CHAPTER VIII.


"They linger yet,
Avengers of their native land."Gray


The warning call of the scout was not uttered without occasion. During the
occurrence of the deadly encounter just related, the roar of the falls was
unbroken by any human sound whatever. It would seem that interest in the result
had kept the natives on the opposite shores in breathless suspense, while the
quick evolutions and swift changes in the positions of the combatants
effectually prevented a fire that might prove dangerous alike to friend and
enemy. But the moment the struggle was decided, a yell arose as fierce and
savage as wild and revengeful passions could throw into the air. It was
followed by the swift flashes of the rifles, which sent their leaden messengers
across the rock in volleys, as though the assailants would pour out their
impotent fury on the insensible scene of the fatal contest.

A steady, though deliberate return was made from the rifle of Chingachgook, who
had maintained his post throughout the fray with unmoved resolution. When the
triumphant shout of Uncas was borne to his ears, the gratified father raised
his voice in a single responsive cry, after which his busy piece alone proved
that he still guarded his pass with unwearied diligence. In this manner many
minutes flew by with the swiftness of thought; the rifles of the assailants
speaking, at times, in rattling volleys, and at others in occasional,
scattering shots. Though the rock, the trees, and the shrubs, were cut and torn
in a hundred places around the besieged, their cover was so close, and so
rigidly maintained, that, as yet, David had been the only sufferer in their
little band.

"Let them burn their powder," said the deliberate scout, while
bullet after bullet whizzed by the place where he securely lay; "there
will be a fine gathering of lead when it is over, and I fancy the imps will
tire of the sport afore these old stones cry out for mercy! Uncas, boy, you
waste the kernels by overcharging; and a kicking rifle never carries a true
bullet. I told you to take that loping miscreant under the line of white point;
now, if your bullet went a hair's breadth it went two inches above it.
The life lies low in a Mingo, and humanity teaches us to make a quick end to
the sarpents."

A quiet smile lighted the haughty features of the young Mohican, betraying his
knowledge of the English language as well as of the other's meaning; but
he suffered it to pass away without vindication of reply.

"I cannot permit you to accuse Uncas of want of judgment or of
skill," said Duncan; "he saved my life in the coolest and readiest
manner, and he has made a friend who never will require to be reminded of the
debt he owes."

Uncas partly raised his body, and offered his hand to the grasp of Heyward.
During this act of friendship, the two young men exchanged looks of
intelligence which caused Duncan to forget the character and condition of his
wild associate. In the meanwhile, Hawkeye, who looked on this burst of youthful
feeling with a cool but kind regard made the following reply:

"Life is an obligation which friends often owe each other in the
wilderness. I dare say I may have served Uncas some such turn myself before
now; and I very well remember that he has stood between me and death five
different times; three times from the Mingoes, once in crossing Horican,
and"

"That bullet was better aimed than common!" exclaimed Duncan,
involuntarily shrinking from a shot which struck the rock at his side with a
smart rebound.

Hawkeye laid his hand on the shapeless metal, and shook his head, as he
examined it, saying, "Falling lead is never flattened, had it come from
the clouds this might have happened."

But the rifle of Uncas was deliberately raised toward the heavens, directing
the eyes of his companions to a point, where the mystery was immediately
explained. A ragged oak grew on the right bank of the river, nearly opposite to
their position, which, seeking the freedom of the open space, had inclined so
far forward that its upper branches overhung that arm of the stream which
flowed nearest to its own shore. Among the topmost leaves, which scantily
concealed the gnarled and stunted limbs, a savage was nestled, partly concealed
by the trunk of the tree, and partly exposed, as though looking down upon them
to ascertain the effect produced by his treacherous aim.

"These devils will scale heaven to circumvent us to our ruin," said
Hawkeye; "keep him in play, boy, until I can bring 'killdeer'
to bear, when we will try his metal on each side of the tree at once."

Uncas delayed his fire until the scout uttered the word.

The rifles flashed, the leaves and bark of the oak flew into the air, and were
scattered by the wind, but the Indian answered their assault by a taunting
laugh, sending down upon them another bullet in return, that struck the cap of
Hawkeye from his head. Once more the savage yells burst out of the woods, and
the leaden hail whistled above the heads of the besieged, as if to confine them
to a place where they might become easy victims to the enterprise of the
warrior who had mounted the tree.

"This must be looked to," said the scout, glancing about him with
an anxious eye. "Uncas, call up your father; we have need of all our
we'pons to bring the cunning varmint from his roost."

