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[ "\n \"Mine ear is open, and my heart prepared:\n The worst is worldly loss thou canst unfold:\n Say, is my kingdom lost?\"", "SHAKESPEARE.", "It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that\nthe toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before\nthe adverse hosts could meet.", "A wide and apparently an impervious\nboundary of forests severed the possessions of the hostile provinces of\nFrance and England.", "The hardy colonist, and the trained European who\nfought at his side, frequently expended months in struggling against the\nrapids of the streams, or in effecting the rugged passes of the\nmountains, in quest of an opportunity to exhibit their courage in a more\nmartial conflict.", "But, emulating the patience and self-denial of the\npractised native warriors, they learned to overcome every difficulty;\nand it would seem that, in time, there was no recess of the woods so\ndark, nor any secret place so lovely, that it might claim exemption from\nthe inroads of those who had pledged their blood to satiate their\nvengeance, or to uphold the cold and selfish policy of the distant\nmonarchs of Europe.", "Perhaps no district throughout the wide extent of the intermediate\nfrontiers can furnish a livelier picture of the cruelty and fierceness\nof the savage warfare of those periods than the country which lies\nbetween the head waters of the Hudson and the adjacent lakes.", "The facilities which nature had there offered to the march of the\ncombatants were too obvious to be neglected.", "The lengthened sheet of the\nChamplain stretched from the frontiers of Canada, deep within the\nborders of the neighboring province of New York, forming a natural\npassage across half the distance that the French were compelled to\nmaster in order to strike their enemies.", "Near its southern termination,\nit received the contributions of another lake, whose waters were so\nlimpid as to have been exclusively selected by the Jesuit missionaries\nto perform the typical purification of baptism, and to obtain for it the\ntitle of lake \"du Saint Sacrement.\"", "The less zealous English thought\nthey conferred a sufficient honor on its unsullied fountains, when they\nbestowed the name of their reigning prince, the second of the house of\nHanover.", "The two united to rob the untutored possessors of its wooded\nscenery of their native right to perpetuate its original appellation of\n\"Horican.", "\"[1]\n\nWinding its way among countless islands, and imbedded in mountains, the\n\"holy lake\" extended a dozen leagues still farther to the south.", "With\nthe high plain that there interposed itself to the further passage of\nthe water, commenced a portage of as many miles, which conducted the\nadventurer to the banks of the Hudson, at a point where, with the usual\nobstructions of the rapids, or rifts, as they were then termed in the\nlanguage of the country, the river became navigable to the tide.", "While, in the pursuit of their daring plans of annoyance, the restless\nenterprise of the French even attempted the distant and difficult gorges\nof the Alleghany, it may easily be imagined that their proverbial\nacuteness would not overlook the natural advantages of the district we\nhave just described.", "It became, emphatically, the bloody arena, in which\nmost of the battles for the mastery of the colonies were contested.", "Forts were erected at the different points that commanded the facilities\nof the route, and were taken and retaken, razed and rebuilt, as victory\nalighted on the hostile banners.", "While the husbandman shrank back from\nthe dangerous passes, within the safer boundaries of the more ancient\nsettlements, armies larger than those that had often disposed of the\nsceptres of the mother countries, were seen to bury themselves in these\nforests, whence they rarely returned but in skeleton bands, that were\nhaggard with care, or dejected by defeat.", "Though the arts of peace were\nunknown to this fatal region, its forests were alive with men; its\nshades and glens rang with the sounds of martial music, and the echoes\nof its mountains threw back the laugh, or repeated the wanton cry, of\nmany a gallant and reckless youth, as he hurried by them, in the\nnoontide of his spirits, to slumber in a long night of forgetfulness.", "It was in this scene of strife and bloodshed that the incidents we shall\nattempt to relate occurred, during the third year of the war which\nEngland and France last waged for the possession of a country that\nneither was destined to retain.", "The imbecility of her military leaders abroad, and the fatal want of\nenergy in her councils at home, had lowered the character of Great\nBritain from the proud elevation on which it had been placed, by the\ntalents and enterprise of her former warriors and statesmen.", "No longer\ndreaded by her enemies, her servants were fast losing the confidence of\nself-respect.", "In this mortifying abasement, the colonists, though\ninnocent of her imbecility, and too humble to be the agents of her\nblunders, were but the natural participators.", "They had recently seen a chosen army from that country, which,\nreverencing as a mother, they had blindly believed invincible--an army\nled by a chief who had been selected from a crowd of trained warriors,\nfor his rare military endowments, disgracefully routed by a handful of\nFrench and Indians, and only saved from annihilation by the coolness and\nspirit of a Virginian boy, whose riper fame has since diffused itself,\nwith the steady influence of moral truth, to the uttermost confines of\nChristendom.", "[2] A wide frontier had been laid naked by this unexpected\ndisaster, and more substantial evils were preceded by a thousand\nfanciful and imaginary dangers.", "The alarmed colonists believed that the\nyells of the savages mingled with every fitful gust of wind that issued\nfrom the interminable forests of the west.", "The terrific character of\ntheir merciless enemies increased immeasurably the natural horrors of\nwarfare.", "Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their\nrecollections; nor was there any ear in the provinces so deaf as not to\nhave drunk in with avidity the narrative of some fearful tale of\nmidnight murder, in which the natives of the forests were the principal\nand barbarous actors.", "As the credulous and excited traveller related the\nhazardous chances of the wilderness, the blood of the timid curdled\nwith terror, and mothers cast anxious glances even at those children\nwhich slumbered within the security of the largest towns.", "In short, the\nmagnifying influence of fear began to set at naught the calculations of\nreason, and to render those who should have remembered their manhood,\nthe slaves of the basest of passions.", "Even the most confident and the\nstoutest hearts began to think the issue of the contest was becoming\ndoubtful; and that abject class was hourly increasing in numbers, who\nthought they foresaw all the possessions of the English crown in America\nsubdued by their Christian foes, or laid waste by the inroads of their\nrelentless allies.", "When, therefore, intelligence was received at the fort, which covered\nthe southern termination of the portage between the Hudson and the\nlakes, that Montcalm had been seen moving up the Champlain, with an army\n\"numerous as the leaves on the trees,\" its truth was admitted with more\nof the craven reluctance of fear than with the stern joy that a warrior\nshould feel, in finding an enemy within reach of his blow.", "The news had\nbeen brought, towards the decline of a day in midsummer, by an Indian\nrunner, who also bore an urgent request from Munro, the commander of a\nwork on the shore of the \"holy lake,\" for a speedy and powerful\nreinforcement.", "It has already been mentioned that the distance between\nthese two posts was less than five leagues.", "The rude path, which\noriginally formed their line of communication, had been widened for the\npassage of wagons; so that the distance which had been travelled by the\nson of the forest in two hours, might easily be effected by a detachment\nof troops, with their necessary baggage, between the rising and setting\nof a summer sun.", "The loyal servants of the British crown had given to\none of these forest fastnesses the name of William Henry, and to the\nother that of Fort Edward; calling each after a favorite prince of the\nreigning family.", "The veteran Scotchman just named held the first, with a\nregiment of regulars and a few provincials; a force really by far too\nsmall to make head against the formidable power that Montcalm was\nleading to the foot of his earthen mounds.", "At the latter, however, lay\nGeneral Webb, who commanded the armies of the king in the northern\nprovinces, with a body of more than five thousand men.", "By uniting the\nseveral detachments of his command, this officer might have arrayed\nnearly double that number of combatants against the enterprising\nFrenchman, who had ventured so far from his reinforcements, with an army\nbut little superior in numbers.", "But under the influence of their degraded fortunes, both officers and\nmen appeared better disposed to await the approach of their formidable\nantagonists, within their works, than to resist the progress of their\nmarch, by emulating the successful example of the French at Fort du\nQuesne, and striking a blow on their advance.", "After the first surprise of the intelligence had a little abated, a\nrumor was spread through the entrenched camp, which stretched along the\nmargin of the Hudson, forming a chain of outworks to the body of the\nfort itself, that a chosen detachment of fifteen hundred men was to\ndepart, with the dawn, for William Henry, the post at the northern\nextremity of the portage.", "That which at first was only rumor, soon\nbecame certainty, as orders passed from the quarters of the\ncommander-in-chief to the several corps he had selected for this\nservice, to prepare for their speedy departure.", "All doubt as to the\nintention of Webb now vanished, and an hour or two of hurried footsteps\nand anxious faces succeeded.", "The novice in the military art flew from\npoint to point, retarding his own preparations by the excess of his\nviolent and somewhat distempered zeal; while the more practised veteran\nmade his arrangements with a deliberation that scorned every appearance\nof haste; though his sober lineaments and anxious eye sufficiently\nbetrayed that he had no very strong professional relish for the as yet\nuntried and dreaded warfare of the wilderness.", "At length the sun set in\na flood of glory, behind the distant western hills, and as darkness drew\nits veil around the secluded spot the sounds of preparation diminished;\nthe last light finally disappeared from the log cabin of some officer;\nthe trees cast their deeper shadows over the mounds and the rippling\nstream, and a silence soon pervaded the camp, as deep as that which\nreigned in the vast forest by which it was environed.", "According to the orders of the preceding night, the heavy sleep of the\narmy was broken by the rolling of the warning drums, whose rattling\nechoes were heard issuing, on the damp morning air, out of every vista\nof the woods, just as day began to draw the shaggy outlines of some tall\npines of the vicinity, on the opening brightness of a soft and cloudless\neastern sky.", "In an instant the whole camp was in motion; the meanest\nsoldier arousing from his lair to witness the departure of his\ncomrades, and to share in the excitement and incidents of the hour.", "The\nsimple array of the chosen band was soon completed.", "While the regular\nand trained hirelings of the king marched with haughtiness to the right\nof the line, the less pretending colonists took their humbler position\non its left, with a docility that long practice had rendered easy.", "The\nscouts departed; strong guards preceded and followed the lumbering\nvehicles that bore the baggage; and before the gray light of the morning\nwas mellowed by the rays of the sun, the main body of the combatants\nwheeled into column, and left the encampment with a show of high\nmilitary bearing, that served to drown the slumbering apprehensions of\nmany a novice, who was now about to make his first essay in arms.", "While\nin view of their admiring comrades, the same proud front and ordered\narray was observed, until the notes of their fifes growing fainter in\ndistance, the forest at length appeared to swallow up the living mass\nwhich had slowly entered its bosom.", "The deepest sounds of the retiring and invisible column had ceased to be\nborne on the breeze to the listeners, and the latest straggler had\nalready disappeared in pursuit; but there still remained the signs of\nanother departure, before a log cabin of unusual size and\naccommodations, in front of which those sentinels paced their rounds,\nwho were known to guard the person of the English general.", "At this spot\nwere gathered some half dozen horses, caparisoned in a manner which\nshowed that two, at least, were destined to bear the persons of females,\nof a rank that it was not usual to meet so far in the wilds of the\ncountry.", "A third wore the trappings and arms of an officer of the staff;\nwhile the rest, from the plainness of the housings, and the travelling\nmails with which they were encumbered, were evidently fitted for the\nreception of as many menials, who were, seemingly, already awaiting the\npleasure of those they served.", "At a respectful distance from this\nunusual show were gathered divers groups of curious idlers; some\nadmiring the blood and bone of the high-mettled military charger, and\nothers gazing at the preparations, with dull wonder of vulgar curiosity.", "There was one man, however, who, by his countenance and actions, formed\na marked exception to those who composed the latter class of spectators,\nbeing neither idle, nor seemingly very ignorant.", "The person of this individual was to the last degree ungainly, without\nbeing in any particular manner deformed.", "He had all the bones and joints\nof other men, without any of their proportions.", "Erect, his stature\nsurpassed that of his fellows; seated, he appeared reduced within the\nordinary limits of the race.", "The same contrariety in his members seemed\nto exist throughout the whole man.", "His head was large; his shoulders\nnarrow; his arms long and dangling; while his hands were small, if not\ndelicate.", "His legs and thighs were thin, nearly to emaciation, but of\nextraordinary length; and his knees would have been considered\ntremendous, had they not been outdone by the broader foundations on\nwhich this false superstructure of the blended human orders was so\nprofanely reared.", "The ill-assorted and injudicious attire of the\nindividual only served to render his awkwardness more conspicuous.", "A\nsky-blue coat, with short and broad skirts and low cape, exposed a long\nthin neck, and longer and thinner legs, to the worst animadversions of\nthe evil disposed.", "His nether garment was of yellow nankeen, closely\nfitted to the shape, and tied at his bunches of knees by large knots of\nwhite ribbon, a good deal sullied by use.", "Clouded cotton stockings, and\nshoes, on one of the latter of which was a plated spur, completed the\ncostume of the lower extremity of this figure, no curve or angle of\nwhich was concealed, but, on the other hand, studiously exhibited,\nthrough the vanity or simplicity of its owner.", "From beneath the flap of\nan enormous pocket of a soiled vest of embossed silk, heavily ornamented\nwith tarnished silver lace, projected an instrument, which, from being\nseen in such martial company, might have been easily mistaken for some\nmischievous and unknown implement of war.", "Small as it was, this uncommon\nengine had excited the curiosity of most of the Europeans in the camp,\nthough several of the provincials were seen to handle it, not only\nwithout fear, but with the utmost familiarity.", "A large, civil cocked\nhat, like those worn by clergymen within the last thirty years,\nsurmounted the whole, furnishing dignity to a good-natured and somewhat\nvacant countenance, that apparently needed such artificial aid, to\nsupport the gravity of some high and extraordinary trust.", "While the common herd stood aloof, in deference to the quarters of Webb,\nthe figure we have described stalked in the centre of the domestics,\nfreely expressing his censures or commendations on the merits of the\nhorses, as by chance they displeased or satisfied his judgment.", "\"This beast, I rather conclude, friend, is not of home raising, but is\nfrom foreign lands, or perhaps from the little island itself over the\nblue water?\"", "he said, in a voice as remarkable for the softness and\nsweetness of its tones, as was his person for its rare proportions: \"I\nmay speak of these things, and be no braggart; for I have been down at\nboth havens; that which is situate at the mouth of Thames, and is named\nafter the capital of Old England, and that which is called 'Haven,' with\nthe addition of the word 'New'; and have seen the snows and brigantines\ncollecting their droves, like the gathering to the ark, being outward\nbound to the Island of Jamaica, for the purpose of barter and traffic in\nfour-footed animals; but never before have I beheld a beast which\nverified the true Scripture war-horse like this: 'He paweth in the\nvalley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed\nmen.", "He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle\nafar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.'", "It would seem\nthat the stock of the horse of Israel has descended to our own time;\nwould it not, friend?\"", "Receiving no reply to this extraordinary appeal, which in truth, as it\nwas delivered with the vigor of full and sonorous tones, merited some\nsort of notice, he who had thus sung forth the language of the Holy Book\nturned to the silent figure to whom he had unwittingly addressed\nhimself, and found a new and more powerful subject of admiration in the\nobject that encountered his gaze.", "His eyes fell on the still, upright,\nand rigid form of the \"Indian runner,\" who had borne to the camp the\nunwelcome tidings of the preceding evening.", "Although in a state of\nperfect repose, and apparently disregarding, with characteristic\nstoicism, the excitement and bustle around him, there was a sullen\nfierceness mingled with the quiet of the savage, that was likely to\narrest the attention of much more experienced eyes than those which now\nscanned him, in unconcealed amazement.", "The native bore both the tomahawk\nand knife of his tribe; and yet his appearance was not altogether that\nof a warrior.", "On the contrary, there was an air of neglect about his\nperson, like that which might have proceeded from great and recent\nexertion, which he had not yet found leisure to repair.", "The colors of\nthe war-paint had blended in dark confusion about his fierce\ncountenance, and rendered his swarthy lineaments still more savage and\nrepulsive than if art had attempted an effect which had been thus\nproduced by chance.", "His eye, alone, which glistened like a fiery star\namid lowering clouds, was to be seen in its state of native wildness.", "For a single instant, his searching and yet wary glance met the\nwondering look of the other, and then changing its direction, partly in\ncunning, and partly in disdain, it remained fixed, as if penetrating the\ndistant air.", "It is impossible to say what unlooked-for remark this short and silent\ncommunication, between two such singular men, might have elicited from\nthe white man, had not his active curiosity been again drawn to other\nobjects.", "A general movement among the domestics, and a low sound of\ngentle voices, announced the approach of those whose presence alone was\nwanted to enable the cavalcade to move.", "The simple admirer of the\nwar-horse instantly fell back to a low, gaunt, switch-tailed mare, that\nwas unconsciously gleaning the faded herbage of the camp nigh by; where,\nleaning with one elbow on the blanket that concealed an apology for a\nsaddle, he became a spectator of the departure, while a foal was quietly\nmaking its morning repast, on the opposite side of the same animal.", "A young man, in the dress of an officer, conducted to their steeds two\nfemales, who, as it was apparent by their dresses, were prepared to\nencounter the fatigues of a journey in the woods.", "One, and she was the\nmost juvenile in her appearance, though both were young, permitted\nglimpses of her dazzling complexion, fair golden hair, and bright blue\neyes, to be caught, as she artlessly suffered the morning air to blow\naside the green veil which descended low from her beaver.", "The flush\nwhich still lingered above the pines in the western sky was not more\nbright nor delicate than the bloom on her cheek; nor was the opening day\nmore cheering than the animated smile which she bestowed on the youth,\nas he assisted her into the saddle.", "The other, who appeared to share\nequally in the attentions of the young officer, concealed her charms\nfrom the gaze of the soldiery, with a care that seemed better fitted to\nthe experience of four or five additional years.", "It could be seen,\nhowever, that her person, though moulded with the same exquisite\nproportions, of which none of the graces were lost by the travelling\ndress she wore, was rather fuller and more mature than that of her\ncompanion.", "No sooner were these females seated, than their attendant sprang lightly\ninto the saddle of the war-horse, when the whole three bowed to Webb,\nwho, in courtesy, awaited their parting on the threshold of his cabin,\nand turning their horses' heads, they proceeded at a slow amble,\nfollowed by their train, towards the northern entrance of the\nencampment.", "As they traversed that short distance, not a voice was\nheard amongst them; but a slight exclamation proceeded from the younger\nof the females, as the Indian runner glided by her, unexpectedly, and\nled the way along the military road in her front.", "Though this sudden and\nstartling movement of the Indian produced no sound from the other, in\nthe surprise her veil also was allowed to open its folds, and betrayed\nan indescribable look of pity, admiration, and horror, as her dark eye\nfollowed the easy motions of the savage.", "The tresses of this lady were\nshining and black, like the plumage of the raven.", "Her complexion was not\nbrown, but it rather appeared charged with the color of the rich blood,\nthat seemed ready to burst its bounds.", "And yet there was neither\ncoarseness nor want of shadowing in a countenance that was exquisitely\nregular and dignified, and surpassingly beautiful.", "She smiled, as if in\npity at her own momentary forgetfulness, discovering by the act a row of\nteeth that would have shamed the purest ivory; when, replacing the veil,\nshe bowed her face, and rode in silence, like one whose thoughts were\nabstracted from the scene around her.", "\"Sola, sola, wo, ha, ho, sola!\"", "SHAKESPEARE.", "While one of the lovely beings we have so cursorily presented to the\nreader was thus lost in thought, the other quickly recovered from the\nalarm which induced the exclamation, and, laughing at her own weakness,\nshe inquired of the youth who rode by her side,--\n\n\"Are such spectres frequent in the woods, Heyward; or is this sight an\nespecial entertainment on our behalf?", "If the latter, gratitude must\nclose our mouths; but if the former, both Cora and I shall have need to\ndraw largely on that stock of hereditary courage which we boast, even\nbefore we are made to encounter the redoubtable Montcalm.\"", "\"Yon Indian is a 'runner' of the army; and, after the fashion of his\npeople, he may be accounted a hero,\" returned the officer.", "\"He has\nvolunteered to guide us to the lake, by a path but little known, sooner\nthan if we followed the tardy movements of the column: and, by\nconsequence, more agreeably.\"", "\"I like him not,\" said the lady, shuddering, partly in assumed, yet more\nin real terror.", "\"You know him, Duncan, or you would not trust yourself\nso freely to his keeping?\"", "\"Say, rather, Alice, that I would not trust you.", "I do know him, or he\nwould not have my confidence, and least of all at this moment.", "He is\nsaid to be a Canadian, too; and yet he served with our friends the\nMohawks, who, as you know, are one of the six allied nations.", "[3] He was\nbrought among us, as I have heard, by some strange accident in which\nyour father was interested, and in which the savage was rigidly dealt\nby--but I forget the idle tale; it is enough, that he is now our\nfriend.\"", "\"If he has been my father's enemy, I like him still less!\"", "exclaimed the\nnow really anxious girl.", "\"Will you not speak to him, Major Heyward, that\nI may hear his tones?", "Foolish though it may be, you have often heard me\navow my faith in the tones of the human voice!\"", "\"It would be in vain; and answered, most probably, by an ejaculation.", "Though he may understand it, he affects, like most of his people, to be\nignorant of the English; and least of all will he condescend to speak\nit, now that war demands the utmost exercise of his dignity.", "But he\nstops; the private path by which we are to journey is, doubtless, at\nhand.\"", "The conjecture of Major Heyward was true.", "When they reached the spot\nwhere the Indian stood, pointing into the thicket that fringed the\nmilitary road, a narrow and blind path, which might, with some little\ninconvenience, receive one person at a time, became visible.", "\"Here, then, lies our way,\" said the young man, in a low voice.", "\"Manifest no distrust, or you may invite the danger you appear to\napprehend.\"", "\"Cora, what think you?\"", "asked the reluctant fair one.", "\"If we journey\nwith the troops, though we may find their presence irksome, shall we not\nfeel better assurance of our safety?\"", "\"Being little accustomed to the practices of the savages, Alice, you\nmistake the place of real danger,\" said Heyward.", "\"If enemies have\nreached the portage at all, a thing by no means probable, as our scouts\nare abroad, they will surely be found skirting the column where scalps\nabound the most.", "The route of the detachment is known, while ours,\nhaving been determined within the hour, must still be secret.\"", "\"Should we distrust the man because his manners are not our manners, and\nthat his skin is dark?\"", "coldly asked Cora.", "Alice hesitated no longer; but giving her Narragansett[4] a smart cut\nof the whip, she was the first to dash aside the slight branches of the\nbushes, and to follow the runner along the dark and tangled pathway.", "The\nyoung man regarded the last speaker in open admiration, and even\npermitted her fairer though certainly not more beautiful companion to\nproceed unattended, while he sedulously opened the way himself for the\npassage of her who has been called Cora.", "It would seem that the\ndomestics had been previously instructed; for, instead of penetrating\nthe thicket, they followed the route of the column; a measure which\nHeyward stated had been dictated by the sagacity of their guide, in\norder to diminish the marks of their trail, if, haply, the Canadian\nsavages should be lurking so far in advance of their army.", "For many\nminutes the intricacy of the route admitted of no further dialogue;\nafter which they emerged from the broad border of underbrush which grew\nalong the line of the highway, and entered under the high but dark\narches of the forest.", "Here their progress was less interrupted, and the\ninstant the guide perceived that the females could command their steeds,\nhe moved on, at a pace between a trot and a walk, and at a rate which\nkept the sure-footed and peculiar animals they rode, at a fast yet easy\namble.", "The youth had turned to speak to the dark-eyed Cora, when the\ndistant sound of horses' hoofs, clattering over the roots of the broken\nway in his rear, caused him to check his charger; and, as his companions\ndrew their reins at the same instant, the whole party came to a halt, in\norder to obtain an explanation of the unlooked-for interruption.", "In a few moments a colt was seen gliding, like a fallow-deer, among the\nstraight trunks of the pines; and, in another instant, the person of the\nungainly man described in the preceding chapter, came into view, with as\nmuch rapidity as he could excite his meagre beast to endure without\ncoming to an open rupture.", "Until now this personage had escaped the\nobservation of the travellers.", "If he possessed the power to arrest any\nwandering eye when exhibiting the glories of his altitude on foot, his\nequestrian graces were still more likely to attract attention.", "Notwithstanding a constant application of his one armed heel to the\nflanks of the mare, the most confirmed gait that he could establish was\na Canterbury gallop with the hind legs, in which those more forward\nassisted for doubtful moments, though generally content to maintain a\nloping trot.", "Perhaps the rapidity of the changes from one of these paces\nto the other created an optical illusion, which might thus magnify the\npowers of the beast; for it is certain that Heyward, who possessed a\ntrue eye for the merits of a horse, was unable, with his utmost\ningenuity, to decide by what sort of movement his pursuer worked his\nsinuous way on his footsteps with such persevering hardihood.", "The industry and movements of the rider were not less remarkable than\nthose of the ridden.", "At each change in the evolutions of the latter, the\nformer raised his tall person in the stirrups; producing, in this\nmanner, by the undue elongation of his legs, such sudden growths and\ndiminishings of the stature, as baffled every conjecture that might be\nmade as to his dimensions.", "If to this be added the fact that, in\nconsequence of the ex parte application of the spur, one side of the\nmare appeared to journey faster than the other; and that the aggrieved\nflank was resolutely indicated by unremitted flourishes of a bushy tail,\nwe finish the picture of both horse and man.", "The frown which had gathered around the handsome, open, and manly brow\nof Heyward, gradually relaxed, and his lips curled into a slight smile,\nas he regarded the stranger.", "Alice made no very powerful effort to\ncontrol her merriment; and even the dark, thoughtful eye of Cora lighted\nwith a humor that, it would seem, the habit, rather than the nature of\nits mistress repressed.", "\"Seek you any here?\"", "demanded Heyward, when the other had arrived\nsufficiently nigh to abate his speed; \"I trust you are no messenger of\nevil tidings?\"", "\"Even so,\" replied the stranger, making diligent use of his triangular\ncastor, to produce a circulation in the close air of the woods, and\nleaving his hearers in doubt to which of the young man's questions he\nresponded; when, however, he had cooled his face, and recovered his\nbreath, he continued, \"I hear you are riding to William Henry; as I am\njourneying thitherward myself, I concluded good company would seem\nconsistent to the wishes of both parties.\"", "\"You appear to possess the privilege of a casting vote,\" returned\nHeyward; \"we are three, whilst you have consulted no one but yourself.\"", "\"Even so.", "The first point to be obtained is to know one's own mind.", "Once\nsure of that, and where women are concerned, it is not easy, the next\nis, to act up to the decision.", "I have endeavored to do both, and here I\nam.\"", "\"If you journey to the lake, you have mistaken your route,\" said\nHeyward, haughtily; \"the highway thither is at least half a mile behind\nyou.\"", "\"Even so,\" returned the stranger, nothing daunted by this cold\nreception; \"I have tarried at 'Edward' a week, and I should be dumb not\nto have inquired the road I was to journey; and if dumb there would be\nan end to my calling.\"", "After simpering in a small way, like one whose\nmodesty prohibited a more open expression of his admiration of a\nwitticism that was perfectly unintelligible to his hearers, he\ncontinued: \"It is not prudent for any one of my profession to be too\nfamiliar with those he is to instruct; for which reason I follow not the\nline of the army; besides which, I conclude that a gentleman of your\ncharacter has the best judgment in matters of wayfaring; I have\ntherefore decided to join company, in order that the ride may be made\nagreeable, and partake of social communion.\"", "\"A most arbitrary, if not a hasty decision!\"", "exclaimed Heyward,\nundecided whether to give vent to his growing anger, or to laugh in the\nother's face.", "\"But you speak of instruction, and of a profession; are\nyou an adjunct to the provincial corps, as a master of the noble science\nof defence and offence; or, perhaps, you are one who draws lines and\nangles, under the pretence of expounding the mathematics?\"", "The stranger regarded his interrogator a moment, in wonder; and then,\nlosing every mark of self-satisfaction in an expression of solemn\nhumility, he answered:--\n\n\"Of offence, I hope there is none, to either party: of defence, I make\nnone--by God's good mercy, having committed no palpable sin since last\nentreating his pardoning grace.", "I understand not your allusions about\nlines and angles; and I leave expounding to those who have been called\nand set apart for that holy office.", "I lay claim to no higher gift than a\nsmall insight into the glorious art of petitioning and thanksgiving, as\npractised in psalmody.\"", "\"The man is, most manifestly, a disciple of Apollo,\" cried the amused\nAlice, \"and I take him under my own especial protection.", "Nay, throw\naside that frown, Heyward, and in pity to my longing ears, suffer him to\njourney in our train.", "Besides,\" she added, in a low and hurried voice,\ncasting a glance at the distant Cora, who slowly followed the footsteps\nof their silent but sullen guide, \"it may be a friend added to our\nstrength, in time of need.\"", "\"Think you, Alice, that I would trust those I love by this secret path,\ndid I imagine such need could happen?\"", "\"Nay, nay, I think not of it now; but this strange man amuses me; and if\nhe 'hath music in his soul,' let us not churlishly reject his company.\"", "She pointed persuasively along the path with her riding-whip, while\ntheir eyes met in a look which the young man lingered a moment to\nprolong; then yielding to her gentle influence, he clapped his spurs\ninto his charger, and in a few bounds was again at the side of Cora.", "\"I am glad to encounter thee, friend,\" continued the maiden, waving her\nhand to the stranger to proceed, as she urged her Narragansett to renew\nits amble.", "\"Partial relatives have almost persuaded me that I am not\nentirely worthless in a duet myself; and we may enliven our wayfaring by\nindulging in our favorite pursuit.", "It might be of signal advantage to\none, ignorant as I, to hear the opinions and experience of a master in\nthe art.\"", "\"It is refreshing both to the spirits and to the body to indulge in\npsalmody, in befitting seasons,\" returned the master of song,\nunhesitatingly complying with her intimation to follow; \"and nothing\nwould relieve the mind more than such a consoling communion.", "But four\nparts are altogether necessary to the perfection of melody.", "You have all\nthe manifestations of a soft and rich treble; I can, by especial aid,\ncarry a full tenor to the highest letter; but we lack counter and bass!", "Yon officer of the king, who hesitated to admit me to his company, might\nfill the latter, if one may judge from the intonations of his voice in\ncommon dialogue.\"", "\"Judge not too rashly from hasty and deceptive appearances,\" said the\nlady, smiling; \"though Major Heyward can assume such deep notes on\noccasion, believe me, his natural tones are better fitted for a mellow\ntenor than the bass you heard.\"", "\"Is he, then, much practised in the art of psalmody?\"", "demanded her\nsimple companion.", "Alice felt disposed to laugh, though she succeeded in suppressing her\nmerriment, ere she answered,--\n\n\"I apprehend that he is rather addicted to profane song.", "The chances of\na soldier's life are but little fitted for the encouragement of more\nsober inclinations.\"", "\"Man's voice is given to him, like his other talents, to be used, and\nnot to be abused.", "None can say they have ever known me neglect my gifts!", "I am thankful that, though my boyhood may be said to have been set\napart, like the youth of the royal David, for the purposes of music, no\nsyllable of rude verse has ever profaned my lips.\"", "\"You have, then, limited your efforts to sacred song?\"", "\"Even so.", "As the psalms of David exceed all other language, so does the\npsalmody that has been fitted to them by the divines and sages of the\nland, surpass all vain poetry.", "Happily, I may say that I utter nothing\nbut the thoughts and the wishes of the King of Israel himself; for\nthough the times may call for some slight changes, yet does this version\nwhich we use in the colonies of New England, so much exceed all other\nversions, that, by its richness, its exactness, and its spiritual\nsimplicity, it approacheth, as near as may be, to the great work of the\ninspired writer.", "I never abide in any place, sleeping or waking, without\nan example of this gifted work.", "'Tis the six-and-twentieth edition,\npromulgated at Boston, Anno Domini 1744; and is entitled, _The Psalms,\nHymns, and Spiritual Songs of the Old and New Testaments; faithfully\ntranslated into English Metre, for the Use, Edification, and Comfort of\nthe Saints, in Public and Private, especially in New England_.\"", "During this eulogium on the rare production of his native poets, the\nstranger had drawn the book from his pocket, and, fitting a pair of\niron-rimmed spectacles to his nose, opened the volume with a care and\nveneration suited to its sacred purposes.", "Then, without circumlocution\nor apology, first pronouncing the word \"Standish,\" and placing the\nunknown engine, already described, to his mouth, from which he drew a\nhigh, shrill sound, that was followed by an octave below, from his own\nvoice, he commenced singing the following words, in full, sweet, and\nmelodious tones, that set the music, the poetry, and even the uneasy\nmotion of his ill-trained beast at defiance:--\n\n \"How good it is, O see,\n And how it pleaseth well,\n Together, e'en in unity,\n For brethren so to dwell.", "It's like the choice ointment,\n From the head to the beard did go:\n Down Aaron's beard, that downward went,\n His garment's skirts unto.\"", "The delivery of these skilful rhymes was accompanied, on the part of the\nstranger, by a regular rise and fall of his right hand, which\nterminated at the descent, by suffering the fingers to dwell a moment on\nthe leaves of the little volume; and on the ascent, by such a flourish\nof the member as none but the initiated may ever hope to imitate.", "It\nwould seem that long practice had rendered this manual accompaniment\nnecessary; for it did not cease until the preposition which the poet had\nselected for the close of his verse, had been duly delivered like a word\nof two syllables.", "Such an innovation on the silence and retirement of the forest could not\nfail to enlist the ears of those who journeyed at so short a distance in\nadvance.", "The Indian muttered a few words in broken English to Heyward,\nwho, in his turn, spoke to the stranger; at once interrupting, and, for\nthe time, closing his musical efforts.", "\"Though we are not in danger, common prudence would teach us to journey\nthrough this wilderness in as quiet a manner as possible.", "You will,\nthen, pardon me, Alice, should I diminish your enjoyments, by requesting\nthis gentleman to postpone his chant until a safer opportunity.\"", "\"You will diminish them, indeed,\" returned the arch girl, \"for never did\nI hear a more unworthy conjunction of execution and language, than that\nto which I have been listening; and I was far gone in a learned inquiry\ninto the causes of such an unfitness between sound and sense, when you\nbroke the charm of my musings by that bass of yours, Duncan!\"", "\"I know not what you call my bass,\" said Heyward, piqued at her remark,\n\"but I know that your safety, and that of Cora, is far dearer to me than\ncould be any orchestra of Handel's music.\"", "He paused and turned his head\nquickly towards a thicket, and then bent his eyes suspiciously on their\nguide, who continued his steady pace, in undisturbed gravity.", "The young\nman smiled to himself, for he believed he had mistaken some shining\nberry of the woods for the glistening eyeballs of a prowling savage, and\nhe rode forward, continuing the conversation which had been interrupted\nby the passing thought.", "Major Heyward was mistaken only in suffering his youthful and generous\npride to suppress his active watchfulness.", "The cavalcade had not long\npassed, before the branches of the bushes that formed the thicket were\ncautiously moved asunder, and a human visage, as fiercely wild as savage\nart and unbridled passions could make it, peered out on the retiring\nfootsteps of the travellers.", "A gleam of exultation shot across the\ndarkly painted lineaments of the inhabitant of the forest, as he traced\nthe route of his intended victims, who rode unconsciously onward; the\nlight and graceful forms of the females waving among the trees, in the\ncurvatures of their path, followed at each bend by the manly figure of\nHeyward, until, finally, the shapeless person of the singing-master was\nconcealed behind the numberless trunks of trees, that rose, in dark\nlines, in the intermediate space." ]

