'As long as Edwarde rules thys lande,
Ne quiet you wylle ye know ;
Your sonnes and husbandes shall be slayne,
And brooked with bloode shall 'flowe.'
'You leave youre geode and lawfulle kynge,
Wbenne ynne adversity ;
Like me. untoe the true cause styckke.
And for the true cause dye.'
Cbatterton.
The calm of evening was again in singular contrast, while its gathering gloom
was in as singular unison, with the passions of men. The sun was set, and the
rays of the retiring luminary had ceased to gild the edges of the few clouds
that had sufficient openings to admit the passage of its fading light. Tne
canopy overhead was heavy and dense, promising another night of darkness, but
the surface of the lake was scarcely disturbed by a ripple. There was a
little air, though it scarce deserved to be termed wind. Still, being damp
and heavy, it had a certain fore. ne party in the castle were as gloomy and
silent as the scene The two ransomed prisoners felt humbled and discoloured,
but their humility partook of the rancour of revenge. They were far more
disposed to remember the indignity with which they had been treated during
the last few hours of their captivity, than to feel grateful for the previous
indulgence. Then that keensighted monitor conscience, by reminding them of
the retributive justice of all they had endured, goaded them, rather to turn
the tables
on their enemies, than to accuse themselves. As for the other they were
thoughtful equally from regret and joy. Deerslayer and Judith felt most of
the former sensation, though from very' different causes, while Hetty for the
moment was perfectly happy. The Delaware had also lively pictures of felicity
in the
prospect of so soon regaining his betrothed. Under such circumstandes, and in
this mood, all were taking the evening meal.
'Old Tom!' cried Hurry, bursting into a fit of boisterous laughter, "you
look'd amazin'ly like tethered bear, as you was stretched on them hemlock
boughs, and I only wonder you didn't growl more. Well, it's over, and syth's
lamentations won't mend the matter! There's the blackguard Rivenoak, he that
brought us off has an oncommon scalp, and I 'd give as much for it myself as
the Colony.much tor it myself as the Colony. Yes, l feel as rich as the
governor, in these matters now, and will lay down with them doubloon for
doubloon. Judith, darling, did you mourn for me much, when I was in the hands
of the Philipsteins.'
The last were a family of German descent on the Mohawk, to whom Hurry had a
great antipathy, and whom he had confounded with the enemies of Judea.
"Our tears have raised the lake, Hurry March, as you might have seen by the
shore !' returned Judith, with a feigned levity that she was far from
feeling. "That Hetty and I should have grieved for father, was to be expected
; but we fairly rained tears for you.'
"We were sorry for poor Hurry, as well as tor father, Judith !' put in her
innocent and unconscious sister.
'True, girl, true ; but we feel sorrow for everybody that's in trouble, you
know,' returned the other in a quick, admonitory manner. and a low tone.
"Nevertheless, we are glad to see you, Master March, and out of the hands of
the Philipsteins, too."
"Yes, they're a bad set, and so is the other brood of 'em, down on the
river. It's a wonderment to me, how you got us off, Deerslayer ; and l
forgive you the interference that prevented my doin' justice on that
vagabond, for this small service. Let us into the secret, that we may do you
the same good turn, at need. Was it by lying, or by coaxing ?'
'By neither, Hurry, but by buying. We paid a ransom for you both, and that,
too, at a price so high, you had well be on your guard ag'in another
captyvement, lest our stock of goods shouldn't hold out.'
'A ransom ! - Old Tom has paid the fiddler, then, for nothing of mine would
have bought off the hair, much less the skin. I didn't think men as keen set
as them vagabonds, would let a airflow up so easy, when they had him fairly
at a close hug, and Moored. But money is money, and somehow it's unnat'ral
hard to withstand. Indian! or white man. 'tis pretty much the same. It must
be owned, Judith, there's a considerable of human natur' in mankind
generally, after all !'
Hutter now rose, and signing to Deerslayer, he led him to an inner room,
where, in answer to his questions, he first learned the price that had been
paid for his release. The old man expressed neither resentment nor surprise
at the inroad that had been made on his chest, though he did manifest some
curiosity to know how far the investigation of its contents had been carried.
