manner that was not easily resisted.
He waved his hand, in sign of his dislike
to all remonstrance, and then, in more
tempered language, he continued:
"You have the means of disguise; change me;
paint me, too, if you will; in short, alter
me to anything--a fool."
"It is not for one like me to say that he
who is already formed by so powerful a hand
as Providence, stands in need of a change,"
muttered the discontented scout.
"When you send your parties abroad in war,
you find it prudent, at least, to arrange
the marks and places of encampment, in
order that they who fight on your side may
know when and where to expect a friend."
"Listen," interrupted Duncan; "you have
heard from this faithful follower of the
captives, that the Indians are of two
tribes, if not of different nations.
With one, whom you think to be a branch of
the Delawares, is she you call the 'dark-
hair'; the other, and younger, of the
ladies, is undeniably with our declared
enemies, the Hurons.
It becomes my youth and rank to attempt the
latter adventure.
While you, therefore, are negotiating with
your friends for the release of one of the
sisters, I will effect that of the other,
or die."
The awakened spirit of the young soldier
gleamed in his eyes, and his form became
imposing under its influence.
Hawkeye, though too much accustomed to
Indian artifices not to foresee the danger
of the experiment, knew not well how to
combat this sudden resolution.
Perhaps there was something in the proposal
that suited his own hardy nature, and that
secret love of desperate adventure, which
had increased with his experience, until
hazard and danger had become, in some
measure, necessary to the enjoyment of his
existence.
Instead of continuing to oppose the scheme
of Duncan, his humor suddenly altered, and
he lent himself to its execution.
"Come," he said, with a good-humored smile;
"the buck that will take to the water must
be headed, and not followed.
Chingachgook has as many different paints
as the engineer officer's wife, who takes
down natur' on scraps of paper, making the
mountains look like *** of rusty hay, and
placing the blue sky in reach of your hand.
The Sagamore can use them, too.
Seat yourself on the log; and my life on
it, he can soon make a natural fool of you,
and that well to your liking."
Duncan complied; and the Mohican, who had
been an attentive listener to the
discourse, readily undertook the office.
Long practised in all the subtle arts of
his race, he drew, with great dexterity and
quickness, the fantastic shadow that the
natives were accustomed to consider as the
evidence of a friendly and jocular
disposition.
Every line that could possibly be
interpreted into a secret inclination for
war, was carefully avoided; while, on the
other hand, he studied those conceits that
might be construed into amity.
In short, he entirely sacrificed every
appearance of the warrior to the masquerade
of a buffoon.
Such exhibitions were not uncommon among
the Indians, and as Duncan was already
sufficiently disguised in his dress, there
certainly did exist some reason for
believing that, with his knowledge of
French, he might pass for a juggler from
Ticonderoga, straggling among the allied
and friendly tribes.
When he was thought to be sufficiently
painted, the scout gave him much friendly
advice; concerted signals, and appointed
the place where they should meet, in the
event of mutual success.
The parting between Munro and his young
friend was more melancholy; still, the
former submitted to the separation with an
indifference that his warm and honest
nature would never have permitted in a more
healthful state of mind.
The scout led Heyward aside, and acquainted
him with his intention to leave the veteran
in some safe encampment, in charge of
Chingachgook, while he and Uncas pursued
their inquires among the people they had
reason to believe were Delawares.
Then, renewing his cautions and advice, he
concluded by saying, with a solemnity and
warmth of feeling, with which Duncan was
deeply touched:
"And, now, God bless you!
You have shown a spirit that I like; for it
is the gift of youth, more especially one
of warm blood and a stout heart.
But believe the warning of a man who has
reason to know all he says to be true.
You will have occasion for your best
manhood, and for a sharper wit than what is
to be gathered in books, afore you outdo
the cunning or get the better of the
courage of a Mingo.
God bless you! if the Hurons master your
scalp, rely on the promise of one who has
two stout warriors to back him.
They shall pay for their victory, with a
life for every hair it holds.
I say, young gentleman, may Providence
bless your undertaking, which is altogether
for good; and, remember, that to outwit the
knaves it is lawful to practise things that
may not be naturally the gift of a white-
skin."
Duncan shook his worthy and reluctant
associate warmly by the hand, once more
recommended his aged friend to his care,
and returning his good wishes, he motioned
to David to proceed.