[ "The facilities which nature had there offered to the march of the\ncombatants were too obvious to be neglected.", "The lengthened sheet of the\nChamplain stretched from the frontiers of Canada, deep within the\nborders of the neighboring province of New York, forming a natural\npassage across half the distance that the French were compelled to\nmaster in order to strike their enemies.", "In this mortifying abasement, the colonists, though\ninnocent of her imbecility, and too humble to be the agents of her\nblunders, were but the natural participators.", "The terrific character of\ntheir merciless enemies increased immeasurably the natural horrors of\nwarfare.", "[3] He was\nbrought among us, as I have heard, by some strange accident in which\nyour father was interested, and in which the savage was rigidly dealt\nby--but I forget the idle tale; it is enough, that he is now our\nfriend.\"", "The industry and movements of the rider were not less remarkable than\nthose of the ridden.", "I have endeavored to do both, and here I\nam.\"", "Yon officer of the king, who hesitated to admit me to his company, might\nfill the latter, if one may judge from the intonations of his voice in\ncommon dialogue.\"", "During this eulogium on the rare production of his native poets, the\nstranger had drawn the book from his pocket, and, fitting a pair of\niron-rimmed spectacles to his nose, opened the volume with a care and\nveneration suited to its sacred purposes.", "Then, without circumlocution\nor apology, first pronouncing the word \"Standish,\" and placing the\nunknown engine, already described, to his mouth, from which he drew a\nhigh, shrill sound, that was followed by an octave below, from his own\nvoice, he commenced singing the following words, in full, sweet, and\nmelodious tones, that set the music, the poetry, and even the uneasy\nmotion of his ill-trained beast at defiance:--\n\n \"How good it is, O see,\n And how it pleaseth well,\n Together, e'en in unity,\n For brethren so to dwell." ]