He also inquired where the key had been found. The habitual frankness of
Deerslayer prevented any prevarication, and the conference soon terminated by
the return of the two to the outer room, or that which served for the double
purpose of parlour and kitchen.
'1 wonder if it's peace or war, between us and the savages !' exclaimed
Hurry, just as Deerslayer, who had paused for a single instant, listened
attentively, and was passing through the outer door without stopping. This
givin' up captives has a friendly look, and when men have traded together, on
a fair and honourable footing, they ought to part fri'nds, for that occasion,
at least. Come back, Deerslayer, and let us have your judgment, for I'm
beginnin' to think more of you, since your late behav iour, than l used to
do.'
There's an answer to your question, Hurry, since you're in such haste to come
ag'in to blows.'
As Deerslayer spoke, he threw on the table, on which the other was reclining
with one elbow? a sort of miniature fagot, composed of a dozen sticks bound
tightly together with a deer- skin thong. March seized it eagerly, and
holding it close to a blazing knot of pine that lay on the hearth! and which
gave out all the light there was in the room? ascertained that the ends of
the several sticks had been dipped in blood.
"lf this isn't plain English,' said the reckless frontier man, "it's plain
Indian ! Here's what they call a declination of war, down at York, Judith.
How did you come by this defiant, Deerslayer ?' 'Fairly enough. It lay not a
minot' since, in what you call Floatin' Tom's door yard.' How came it there ?
It never fell from the clouds, Judith, as little toads sometimes do, and then
it don't rain. You must prove t where it come from, Deerslayer, or we shall
suspect some design to skear them that would have lost their wits long ago,
if fear could drive 'em away.'
Deerslayer had approached a window, and cast a glance out of it, on the dark
aspect of the lake. As if satisfied with what he beheld, he drew near Hurry,
and took the bundle of sticks into his own hand, examining it attentively.
'Yes, this is an indian declination of war, sure enough,' he said, 'and it's
a proof how little you're suited to be on the path it has travelled, Harry
March, that it has got here, and you never the wiser as to the means. The
savages may have left the scalp on your head, but they must have taken off
the ears ; else you'd have heard the stirring of the water made by the lad as
he come off ag'n on his two logs. His ar'n'd was to throw these sticks at our
door, as much as to say, we've struck the war-pool since the trade, and the
next thing will be to strike you.
' 'The prowling wolves ! But hand me that rifle, Judith, and 1'11 send an
answer back to the vagabonds through their messenger.'
'Not while l stand by, Master March,' coolly put in Deerslayer, motioning for
the other to forbear. 'Faith is faith, whether given to a red-skin, or to a
Christian. The lad lighted a knot, and came off fairly, under its blaze, to
give us this warning ; and no man here should harm him, while empl'yed on
such an ar'n'd. There's no use in words, for the boy is too cunning to leave
the knot burning, now his business is done and the night is already too dark
for a rifle to have any sartainty.
'That may be true enough, as to a gun, but there's virtue still in a canoe,'
answered Hurry, passing towards the door with enormous strides, carrying a
rifle in his hands. "T'he being doesn't live that shall stop me from
following and bringing back that riptyle's scalp. The more on 'em that you
crush in the egg, the fewer there'll be to dart at you in the woods !'
Judith trembled like the aspen, she scarce knew why herself, though there was
the prospect of a scene of violence ; for if Hurry was fierce and overbearing
in the consciousness of his Vast strength, Deerslayer had about him the calm
determination that promises greater perseverance, and a resolution more
likely to effect its object. It was the stern, resolute eye of the latter,
rather than the noisy vehemence of the first, that excited her apprehensions.
Hurry soon reached the spot where the canoe Was fastened, but not before
Deerslayer had spoke in a quick, earnest voice to the Serpent, in Delaware.
