Chapter XIX
"Stand to your arms, and guard the door--all's lost Unless that fearful bell be silenced soon. The officer hath miss'd his path, or purpose, Or met some unforeseen and hideous obstacle. Anselmo, with thy company proceed Straight to the tower; the rest remain with me."
Byron, Marino Faliero, IV.ii.230-35.
The conjecture of Judith Hutter, concerning the manner in which theIndian girl had met her death, was accurate in the main. After sleepingseveral hours, her father and March awoke. This occurred a few minutesafter she had left the Ark to go in quest of her sister, and when ofcourse Chingachgook and his betrothed were on board. From the Delawarethe old man learned the position of the camp, and the recent events, aswell as the absence of his daughters. The latter gave him no concern,for he relied greatly on the sagacity of the elder, and the knownimpunity with which the younger passed among the savages. Longfamiliarity with danger, too, had blunted his sensibilities. Nor did heseem much to regret the captivity of Deerslayer, for, while he knew howmaterial his aid might be in a defence, the difference in their views onthe morality of the woods, had not left much sympathy between them. Hewould have rejoiced to know the position of the camp before it had beenalarmed by the escape of Hist, but it would be too hazardous now toventure to land, and he reluctantly relinquished for the night theruthless designs that cupidity and revenge had excited him to entertain.In this mood Hutter took a seat in the head of the scow, where hewas quickly joined by Hurry, leaving the Serpent and Hist in quietpossession of the other extremity of the vessel.
"Deerslayer has shown himself a boy, in going among the savages at thishour, and letting himself fall into their hands like a deer that tumblesinto a pit," growled the old man, perceiving as usual the mote in hisneighbor's eyes, while he overlooked the beam in his own; "if he is leftto pay for his stupidity with his own flesh, he can blame no one buthimself."
"That's the way of the world, old Tom," returned Hurry. "Every man mustmeet his own debts, and answer for his own sins. I'm amazed, howsever,that a lad as skilful and watchful as Deerslayer should have been caughtin such a trap! Didn't he know any better than to go prowling about aHuron camp at midnight, with no place to retreat to but a lake? or didhe think himself a buck, that by taking to the water could throw off thescent and swim himself out of difficulty? I had a better opinion of theboy's judgment, I'll own; but we must overlook a little ignorance in araw hand. I say, Master Hutter, do you happen to know what has become ofthe gals--I see no signs of Judith, or Hetty, though I've been throughthe Ark, and looked into all its living creatur's."
Hutter briefly explained the manner in which his daughters had taken tothe canoe, as it had been related by the Delaware, as well as the returnof Judith after landing her sister, and her second departure.
"This comes of a smooth tongue, Floating Tom," exclaimed Hurry, gratinghis teeth in pure resentment--"This comes of a smooth tongue, and asilly gal's inclinations, and you had best look into the matter! You andI were both prisoners--" Hurry could recall that circumstance now--"youand I were both prisoners and yet Judith never stirred an inch to do usany sarvice! She is bewitched with this lank-looking Deerslayer, and he,and she, and you, and all of us, had best look to it. I am not a man toput up with such a wrong quietly, and I say, all the parties had bestlook to it! Let's up kedge, old fellow, and move nearer to this p'int,and see how matters are getting on."
Hutter had no objections to this movement, and the Ark was got underway in the usual manner; care being taken to make no noise. The wind waspassing northward, and the sail soon swept the scow so far up the lakeas to render the dark outlines of the trees that clothed the point dimlyvisible. Floating Tom steered, and he sailed along as near the land asthe depth of the water and the overhanging branches would allow. It wasimpossible to distinguish anything that stood within the shadows of theshore, but the forms of the sail and of the hut were discerned by theyoung sentinel on the beach, who has already been mentioned. In themoment of sudden surprise, a deep Indian exclamation escaped him. Inthat spirit of recklessness and ferocity that formed the essence ofHurry's character, this man dropped his rifle and fired. The ball wassped by accident, or by that overruling providence which decides thefates of all, and the girl fell. Then followed the scene with thetorches, which has just been described.