[ "'Tis the six-and-twentieth edition,\npromulgated at Boston, Anno Domini 1744; and is entitled, _The Psalms,\nHymns, and Spiritual Songs of the Old and New Testaments; faithfully\ntranslated into English Metre, for the Use, Edification, and Comfort of\nthe Saints, in Public and Private, especially in New England_.\"", "SHAKESPEARE.", "\"If he has been my father's enemy, I like him still less!\"", "The rude path, which\noriginally formed their line of communication, had been widened for the\npassage of wagons; so that the distance which had been travelled by the\nson of the forest in two hours, might easily be effected by a detachment\nof troops, with their necessary baggage, between the rising and setting\nof a summer sun.", "By uniting the\nseveral detachments of his command, this officer might have arrayed\nnearly double that number of combatants against the enterprising\nFrenchman, who had ventured so far from his reinforcements, with an army\nbut little superior in numbers.", "While, in the pursuit of their daring plans of annoyance, the restless\nenterprise of the French even attempted the distant and difficult gorges\nof the Alleghany, it may easily be imagined that their proverbial\nacuteness would not overlook the natural advantages of the district we\nhave just described.", "The young\nman smiled to himself, for he believed he had mistaken some shining\nberry of the woods for the glistening eyeballs of a prowling savage, and\nhe rode forward, continuing the conversation which had been interrupted\nby the passing thought.", "\"You have, then, limited your efforts to sacred song?\"", "As the psalms of David exceed all other language, so does the\npsalmody that has been fitted to them by the divines and sages of the\nland, surpass all vain poetry.", "At a respectful distance from this\nunusual show were gathered divers groups of curious idlers; some\nadmiring the blood and bone of the high-mettled military charger, and\nothers gazing at the preparations, with dull wonder of vulgar curiosity." ]