Hawkeye gazed after the high-spirited and
adventurous young man for several moments,
in open admiration; then, shaking his head
doubtingly, he turned, and led his own
division of the party into the concealment
of the forest.
The route taken by Duncan and David lay
directly across the clearing of the
beavers, and along the margin of their
pond.
When the former found himself alone with
one so simple, and so little qualified to
render any assistance in desperate
emergencies, he first began to be sensible
of the difficulties of the task he had
undertaken.
The fading light increased the gloominess
of the bleak and savage wilderness that
stretched so far on every side of him, and
there was even a fearful character in the
stillness of those little huts, that he
knew were so abundantly peopled.
It struck him, as he gazed at the admirable
structures and the wonderful precautions of
their sagacious inmates, that even the
brutes of these vast wilds were possessed
of an instinct nearly commensurate with his
own reason; and he could not reflect,
without anxiety, on the unequal contest
that he had so rashly courted.
Then came the glowing image of Alice; her
distress; her actual danger; and all the
peril of his situation was forgotten.
Cheering David, he moved on with the light
and vigorous step of youth and enterprise.
After making nearly a semicircle around the
pond, they diverged from the water-course,
and began to ascend to the level of a
slight elevation in that bottom land, over
which they journeyed.
Within half an hour they gained the margin
of another opening that bore all the signs
of having been also made by the beavers,
and which those sagacious animals had
probably been induced, by some accident, to
abandon, for the more eligible position
they now occupied.
A very natural sensation caused Duncan to
hesitate a moment, unwilling to leave the
cover of their bushy path, as a man pauses
to collect his energies before he essays
any hazardous experiment, in which he is
secretly conscious they will all be needed.
He profited by the halt, to gather such
information as might be obtained from his
short and hasty glances.
On the opposite side of the clearing, and
near the point where the brook tumbled over
some rocks, from a still higher level, some
fifty or sixty lodges, rudely fabricated of
logs brush, and earth intermingled, were to
be discovered.
They were arranged without any order, and
seemed to be constructed with very little
attention to neatness or beauty.
Indeed, so very inferior were they in the
two latter particulars to the village
Duncan had just seen, that he began to
expect a second surprise, no less
astonishing that the former.
This expectation was in no degree
diminished, when, by the doubtful twilight,
he beheld twenty or thirty forms rising
alternately from the cover of the tall,
coarse grass, in front of the lodges, and
then sinking again from the sight, as it
were to burrow in the earth.
By the sudden and hasty glimpses that he
caught of these figures, they seemed more
like dark, glancing specters, or some other
unearthly beings, than creatures fashioned
with the ordinary and vulgar materials of
flesh and blood.
A gaunt, naked form was seen, for a single
instant, tossing its arms wildly in the
air, and then the spot it had filled was
vacant; the figure appearing suddenly in
some other and distant place, or being
succeeded by another, possessing the same
mysterious character.
David, observing that his companion
lingered, pursued the direction of his
gaze, and in some measure recalled the
recollection of Heyward, by speaking.
"There is much fruitful soil uncultivated
here," he said; "and, I may add, without
the sinful leaven of self-commendation,
that, since my short sojourn in these
heathenish abodes, much good seed has been
scattered by the wayside."
"The tribes are fonder of the chase than of
the arts of men of labor," returned the
unconscious Duncan, still gazing at the
objects of his wonder.
"It is rather joy than labor to the spirit,
to lift up the voice in praise; but sadly
do these boys abuse their gifts.
Rarely have I found any of their age, on
whom nature has so freely bestowed the
elements of psalmody; and surely, surely,
there are none who neglect them more.
Three nights have I now tarried here, and
three several times have I assembled the
urchins to join in sacred song; and as
often have they responded to my efforts
with whoopings and howlings that have
chilled my soul!"
"Of whom speak you?"
"Of those children of the devil, who waste
the precious moments in yonder idle antics.
Ah! the wholesome restraint of discipline
is but little known among this self-
abandoned people.
In a country of birches, a rod is never
seen, and it ought not to appear a marvel
in my eyes, that the choicest blessings of
Providence are wasted in such cries as
these."
David closed his ears against the juvenile
pack, whose yell just then rang shrilly
through the forest; and Duncan, suffering
his lip to curl, as in mockery of his own
superstition, said firmly:
"We will proceed."
Without removing the safeguards form his
ears, the master of song complied, and
together they pursued their way toward what
David was sometimes wont to call the "tents
of the Philistines."