At the precise moment when Hurry committed this act of unthinkingcruelty, the canoe of Judith was within a hundred feet of the spot fromwhich the Ark had so lately moved. Her own course has been described,and it has now become our office to follow that of her father and hiscompanions. The shriek announced the effects of the random shot ofMarch, and it also proclaimed that the victim was a woman. Hurry himselfwas startled at these unlooked for consequences, and for a moment hewas sorely disturbed by conflicting sensations. At first he laughed, inreckless and rude-minded exultation; and then conscience, that monitorplanted in our breasts by God, and which receives its more generalgrowth from the training bestowed in the tillage of childhood, shot apang to his heart. For a minute, the mind of this creature equally ofcivilization and of barbarism, was a sort of chaos as to feeling, notknowing what to think of its own act; and then the obstinacy and prideof one of his habits, interposed to assert their usual ascendency. Hestruck the butt of his rifle on the bottom of the scow, with a speciesof defiance, and began to whistle a low air with an affectation ofindifference. All this time the Ark was in motion, and it was alreadyopening the bay above the point, and was consequently quitting the land.
Hurry's companions did not view his conduct with the same indulgenceas that with which he appeared disposed to regard it himself. Huttergrowled out his dissatisfaction, for the act led to no advantage, whileit threatened to render the warfare more vindictive than ever, and nonecensure motiveless departures from the right more severely than themercenary and unprincipled. Still he commanded himself, the captivityof Deerslayer rendering the arm of the offender of double consequenceto him at that moment. Chingachgook arose, and for a single instant theancient animosity of tribes was forgotten, in a feeling of colour;but he recollected himself in season to prevent any of the fierceconsequences that, for a passing moment, he certainly meditated. Not sowith Hist. Rushing through the hut, or cabin, the girl stood at the sideof Hurry, almost as soon as his rifle touched the bottom of the scow,and with a fearlessness that did credit to her heart, she poured out herreproaches with the generous warmth of a woman.
"What for you shoot?" she said. "What Huron gal do, dat you kill him?What you t'ink Manitou say? What you t'ink Manitou feel? What Iroquoisdo? No get honour--no get camp--no get prisoner--no get battle--no getscalp--no get not'ing at all! Blood come after blood! How you feel, yourwife killed? Who pity you, when tear come for moder, or sister? You bigas great pine--Huron gal little slender birch--why you fall on her andcrush her? You t'ink Huron forget it? No; red-skin never forget! Neverforget friend; never forget enemy. Red man Manitou in dat. Why you sowicked, great pale-face?"
Hurry had never been so daunted as by this close and warm attack of theIndian girl. It is true that she had a powerful ally in his conscience,and while she spoke earnestly, it was in tones so feminine as to deprivehim of any pretext for unmanly anger. The softness of her voice addedto the weight of her remonstrance, by lending to the latter an air ofpurity and truth. Like most vulgar minded men, he had only regarded theIndians through the medium of their coarser and fiercer characteristics.It had never struck him that the affections are human, that even highprinciples--modified by habits and prejudices, but not the less elevatedwithin their circle--can exist in the savage state, and that thewarrior who is most ruthless in the field, can submit to the softest andgentlest influences in the moments of domestic quiet. In a word, itwas the habit of his mind to regard all Indians as being only a slightdegree removed from the wild beasts that roamed the woods, and tofeel disposed to treat them accordingly, whenever interest or capricesupplied a motive or an impulse. Still, though daunted by thesereproaches, the handsome barbaria
n could hardly be said to be penitent.He was too much rebuked by conscience to suffer an outbreak of temperto escape him, and perhaps he felt that he had already committed an actthat might justly bring his manhood in question. Instead of resenting,or answering the simple but natural appeal of Hist, he walked away, likeone who disdained entering into a controversy with a woman.
In the mean while the Ark swept onward, and by the time the scene withthe torches was enacting beneath the trees, it had reached the openlake, Floating Tom causing it to sheer further from the land with asort of instinctive dread of retaliation. An hour now passed in gloomysilence, no one appearing disposed to break it. Hist had retired to herpallet, and Chingachgook lay sleeping in the forward part of the scow.Hutter and Hurry alone remained awake, the former at the steering oar,while the latter brooded over his own conduct, with the stubbornness ofone little given to a confession of his errors, and the secret goadingsof the worm that never dies. This was at the moment when Judith andHetty reached the centre of the lake, and had lain down to endeavor tosleep in their drifting canoe.