[ "\"Sola, sola, wo, ha, ho, sola!\"", "SHAKESPEARE.", "While one of the lovely beings we have so cursorily presented to the\nreader was thus lost in thought, the other quickly recovered from the\nalarm which induced the exclamation, and, laughing at her own weakness,\nshe inquired of the youth who rode by her side,--\n\n\"Are such spectres frequent in the woods, Heyward; or is this sight an\nespecial entertainment on our behalf?", "If the latter, gratitude must\nclose our mouths; but if the former, both Cora and I shall have need to\ndraw largely on that stock of hereditary courage which we boast, even\nbefore we are made to encounter the redoubtable Montcalm.\"", "\"Yon Indian is a 'runner' of the army; and, after the fashion of his\npeople, he may be accounted a hero,\" returned the officer.", "\"He has\nvolunteered to guide us to the lake, by a path but little known, sooner\nthan if we followed the tardy movements of the column: and, by\nconsequence, more agreeably.\"", "\"I like him not,\" said the lady, shuddering, partly in assumed, yet more\nin real terror.", "\"You know him, Duncan, or you would not trust yourself\nso freely to his keeping?\"", "\"Say, rather, Alice, that I would not trust you.", "I do know him, or he\nwould not have my confidence, and least of all at this moment.", "He is\nsaid to be a Canadian, too; and yet he served with our friends the\nMohawks, who, as you know, are one of the six allied nations." ]