The latter had been the frst, in truth, to hear the sounds of the oars, and
he nae gone upon the platform in jealous watchfulness. The light satisfied
him that a message was coming, and when the boy cast his bundle of sticks at
his feet, it neither moved his anger. nor induced surprise. He merely stood
at watch, rifle in hand, to make certain that no treachery lay behind the
defiance. As Deerslayer now called to him, he stepped into the canoe, and
quick as thought removed the paddles. Hurry was furious when he found that he
was deprived of the means of proceeding. He frst approached the Indian with
loud menaces, and even Deerslayer stood aghast at the probable consequences.
March shook his sledge-hammer fists, and flourished his arms, as he drew neat
the Indian, and all expected he would attempt to fell the Delaware to the
earth ; one of them, at least, was well award that such an experiment would
be followed by immediate bloodshed. But even Hurry was awed by the stern
composure of the chief, and he, too, knew that such a man was not to be
outraged with impunity ; he, therefore, turned to vent his rage on
Deerslayer, where he foresaw no consequences so terrible What might have been
the result of this second demonstration if completed, is unknown, since it
was never made.
"Hurry," said a gentle, soothing voice at his elbow, "it's wicked to be so
angry, and God will not overlook it. The Iroquois treated you well, and they
didn't take your scalp, though you and father wanted to take theirs.'
The influence of mildness on passion is well known. Hetty, too, had earned a
sort of consideration, that had never before been enjoyed by her, through the
self-devotion and decision of her recent conduct. Perhaps her established
mental imbecility by removing all distrust of a wish to control aided her
influence. Let the cause be as questionable as it might, the effect we
sufficiently certain. Instead of throttling his old fellow-traveler, Hurry
turned to the girl, and poured out a portion o discontent, if none of his
anger, in her attentive ears.
"Tis too bad, Hetty !' he exclaimed ; "as bad as a county gaol or a lack of
beaver, to get a creator' into your very trap '' then to see it get off. As
much as six firrst quality skins, in valie, has paddled off on them clumsy
logs, when twenty strokes of a well-turned paddle, would overtake 'em. I say
in valie, for as to the boy in the way of natur', he is only a boy, and is
worth
neither more nor less than one. Deerslayer. you've been ontru to your fri'nds
in letting such a chance slip through my fingers well as your own.'
The answer was given quietly, but with a voice as steady as a fearless
nature, and the consciousness of rectitude could make It. "I should have been
untrue to the right, had I done otherwise,' returned the Deerslayer, steadily
; "and neither you, nor any other man has authority to demand that much of
me. The lad came on a lawful business, and the meanest red-skin that roams
the woods, would be ashamed of not respecting his ar'n'd. But he' now far
beyond your reach, Master March, and there's little use in talking, like a
couple of women, of what can no longer be helped.'
So saying, Deerslayer turned away, like one resolved to waste no more words
on the subject, while Hutter pulled Harry by the sleeve, and led him into the
ark. There they sat long in private conference. In the mean time, the Indian
and his friend had their secret consultation; for, though it wanted some
three or four hours to the rising of the star, the former could not abstain
from canvassing his scheme, and from opening his heart to the other. Judith,
too, yielded to her softer feelings, and listened to the whole of Hetty's
artless narrative of what occurred after she landed. The woods had few
terrors for either of these girls, educated as they had been, and accustomed.
as they were to look out daily at their rich expanse or to wander beneath
their dark shades ; but the elder sister felt that she would have hesitated
about thus venturing alone into an Iroquois camp. Concerning Hist, Hetty was
not very communicative. She spoke of her kindness, and gentleness and of the
meeting in the forest; but the secret of Chingachgook was guarded with a
shrewdness and fidelity, that many a sharper-witted girl might have failed to
display.
At length the several conferences were broken up by the reappearance of
Hutter on the platform. Here he assembled the Whole party, and communicated
as much of his intentions as he deemed expedient. Of the arrangement made by
Deerslayer, to Abandon the castle during the night and to take refuge in the
ark, he entirely approved. It struck him as it had the others, as toe only
effectual means of escaping destruction. Now that the savages had turned
their attention to the construction of rafts, no doubt could exist of their,
at least, making an attempt to carry the building, and the message of the
bloody sticks sufficiently showed their confidence in their own success. In
short, the old man viewed the night as critical, and he called on all to t
ready as soon as possible, in order to abandon the dwellings uporarily at
least, if not forever.