The night was calm, though so much obscured by clouds. The season wasnot one of storms, and those which did occur in the month of June, onthat embedded water, though frequently violent were always of shortcontinuance. Nevertheless, there was the usual current of heavy, dampnight air, which, passing over the summits of the trees, scarcelyappeared to descend as low as the surface of the glassy lake, but keptmoving a short distance above it, saturated with the humidity thatconstantly arose from the woods, and apparently never proceeding far inany one direction. The currents were influenced by the formation of thehills, as a matter of course, a circumstance that rendered even freshbreezes baffling, and which reduced the feebler efforts of the nightair to be a sort of capricious and fickle sighings of the woods. Severaltimes the head of the Ark pointed east, and once it was actually turnedtowards the south, again; but, on the whole, it worked its way north;Hutter making always a fair wind, if wind it could be called, hisprincipal motive appearing to keep in motion, in order to defeat anytreacherous design of his enemies. He now felt some little concern abouthis daughters, and perhaps as much about the canoe; but, on the whole,this uncertainty did not much disturb him, as he had the reliancealready mentioned on the intelligence of Judith.
It was the season of the shortest nights, and it was not long before thedeep obscurity which precedes the day began to yield to the returninglight. If any earthly scene could be presented to the senses of man thatmight soothe his passions and temper his ferocity, it was that whichgrew upon the eyes of Hutter and Hurry as the hours advanced, changingnight to morning. There were the usual soft tints of the sky, in whichneither the gloom of darkness nor the brilliancy of the sun prevails,and under which objects appear more unearthly, and we might add holy,than at any other portion of the twenty four hours. The beautiful andsoothing calm of eventide has been extolled by a thousand poets, and yetit does not bring with it the far-reaching and sublime thoughts of thehalf hour that precedes the rising of a summer sun. In the one case thepanorama is gradually hid from the sight, while in the other its objectsstart out from the unfolding picture, first dim and misty; then markedin, in solemn background; next seen in the witchery of an increasing, athing as different as possible from the decreasing twilight, and finallymellow, distinct and luminous, as the rays of the great centre of lightdiffuse themselves in the atmosphere. The hymns of birds, too, haveno moral counterpart in the retreat to the roost, or the flight to thenest, and these invariably accompany the advent of the day, until theappearance of the sun itself--
"Bathes in deep joy, the land and sea."
All this, however, Hutter and Hurry witnessed without experiencing anyof that calm delight which the spectacle is wont to bring, when thethoughts are just and the aspirations pure. They not only witnessedit, but they witnessed it under circumstances that had a tendency toincrease its power, and to heighten its charms. Only one solitary objectbecame visible in the returning light that had received its form or usesfrom human taste or human desires, which as often deform as beautifya landscape. This was the castle, all the rest being native, and freshfrom the hand of God. That singular residence, too, was in keeping withthe natural objects of the view, starting out from the gloom, quaint,picturesque and ornamental. Nevertheless the whole was lost on theobservers, who knew no feeling of poetry, had lost their sense ofnatural devotion in lives of obdurate and narrow selfishness, and hadlittle other sympathy with nature, than that which originated with herlowest wants.
As soon as the light was sufficiently strong to allow of a distinct viewof the lake, and more particularly of its shores, Hutter turned the headof the Ark directly towards the castle, with the avowed intention oftaking possession, for the day at least, as the place most favorablefor meeting his daughters and for carrying on his operations against theIndians. By this time, Chingachgook was up, and Hist was heard stirringamong the furniture of the kitchen. The place for which they steered wasdistant only a mile, and the air was sufficiently favorable to permit itto be reached by means of the sail. At this moment, too, to render theappearances generally auspicious, the canoe of Judith was seen floatingnorthward in the broadest part of the lake; having actually passed thescow in the darkness, in obedience to no other power than that of theelements. Hutter got his glass, and took a long and anxious survey, toascertain if his daughters were in the light craft or not, and a slightexclamation like that of joy escaped him, as he caught a glimpse of whathe rightly conceived to be a part of Judith's dress above the top of thecanoe. At the next instant the girl arose and was seen gazing about her,like one assuring herself of her situation. A minute later, Hetty wasseen on her knees in the other end of the canoe, repeating the prayersthat had been taught her in childhood by a misguided but repentantmother. As Hutter laid down the glass, still drawn to its focus, theSerpent raised it to his eye and turned it towards the canoe. It was thefirst time he had ever used such an instrument, and Hist understoodby his "Hugh!," the expression of his face, and his entire mien, thatsomething wonderful had excited his admiration. It is well known thatthe American Indians, more particularly those of superior characters andstations, singularly maintain their self-possession and stoicism, inthe midst of the flood of marvels that present themselves in theiroccasional visits to the abodes of civilization, and Chingachgook hadimbibed enough of this impassibility to suppress any very undignifiedmanifestation of surprise. With Hist, however, no such law was binding,and when her lover managed to bring the glass in a line with the canoe,and her eye was applied to the smaller end, the girl started back inalarm; then she clapped her hands with delight, and a laugh, the usualattendant of untutored admiration, followed. A few minutes sufficed toenable this quick witted girl to manage the instrument for herself, andshe directed it at every prominent object that struck her fancy. Findinga rest in one of the windows, she and the Delaware first surveyed thelake; then the shores, the hills, and, finally, the castle attractedtheir attention. After a long steady gaze at the latter, Hist took awayher eye, and spoke to her lover in a low, earnest manner. Chingachgookimmediately placed his eye to the glass, and his look even exceeded thatof his betrothed in length and intensity. Again they spoke together,confidentially, appearing to compare opinions, after which the glass waslaid aside, and the young warrior quitted the cabin to join Hutter andHurry.