[ "\n \"Mine ear is open, and my heart prepared:\n The worst is worldly loss thou canst unfold:\n Say, is my kingdom lost?\"", "SHAKESPEARE.", "It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that\nthe toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before\nthe adverse hosts could meet.", "A wide and apparently an impervious\nboundary of forests severed the possessions of the hostile provinces of\nFrance and England.", "The hardy colonist, and the trained European who\nfought at his side, frequently expended months in struggling against the\nrapids of the streams, or in effecting the rugged passes of the\nmountains, in quest of an opportunity to exhibit their courage in a more\nmartial conflict.", "But, emulating the patience and self-denial of the\npractised native warriors, they learned to overcome every difficulty;\nand it would seem that, in time, there was no recess of the woods so\ndark, nor any secret place so lovely, that it might claim exemption from\nthe inroads of those who had pledged their blood to satiate their\nvengeance, or to uphold the cold and selfish policy of the distant\nmonarchs of Europe.", "Perhaps no district throughout the wide extent of the intermediate\nfrontiers can furnish a livelier picture of the cruelty and fierceness\nof the savage warfare of those periods than the country which lies\nbetween the head waters of the Hudson and the adjacent lakes.", "The facilities which nature had there offered to the march of the\ncombatants were too obvious to be neglected.", "The lengthened sheet of the\nChamplain stretched from the frontiers of Canada, deep within the\nborders of the neighboring province of New York, forming a natural\npassage across half the distance that the French were compelled to\nmaster in order to strike their enemies.", "Near its southern termination,\nit received the contributions of another lake, whose waters were so\nlimpid as to have been exclusively selected by the Jesuit missionaries\nto perform the typical purification of baptism, and to obtain for it the\ntitle of lake \"du Saint Sacrement.\"", "The Indian muttered a few words in broken English to Heyward,\nwho, in his turn, spoke to the stranger; at once interrupting, and, for\nthe time, closing his musical efforts.", "\"Though we are not in danger, common prudence would teach us to journey\nthrough this wilderness in as quiet a manner as possible.", "You will,\nthen, pardon me, Alice, should I diminish your enjoyments, by requesting\nthis gentleman to postpone his chant until a safer opportunity.\"", "\"You will diminish them, indeed,\" returned the arch girl, \"for never did\nI hear a more unworthy conjunction of execution and language, than that\nto which I have been listening; and I was far gone in a learned inquiry\ninto the causes of such an unfitness between sound and sense, when you\nbroke the charm of my musings by that bass of yours, Duncan!\"", "\"I know not what you call my bass,\" said Heyward, piqued at her remark,\n\"but I know that your safety, and that of Cora, is far dearer to me than\ncould be any orchestra of Handel's music.\"", "He paused and turned his head\nquickly towards a thicket, and then bent his eyes suspiciously on their\nguide, who continued his steady pace, in undisturbed gravity.", "The young\nman smiled to himself, for he believed he had mistaken some shining\nberry of the woods for the glistening eyeballs of a prowling savage, and\nhe rode forward, continuing the conversation which had been interrupted\nby the passing thought.", "Major Heyward was mistaken only in suffering his youthful and generous\npride to suppress his active watchfulness.", "The cavalcade had not long\npassed, before the branches of the bushes that formed the thicket were\ncautiously moved asunder, and a human visage, as fiercely wild as savage\nart and unbridled passions could make it, peered out on the retiring\nfootsteps of the travellers.", "A gleam of exultation shot across the\ndarkly painted lineaments of the inhabitant of the forest, as he traced\nthe route of his intended victims, who rode unconsciously onward; the\nlight and graceful forms of the females waving among the trees, in the\ncurvatures of their path, followed at each bend by the manly figure of\nHeyward, until, finally, the shapeless person of the singing-master was\nconcealed behind the numberless trunks of trees, that rose, in dark\nlines, in the intermediate space." ]