The signal was instantly given; and, before Hawkeye had reloaded his rifle,
they were joined by Chingachgook. When his son pointed out to the experienced
warrior the situation of their dangerous enemy, the usual exclamatory
"hugh" burst from his lips; after which, no further expression of
surprise or alarm was suffered to escape him. Hawkeye and the Mohicans
conversed earnestly together in Delaware for a few moments, when each quietly
took his post, in order to execute the plan they had speedily devised.

The warrior in the oak had maintained a quick, though ineffectual fire, from
the moment of his discovery. But his aim was interrupted by the vigilance of
his enemies, whose rifles instantaneously bore on any part of his person that
was left exposed. Still his bullets fell in the center of the crouching party.
The clothes of Heyward, which rendered him peculiarly conspicuous, were
repeatedly cut, and once blood was drawn from a slight wound in his arm.

At length, emboldened by the long and patient watchfulness of his enemies, the
Huron attempted a better and more fatal aim. The quick eyes of the Mohicans
caught the dark line of his lower limbs incautiously exposed through the thin
foliage, a few inches from the trunk of the tree. Their rifles made a common
report, when, sinking on his wounded limb, part of the body of the savage came
into view. Swift as thought, Hawkeye seized the advantage, and discharged his
fatal weapon into the top of the oak. The leaves were unusually agitated; the
dangerous rifle fell from its commanding elevation, and after a few moments of
vain struggling, the form of the savage was seen swinging in the wind, while he
still grasped a ragged and naked branch of the tree with hands clenched in
desperation.

"Give him, in pity, give him the contents of another rifle," cried
Duncan, turning away his eyes in horror from the spectacle of a fellow creature
in such awful jeopardy.

"Not a karnel!" exclaimed the obdurate Hawkeye; "his death is
certain, and we have no powder to spare, for Indian fights sometimes last for
days; 'tis their scalps or ours! and God, who made us, has put into our
natures the craving to keep the skin on the head."

Against this stern and unyielding morality, supported as it was by such visible
policy, there was no appeal. From that moment the yells in the forest once more
ceased, the fire was suffered to decline, and all eyes, those of friends as
well as enemies, became fixed on the hopeless condition of the wretch who was
dangling between heaven and earth. The body yielded to the currents of air, and
though no murmur or groan escaped the victim, there were instants when he
grimly faced his foes, and the anguish of cold despair might be traced, through
the intervening distance, in possession of his swarthy lineaments. Three
several times the scout raised his piece in mercy, and as often, prudence
getting the better of his intention, it was again silently lowered. At length
one hand of the Huron lost its hold, and dropped exhausted to his side. A
desperate and fruitless struggle to recover the branch succeeded, and then the
savage was seen for a fleeting instant, grasping wildly at the empty air. The
lightning is not quicker than was the flame from the rifle of Hawkeye; the
limbs of the victim trembled and contracted, the head fell to the bosom, and
the body parted the foaming waters like lead, when the element closed above it,
in its ceaseless velocity, and every vestige of the unhappy Huron was lost
forever.

No shout of triumph succeeded this important advantage, but even the Mohicans
gazed at each other in silent horror. A single yell burst from the woods, and
all was again still. Hawkeye, who alone appeared to reason on the occasion,
shook his head at his own momentary weakness, even uttering his
self-disapprobation aloud.

"'Twas the last charge in my horn and the last bullet in my pouch,
and 'twas the act of a boy!" he said; "what mattered it
whether he struck the rock living or dead! feeling would soon be over. Uncas,
lad, go down to the canoe, and bring up the big horn; it is all the powder we
have left, and we shall need it to the last grain, or I am ignorant of the
Mingo nature."

The young Mohican complied, leaving the scout turning over the useless contents
of his pouch, and shaking the empty horn with renewed discontent. From this
unsatisfactory examination, however, he was soon called by a loud and piercing
exclamation from Uncas, that sounded, even to the unpracticed ears of Duncan,
as the signal of some new and unexpected calamity. Every thought filled with
apprehension for the previous treasure he had concealed in the cavern, the
young man started to his feet, totally regardless of the hazard he incurred by
such an exposure. As if actuated by a common impulse, his movement was imitated
by his companions, and, together they rushed down the pass to the friendly
chasm, with a rapidity that rendered the scattering fire of their enemies
perfectly harmless. The unwonted cry had brought the sisters, together with the
wounded David, from their place of refuge; and the whole party, at a single
glance, was made acquainted with the nature of the disaster that had disturbed
even the practiced stoicism of their youthful Indian protector.

At a short distance from the rock, their little bark was to be seen floating
across the eddy, toward the swift current of the river, in a manner which
proved that its course was directed by some hidden agent. The instant this
unwelcome sight caught the eye of the scout, his rifle was leveled as by
instinct, but the barrel gave no answer to the bright sparks of the flint.