The Ark was slowly but steadily advancing, and the castle was materiallywithin half a mile, when Chingachgook joined the two white men inthe stern of the scow. His manner was calm, but it was evident to theothers, who were familiar with the habits of the Indians, that he hadsomething to communicate. Hurry was generally prompt to speak and,according to custom, he took the lead on this occasion.
"Out with it, red-skin," he cried, in his usual rough manner. "Have youdiscovered a chipmunk in a tree, or is there a salmon-trout swimmingunder the bottom of the scow? You find what a pale-face can do in theway of eyes, now, Sarpent, and mustn't wonder that they can see the landof the Indians from afar off."<
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"No good to go to Castle," put in Chingachgook with emphasis, the momentthe other gave him an opportunity of speaking. "Huron there."
"The devil he is!--If this should turn out to be true, Floating Tom,a pretty trap were we about to pull down on our heads! Huron,there!--Well, this may be so; but no signs can I see of any thing, nearor about the old hut, but logs, water, and bark--bating two or threewindows, and one door."
Hutter called for the glass, and took a careful survey of the spot,before he ventured an opinion, at all; then he somewhat cavalierlyexpressed his dissent from that given by the Indian.
"You've got this glass wrong end foremost, Delaware," continued Hurry."Neither the old man nor I can see any trail in the lake."
"No trail--water make no trail," said Hist, eagerly. "Stop boat--no gotoo near. Huron there!"
"Ay, that's it!--Stick to the same tale, and more people will believeyou. I hope, Sarpent, you and your gal will agree in telling the samestory arter marriage, as well as you do now. 'Huron, there!'--Whereaboutsis he to be seen--in the padlock, or the chains, or the logs. Thereisn't a gaol in the colony that has a more lock up look about it, thanold Tom's chiente, and I know something about gaols from exper'ence."
"No see moccasin," said Hist, impatiently "why no look--and see him."
"Give me the glass, Harry," interrupted Hutter, "and lower the sail.It is seldom that an Indian woman meddles, and when she does, there isgenerally a cause for it. There is, truly, a moccasin floating againstone of the piles, and it may or may not be a sign that the castle hasn'tescaped visitors in our absence. Moccasins are no rarities, however, forI wear 'em myself; and Deerslayer wears 'em, and you wear 'em, March,and, for that matter so does Hetty, quite as often as she wears shoes,though I never yet saw Judith trust her pretty foot in a moccasin."
Hurry had lowered the sail, and by this time the Ark was within twohundred yards of the castle, setting in, nearer and nearer, each moment,but at a rate too slow to excite any uneasiness. Each now took the glassin turn, and the castle, and every thing near it, was subjected to ascrutiny still more rigid than ever. There the moccasin lay, beyond aquestion, floating so lightly, and preserving its form so well, that itwas scarcely wet. It had caught by a piece of the rough bark of one ofthe piles, on the exterior of the water-palisade that formed the dockalready mentioned, which circumstance alone prevented it from driftingaway before the air. There were many modes, however, of accounting forthe presence of the moccasin, without supposing it to have been droppedby an enemy. It might have fallen from the platform, even while Hutterwas in possession of the place, and drifted to the spot where it was nowseen, remaining unnoticed until detected by the acute vision of Hist.It might have drifted from a distance, up or down the lake, andaccidentally become attached to the pile, or palisade. It might havebeen thrown from a window, and alighted in that particular place; or itmight certainly have fallen from a scout, or an assailant, during thepast night, who was obliged to abandon it to the lake, in the deepobscurity which then prevailed.