[ "\n \"Before these fields were shorn and tilled,\n Full to the brim our rivers flowed;\n The melody of waters filled\n The fresh and boundless wood;\n And torrents dashed, and rivulets played,\n And fountains spouted in the shade.\"", "BRYANT.", "Leaving the unsuspecting Heyward and his confiding companions to\npenetrate still deeper into a forest that contained such treacherous\ninmates, we must use an author's privilege, and shift the scene a few\nmiles to the westward of the place where we have last seen them.", "On that day, two men were lingering on the banks of a small but rapid\nstream, within an hour's journey of the encampment of Webb, like those\nwho awaited the appearance of an absent person, or the approach of some\nexpected event.", "The vast canopy of woods spread itself to the margin of\nthe river overhanging the water, and shadowing its dark current with a\ndeeper hue.", "The rays of the sun were beginning to grow less fierce, and\nthe intense heat of the day was lessened, as the cooler vapors of the\nsprings and fountains rose above their leafy beds, and rested in the\natmosphere.", "Still that breathing silence, which marks the drowsy\nsultriness of an American landscape in July, pervaded the secluded spot,\ninterrupted only by the low voices of the men, the occasional and lazy\ntap of a woodpecker, the discordant cry of some gaudy jay, or a swelling\non the ear, from the dull roar of a distant waterfall.", "These feeble and broken sounds were, however, too familiar to the\nforesters, to draw their attention from the more interesting matter of\ntheir dialogue.", "While one of these loiterers showed the red skin and\nwild accoutrements of a native of the woods, the other exhibited,\nthrough the mask of his rude and nearly savage equipments, the brighter,\nthough sunburnt and long-faded complexion of one who might claim descent\nfrom a European parentage.", "The former was seated on the end of a mossy\nlog, in a posture that permitted him to heighten the effect of his\nearnest language, by the calm but expressive gestures of an Indian\nengaged in debate.", "His body, which was nearly naked, presented a\nterrific emblem of death, drawn in intermingled colors of white and\nblack.", "His closely shaved head, on which no other hair than the well\nknown and chivalrous scalping tuft[5] was preserved, was without\nornament of any kind, with the exception of a solitary eagle's plume,\nthat crossed his crown, and depended over the left shoulder.", "A tomahawk\nand scalping-knife, of English manufacture, were in his girdle; while a\nshort military rifle, of that sort with which the policy of the whites\narmed their savage allies, lay carelessly across his bare and sinewy\nknee.", "The expanded chest, full formed limbs, and grave countenance of\nthis warrior, would denote that he had reached the vigor of his days,\nthough no symptoms of decay appeared to have yet weakened his manhood.", "The frame of the white man, judging by such parts as were not concealed\nby his clothes, was like that of one who had known hardships and\nexertion from his earliest youth.", "His person, though muscular, was\nrather attenuated than full; but every nerve and muscle appeared strung\nand indurated by unremitted exposure and toil.", "He wore a hunting-shirt\nof forest green, fringed with faded yellow[6], and a summer cap of skins\nwhich had been shorn of their fur.", "He also bore a knife in a girdle of\nwampum, like that which confined the scanty garments of the Indian, but\nno tomahawk.", "His moccasins were ornamented after the gay fashion of the\nnatives, while the only part of his under-dress which appeared below the\nhunting-frock, was a pair of buckskin leggings, that laced at the sides,\nand which were gartered above the knees with the sinews of a deer.", "A\npouch and horn completed his personal accoutrements, though a rifle of\ngreat length[7], which the theory of the more ingenious whites had\ntaught them was the most dangerous of all fire-arms, leaned against a\nneighboring sapling.", "The eye of the hunter, or scout, whichever he might\nbe, was small, quick, keen, and restless, roving while he spoke, on\nevery side of him, as if in quest of game, or distrusting the sudden\napproach of some lurking enemy.", "Notwithstanding the symptoms of habitual\nsuspicion, his countenance was not only without guile, but at the moment\nat which he is introduced, it was charged with an expression of sturdy\nhonesty.", "\"Even your traditions make the case in my favor, Chingachgook,\" he said,\nspeaking in the tongue which was known to all the natives who formerly\ninhabited the country between the Hudson and the Potomac, and of which\nwe shall give a free translation for the benefit of the reader;\nendeavoring, at the same time, to preserve some of the peculiarities,\nboth of the individual and of the language.", "\"Your fathers came from the\nsetting sun, crossed the big river,[8] fought the people of the country,\nand took the land; and mine came from the red sky of the morning, over\nthe salt lake, and did their work much after the fashion that had been\nset them by yours; then let God judge the matter between us, and friends\nspare their words!\"", "\"My fathers fought with the naked redmen!\"", "returned the Indian sternly,\nin the same language.", "\"Is there no difference, Hawkeye, between the\nstone-headed arrow of the warrior, and the leaden bullet with which you\nkill?\"", "\"There is reason in an Indian, though nature has made him with a red\nskin!\"", "said the white man, shaking his head like one on whom such an\nappeal to his justice was not thrown away.", "For a moment he appeared to\nbe conscious of having the worst of the argument, then, rallying again,\nhe answered the objection of his antagonist in the best manner his\nlimited information would allow: \"I am no scholar, and I care not who\nknows it; but judging from what I have seen, at deer chases and squirrel\nhunts, of the sparks below, I should think a rifle in the hands of their\ngrandfathers was not so dangerous as a hickory bow and a good flint-head\nmight be, if drawn with Indian judgment, and sent by an Indian eye.\"", "\"You have the story told by your fathers,\" returned the other, coldly\nwaving his hand.", "\"What say your old men?", "do they tell the young\nwarriors, that the pale-faces met the redmen, painted for war and armed\nwith the stone hatchet and wooden gun?\"", "\"I am not a prejudiced man, nor one who vaunts himself on his natural\nprivileges, though the worst enemy I have on earth, and he is an\nIroquois, daren't deny that I am genuine white,\" the scout replied,\nsurveying, with secret satisfaction, the faded color of his bony and\nsinewy hand; \"and I am willing to own that my people have many ways, of\nwhich, as an honest man, I can't approve.", "It is one of their customs to\nwrite in books what they have done and seen, instead of telling them in\ntheir villages, where the lie can be given to the face of a cowardly\nboaster, and the brave soldier can call on his comrades to witness for\nthe truth of his words.", "In consequence of this bad fashion, a man who is\ntoo conscientious to misspend his days among the women, in learning the\nnames of black marks, may never hear of the deeds of his fathers, nor\nfeel a pride in striving to outdo them.", "For myself, I conclude the\nBumppos could shoot, for I have a natural turn with a rifle, which must\nhave been handed down from generation to generation, as, our holy\ncommandments tell us, all good and evil gifts are bestowed; though I\nshould be loth to answer for other people in such a matter.", "But every\nstory has its two sides; so I ask you, Chingachgook, what passed,\naccording to the traditions of the redmen, when our fathers first met?\"", "A silence of a minute succeeded, during which the Indian sat mute; then,\nfull of the dignity of his office, he commenced his brief tale, with a\nsolemnity that served to heighten its appearance of truth.", "\"Listen, Hawkeye, and your ear shall drink no lie.", "'Tis what my fathers\nhave said, and what the Mohicans have done.\"", "He hesitated a single\ninstant, and bending a cautious glance toward his companion, he\ncontinued, in a manner that was divided between interrogation and\nassertion, \"Does not this stream at our feet run towards the summer,\nuntil its waters grow salt, and the current flows upward?\"", "\"It can't be denied that your traditions tell you true in both these\nmatters,\" said the white man; \"for I have been there, and have seen\nthem; though, why water, which is so sweet in the shade, should become\nbitter in the sun, is an alteration for which I have never been able to\naccount.\"", "\"And the current!\"", "demanded the Indian, who expected his reply with that\nsort of interest that a man feels in the confirmation of testimony, at\nwhich he marvels even while he respects it; \"the fathers of Chingachgook\nhave not lied!\"", "\"The Holy Bible is not more true, and that is the truest thing in\nnature.", "They call this up-stream current the tide, which is a thing soon\nexplained, and clear enough.", "Six hours the waters run in, and six hours\nthey run out, and the reason is this: when there is higher water in the\nsea than in the river, they run in, until the river gets to be highest,\nand then it runs out again.\"", "\"The waters in the woods, and on the great lakes, run downward until\nthey lie like my hand,\" said the Indian, stretching the limb\nhorizontally before him, \"and then they run no more.\"", "\"No honest man will deny it,\" said the scout, a little nettled at the\nimplied distrust of his explanation of the mystery of the tides; \"and I\ngrant that it is true on the small scale, and where the land is level.", "But everything depends on what scale you look at things.", "Now, on the\nsmall scale, the 'arth is level; but on the large scale it is round.", "In\nthis manner, pools and ponds, and even the great fresh-water lake, may\nbe stagnant, as you and I both know they are, having seen them; but when\nyou come to spread water over a great tract, like the sea, where the\nearth is round, how in reason can the water be quiet?", "You might as well\nexpect the river to lie still on the brink of those black rocks a mile\nabove us, though your own ears tell you that it is tumbling over them at\nthis very moment!\"", "If unsatisfied by the philosophy of his companion, the Indian was far\ntoo dignified to betray his unbelief.", "He listened like one who was\nconvinced, and resumed his narrative in his former solemn manner.", "\"We came from the place where the sun is hid at night, over great plains\nwhere the buffaloes live, until we reached the big river.", "There we\nfought the Alligewi, till the ground was red with their blood.", "From the\nbanks of the big river to the shores of the salt lake, there was none to\nmeet us.", "The Maquas followed at a distance.", "We said the country should\nbe ours from the place where the water runs up no longer on this stream,\nto a river twenty suns' journey toward the summer.", "The land we had taken\nlike warriors, we kept like men.", "We drove the Maquas into the woods with\nthe bears.", "They only tasted salt at the licks; they drew no fish from\nthe great lake; we threw them the bones.\"", "\"All this I have heard and believe,\" said the white man, observing that\nthe Indian paused: \"but it was long before the English came into the\ncountry.\"", "\"A pine grew then where this chestnut now stands.", "The first pale-faces\nwho came among us spoke no English.", "They came in a large canoe, when my\nfathers had buried the tomahawk with the redmen around them.", "Then,\nHawkeye,\" he continued, betraying his deep emotion only by permitting\nhis voice to fall to those low, guttural tones, which rendered his\nlanguage, as spoken at times, so very musical; \"then, Hawkeye, we were\none people, and we were happy.", "The salt lake gave us its fish, the wood\nits deer, and the air its birds.", "We took wives who bore us children; we\nworshipped the Great Spirit; and we kept the Maquas beyond the sound of\nour songs of triumph!\"", "\"Know you anything of your own family at that time?\"", "demanded the white.", "\"But you are a just man, for an Indian!", "and, as I suppose you hold their\ngifts, your fathers must have been brave warriors, and wise men at the\ncouncil fire.\"", "\"My tribe is the grandfather of nations, but I am an unmixed man.", "The\nblood of chiefs is in my veins, where it must stay forever.", "The Dutch\nlanded, and gave my people the fire-water; they drank until the heavens\nand the earth seemed to meet, and they foolishly thought they had found\nthe Great Spirit.", "Then they parted with their land.", "Foot by foot, they\nwere driven back from the shores, until I, that am a chief and a\nsagamore, have never seen the sun shine but through the trees, and have\nnever visited the graves of, my fathers!\"", "\"Graves bring solemn feelings over the mind,\" returned the scout, a good\ndeal touched at the calm suffering of his companion; \"and they often aid\na man in his good intentions; though, for myself, I expect to leave my\nown bones unburied, to bleach in the woods, or to be torn asunder by the\nwolves.", "But where are to be found those of your race who came to their\nkin in the Delaware country, so many summers since?\"", "\"Where are the blossoms of those summers!--fallen, one by one: so all of\nmy family departed, each in his turn, to the land of spirits.", "I am on\nthe hill-top, and must go down into the valley; and when Uncas follows\nin my footsteps, there will no longer be any of the blood of the\nsagamores, for my boy is the last of the Mohicans.\"", "\"Uncas is here!\"", "said another voice, in the same soft, guttural tones,\nnear his elbow; \"who speaks to Uncas?\"", "The white man loosened his knife in his leathern sheath, and made an\ninvoluntary movement of the hand towards his rifle, at this sudden\ninterruption; but the Indian sat composed, and without turning his head\nat the unexpected sounds.", "At the next instant, a youthful warrior passed between them, with a\nnoiseless step, and seated himself on the bank of the rapid stream.", "No\nexclamation of surprise escaped the father, nor was any question asked,\nor reply given, for several minutes; each appearing to await the moment\nwhen he might speak, without betraying womanish curiosity or childish\nimpatience.", "The white man seemed to take counsel from their customs,\nand, relinquishing his grasp of the rifle, he also remained silent and\nreserved.", "At length Chingachgook turned his eyes slowly towards his son,\nand demanded,--\n\n\"Do the Maquas dare to leave the print of their moccasins in these\nwoods?\"", "\"I have been on their trail,\" replied the young Indian, \"and know that\nthey number as many as the fingers of my two hands; but they lie hid,\nlike cowards.\"", "\"The thieves are outlying for scalps and plunder!\"", "said the white man,\nwhom we shall call Hawkeye, after the manner of his companions.", "\"That\nbushy Frenchman, Montcalm, will send his spies into our very camp, but\nhe will know what road we travel!\"", "\"Tis enough!\"", "returned the father, glancing his eye towards the setting\nsun; \"they shall be driven like deer from their bushes.", "Hawkeye, let us\neat to-night, and show the Maquas that we are men to-morrow.\"", "\"I am as ready to do the one as the other; but to fight the Iroquois\n'tis necessary to find the skulkers; and to eat, 'tis necessary to get\nthe game--talk of the devil and he will come; there is a pair of the\nbiggest antlers I have seen this season, moving the bushes below the\nhill!", "Now, Uncas,\" he continued in a half whisper, and laughing with a\nkind of inward sound, like one who had learnt to be watchful, \"I will\nbet my charger three times full of powder, against a foot of wampum,\nthat I take him atwixt the eyes, and nearer to the right than to the\nleft.\"", "\"It cannot be!\"", "said the young Indian, springing to his feet with\nyouthful eagerness; \"all but the tips of his horns are hid!\"", "\"He's a boy!\"", "said the white man, shaking his head while he spoke, and\naddressing the father.", "\"Does he think when a hunter sees a part of the\ncreatur', he can't tell where the rest of him should be!\"", "[Illustration: _Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sons_\n\nUNCAS SLAYS A DEER\n\n_Avoiding the horns of the infuriated animal, Uncas darted to his side,\nand passed his knife across the throat_]\n\nAdjusting his rifle, he was about to make an exhibition of that skill,\non which he so much valued himself, when the warrior struck up the piece\nwith his hand, saying--\n\n\"Hawkeye!", "will you fight the Maquas?\"", "\"These Indians know the nature of the woods, as it might be by\ninstinct!\"", "returned the scout, dropping his rifle, and turning away like\na man who was convinced of his error.", "\"I must leave the buck to your\narrow, Uncas, or we may kill a deer for them thieves, the Iroquois, to\neat.\"", "The instant the father seconded this intimation by an expressive gesture\nof the hand, Uncas threw himself on the ground, and approached the\nanimal with wary movements.", "When within a few yards of the cover, he\nfitted an arrow to his bow with the utmost care, while the antlers\nmoved, as if their owner snuffed an enemy in the tainted air.", "In another\nmoment the twang of the cord was heard, a white streak was seen glancing\ninto the bushes, and the wounded buck plunged from the cover, to the\nvery feet of his hidden enemy.", "Avoiding the horns of the infuriated\nanimal, Uncas darted to his side, and passed his knife across the\nthroat, when bounding to the edge of the river it fell, dyeing the\nwaters with its blood.", "\"'Twas done with Indian skill,\" said the scout, laughing inwardly, but\nwith vast satisfaction; \"and 'twas a pretty sight to behold!", "Though an\narrow is a near shot, and needs a knife to finish the work.\"", "\"Hugh!\"", "ejaculated his companion, turning quickly, like a hound who\nscented game.", "\"By the Lord, there is a drove of them!\"", "exclaimed the scout, whose eyes\nbegan to glisten with the ardor of his usual occupation; \"if they come\nwithin range of a bullet I will drop one, though the whole Six Nations\nshould be lurking within sound!", "What do you hear, Chingachgook?", "for to\nmy ears the woods are dumb.\"", "\"There is but one deer, and he is dead,\" said the Indian, bending his\nbody till his ear nearly touched the earth.", "\"I hear the sounds of feet!\"", "\"Perhaps the wolves have driven the buck to shelter, and are following\non his trail.\"", "\"No.", "The horses of white men are coming!\"", "returned the other, raising\nhimself with dignity, and resuming his seat on the log with his former\ncomposure.", "\"Hawkeye, they are your brothers; speak to them.\"", "\"That will I, and in English that the king needn't be ashamed to\nanswer,\" returned the hunter, speaking in the language of which he\nboasted; \"but I see nothing, nor do I hear the sounds of man or beast;\n'tis strange that an Indian should understand white sounds better than a\nman who, his very enemies will own, has no cross in his blood, although\nhe may have lived with the redskins long enough to be suspected!", "Ha!", "there goes something like the cracking of a dry stick, too--now I hear\nthe bushes move--yes, yes, there is a trampling that I mistook for the\nfalls--and--but here they come themselves; God keep them from the\nIroquois!\"" ]