"'Tis too late, 'tis too late!" Hawkeye exclaimed,
dropping the useless piece in bitter disappointment; "the miscreant has
struck the rapid; and had we powder, it could hardly send the lead swifter than
he now goes!"

The adventurous Huron raised his head above the shelter of the canoe, and,
while it glided swiftly down the stream, he waved his hand, and gave forth the
shout, which was the known signal of success. His cry was answered by a yell
and a laugh from the woods, as tauntingly exulting as if fifty demons were
uttering their blasphemies at the fall of some Christian soul.

"Well may you laugh, ye children of the devil!" said the scout,
seating himself on a projection of the rock, and suffering his gun to fall
neglected at his feet, "for the three quickest and truest rifles in these
woods are no better than so many stalks of mullein, or the last year's
horns of a buck!"

"What is to be done?" demanded Duncan, losing the first feeling of
disappointment in a more manly desire for exertion; "what will become of
us?"

Hawkeye made no other reply than by passing his finger around the crown of his
head, in a manner so significant, that none who witnessed the action could
mistake its meaning.

"Surely, surely, our case is not so desperate!" exclaimed the
youth; "the Hurons are not here; we may make good the caverns, we may
oppose their landing."

"With what?" coolly demanded the scout. "The arrows of Uncas,
or such tears as women shed! No, no; you are young, and rich, and have friends,
and at such an age I know it is hard to die! But," glancing his eyes at
the Mohicans, "let us remember we are men without a cross, and let us
teach these natives of the forest that white blood can run as freely as red,
when the appointed hour is come."

Duncan turned quickly in the direction indicated by the other's eyes, and
read a confirmation of his worst apprehensions in the conduct of the Indians.
Chingachgook, placing himself in a dignified posture on another fragment of the
rock, had already laid aside his knife and tomahawk, and was in the act of
taking the eagle's plume from his head, and smoothing the solitary tuft
of hair in readiness to perform its last and revolting office. His countenance
was composed, though thoughtful, while his dark, gleaming eyes were gradually
losing the fierceness of the combat in an expression better suited to the
change he expected momentarily to undergo.

"Our case is not, cannot be so hopeless!" said Duncan; "even
at this very moment succor may be at hand. I see no enemies! They have sickened
of a struggle in which they risk so much with so little prospect of
gain!"

"It may be a minute, or it may be an hour, afore the wily sarpents steal
upon us, and it is quite in natur' for them to be lying within hearing at
this very moment," said Hawkeye; "but come they will, and in such a
fashion as will leave us nothing to hope! Chingachgook"he spoke in
Delaware"my brother, we have fought our last battle together, and
the Maquas will triumph in the death of the sage man of the Mohicans, and of
the pale face, whose eyes can make night as day, and level the clouds to the
mists of the springs!"

"Let the Mingo women go weep over the slain!" returned the Indian,
with characteristic pride and unmoved firmness; "the Great Snake of the
Mohicans has coiled himself in their wigwams, and has poisoned their triumph
with the wailings of children, whose fathers have not returned! Eleven warriors
lie hid from the graves of their tribes since the snows have melted, and none
will tell where to find them when the tongue of Chingachgook shall be silent!
Let them draw the sharpest knife, and whirl the swiftest tomahawk, for their
bitterest enemy is in their hands. Uncas, topmost branch of a noble trunk, call
on the cowards to hasten, or their hearts will soften, and they will change to
women!"

"They look among the fishes for their dead!" returned the low, soft
voice of the youthful chieftain; "the Hurons float with the slimy eels!
They drop from the oaks like fruit that is ready to be eaten! and the Delawares
laugh!"

"Ay, ay," muttered the scout, who had listened to this peculiar
burst of the natives with deep attention; "they have warmed their Indian
feelings, and they'll soon provoke the Maquas to give them a speedy end.
As for me, who am of the whole blood of the whites, it is befitting that I
should die as becomes my color, with no words of scoffing in my mouth, and
without bitterness at the heart!"

"Why die at all!" said Cora, advancing from the place where natural
horror had, until this moment, held her riveted to the rock; "the path is
open on every side; fly, then, to the woods, and call on God for succor. Go,
brave men, we owe you too much already; let us no longer involve you in our
hapless fortunes!"

"You but little know the craft of the Iroquois, lady, if you judge they
have left the path open to the woods!" returned Hawkeye, who, however,
immediately added in his simplicity, "the down stream current, it is
certain, might soon sweep us beyond the reach of their rifles or the sound of
their voices."

"Then try the river. Why linger to add to the number of the victims of
our merciless enemies?"

"Why," repeated the scout, looking about him proudly;
"because it is better for a man to die at peace with himself than to live
haunted by an evil conscience! What answer could we give Munro, when he asked
us where and how we left his children?"