All these conjectures passed from Hutter to Hurry, the former appearingdisposed to regard the omen as a little sinister, while the lattertreated it with his usual reckless disdain. As for the Indian, he was ofopinion that the moccasin should be viewed as one would regard atrail in the woods, which might, or might not, equally, prove to bethreatening. Hist, however, had something available to propose. Shedeclared her readiness to take a canoe, to proceed to the palisade andbring away the moccasin, when its ornaments would show whether it camefrom the Canadas or not. Both the white men were disposed to acceptthis offer, but the Delaware interfered to prevent the risk. If such aservice was to be undertaken, it best became a warrior to expose himselfin its execution, and he gave his refusal to let his betrothed proceed,much in the quiet but brief manner in which an Indian husband issues hiscommands.
"Well then, Delaware, go yourself if you're so tender of your squaw,"put in the unceremonious Hurry. "That moccasin must be had, or FloatingTom will keep off, here, at arm's length, till the hearth cools in hiscabin. It's but a little deerskin, a'ter all, and cut this-a-way orthat-a-way, it's not a skear-crow to frighten true hunters from theirgame. What say you, Sarpent, shall you or I canoe it?"
"Let red man go.--Better eyes than pale-face--know Huron trick better,too."
"That I'll gainsay, to the hour of my death! A white man's eyes, and awhite man's nose, and for that matter his sight and ears are all betterthan an Injin's when fairly tried. Time and ag'in have I put that tothe proof, and what is proved is sartain. Still I suppose the poorestvagabond going, whether Delaware or Huron, can find his way to yonderhut and back ag'in, and so, Sarpent, use your paddle and welcome."
Chingachgook was already in the canoe, and he dipped the implementthe other named into the water, just as Hurry's limber tongue ceased.Wah-ta-Wah saw the departure of her warrior on this occasion with thesubmissive silence of an Indian girl, but with most of the misgivingsand apprehensions of her sex. Throughout the whole of the past night,and down to the moment, when they used the glass together in thehut, Chingachgook had manifested as much manly tenderness towards hisbetrothed as one of the most refined sentiment could have shown undersimilar circumstances, but now every sign of weakness was lost in anappearance of stern resolution. Although Hist timidly endeavored tocatch his eye as the canoe left the side of the Ark, the pride of awarrior would not permit him to meet her fond and anxious looks. Thecanoe departed and not a wandering glance rewarded her solicitude.
Nor were the Delaware's care and gravity misplaced, under theimpressions with which he proceeded on this enterprise. If the enemy hadreally gained possession of the building he was obliged to put himselfunder the very muzzles of their rifles, as it were, and this too withoutthe protection of any of that cover which forms so essential an ally inIndian warfare. It is scarcely possible to conceive of a service moredangerous, and had the Serpent been fortified by the experience of tenmore years, or had his friend the Deerslayer been present, it wouldnever have been attempted; the advantages in no degree compensating forthe risk. But the pride of an Indian chief was acted on by the rivalryof colour, and it is not unlikely that the presence of the very creaturefrom whom his ideas of manhood prevented his receiving a single glance,overflowing as he was with the love she so well merited, had no smallinfluence on his determination.
Chingachgook paddled steadily towards the palisades, keeping his eyes onthe different loops of the building. Each instant he expected to seethe muzzle of a rifle protruded, or to hear its sharp crack; but hesucceeded in reaching the piles in safety. Here he was, in a measure,protected, having the heads of the palisades between him and the hut,and the chances of any attempt on his life while thus covered, weregreatly diminished. The canoe had reached the piles with its headinclining northward, and at a short distance from the moccasin. Insteadof turning to pick up the latter, the Delaware slowly made the circuitof the whole building, deliberately examining every object that shouldbetray the presence of enemies, or the commission of violence. Not asingle sign could he discover, however, to confirm the suspicions thathad been awakened. The stillness of desertion pervaded the building; nota fastening was displaced, not a window had been broken. The door lookedas secure as at the hour when it was closed by Hutter, and even the gateof the dock had all the customary fastenings. In short, the most waryand jealous eye could detect no other evidence of the visit of enemies,than that which was connected with the appearance of the floatingmoccasin.