[ "Still that breathing silence, which marks the drowsy\nsultriness of an American landscape in July, pervaded the secluded spot,\ninterrupted only by the low voices of the men, the occasional and lazy\ntap of a woodpecker, the discordant cry of some gaudy jay, or a swelling\non the ear, from the dull roar of a distant waterfall.", "\"Your fathers came from the\nsetting sun, crossed the big river,[8] fought the people of the country,\nand took the land; and mine came from the red sky of the morning, over\nthe salt lake, and did their work much after the fashion that had been\nset them by yours; then let God judge the matter between us, and friends\nspare their words!\"", "But everything depends on what scale you look at things.", "He listened like one who was\nconvinced, and resumed his narrative in his former solemn manner.", "\"We came from the place where the sun is hid at night, over great plains\nwhere the buffaloes live, until we reached the big river.", "The Maquas followed at a distance.", "\"Know you anything of your own family at that time?\"", "\"These Indians know the nature of the woods, as it might be by\ninstinct!\"", "\"'Twas done with Indian skill,\" said the scout, laughing inwardly, but\nwith vast satisfaction; \"and 'twas a pretty sight to behold!", "\"That will I, and in English that the king needn't be ashamed to\nanswer,\" returned the hunter, speaking in the language of which he\nboasted; \"but I see nothing, nor do I hear the sounds of man or beast;\n'tis strange that an Indian should understand white sounds better than a\nman who, his very enemies will own, has no cross in his blood, although\nhe may have lived with the redskins long enough to be suspected!" ]