These communications made, everything proceeded promptly and with
intelligence ; the castle was secured in the manner
ready described, the canoes were withdrawn from the dock kd fastened to the
ark by the side of the other ; the few necessaries that had been left in the
house, were transferred to the cabin, the fire was extinguished and all
embarked.
The vicinity of the hills, with their drapery of pines, had the fact to
render nights that were obscure, darker than common on the lake. As usual,
however, a belt of comparative light was retched through the centre of the
sheet, while it was within the dadoes of the mountains, that the gloom rested
most heavily on the water. Thee island, or castle, stood in this belt of
imperative light, but still the night was so dark, as to cover the aperture
of the ark. At the distance of an observer on the shore, her movements could
not be seen at all, more particularly as a background of dark hillside tilled
up the perspective of every view that was taken diagonally or directly across
the water. The prevailing wind on the lakes of that region is west, but owing
to be avenues formed by the mountains, it is frequently impossible to tell
the true direction of the currents, as they often vary within, short
distances, and brief differences of time. This is truer in light fluctuating
puffs of air, than in steady breezes; thou the squalls of even the latter are
familiarly known to be uncertain and baffling in all mountainous regions and
narrow raters. On the present occasion, Hutter himself. (as he shoved the ark
from her berth, at the side of the platform,) was at a loss to pronounce
which way the wind blew. In common, this difficulty was solved by the clouds,
which, floating high above no hill tops, as a matter of course obeyed the
currents; but now the whole vault of heaven seemed a mass of gloomy wall. Not
an opening of any son was visible, and Chingachgook we already trembling lest
the non-appearance of the star might prevent his betrothed from being
punctual to her appointment. Under these circumstances, Hutter hoisted his
sail, seemingly with the sole intention of getting away from the castle, as
it might be dangerous to remain much longer in its vicinity. The air soon
filled the cloth, and when the scow was got under command, and the sail was
properly trimmed, it was found that the direction was southerly, inclining
towards the eastern shore. No better course offering for the purposes of the
party, the singular craft was suffered to skim the surface of the water in
this direction for more than hour, when a change in the currents of the air
drove them over towards the camp.
Deerslayer watched all the movements of Hutter and Harry with jealous
attention. At first, he did not know whether to ascribe the course they held
to accident, or to design ; but he now began to suspect the latter. Familiar
as Hutter was with the lake, it was easy to deceive one who had little
practice on the water; and let his intentions be what they might, it was
evident, ere two hours had elapsed, that the ark had got sufficient space to
be within a hundred rods of the shore, directly abreast of the known position
of the camp. For a considerable time previously to reaching this point,
Hurry, who had some knowledge of the Algonquin language, had been in close
conference with the Indian, and the result was now announced by the latter to
Deerslayer, who had been a cold, not to say distrusted, looker-on of all that
passed.
"My old father, and my young brother, the Big Pine,' - for so the Delaware
had named March - "want to see Huron scalps at their belts,' said
Chingachgook to his friend. "There is room for some on the girdle of the
Sarpent, and his people will look for them when he goes back to his village.
Their eyes must not be left long in a fog, but they must see what they look
for. I know that my brother has a white hand ; he will not strike even the
dead. He will wait for us ; when we come back, he will not hide his face from
shame for his friend. The great Serpent of the Mohicans must be worthy to go
on the war-path with Hawkeye.'
"Ay, ay, Sarpent, I see how it is ; that name's to stick, and in time I shall
get to be known by it instead of Deerslayer ; well, if such honours will
come, the humblest of us all must be willing to abide by 'em. As for your
looking for scalps, it belongs to your gifts, and I see no harm in it. Be
merciful. Sarpent, howsever ; be merciful, I beseech of you. It surely can do
no harm to a red-skin's honour to show a little mare. As for the Old man, the
father of two young women, who might ripen better feelin's in his heart, and
Harry March, here, who, pine as he is, might better bear the fruit of a more
christianized tree, as
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