"Go to him, and say that you left them with a message to hasten to their
aid," returned Cora, advancing nigher to the scout in her generous ardor;
"that the Hurons bear them into the northern wilds, but that by vigilance
and speed they may yet be rescued; and if, after all, it should please heaven
that his assistance come too late, bear to him," she continued, her voice
gradually lowering, until it seemed nearly choked, "the love, the
blessings, the final prayers of his daughters, and bid him not mourn their
early fate, but to look forward with humble confidence to the Christian's
goal to meet his children." The hard, weather-beaten features of the
scout began to work, and when she had ended, he dropped his chin to his hand,
like a man musing profoundly on the nature of the proposal.

"There is reason in her words!" at length broke from his compressed
and trembling lips; "ay, and they bear the spirit of Christianity; what
might be right and proper in a red-skin, may be sinful in a man who has not
even a cross in blood to plead for his ignorance. Chingachgook! Uncas! hear you
the talk of the dark-eyed woman?"

He now spoke in Delaware to his companions, and his address, though calm and
deliberate, seemed very decided. The elder Mohican heard with deep gravity, and
appeared to ponder on his words, as though he felt the importance of their
import. After a moment of hesitation, he waved his hand in assent, and uttered
the English word "Good!" with the peculiar emphasis of his people.
Then, replacing his knife and tomahawk in his girdle, the warrior moved
silently to the edge of the rock which was most concealed from the banks of the
river. Here he paused a moment, pointed significantly to the woods below, and
saying a few words in his own language, as if indicating his intended route, he
dropped into the water, and sank from before the eyes of the witnesses of his
movements.

The scout delayed his departure to speak to the generous girl, whose breathing
became lighter as she saw the success of her remonstrance.

"Wisdom is sometimes given to the young, as well as to the old," he
said; "and what you have spoken is wise, not to call it by a better word.
If you are led into the woods, that is such of you as may be spared for awhile,
break the twigs on the bushes as you pass, and make the marks of your trail as
broad as you can, when, if mortal eyes can see them, depend on having a friend
who will follow to the ends of the 'arth afore he desarts you."

He gave Cora an affectionate shake of the hand, lifted his rifle, and after
regarding it a moment with melancholy solicitude, laid it carefully aside, and
descended to the place where Chingachgook had just disappeared. For an instant
he hung suspended by the rock, and looking about him, with a countenance of
peculiar care, he added bitterly, "Had the powder held out, this disgrace
could never have befallen!" then, loosening his hold, the water closed
above his head, and he also became lost to view.

All eyes now were turned on Uncas, who stood leaning against the ragged rock,
in immovable composure. After waiting a short time, Cora pointed down the
river, and said:

"Your friends have not been seen, and are now, most probably, in safety.
Is it not time for you to follow?"

"Uncas will stay," the young Mohican calmly answered in English.

"To increase the horror of our capture, and to diminish the chances of
our release! Go, generous young man," Cora continued, lowering her eyes
under the gaze of the Mohican, and perhaps, with an intuitive consciousness of
her power; "go to my father, as I have said, and be the most confidential
of my messengers. Tell him to trust you with the means to buy the freedom of
his daughters. Go! 'tis my wish, 'tis my prayer, that you will
go!"

The settled, calm look of the young chief changed to an expression of gloom,
but he no longer hesitated. With a noiseless step he crossed the rock, and
dropped into the troubled stream. Hardly a breath was drawn by those he left
behind, until they caught a glimpse of his head emerging for air, far down the
current, when he again sank, and was seen no more.

These sudden and apparently successful experiments had all taken place in a few
minutes of that time which had now become so precious. After a last look at
Uncas, Cora turned and with a quivering lip, addressed herself to Heyward:

"I have heard of your boasted skill in the water, too, Duncan," she
said; "follow, then, the wise example set you by these simple and
faithful beings."

"Is such the faith that Cora Munro would exact from her protector?"
said the young man, smiling mournfully, but with bitterness.

"This is not a time for idle subtleties and false opinions," she
answered; "but a moment when every duty should be equally considered. To
us you can be of no further service here, but your precious life may be saved
for other and nearer friends."

He made no reply, though his eye fell wistfully on the beautiful form of Alice,
who was clinging to his arm with the dependency of an infant.

"Consider," continued Cora, after a pause, during which she seemed
to struggle with a pang even more acute than any that her fears had excited,
"that the worst to us can be but death; a tribute that all must pay at
the good time of God's appointment."

"There are evils worse than death," said Duncan, speaking hoarsely,
and as if fretful at her importunity, "but which the presence of one who
would die in your behalf may avert."

Cora ceased her entreaties; and veiling her face in her shawl, drew the nearly
insensible Alice after her into the deepest recess of the inner cavern.