[ "Now, on the\nsmall scale, the 'arth is level; but on the large scale it is round.", "\"He's a boy!\"", "These feeble and broken sounds were, however, too familiar to the\nforesters, to draw their attention from the more interesting matter of\ntheir dialogue.", "said the white man, shaking his head while he spoke, and\naddressing the father.", "The former was seated on the end of a mossy\nlog, in a posture that permitted him to heighten the effect of his\nearnest language, by the calm but expressive gestures of an Indian\nengaged in debate.", "They call this up-stream current the tide, which is a thing soon\nexplained, and clear enough.", "for to\nmy ears the woods are dumb.\"", "At the next instant, a youthful warrior passed between them, with a\nnoiseless step, and seated himself on the bank of the rapid stream.", "\"Know you anything of your own family at that time?\"", "No\nexclamation of surprise escaped the father, nor was any question asked,\nor reply given, for several minutes; each appearing to await the moment\nwhen he might speak, without betraying womanish curiosity or childish\nimpatience." ]

[ "The land we had taken\nlike warriors, we kept like men.", "We drove the Maquas into the woods with\nthe bears.", "They only tasted salt at the licks; they drew no fish from\nthe great lake; we threw them the bones.\"", "\"All this I have heard and believe,\" said the white man, observing that\nthe Indian paused: \"but it was long before the English came into the\ncountry.\"", "\"A pine grew then where this chestnut now stands.", "The first pale-faces\nwho came among us spoke no English.", "They came in a large canoe, when my\nfathers had buried the tomahawk with the redmen around them.", "Then,\nHawkeye,\" he continued, betraying his deep emotion only by permitting\nhis voice to fall to those low, guttural tones, which rendered his\nlanguage, as spoken at times, so very musical; \"then, Hawkeye, we were\none people, and we were happy.", "The salt lake gave us its fish, the wood\nits deer, and the air its birds.", "We took wives who bore us children; we\nworshipped the Great Spirit; and we kept the Maquas beyond the sound of\nour songs of triumph!\"", "\"Know you anything of your own family at that time?\"" ]

[ "\n \"Before these fields were shorn and tilled,\n Full to the brim our rivers flowed;\n The melody of waters filled\n The fresh and boundless wood;\n And torrents dashed, and rivulets played,\n And fountains spouted in the shade.\"", "BRYANT.", "Leaving the unsuspecting Heyward and his confiding companions to\npenetrate still deeper into a forest that contained such treacherous\ninmates, we must use an author's privilege, and shift the scene a few\nmiles to the westward of the place where we have last seen them.", "On that day, two men were lingering on the banks of a small but rapid\nstream, within an hour's journey of the encampment of Webb, like those\nwho awaited the appearance of an absent person, or the approach of some\nexpected event.", "The vast canopy of woods spread itself to the margin of\nthe river overhanging the water, and shadowing its dark current with a\ndeeper hue.", "The rays of the sun were beginning to grow less fierce, and\nthe intense heat of the day was lessened, as the cooler vapors of the\nsprings and fountains rose above their leafy beds, and rested in the\natmosphere.", "Still that breathing silence, which marks the drowsy\nsultriness of an American landscape in July, pervaded the secluded spot,\ninterrupted only by the low voices of the men, the occasional and lazy\ntap of a woodpecker, the discordant cry of some gaudy jay, or a swelling\non the ear, from the dull roar of a distant waterfall.", "These feeble and broken sounds were, however, too familiar to the\nforesters, to draw their attention from the more interesting matter of\ntheir dialogue.", "While one of these loiterers showed the red skin and\nwild accoutrements of a native of the woods, the other exhibited,\nthrough the mask of his rude and nearly savage equipments, the brighter,\nthough sunburnt and long-faded complexion of one who might claim descent\nfrom a European parentage.", "The former was seated on the end of a mossy\nlog, in a posture that permitted him to heighten the effect of his\nearnest language, by the calm but expressive gestures of an Indian\nengaged in debate.", "\"There is but one deer, and he is dead,\" said the Indian, bending his\nbody till his ear nearly touched the earth.", "\"I hear the sounds of feet!\"", "\"Perhaps the wolves have driven the buck to shelter, and are following\non his trail.\"", "\"No.", "The horses of white men are coming!\"", "returned the other, raising\nhimself with dignity, and resuming his seat on the log with his former\ncomposure.", "\"Hawkeye, they are your brothers; speak to them.\"", "\"That will I, and in English that the king needn't be ashamed to\nanswer,\" returned the hunter, speaking in the language of which he\nboasted; \"but I see nothing, nor do I hear the sounds of man or beast;\n'tis strange that an Indian should understand white sounds better than a\nman who, his very enemies will own, has no cross in his blood, although\nhe may have lived with the redskins long enough to be suspected!", "Ha!", "there goes something like the cracking of a dry stick, too--now I hear\nthe bushes move--yes, yes, there is a trampling that I mistook for the\nfalls--and--but here they come themselves; God keep them from the\nIroquois!\"" ]

["\n \"Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove\n Till I torment thee for this injury.\"",(...TRUNCATED)

["_Midsummer Night's Dream._\n\n\nThe words were still in the mouth of the scout, when the leader of(...TRUNCATED)

["\"A Mingo is a Mingo, and God having made him so, neither the Mohawks nor\nany other tribe can alt(...TRUNCATED)

["\"And why?","they are fatigued, but they are quite equal to a ride of a few\nmore miles.\"","\"'Ti(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"Well, go thy way: thou shalt not from this grove\n Till I torment thee for this injury.\"",(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"In such a night\n Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;\n And saw the(...TRUNCATED)

["\"'Tis the blood of Le Subtil!","It was an unthoughtful act in a man who has so\noften slept with (...TRUNCATED)

["'twas very natural!","I have heard\nthat the Delawares have laid aside the hatchet, and are conten(...TRUNCATED)

["Draw to your arrow's head, Uncas; we have no time for second blows.\"","The low, muttering sounds (...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"In such a night\n Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;\n And saw the(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide;\n He wales a portion with judicious care;\(...TRUNCATED)

["It was the first opportunity\npossessed by Duncan and his companions, to view the marked lineament(...TRUNCATED)

["I'm an admirator of names, though the Christian fashions\nfall far below savage customs in this pa(...TRUNCATED)

["How do you name\nyourself?\"","\"Gamut--David Gamut,\" returned the singing-master, preparing to w(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide;\n He wales a portion with judicious care;\(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"They do not sleep.","On yonder cliffs, a grisly band,\n I see them sit.\"",(...TRUNCATED)

["\"I cannot deny your words,\" he said; \"for I am little skilled in horses,\nthough born where the(...TRUNCATED)

["I have heard the forest moan like mortal men\nin their affliction; often, and again, have I listen(...TRUNCATED)

["and I said it!\"","muttered the scout, whirling the despised\nlittle implement over the falls with(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"They do not sleep.","On yonder cliffs, a grisly band,\n I see them sit.\"",(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"Be gay securely;\n Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim'rous clo(...TRUNCATED)

["A fish-hawk,\nwhich, secure on the topmost branches of a dead pine, had been a distant\nspectator (...TRUNCATED)

["his voice is too feeble to be heard amid the din of the\nfalls,\" was the answer; \"besides, the c(...TRUNCATED)

["Exerting his renovated\npowers to their utmost, he was yet filling the arches of the cave with\nlo(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"Be gay securely;\n Dispel, my fair, with smiles, the tim'rous clo(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn\n As much as we this night have overwatched!\"","_(...TRUNCATED)

["Notwithstanding the Hurons were necessarily ignorant of the little\nchannels among the eddies and (...TRUNCATED)

["The Huron chief was tied up before all the pale-faced warriors, and\nwhipped like a dog.\"","His s(...TRUNCATED)

["At first it seemed as if the remembrance of the promised reward\ngrew vivid in his mind, while he (...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"I fear we shall outsleep the coming morn\n As much as we this night have overwatched!\"","_(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"_Clo._--I am gone, sir,\n And anon, sir,\n I'll be with you again.\"","_Twelfth Night.(...TRUNCATED)

["But the wary and vigilant leader of the Hurons was not so easily\ndisconcerted.","As the combatant(...TRUNCATED)

["what have such as I,\nwho am a warrior of the wilderness, though a man without a cross, to do\nwit(...TRUNCATED)

["I demand your authorities for such an uncharitable assertion\n(like other advocates of a system, D(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"_Clo._--I am gone, sir,\n And anon, sir,\n I'll be with you again.\"","_Twelfth Night.(...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"I'll seek a readier path.\"","PARNELL.","The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy p(...TRUNCATED)

["The eyes of the listeners involuntarily sought the forms of the Indians,\nwith a compassionate int(...TRUNCATED)

["\"D'ou venez-vous--ou allez-vous, d'aussi bonne heure?\"","The sounds of approaching footsteps wer(...TRUNCATED)

["There are them in\nthe camp who say and think, man, to lie still, should not be buried\nwhile the (...TRUNCATED)

["\n \"I'll seek a readier path.\"","PARNELL.","The route taken by Hawkeye lay across those sandy p(...TRUNCATED)