Frostburg mining journal., 1883-10-27
THE
LAST OF THE MOHICANS.
THE
Continued from last week.l

10 h'ti Y, ohNt ih"y JSu ioit'
"No, no." returned the scout, in
decided disapprobation OF this opin-
ion. 81 rubbed the bark off limb,
perhaps, but the creature leaped the
longer for it. A rifle bullet acts on
running animal, when it barks him,
much the same as one of your spurs
ON horse, that is it, quickens motion,
and puts life into the flesh, instead
of taking it away. But when it cuts
the ragged hole, after bound or two,
there is commonly stagnation of
further leaping, be it Indian or be it
deer y
ave are four able bodies, to one
wounded man."
"Is life grievous to you" inter-
rupted the scout. "Yonder red
devil would draw you within swing
of the tomahawks of his comrades,
before you were heated in the chase.
1t was an unthoughtful act in a man
who has so often slept with the war
whoop ringing in the air, to let off
his piece within sound of an ambush
ment! But then it was u natural
temptation! twas very natural
Come, friends, let us move our sta
ton; and in such fashion, too, that
will throw Mingo on wrong scent,
or our scalps will be drying in the
wind in front of Montcalm's marquee
ag'in this hour tomorrow"
This appalling declaration, which
the scout uttered with the cool as
surance of man who fully compre-
hended, while he did not fear the
danger, served to remind Hayward
of the Importance of the charge with
which he himself had been intrusted.
Glancing his eyes around, with q
vain effort to pierce the gloom, that
was thickening beneath the leafy
arches of the forest, he felt as if, cut
off from human aid, his unresisting
companions would soon lie at the
entire mercy of those barbarous en-
emies, who, like beasts of prey, only
waited till the gathering darkness
might render their blows more fatally
certain. His awakened imagination,
deluded by the deceptive light, con-
verted each waving bush, or the frag-
ment of some fallen tree, into human
forms, and twenty times he fancied
he could distinguish the horrid
visages of his lurking foes, peering
from their hiding places, in never
ceasing watchfulness of his party.
Looking upward, he found that the
tiny, fieecy clouds, which evening
had painted on the blue sky, were
already losing their faintest tints of
rose-color, while the imbedded stream
which glided past the spot where he
stood, was to be traced only by the
dark boundary of its wooded banks.
"What is to be done?" he said,
feeling the utter helplessness of
doubt in such pressing strait;
"desert me not, for Gods sake! re-
main to defend those | escort, and
freely name your own reward"
His companions who conversed
apart in the language of their tribe,
needed not this sudden and earnest
appeal. Though their dialogue was
maintained in low and cautious
sounds, but little above whisper,
Hayward, who now approached could
easily distinguish the earnest tones
of the younger warrior from the
more deliberate speeches of his SEN
iors. 1t was evident that they de-
bated on the propriety of some
measure, that nearly concerned the
welfare of the travellers. Yielding
to his powerful interest in the sub
ject, and impatient of delay that
seemed fraught with SO much addi-
tional danger, Hayward drew still
to the dusky group with an intention
of making his offers Of compensation
more definite, when the white man,
motioning with his hand, as if he
conceded the point, turned away, say
ing in soliloquy, and in the English
tongue:
"Uncas is right! it would not be
the act of such men to leave such
harmless things to their fate, even
though it breaks up the harboring
place forever. If you would save
these tender blossoms from the fangs
of the worst of serpentS, gentleman,
! you have neither time to lose nor