The Delaware was now greatly at a loss how to proceed. At one moment, ashe came round in front of the castle, he was on the point of stepping upon the platform and of applying his eye to one of the loops, with a viewof taking a direct personal inspection of the state of things within;but he hesitated. Though of little experience in such matters, himself,he had heard so much of Indian artifices through traditions, hadlistened with such breathless interest to the narration of the escapesof the elder warriors, and, in short, was so well schooled in the theoryof his ca
lling, that it was almost as impossible for him to makeany gross blunder on such an occasion, as it was for a well groundedscholar, who had commenced correctly, to fail in solving his problem inmathematics. Relinquishing the momentary intention to land, the chiefslowly pursued his course round the palisades. As he approached themoccasin, having now nearly completed the circuit of the building, hethrew the ominous article into the canoe, by a dexterous and almostimperceptible movement of his paddle. He was now ready to depart, butretreat was even more dangerous than the approach, as the eye couldno longer be riveted on the loops. If there was really any one in thecastle, the motive of the Delaware in reconnoitering must be understood,and it was the wisest way, however perilous it might be, to retirewith an air of confidence, as if all distrust were terminated by theexamination. Such, accordingly, was the course adopted by the Indian,who paddled deliberately away, taking the direction of the Ark,suffering no nervous impulse to quicken the motions of his arms, or toinduce him to turn even a furtive glance behind him.
No tender wife, reared in the refinements of the highest civilization,ever met a husband on his return from the field with more of sensibilityin her countenance than Hist discovered, as she saw the Great Serpentof the Delawares step, unharmed, into the Ark. Still she repressed heremotion, though the joy that sparkled in her dark eyes, and the smilethat lighted her pretty mouth, spoke a language that her betrothed couldunderstand.
"Well, Sarpent," cried Hurry, always the first to speak, "what newsfrom the muskrats? Did they shew their teeth, as you surrounded theirdwelling?"
"I no like him," sententiously returned the Delaware. "Too still. Sostill, can see silence!"
"That's downright Injin--as if any thing could make less noise thannothing! If you've no better reason than this to give, old Tom hadbetter hoist his sail, and go and get his breakfast under his own roof.What has become of the moccasin?"
"Here," returned Chingachgook, holding up his prize for the generalinspection. The moccasin was examined, and Hist confidently pronouncedit to be Huron, by the manner in which the porcupine's quills werearranged on its front. Hutter and the Delaware, too, were decidedly ofthe same opinion. Admitting all this, however, it did not necessarilyfollow that its owners were in the castle. The moccasin might havedrifted from a distance, or it might have fallen from the foot of somescout, who had quitted the place when his errand was accomplished. Inshort it explained nothing, while it awakened so much distrust.
Under the circumstances, Hutter and Hurry were not men to be longdeterred from proceeding by proofs as slight as that of the moccasin.They hoisted the sail again, and the Ark was soon in motion, headingtowards the castle. The wind or air continued light, and the movementwas sufficiently slow to allow of a deliberate survey of the building,as the scow approached. The same death-like silence reigned, and it wasdifficult to fancy that any thing possessing animal life could be inor around the place. Unlike the Serpent, whose imagination had actedthrough his traditions until he was ready to perceive an artificial,in a natural stillness, the others saw nothing to apprehend in atranquility that, in truth, merely denoted the repose of inanimateobjects. The accessories of the scene, too, were soothing and calm,rather than exciting. The day had not yet advanced so far as to bringthe sun above the horizon, but the heavens, the atmosphere, and thewoods and lake were all seen under that softened light which immediatelyprecedes his appearance, and which perhaps is the most witching periodof the four and twenty hours. It is the moment when every thing isdistinct, even the atmosphere seeming to possess a liquid lucidity, thehues appearing gray and softened, with the outlines of objects defined,and the perspective just as moral truths that are presented in theirsimplicity, without the meretricious aids of ornament or glitter. In aword, it is the moment when the senses seem to recover their powers, inthe simplest and most accurate forms, like the mind emerging from theobscurity of doubts into the tranquility and peace of demonstration.Most of the influence that such a scene is apt to produce on those whoare properly constituted in a moral sense, was lost on Hutter andHurry; but both the Delawares, though too much accustomed to witnessthe loveliness of morning-tide to stop to analyze their feelings, wereequally sensible of the beauties of the hour, though it was probably ina way unknown to themselves. It disposed the young warrior to peace, andnever had he felt less longings for the glory of the combat, than whenhe joined Hist in the cabin, the instant the scow rubbed against theside of the platform. From the indulgence of such gentle emotions,however, he was aroused by a rude summons from Hurry, who called on himto come forth and help to take in the sail, and to secure the Ark.
Chingachgook obeyed, and by the time he had reached the head of thescow, Hurry was on the platform, stamping his feet, like one glad totouch what, by comparison, might be called terra firma, and proclaiminghis indifference to the whole Huron tribe in his customary noisy,dogmatical manner. Hutter had hauled a canoe up to the head of the scow,and was already about to undo the fastenings of the gate, in order toenter within the 'dock.' March had no other motive in landing than asenseless bravado, and having shaken the door in a manner to put itssolidity to the proof, he joined Hutter in the canoe and began to aidhim in opening the gate. The reader will remember that this mode ofentrance was rendered necessary by the manner in which the owner of thissingular residence habitually secured it, whenever it was left empty;more particularly at moments when danger was apprehended. Hutter hadplaced a line in the Delaware's hand, on entering the canoe, intimatingthat the other was to fasten the Ark to the platform and to lower thesail. Instead of following these directions, however, Chingachgook leftthe sail standing, and throwing the bight of the rope over the head ofa pile, he permitted the Ark to drift round until it lay against thedefences, in a position where it could be entered only by means of aboat, or by passing along the summits of the palisades; the latter beingan exploit that required some command of the feet, and which was not tobe attempted in the face of a resolute enemy.
In consequence of this change in the position of the scow, which waseffected before Hutter had succeeded in opening the gate of his dock,the Ark and the Castle lay, as sailors would express it, yard-arm andyard-arm, kept asunder some ten or twelve feet by means of the piles. Asthe scow pressed close against the latter, their tops formed a speciesof breast work that rose to the height of a man's head, covering ina certain degree the parts of the scow that were not protected by thecabin. The Delaware surveyed this arrangement with great satisfactionand, as the canoe of Hutter passed through the gate into the dock, hethought that he might defend his position against any garrison in thecastle, for a sufficient time, could he but have had the helping arm ofhis friend Deerslayer. As it was, he felt comparatively secure, andno longer suffered the keen apprehensions he had lately experienced inbehalf of Hist.
A single shove sent the canoe from the gate to the trap beneath thecastle. Here Hutter found all fast, neither padlock nor chain nor barhaving been molested. The key was produced, the locks removed, the chainloosened, and the trap pushed upward. Hurry now thrust his head in atthe opening; the arms followed, and the colossal legs rose without anyapparent effort. At the next instant, his heavy foot was heard stampingin the passage above; that which separated the chambers of the fatherand daughters, and into which the trap opened. He then gave a shout oftriumph.
"Come on, old Tom," the reckless woodsman called out from within thebuilding--"here's your tenement, safe and sound; ay, and as empty as anut that has passed half an hour in the paws of a squirrel! The Delawarebrags of being able to see silence; let him come here, and he may feelit, in the bargain."
"Any silence where you are, Hurry Harry," returned Hutter, thrusting hishead in at the hole as he uttered the last word, which instantly causedhis voice to sound smothered to those without--"Any silence where youare, ought to be both seen and felt, for it's unlike any other silence."
"Come, come, old fellow; hoist yourself up, and we'll open doors andwindows and let in the fresh air to brighten up matters. Few words introublesome
times, make men the best fri'nds. Your darter Judith is whatI call a misbehaving young woman, and the hold of the whole family on meis so much weakened by her late conduct, that it wouldn't take a speechas long as the ten commandments to send me off to the river, leaving youand your traps, your Ark and your children, your man servants and yourmaid servants, your oxen and your asses, to fight this battle with theIroquois by yourselves. Open that window, Floating Tom, and I'll blunderthrough and do the same job to the front door."
A moment of silence succeeded, and a noise like that produced by thefall of a heavy body followed. A deep execration from Hurry succeeded,and then the whole interior of the building seemed alive. The noisesthat now so suddenly, and we may add so unexpectedly even to theDelaware, broke the stillness within, could not be mistaken. Theyresembled those that would be produced by a struggle between tigers in acage. Once or twice the Indian yell was given, but it seemed smothered,and as if it proceeded from exhausted or compressed throats, and, in asingle instance, a deep and another shockingly revolting execrationcame from the throat of Hurry. It appeared as if bodies were constantlythrown upon the floor with violence, as often rising to renew thestruggle. Chingachgook felt greatly at a loss what to do. He had all thearms in the Ark, Hutter and Hurry having proceeded without their rifles,but there was no means of using them, or of passing them to the hands oftheir owners. The combatants were literally caged, rendering it almostas impossible under the circumstances to get out, as to get into thebuilding. Then there was Hist to embarrass his movements, and to cripplehis efforts. With a view to relieve himself from this disadvantage,he told the girl to take the remaining canoe and to join Hutter'sdaughters, who were incautiously but deliberately approaching, in orderto save herself, and to warn the others of their danger. But the girlpositively and firmly refused to comply. At that moment no human power,short of an exercise of superior physical force, could have induced herto quit the Ark. The exigency of the moment did not admit of delay, andthe Delaware seeing no possibility of serving his friends, cut the lineand by a strong shove forced the scow some twenty feet clear of thepiles. Here he took the sweeps and succeeded in getting a short distanceto windward, if any direction could be thus termed in so light an air,but neither the time, nor his skill at the oars, allowed the distance tobe great. When he ceased rowing, the Ark might have been a hundred yardsfrom the platform, and half that distance to the southward of it, thesail being lowered. Judith and Hetty had now discovered that somethingwas wrong, and were stationary a thousand feet farther north.
All this while the furious struggle continued within the house. Inscenes like these, events thicken in less time than they can be related.From the moment when the first fall was heard within the building tothat when the Delaware ceased his awkward attempts to row, it might havebeen three or four minutes, but it had evidently served to weaken thecombatants. The oaths and execrations of Hurry were no longer heard, andeven the struggles had lost some of their force and fury. Neverthelessthey still continued with unabated perseverance. At this instant thedoor flew open, and the fight was transferred to the platform, the lightand the open air. A Huron had undone the fastenings of the door, andthree or four of his tribe rushed after him upon the narrow space, asif glad to escape from some terrible scene within. The body of anotherfollowed, pitched headlong through the door with terrific violence. ThenMarch appeared, raging like a lion at bay, and for an instant freed fromhis numerous enemies. Hutter was already a captive and bound. There wasnow a pause in the struggle, which resembled a lull in a tempest. Thenecessity of breathing was common to all, and the combatants stoodwatching each other, like mastiffs that have been driven from theirholds, and are waiting for a favorable opportunity of renewing them. Weshall profit by this pause to relate the manner in which the Indians hadobtained possession of the castle, and this the more willingly becauseit may be necessary to explain to the reader why a conflict whichhad been so close and fierce, should have also been so comparativelybloodless.
Rivenoak and his companion, particularly the latter who had appeared tobe a subordinate and occupied solely with his raft, had made the closestobservations in their visits to the castle. Even the boy had broughtaway minute and valuable information. By these means the Hurons obtaineda general idea of the manner in which the place was constructed andsecured, as well as of details that enabled them to act intelligently inthe dark. Notwithstanding the care that Hutter had taken to drop the Arkon the east side of the building when he was in the act of transferringthe furniture from the former to the latter, he had been watched in away to render the precaution useless. Scouts were on the look-out onthe eastern as well as on the western shore of the lake, and the wholeproceeding had been noted. As soon as it was dark, rafts like thatalready described approached from both shores to reconnoitre, andthe Ark had passed within fifty feet of one of them without its beingdiscovered; the men it held lying at their length on the logs, so asto blend themselves and their slow moving machine with the water. Whenthese two sets of adventurers drew near the castle they encounteredeach other, and after communicating their respective observations, theyunhesitatingly approached the building. As had been expected, it wasfound empty. The rafts were immediately sent for a reinforcement to theshore, and two of the savages remained to profit by their situation.These men succeeded in getting on the roof, and by removing some of thebark, in entering what might be termed the garret. Here they were foundby their companions. Hatchets now opened a hole through the squaredlogs of the upper floor, through which no less than eight of the mostathletic of the Indians dropped into the rooms beneath. Here they wereleft, well supplied with arms and provisions, either to stand a siege,or to make a sortie, as the case might require. The night was passed insleep, as is usual with Indians in a state of inactivity. The returningday brought them a view of the approach of the Ark through the loops,the only manner in which light and air were now admitted, the windowsbeing closed most effectually with plank, rudely fashioned to fit. Assoon as it was ascertained that the two white men were about to enter bythe trap, the chief who directed the proceedings of the Hurons took hismeasures accordingly. He removed all the arms from his own people, evento the knives, in distrust of savage ferocity when awakened by personalinjuries, and he hid them where they could not be found without asearch. Ropes of bark were then prepared, and taking their stations inthe three different rooms, they all waited for the signal to fall upontheir intended captives. As soon as the party had entered the building,men without replaced the bark of the roof, removed every sign of theirvisit, with care, and then departed for the shore. It was one of thesewho had dropped his moccasin, which he had not been able to find againin the dark. Had the death of the girl been known, it is probablenothing could have saved the lives of Hurry and Hutter, but that eventoccurred after the ambush was laid, and at a distance of several milesfrom the encampment near the castle. Such were the means that had beenemployed to produce the state of things we shall continue to describe.
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